Valentine Cookies!

Here it is, the last day of February, and I have finally been able to make Pat Hogan Schlueter's famous Valentine Cookies!!

First Connie spent a fortune sending me two containers of Cinnamon Imperials  from the US.  She had to send them since they are absolutely NOT HERE in Ireland!  She said Dick was afraid they would taste like mint, 'cause that's what it cost to ship 'em!  I can report that they tasted like regular red hots! 

Then I had to make the dough, chill it, and roll out and bake the cookies.  That I did while Haley was at school - otherwise it would be March and they still wouldn't be done!

Then we had to frost and decorate.  It was Steve and myself on hand last night to frost and decorate.  I frosted, he put on the red hots.  It made me laugh - as I  recall that in later years, when kids were no longer living at home, Mom had to enlist Dad's assistance in decorating holiday cookies too!  So there we were, imitating John and Pat while we decorated Valentine Cookies!  Ha!

And of course, Steve had to create the obligatory jaw-breaker...

HALEY #16

This is Haley playing Gaelic Football for St. Helen's in Drumlish!  They were playing Ballymahon and won this game by a large margin too!

HALEY #22

This is Haley playing Gaelic Football for the County Longford Minors Team.  They were playing County Kilkenny and won by a large margin. 

Funny Signs

I just get a kick out of signs sometimes.  I loved the one telling me the door was alarmed!  Now there is apparently a valet service provided by moonlighting firemen!  It just cracks me up.  LITERALLY!!!

Anyway, I should also clarify the one-fingered salute - here the  sign to tell someone to f-off is a backward peace sign - not just a middle finger.  So it's kind of funny when we see people trying to look cool for pictures and they hold up the peace sign backwards, because here, you are flipping everyone off!  Steve unintentionally flipped off his co-workers when he was trying to let them know it was 2:00!  They thought it was very funny...(though since it's a 24 hour clock, he should have been saying it was 1400 hours!)

I have also seen many more rainbows and I am happy to report that they still amaze me and I have NOT grown  tired of seeing them!  Will have to get some more photos.  They are usually so vivid and you can clearly see ROY G BIV - I kid you not!  (I know it means it rains a lot, but it also means there are a lot of sunny spells.)  The other amazing thing about them is, and I swear this is true, you can see where they come down!  Seriously, we have seen the colors lighting up the trees immediately behind the rainbow. 

I LOVE IRELAND!

Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye

Okay, so people wave at each other along the roadways using the pointer finger hello, but saying good-bye is a different ballgame.  At first I thought it was just me.  Perhaps I was too slow to comprehend the fast-paced Irish accent so when people were finished with a phone call, they would say "Bye" several times to indicate to the slow American that the call had ended. 

Then one day I was listening to the radio and the announcer was talking to a caller and when it was time to end the call, he did the same thing:   "Bye bye bye bye bye!" 

It isn't just me! Apparently, a lot of people say their telephone goodbyes like that.


Some more notes on the pronunciation front:

Fillet - is pronounced with the T sound  for the second syllable.  The accent is on the first syllable.

Billy Joel - they pronounce his last same in 2 syllables - "Jo-Elle"

Often the "th" is pronounced just with a hard T sound:

"Tanks a million!"
"Tursday"
"Tirteen Euro"

You get the idea.

Thus, it was quite funny when the radio announcer referred to the actress, Emma Thompson and said her last name with the 'th" sound!

Now I must look for a doctor for Haley.   She is off school this week (they have this break and then a two week break in April) and today she has a fever, sore throat, and white spots on her tonsils.  Aaarrrgghhh!

The One-Fingered Salute

Ha! It's NOT what you think.  In Ireland, everyone waves with the pointer finger.  Everyone!  So when driving, hands at 10 and 2 helps, so you can give the salute or hello with a little point of your finger.  People also do this when a car passes them while they are walking.  What can I tell you?  It's a friendly country!

I am posting this picture to show just how close Abbott is to our house!  This was out my kitchen window.  The Abbott windows on the side of the building include Steve's office windows.  We could wave to each other!

Big Snowfall in Ireland!

On February 11, 2014 we got actual snow accumulation!  It has been over an hour and it still has not melted!  I was at the grocery store, came out and it was snowing these big, wet flakes.  It looked like it would continue for a long time.  I had to brush snow off the windows and tail lights and when I got back in the car, the sun was shining.  The roads were a bit slushy and everyone was driving 25 kph (about 16 mph).  I thought I would never get home!!  

Safety First

In Ireland, there are many people out walking, bike-riding, and running.  There are sidewalks in many areas, but there are many small roads with no sidewalks and with hedges so close to the road that you have to walk on the road if you are out and about on that street. 

There is a HUGE push in Ireland for wearing safety vests.  (Hiram would fit right in here!)  These vests are handed out at a lot of events, and people wear them ALL the time.  I am thankful that they do, because the dark of night is NOT a deterrent to walking, biking, or running on the streets of Ireland!!  We see people out for jogs and bike rides at 9 at night, even in the winter months.  I have said it before and I'll say it again, the Irish are a hardy people!

Also, people who are out and about expect the drivers to yield the right of way and to slow down and drive carefully around them.  Still, I wouldn't just walk out in front of cars - people don't usually do that, but if there is a cross-walk, a driver must be wary of persons who may enter the road to cross.  Of course, in places like Dublin, I would not advise just walking out and expecting cars to stop...

Zach turns 22!

On February 5th Zach celebrated his 22nd birthday!!  I again made the traditional birthday cake and it is quite delicious. 

I did make a batch of Chex Mix a few weeks ago using the items Jeff and Theo sent us - thanks!  But  will probably NOT be making our traditional Valentine cookies as I have been unable to find cinnamon inmperials (Red Hots) anywhere in Ireland.  Can't even find them online here, and when I tried to order them online from Amazon, the store could not ship them overseas.  RATS!

In the end, it saves me from numerous calories...

Longford v. Roscommon

On Super Bowl Sunday, Steve, Zach, Haley and I attended a Gaelic Football Game in town.  It is so much fun to be in attendance and sit so close! We bought tickets for the stands so we could have seats.  Across the way you can see everyone in the terrace - there you pay for cheaper tickets but you have to stand!  As you can see it was a lovely, sunny day, but the temps were just above freezing.

Longford lost the game 13 to 11, but it was a fun game to watch.  After that, we went home to watch the Six Nations Rugby Match, Ireland v. Scotland, on tv.  Ireland won and that was nice to watch with a fire going as the day was chilly.  The Super Bowl kick-off  here was in real time and so it was to start at 11:30 at night.  We recorded it and had our Super Bowl shock on Monday instead...