Trip around Ireland so far

February 29, 2012 5 Comments

Fourth day of our trip has come and passed too quickly. Ireland is a beauty that needs time to be discovered and ingested and our mornings have been spent packing and travelling between locations.

We have so far spent quality time in Dublin where we kept wondering if this was indeed the end of a cycle, as our Irish story started and then blossomed with appealing pictures of hubby in this beautiful city. We visited Cork for a morning and enjoyed the European Market(oh yeah, we sampled the European feel and their very own salmon and beef sausages!) Last night, we stayed in beautiful Kinsale where Mama’s Haven had the privilege of updating its posts from a room with a view over the Oyster Haven :-) . Today we have enjoyed a drive in a horse-drawn carriage around the National Park of Killarney and the renowned wittiness of our local “driver”.

What have we liked most? With the risk of sounding fake and propagandistic I would say simple things like a walk in the park in Killarney, a swim in the pool, a picnic of salmon and fresh bread in Cork and our long conversations in the car when Emms was either snoozing or watching Peppa Pig.

As I’m writing this very post I can answer another question: what have we enjoyed the least? A scene from My Fat Gypsy Wedding is being played in front of my very screen, with Irish traveller kids running up and down the lobby of an otherwise quite decent hotel. I don’t resent them, I resent those responsible for keeping them entertained and safe…Instead, a very kind Irish couple having a drink is doing a great job talking to the older ones, giving them the chance of having probably the first dignified/dignifying conversation they ever had.

But my view on parenting and migrant communities will have to wait. I have some gorgeous pictures of Ireland to post…

Night night for now from the beautiful south of Ireland!

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Filed under Entertainment, Photography, Special Days, Travelling Tagged with ,

Blood versus heart lines

February 28, 2012 Leave a comment

My heart and blood line ;-)

One of the reasons behind this trip is an itching restlessness that has been tormenting hubby for the last couple of years…I can’t really tell what it is but at times it borders homesickness. Some other times, it takes the form of an acute need for a change of scenery. Many potential scenarios have been played back and forth. Some resulted in fulfilment and in consequence we moved last October. But the ache is for more changes, we just don’t know when and where yet. All I know is that there is a strong yearning in his heart for things yet to come.

So this trip is a possible farewell to this part of the world. It is a chance to fill our memory tank with visual reminders of this wonderful country. It could be our chance to say a proper “Cheerio!”to the place that has blessed us in so many ways.

I love this place myself. It has been my home for the last six years, six wonderful and decisive years. It will always be the place I associate with warmth. Warmth of hearts. Family not as in blood line but as in “heart line”…And I will miss it like crazy.

If I had only myself to please I would stay, for sure.

But I am responsible for the upbringing of a toddler who needs to grow with the reassurance of a “bigger than herself” universe, made of “Giagias” and “Papoudes” and “Bicus” and “Bicas” (the Greek and Romanian equivalents for grannies and granddads). A toddler who is entitled to a feeling of belonging I cannot offer her here. A toddler whom I want to raise appreciating the legacy of her blood line and come into her own before she can appreciate the grace and beauty of “heart lines.”

Filed under Photography, Special Days, Travelling Tagged with ,

Defining moments…

February 26, 2012 3 Comments

“When a defining moment comes along, you define the moment, or the moment defines you.” Kevin Costner(yes, a hunk said something clever and I found it, beat that!)

Saturday evening was one of those moments for me…We were having our usual chicken and corn and rice in Nando’s after a long and frustrating day when Alex turns to me and says: “I have a crazy idea..what if we went to see Ireland for a week? Two conditions: there will be only positive talk for a week. And we leave tomorrow!”

Okay, I’m not the person to say no to traveling with the two people I love most in the world.I just need time to adjust and warm up to the idea…to prepare…mentally…physically…Think, organise, pack, think some more, add some more stuff in. Talk toddler through it. Talk myself through it.Warn hubby of possible(no, imminent!) meltdowns on from both toddler and myself.

So, I said no. I brought all the arguments I could think of. At the end of the day, you can’t just take up and go like that, especially when you have a toddler in tow…

Or can you?

Inspired by a talk I had heard earlier on Saturday at this women’s conference, I decided life is not only about routines and feeling safe. Life is what you make of what is put in your path. I wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass me by.

It took us five hours and a meltdown to get ready. We both looked harassed yet strangely euphoric when the last bag went in. Are we crazy? Are we going to regret it? Probably while we’re doing it and we’re too tired to see what we’re creating. But this will be one of those weeks that we will talk about when we will be too old and frail to travel. One of Emma’s first memories maybe…

Looking forward to a great week!!Image

Filed under Special Days, Travelling Tagged with

In sickness and in health…

February 23, 2012 2 Comments

Yeah, I think I know where your mind will go when you read this line…white dress wedding, church and a happily-ever-after couple riding into the sun…

Well, I will go on and admit I’m a bit of a romantic and I still have this very vow saved for safe keeping along with our wedding invitation and our wedding photo album somewhere.

But it’s not there that my mind goes where I hear this. Strangely enough, it’s not the Carrickfergus castle or the hilarious(now) mishaps of our civil wedding day that I think of when this line comes to mind. It’s my small girl I think of..

You see, Emma has been a sickly child since she was born..reflux, then a looooong line of infections/coughs/trips to the doctors…We’re not sure what’s causing it but it’s worse in the winter and when the weather is humid. We eliminated asthma, we looked into various allergy trigger agents, we put her on a gluten-free and wheat-free diet. We have been trying recently all these natural cures and products. And yet, she still gets them blooming infections with a sickening regularity, every two to three weeks on average.

And it drains me. To see my baby sick. To have my routine disrupted. To know she’s not gonna enjoy another week of her life because she will be spluttering her lungs out or grumpy-ing around because she doesn’t know herself what’s wrong but she needs to let me know somehow that she’s not well..

It got to the point where it doesn’t matter what it is anymore: a cough, a throat or an ear infection. Because for me it’s a disruption from life’s normal routine but most importantly, an opportunity to mumble to myself regarding this little person I was entrusted with: “in sickness and in health”.

Sick baby

I will love and protect her, be there for her, fare it all alongside her, for her sake.

In sickness and in health…

Filed under Parenting Tagged with

Hello world, Mama’s Haven is up and running!

February 22, 2012 5 Comments

My life has been a bit topsy-turvy in the recent months…I changed location,  went from working full time to being in the house all the time, sailed through unexpected changes in hubby’s work and the adherent stress that comes with such changes and have generally been exposed to an overwhelming array of experiences that are bursting to come out. So you can understand why I chose this particular name for my blog…I intend it to be not only my own HAVEN from my daily routine and a valve to release pressure but also a haven from all mamas out there in the same situation(s).

Yeap, I know, I could have gone to see a therapist but I reckon blogging is a tad more fun , wouldn’t you agree?

I intend to speak from my experience mainly about parenthood(at the end of the day, that’s what I do best) but because I love cooking, fashion, reading and travelling there will be loads of posts on these subjects too.

So without further ado, wish me happy blogging everyone!!

Mama's Haven

Filed under Education, Entertainment, Parenting, Photography, Travelling Tagged with , , ,

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