Siesta

Well, friends, after a bit of thought, I’ve decided to take a short hiatus from blogging. Don’t Worry!!!! You don’t have to take me off your bookmarks yet! I will return in a couple weeks, once my batteries are recharged and I’ve got some new material for you.  In the meantime, feel free to shoot me over any ideas you have, things you’re interested in reading about… be they Irish-related or otherwise. I will do my best to take on your creative assignments.

Take care, and look for me here in February.

Best, Maryann

She’s Her Mama’s Girl

Me and my girl – I can hardly put words to how fantastic it is having a 2 year-old daughter. Despite the tantrums, long nights, picky eating and wrestling matches to get her dressed, I just love her to bits. (And she is actually really very good most of the time! )

Peppa and Mummy Pig

When I was a child, I used to spend hours in our playhouse above the garage with my dolls. We had a comfy, squeaky old chair upholstered in a faded  Revolutionary War Fife & Drum Corps print, and I would rock my babies there for hours, singing every song I knew as the rain pattered on the roof overhead.  I loved those first “children” of mine, and I dreamed of the dozen or so I would one day have with my husband.

Winter Daydreams

Round about this time of year, now that Christmas has passed and Easter is  months away, folks in Ireland get to feeling antsy. We find ourselves daydreaming a bit over a cuppa tea as we gaze out the window across soggy hills and grey streets.  Perhaps we’re wishing that Spring was closer, but more likely, we’re fantasizing about far off holiday destinations… call it the ‘Winter Doldrums,’ but a change of scenery from chilly Ireland – as much as we love her - would be welcome.

Tenerife

Irish (and often British) folks have a certain affinity for their Sun Holidays, saving up for months to fly off to Grand Canaria, Tenerife or Mallorca . There’s a running joke that if you take a vacation in this part of the world, you’ll hear a lot more British and Irish accents than Spanish, and you’ll probably get served more UK and Irish fare than anything local or strange.  The travel agencies are constantly running good deals to these destinations year round, flying direct out of Irish airports, facilitating big groups if you like, and promoting handy all-in packages. Some people love the islands so much that they even buy second homes there and go several times a year.

‘Best View’ Awards

Well, it’s year- end now and I’ve officially gone over 50,000 hits with this little blog of mine (17,000 of which come from the last year)! Woohoo! I know that’s not saying much – a lot of folks get that many hits in a day! But for me, who began this blog in 2008 as a way to keep in touch with family and friends, I’m blown away by that kind of readership. So, thank you!

As an additional thanks to the town in which I live, the lovely, quirky, medieval Drogheda, I’m going to share a list of my favourite shops, restaurants etc. from the village that gave me Frank and brought me here to begin with. So here they are, in no particular order – the “Best View Awards 2011″  from View From an Irish Back Yard.

Best Shopping
* These shops got the nod because they’re all doing something a little different than everywhere else in town, and they stand out for the quality, service and tenacity to keep going in a tough economy! I hope you’ll patronize them whenever you can.

1. Rouge Boutique - I’ve mentioned them before, but Rouge still remains my favourite dress shop in town. In the last year they’ve been open, they’ve really fine-tuned the designers and products they sell, making sure their items are well-made, unique and reasonably priced. They have also just remodeled the premises, with a beautiful spa downstairs and a bigger clothing shop on the second floor.

Rouge Boutique, Laurence Street

2. The Crafty Fox – I did a whole post devoted to this shop last year, but this does not disqualify it from inclusion on my list! I’m still a huge fan of The Crafty Fox.

3. Highlanes Gallery Gift Shop (Louth Craftmark) – Things in this shop are a bit more pricey, but it’s because they’re bespoke creations from local artists. I am in love with the pottery here, as well as the fine knitted shawls and scarfs, felted hats and purses and, my favourite, some gorgeous embroidered silk mixed media paintings. Love.

Books, Booze and Busking.

Have you ever heard the term “busking?” It’s what we would say to describe someone performing on the street. There are usually loads of musicians busking around Drogheda this time of year, particularly when there’s no snow to hinder them! Most are average performers, but some are brilliant, really really good. You’d see them year round on Grafton Street in Dublin, and sometimes around Christmas you might even see celebrities joining the busking tradition for charity (i.e. Glen Hansard, Bono, Damien Rice, etc.). Evelyn loves listening to buskers.

Just a bit of random conversation for you. Anyway! Hope you had a Happy Christmas!

I’m actually killing some time before Frank and I dress up and go out for dinner. Evelyn is staying the night with her grandparents – only the second time EVER that she has been away from us over night! I miss her already, but it will be nice to have a grown up night out with my husband. This time of year is always special to me because I remember the first Christmas Frank and I were together and how we fell in love here in Ireland. I feel so much older now, even though it’s been just 5 years. I think that makes it the perfect time for us to catch up on our romance feel young and giddy again. Hopefully I won’t fall asleep before midnight!

I bought a very pretty new dress yesterday (half price!) at New Look, along with some new shoes and jewelry, too. It will be fun to feel fresh and dolled up. I have no idea what to do with my hair or makeup, as neither are my forte, but I’m sure Frank will be happy to have me as his date even if I look like an over-teased clown. Ha ha! I will try to post pictures, whatever the finished product resembles.

Festive Food

There’s a lot going on these days… I’m sure it’s the same for you… so I just wanted to take a moment to share some of the season’s most beautiful, delicious, photogenic food I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy.

Consider this a cyber-edible Christmas card.

Savoury Pie - The Christingle

These first few tasty bits we bought at the 7-UP Winter Wonderland Christmas Market in Dublin last Sunday. We went up for Evelyn’s birthday and came home with some really fantastic treats, including three meat and veg pies from the Pie Minister - the ones we tried included the Three Wise Men (with turkey,  smoked bacon and a pork and herb stuffing topped with cranberries), Deer Santa (with venison, Cotechino sausage, smoked bacon, puy lentils, winter vegetables, juniper, thyme and port), and Christingle (with honey roast parsnips, herbs, cheddar cheese and chestnuts in white port).

French Lollies - the most flavourful candy I've ever tasted.

I bought a single hard candy lollypop (smaller than the ones pictured) for Evelyn from a French candy maker’s stall at the Winter Wonderland, and as we each had a taste, we looked at each other in amazement at how incredibly delicious the simple confection was! This is what candy must have been like “back in the day!” It was so yummy that Evelyn held the stick with an iron fist and Frank went back to the stall to buy several more sweets.

The Life of an Irishman

It may surprise you to learn that Frank was not the first Irish filmmaker to catch my attention.

It was 2004, my first year working for Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis. I definitely felt in over my head as I frantically tried to manage a massive Call for Entries and plan for the upcoming Festival. I was still in the “I will do anything NOT to get in trouble” frame of mind, so when I got an email from Ireland requesting a fee waiver for a student film, I was immediately inclined to turn the cheeky filmmaker down. The short version is that the filmmaker, Simon Fitzmaurice, twisted my arm with his charm and I let the film in for free, thinking to myself, “this better be good.”

Simon Fitzmaurice Headshot

I remember getting the short film, “Full Circle,” in the mail and putting it straight away into the office DVD player, my curiosity driving me on. I pushed “play” and sat there, frozen, captivated in the dark room as I watched a beautiful story unfold, unlike any I had seen that year out of hundreds of entries. I had tears in my eyes and I was in love. This film HAD to make it into the Festival, and from that day on, I did everything I could to nudge it and encourage it forward in the process. When the jury chose “Full Circle” to win a Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Award, I was over the moon.

Stollen Glances

Our home is perfectly silent right now; completely still apart from the hum of the refrigerator and the creaks of the heating system settling into the joints of the house. The washing machine is done. Evey is napping. Frank is holed up in his office. Even Georgie is sleeping on the chair without snoring. It’s lovely.

The only thing that would make this moment more perfect would be if there were silent white snowflakes fluttering down from the sky. No such luck.

I know for a fact that I am the ONLY one on this entire island who is hoping it will snow for Christmas. Everyone seems to dread the possibility of being snowbound – as we were last year – but I can’t think of anything that would excite me more at this point! One reason being that Santa is bringing Evey a sled! They needn’t worry though – there is no sign of the white stuff in the upcoming forecast, just rain, rain, rain and chilly 40ish temps.

Snowy Chimneys Winter 2010, by Frank Kelly

I was born a snow baby – even though it was the 27th of May, my mom still brought me home from the hospital after a late spring snowstorm. Bozeman, Montana, was a magical place to live in winter, and lucky that I liked it, because winter in the shadow of the Bridger Mountains could last six months or longer. I loved to sled, ice skate, ice fish, ski, snowboard and generally roll around in the white powder as much as I could. I lived in swishy snowpants from November to March and I remember many of my favourite earmuffs, gloves, hats and scarves way better than anything I would have worn in summer. Snow is great. Snow, snow, snow!!!   

Here’s Why

Happy Thanksgiving from Ireland… a little late.

Since it’s obviously an American holiday, we don’t get a four-day weekend here, so I decided to move our celebrations to Sunday. We had a small crowd – just Frank’s parents and our niece, plus ourselves – and delaying it a few days gave me extra time to get the food and the house ready.

Centerpiece

I’ve actually only done one “real” Thanksgiving since moving here, and that was in 2008 when we were newlyweds. I bought a massive fresh turkey from the butcher at the top of the hill and we had the whole family over, plus a few extra! I was pretty stressed out, although everything turned out well as I recall. The next year I was enormously pregnant, so I made a small version and it was horrible. Practically inedible. Last year, we had just gotten back from England, so I only attempted a turkey meatloaf and a pecan pie. So it was about time to pull out all the stops again for the holiday this time around, and I’m happy to report it went much more smoothly, though there were still a few mistakes. Grr. Just how it goes, eh?

Understandably, folks in Ireland just don’t seem to “get” Thanksgiving. I’m constantly asked around this time of year “What’s that Thanksgiving craic all about?” I usually chuckle some non-PC reply about how it celebrates our thankfulness for getting away from British rule… and maybe throw in a bit of history, at which point their eyes begin to glaze over.

Of course, I could just Wikipedia an answer and put it up here for my Irish readers, but would that really mean anything to you? Because that’s the ultimate question I get – “Why is Thanksgiving such a big deal to Americans? Why is it so important?”

Taste of Paris

French Onion soup reminds me of happy days.

My French Onion Soup

My first taste of the stuff was back when I used to serve it to customers at the Cafe’ Internationale at the old location in the Emerson Cultural Center in Bozeman. I was only 15 but already broadening my palate and I quickly fell in love with Chef Andy’s version - a rich, dark broth, just a bit peppery, with a generous chunk of Havarti cheese that always sunk to the bottom of the bowl and streeetched back up from bowl to spoon to mouth. We must have gone through gallons of the stuff every week.

Then I remember French Onion Soup as the first course of our Valentine’s Day lunch in  a little cafe in the Les Halles part of Paris. Frank had never had it before and needed some convincing that cheese in soup was a good idea, but I think he came around to my side pretty fast. It was a beautiful day and a lovely version of the soup, though to our detriment,  because in lingering over the stuff, we actually missed our flight back to Dublin!

Cathedral of St. Eustace, Paris

I’ve been wanting to try making French Onion soup for ages. It’s one of my favourite brews for a chilly day, and so unique to any other kind of soup I can think of. I also rarely see in on the menu in Ireland, which is a shame because I think it would be a real crowd-pleaser.