Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Incoming!

Oh look, it's Halloween again. When did that happen?

I was working late so I didn't get to scare the crap out of the small children that came a-knockin' at the door this evening, but Hubby got to dish out the sweeties. Next year he's going to get a big ol' gorilla suit so he can do more trick and less treat. For the first time since we've been here we were in a place where kids go trick-or-treating. And for the first time, he hadn't gone out and bought sweets specially for that purpose so he was most distressed to have to dig into his secret stash of sweeties to give to the young 'uns.

The Irish love Halloween. It's a great excuse to let off fireworks. Fireworks are illgal so everyone drives up North across the border and buys them there. I got to watch a lovely display while I was standing on the cold, dark station platform this evening waiting for the train. Bang! Crackle, sparkly lights all around. From the moment the sun set (which was real early since the clocks went back on Saturday night again) Dublin sounded like a war zone, and there were some really weird characters out in the streets when I left the office. It was kinda nice and the childlike pleasure I get from watching fireworks made me forget all the bad stuff for a while. I think I will petition to make fireworks a nightly event.

In honour of Halloween - or perhaps more to give people a chance to adjust to the time change - this last weekend was a long one. We took the opportunity to drive down south to Cork to see our friends. It took about 3 1/2 hours to drive the 250km there on Saturday morning, and about 5 hours to make the return journey yesterday.
We encountered this about 100km outside of Dublin...
I still haven't gotten used to these traffic jams that appear in the middle of nowhere on Irish roads.

The rest of the weekend was good, though. Some serious shopping was done on Saturday afternoon. My favourite purchase of the day was a stunning pair of black shoes to replace the pair that lives under my desk at work. Shoes not suitable for commuting, so I wear sneakers/trainers/takkies (depending on where you live in the world) to get to and from work, and then I walk around in pretty shoes during the day.
But enough about my footwear, let's get back to the weekend:

My friend is a really good cook so we ate well...

... and after supper on Sunday evening she and I left the rest of the clan watching movies and we kept a bottle - ok maybe a bottle and a half - of red wine company in the kitchen and did what we do best: long talks late into the night till long after everyone else had gone to bed.
These girly chats of ours are really good for the soul and mine felt much lighter the next day. My head, not so much, but everything has a price, hehe!

Our plan of going for a scenic drive and / or walk on Sunday was completely destroyed by the weather. Sunday was a true Irish day: grey, cold, drizzly and foggy. It's kind of pointless going for a scenic drive when you can't see more than twenty feet in any direction, which was a bit disappointing since I'd hoped to take some nice photos. However, I managed to get one or two during our drive down on Saturday morning and back again yesterday.

We saw some roadside art near Cashel when we stopped for a rest on the way there...

... and some cows on the way back while we were stuck in traffic yesterday:

Yep, cows. Lots of cows. I would show you more photos but, well, they're only cows, people ;)

And now winter is upon us. The short days have arrived all of a sudden and even though the sun was out at times today it was, quite frankly, bloody cold, despite what the Irish might say.
I guess now that Halloween is over - and it must be over because the constant popping and banging outside seems to have stopped - it's time to accept that the cold season has once again begun. I have no doubt that all over the country, hundreds of underpaid and overworked shop assistants are busily replacing the witches and pumpkins in their displays with all things Santa.

Anyone know how many shopping days 'till Christmas? Too few, I'm sure.

14 comments:

Linda said...

Ok I for one would of like to see more of the cows! hummph!! I know they are just cows but they are sooo photogenic(sp?).

I will have up pics of the 2 pumpkins I just carved tomorrow.

The dish in the oven looks soooo yummmie!! :)

I am going to guess 54 days till Christmas. I am not for sure how many but it will be here before we know it.
Now pretend I am Santa and tell me what ya want.

Happy Halloween!!!

p.s.
the road side art too cool!!

DelBoy said...

Did you know that the Irish actually invented Halloween? Well, the Celts did.

L said...

Happy Halloween Terri!

I will sign your petition I love fireworks. ;)

Anonymous said...

C'mon, there can never be enough pictures of cows.

Fence said...

We had fireworks going off even before it was dark. And some sort of KKK parade. Okay, not really but all the local kids got dressed up in this white gear and marched past the apartments. I managed to get one photo which I must stick up on flickr at some stage.

Brigitte said...

You can put a picture of me up if you need more pictures of cows - heh heh!! Happy halloween (though that is a statement that neve made sense to me really)

And counting from today (1 Nov) until the 24 December - yes, it is 54 days left to shop. Better get to it then hey?

I also love fireworks. it will always remind me of my dad and those big round yellow granidilla (passionfruit) ice-creams (the ones with the pips in them). Do you remember those?

Love the photos, the dich in the oven looks really yummy.
Tata

Brigitte said...

Er, that's the DiSh in the oven...lol!!

Bosbefok said...

Thats only 8 (yes...Eight !!) weekends left to Xmas...... So you better start to make that list of pressies soon. Make mine a big, exciting one !! - present that is...:-) )
I love buying Xmas pressies... Its the only time I like to shop !!

Terri said...

Beads - OK Santa, I think I want a sewing machine please. And lots of warmth & happiness. Not necessarily in that order :)

Delboy - That sounds like something I knew once but forgot. Quit laughing..! It does sound like something the Irish would do ;)

Lori - Cool, I got a signature for my petition, yay!!!

Kyknoord - Right, so, more photos of cows will follow shortly.

Fence - I don't think I have your flickr link handy - is it on your blog somewhere? Ya, I know, I should just go look, shouldn't I? I'm such a lazy cow. hah.

Spookie - Ooh, yummy I love granadilla!

Bosbefok - Strangely enough, Christmas shopping is my least favourite sort of shopping. Oh well, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do eh?

AngelConradie said...

waaaayyy too few days till christmas china bean- way too few!
that traffic sounds very familiar...
i love the picture of the cows under the trees!
the fireworks sound like fun, but as i'm sure you know, halloween isn't particularly "big" in south africa.

anne said...

The traffic picture is eerily reminiscent of a Loto commercial in France. The lone driver on the right lane must have been cackling madly...

Anonymous said...

Like the pic of the roadside art.
Let's not talk about Xmas, shall we... I can already feel my stomach turning.

Anonymous said...

I am just so glad to read that you had such a lovely weekend!!!!! Sounds like you are back to your "old" self!!!! I am dreading Sunday, because that is when Guy Fawkes day will be celebrated with a bang. I don't mind the fireworks, but my little ones don't like the big bangs!!!

Terri said...

Angel - 'China bean' - haha! Haven't heard that one in a while ;)

Anne - I'm sure he was. Hubby wasn't, I assure you.

Chitty - Ireland is loaded with roadside art. Gives us something to look at when we stop for a smoke, given the absence of roadside rest-stops.

Buddess - Your little ones and the dogs both. You should tie pillows to their ears that night then they won't hear all the crackers hehe!