Tonisillitis

My poor baby has Tonsillitis and wouldn't you know it is right on cue, every year round about this time she gets a bout of tonsillitis and the doctors don't think it is necessary to remove them .... Doctors

Little Birdie ...

A baby bird fell out of it's nest yesterday, it couldn't fly yet so the parents have been up and down feeding it.  D went out and filled the see container and then put some seed on the ground too, because of the inter mittant rain he took refuge under the shed.

D was in and out yesterday chasing the crows way lest they attack him.  I saw the family this morning, but have been frantically looking this afternoon and don't see them, I hope he started to fly ...

Smart ... Ass

The Viking Project

So after spending our whole Bank Holiday Week-end on Em's Viking Project, for her sake it was actually worth it, she got complimented by the principal and her teacher and was featured on the school blog.  Here are the photos.

Party Like a Rock Star

I guess you only turn 10 Once, and this birthday party seems to be so important for Em and she really wants to have it at home which at the end of the day, means loads and loads of work for me, but then I guess I have gotten away with that for the past 2 years.

So if you have any ideas for decor, cake etc let me have it - will show you the results once I have organized everything!

Our theme which I put in the title is : "Party like a Rock Star" 

White Wedding

Happy Birthday Gwen

You know you're Irish when .... Republic of Telly

So True ... 

25 Random Things ....

I found this post on Facebook from a few years ago that I wrote:

1. Life is too short to worry about unimportant stuff!

2. I love my life most days!

3. I love music 

4. I love wide open spaces, the beach, the sea

5. I love travelling and exploring new places

6. I think all woman should be allowed to have more than one husband.

7. I do believe in a reason, a season and a lifetime for most things

8. I think if friends stay connected or become reconnected after many years there is a reason for this.

9. Smoking Marijuana before making love enhances your senses, a good friend told me that.

10. Whenever you are enjoying life, it shows it's ugly head.

11. Rock & Roll is the best thing that ever happened to this world

12. War is stupid!

13. Why do people keep having babies when the world is so overpulated

14.  Where will it all end

15. Will I ever see you again?

16. I miss my friends sooooo much!

17. I hate it when I shout at Emily because I have had a bad day ... really, really hate it!

18. I wonder if some day I will remember how bad things were today!

19. I should have worked harder in school and got a degree

20. I really should get more sleep

21. I hate being on TV

22. I wish I was one of those people who never had to worry about their weight

23. My life has been interesting to say the most

24. There is still so much more to come

25. I love the freedom of living here

Bono or Baaaa No

On our viking tour yesterday, in which we all boarded a Dukw, which was designed back in the 2nd world war to be a land and sea vehicle.  We go down close to the Docks and are fitted with some flotation devices and then we head into the Grand Canal.

U2's recording Studios which is actually call The Windmill Lane Studios, backs onto the Grand Canal so you get a nice view of it, now if you have read early stories I may have written about U2 or Bono, the Irish people really don't like him as a person, they love his music and will go and see his concert but the man himself is just not their favorite.  This is mainly put down to things he says or his antics.
Apparently Bono parks his Maserati inside the studio,(OMG I just googled that, and I see that Maseratti around all the time) okay so the wall which is now re-painted used to be a shrine to U2 with graffiti from people all over the world. Here is a photo

The tour guide on our tour, referred to him as thinking he was Jesus, he was going to build an apartment block on the other side of the canal to where the studios are, so that he could just walk across the water to work.

And I have heard many stories about how he basically expects people just to give him stuff or let him into places for free.  To top it one of the boy's in Em's class, his dad is Bono's body guard and they go around thinking they are God's gift to human kind, what with their holidays in the Hamptons and accompanying Bono and his family on their holidays.

Anyway to get back to the story, in the year 2000 Bono and U2 were granted "Freedom of the City of Dublin" by the Lord Mayor, which is a great honour anywhere in the world.  Nelson Mandela is also a precipitant of this award.   What does this award mean?  Well I quote now from the Dublin City Council's web page:

Freedom of the City of Dublin

The award of Freedom of the City of Dublin acknowledges the contribution of certain people to the life of our city. It also bestows honour to important visitors to Dublin.

No financial or other benefits are attached to the Freedom of the City. However it does carry significant prestige, as well as some interesting symbolic privileges and duties!

Recipients of this award may are referred to as a ‘Freeman’ or ‘Freewoman’ of Dublin. They are also Honorary Citizens of our city.

Ancient Privileges & Duties of a Freeman/Freewoman

Holders of the Freedom of Dublin have a number of ancient privileges and duties not applicable to ordinary citizens, some of which have little more than symbolic meaning in the modern world!

Privileges of a Freeman/Freewoman

• The right to bring goods into Dublin through the city gates, without paying customs duties.
• The right to pasture sheep on common ground within the city boundaries. This includes modern-day College Green (formerly Hoggen Green) and St.Stephen’s Green. (This right was exercised by Freeman ‘Bono’ of U2 in 2000!)
• The right to vote in municipal and parliamentary elections.

So of course what do Bono and the Edge do, they go and get a sheep and bring them to St. Stephens Green to Graze - the Irish public thought this was so lame and branded them laughing stocks of the City for a while! 

Duties of a Freeman/Freewoman

• Each Freeman/Freewoman has to be ready to defend the city from attack.
• A Freeman/Freewoman can be called on to join a city militia at short notice.
• According to a law passed in 1454, any merchant who becomes a Freeman/Freewoman must possess the following items:
• A coat of mail
• A bow
• A light helmet
• A sword of his/her own
• Freemen from all the other trade guilds must have a bow, arrows and a sword.
• A law passed in 1465, states that each Freeman/Freewoman has to provide himself/herself with a longbow (of his own length) made of yew, witch-hazel or ash. He/she must also have twelve arrows made of the same wood.

Now after their Sheep antics I wonder if they will adhere to the Duties of the City as well????

Our Viking Day Out in Dublin

So Em has a project to do and guess when it is due, yes Tuesday and like all kids she leaves everything till the last minute.  The only information we have is what we have managed to gather on the internet, so yesterday I booked tickets for the "Viking Splash Tour" and "Dublinia".

We didn't tell her we were going, so this morning we parked the car down Waterloo Road and trekked into town.  When we got to St. Stephens Green we first went to feed the ducks, Em saw the viking tour and asked if we could go, I then told her we were going.

It was so much fun, but it was oh so cold.  The driver has a wealth of knowledge about Dublin, some true and some fictional - but they all have a great sense of humor   I am going to do separate posts on some of the interesting features of the tour, so will not go into too much detail here, except to say it was money well spent!

The Driver explains to all the passengers about putting on their viking helmets, and then when we pass unsuspecting "Celts" we all look over the side and shout at the top of our voices "aaaaaaaaaaaarggggghhhhh" in real pirate fashion.  unsuspecting Celts are just random people walking along the street, concentrating on their own going on's.

We made a few people jump, got lots of smiles and waves and photos taken of us.  The tour was 90 minutes and part of it is on the Grand Canal, where we sail past U2's studios and the new Board Gais Energy Theater   Which I will talk about in another post.  

Cellphones and Cyclists

I have two pet hates when I am driving the first one being people talking on their Cell phones / Mobiles whilst driving and the second .... no not cyclist particularly but cyclist who do not obey the rules of the road.  I don't know how many times I have had to avoid knocking a cyclist down, because they weren't obeying the rules of the road.

Firstly I get really p*ssed off that I have to pay an exorbitant amount of road tax, and the roads are in such bad condition and the cyclist who have perfect cycle lanes on most main roads don't have to pay a cent, and to top it all they get a tax break for cycling to work, so the tax payer pays for 52% of their bicycle, provided they are on the higher tax bracket and they get away with only paying 48%.

The Garda (That is the police in Ireland) even have a neon sign going down Leeson street that reads: "GARDA WARNING:  CYCLISTS RED MEANS STOP, DON'T RISK IT!" but do they listen NO!  Going down Bagott street the other day I almost knocked a cyclist off his bike because he drove straight through a red, and then turned around and started swearing at me, so after he drove off, I drove up behind him and gave him a loud blast on my hooter and drove off - he got such a fright, and it gave me such pleasure!

They also have their designated cycle lanes but insist on overtaking other cyclists, which is fine - if they first look behind them for on coming cars, but they don't, they just pull out thinking they are invincible - and if I had to knock one down it would be my fault.  I firstly think cyclist should get a license to say they know the rules of the road and secondly they should contribute towards the road system too!

I rambled on about the cyclist that I forgot to mention the cell phone users, well we have all seen them, those
that talk and those that text and in fact I am starting to hate cell phones, I mean we lived without them for so long and now, everywhere you go someone is talking on their phone, and I am sorry you can not concentrate on 2 things at the same time.  Cell phone drivers are worse than drunk drivers, at least drunk drivers are trying to concentrate on the road only!   Lock them up I say, and then confiscate their phones and ban them from using a cell phone for a year, you can give them an implant in their ears that gives them an electric shock if they talk into a cell phone, that should cure them!!!!

Okay that was my rant for the day!  

Eric Clapton - Swaziland 1989

A collegue was telling me at lunch time he is going to see Eric Clapton next week at the O2 in Dublin - I thought about seeing him, but honestly there are just too many concerts to see these days, but I was telling him about when I saw Eric Clapton in 1989 in Swaziland.

My BFF had gone to a Rock Concert with her brother the previous year in Zimbabwe to see, Bruce Springsteen, I was very jealous that I was not going with, she also came home with some amazing stories, that I will tell you about some day.  So when another friend of mine invited me to go with them to see Eric Clapton and a host of other bands in Swaziland, I jumped at the opportunity.

My friend and I were going with a mutual ex-boyfriends brother and his friend.  Well the friend that came with was a BIG marujana smoker and smoked in the car all the way up.  We left at about 10 a.m. on the Friday morning 21st of July 1989, the concert was on Saturday evening in Mbabane at the Somhole Stadium, it was the Kings Trust concert, basically a concert to celebrate King Mswatti II 21st birthday - he aparently had a private concert at the palace.

So we drove to Oshoek border and got through relatively easy, aparently that night and the next day there were 5 hour waits.  We had no accommodation, but a tent in the car and a couple of tins of tinned food, my friend had organized with some mates of hers that worked there that we could camp on their property or stay in the house, and this back in 1989 when there were no cell phones or email everything was done on trust and hope.

We eventually found the guys place, well the house that they stayed in was so filthy that we even decided it was not worth using the toilet as we did not know what we would catch, so we really roughed if for the week-end. 

I don't remember too much detail but remember it was an awesome week-end, I am going to go and dig up my old photos and scan them in.  While searching the internet for any information about the concert I came across this newspaper article which describes everything to a T.

Travelling back on Sunday, we decided to go through Piggs Peak as again there was a 5-8 hour wait at Oshoek border post, which was probably a wise move.  We got back and I had to have 3 baths to get rids of the dirt, and my husband wants to know why I don't like camping!

 If you can't read the article I have posted here, here is the link which should be a lot clearer: http://samusicheritage.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/swazi-rock/