Brigit's Garden, Roscahill, County Galway, Ireland.

Brigit's Garden Website

We are spoiled for choice here in Galway (in Ireland for that matter) when it comes to deciding on how to while away a few hours with SEVEN children over a lazy August Bank Holiday weekend.

The Polish kids are back for a week and thankfully everyone seems to have remembered the pecking order. We are all on summer holidays this time around, so there is waaaaay less stress floating around here at 'Hotel California'. 

 

Rory Belle and Jack

My terrible two are still happily ruling the roost :-). They have acclimatised nicely to having 2 (+ 3) extra kids around the place and are poster children for depicting what the word 'share' really means.

  

Sam & Lulu

The 'newbies' are doing remarkably well. They have been with us since mid-May and although there have been some trying times, the two of them are well settled and starting to take ownership of their new family.

Claudia, Vanessa and Laura

The three little lassies from Poland are still a little confused. They have (finally) been placed long-term with their foster family so this gives them a sound family setting to flourish and thrive in, but they still come to visit us once a month (for a weekend) or anytime their foster family needs a break. They are quite a handful but no busier than my own brood. The kids are coming to terms with the fact that they have a new home and family, but seem to still have an unrealistic idea as to why this has happened. They think that if they 'have enough money' they can buy back their old life. We offer a serious distraction to all those thoughts and worries they are harboring.

So a lazy afternoon was whiled away yesterday at Brigit's Garden. Experts say that for every child you have it takes an extra 15 minutes to actually get out of your house and loaded up safely in your car. We began to 'get ready' to leave at 9:30am and arrived at Brigit's Garden at 1:00pm. It is a half hour drive from our house. Thankfully, the Chef had planned ahead and toted along a bag full o'food for the crumb catchers to picnic on once we got there. 

*NOTE* Toting around any number of kids can be expensive. Brigit's Garden is run by volunteers and they depend heavily on the modest entry fee they charge. A family of 2 adults and 3 kids costs twenty two euros and when they saw our blended family they let the others slide in............. I love the kindness of Irish people.

The lay of the land is very cool at this very special place. There are four main gardens divided into the four seasons. The children were given maps and discovery charts to check off all the items they discovered along the way. Initially we heard a few grumbles from the peanut gallery because we were just 'here to look at stoopid flowers' and after we nipped that in the bud by reminding the peanuts not to be ungrateful for a new experience (all noted and nipped by the WiseTwins) we were off for a few hours of exploring.

Jack: Do they dip ya by the legs Daddy?

Daddy: No Jack, they dip you head first.

As the kids meandered through the gardens gathering clues and answers for their discovery maps along the way, we (being the grown ups) enjoyed the calmness that this beautiful place offered. Although many of the gardens are well manicured most of it is flowing beds of wildflowers, fruit trees and ponds.

After the kids caught a few of the pond's skating beetles, newts and a few other slithery suckers we carried on for a walk through the woods before everyone tumbled onto a grassy knoll for some much deserved ice-cream. 

A friend-of-a-friend (interested in becoming a foster parent) phoned me last night to ask how the Chef and I got involved in Fostering and if we had any regrets at all with regard to opening up our home and hearts to the (sometimes) traumatized children. I did not have to seek out my husband to know his answer, because it is simple and the same as mine. 

NO REGRETS. Not one. Not at all.

Bedtime blathering's told us that the 'best part of the day' was our afternoon spent at Brigit's Garden discovering all the hidden secrets and cool places to run and hide.

The best part of my day was seeing all seven of these children behave just like siblings and hearing them all screaming 'hello Granny' as they raced over to hug my Mum when she stopped over to eat us out of house and home visit last night. 

A balmy bank holiday Monday here, and we have two new feathery members to acclimatise to the fold today. Stay tuned for photos later today of our new Guinea Fowl.

Those are all the WiseWords I have for today (so far),

WiseMóna

Blogging be-damned!

I think I have writers block. The reason that I say 'think' is because I am not sure if I have ever had writers block, so am not sure what the symptoms are. I went to the first Irish Food Bloggers meeting last week in Dublin. Hosted by Bord Bia and organised by the adorable Donal Skehan (The Good Mood Food Blog).

I spent the day hanging with some cool foodies and got to learn a lot about:

1.     Irish Pork

2.     How to take better photos for all the blogging I do (food styling etc.), 

3.     When to blog (daily, weekly etc.FYI - it is best to post once a week on Tuesdays!) 

4.     How to go from ' Blog to Book ' . This was probably the most interesting segment of the day for me. 

There are a few things I learned that will help me 'tailor' my blog in case I ever want to attempt that unimaginable task! 

So to start with Bord Bia (aka Irish Food Board) spent a lot of time ' pushing pork ' on all us bloggers. Why you say? Well, back in 2008 the Irish Department of Agriculture issued a press statement saying restrictions have been placed on a number of pig farms following the discovery of contaminated animal feed. It says it discovered polychlorinated biphenyls (PCPs). These are organic pollutants normally occurring as a result of industrial processes, in pork fat during routine monitoring.

Since then the Pork industry has struggled to stay afloat and now the folks at Bord Bia are trying to spread the word that the ' Pig is back in town'  and safe to eat. They wanted us bloggers to eat a lot of Pork then go back home and encourage all our readers to ' eat more Irish Pork'.  

I was kind of bored for the first half of the day truth be told. I know all the important cuts of meat on a pig (I learned that at The Preble County Pork Festival years ago. I also learned how to scald and skin a pig too should the need ever arise). A lot of very cool people showed up teaching us how to utilise Irish Pork in several different styles. We covered fajhitas, a stirfry and a curry. I was a little sad that no one shared any Irish recipes and even though Bord Bia put on a really delicious lunch spread for all the hungry bloggers, we did not get to taste anything the demonstrators had just cooked?

Just as we were tucking into our desserts and getting ready to move back into the boardroom, a really cool guy named Eoin Purcell stepped up to the plate to talk to us about our big fat ego's.......... huh?

Apparently we would not be throwing ourselves out there into the internet abyss if we did not have a huge ego that needed stroking from all our peeps. I always thought I married the one with the huge ego. Actually,  I am certain that I did marry the one with the huge ego. Does this now mean that I have to face 'facts' and admit I write because my ego needs it? 

Hence the arrival of writers block this week. Not even as much as a ' Mary had a little lamb'  quote on Facebook out of me. Here I sit wondering if anything I have to say is actually relevant at all and even if I think it is relevant why do I have the insane urge to share it with everyone?

Seeing as I have bored you all this far I might as well carry on with a little bit more blogging and blathering. You see I am just settling in nicely to my four month hiatus from University life. We have a couple of extra (foster) kids hanging around the house which makes life a little more hectic than normal, so maybe my writers block does not necessarily stem from all that above ego/reality check stats. Maybe I am just busy?

Maybe I am distracted by the fact that I have to create a different kind of home environment to heavily nurture the new kids making sure they feel like they have a safe place to lay their heads, a hearty meal to nourish their bodies and ample (if not extra) access to hugs when needed. 

With Rory's seventh birthday looming, a lot of time has been spent looking back over the hectic life we have been leading. I am constantly in awe of who she is becoming. She is a take charge kind of girl, and amazingly  is the epitome of what WiseHospitality is all about here in Ireland.

So, with all that said and having unloaded all my insecurities of my chest for this fine summers evening, I have come to one conclusion: 

I write because I have to. 

It is in me, and it has to come out. 

For the most part, my words get whirled around the internet 300 + times a week. Hats off to my loyal blog followers, all my Facebook friends and my family. For you (all) I am eternally thankful. 

Those are all the (very long winded) WiseWords I have for tonight,

WiseMóna 

Which came first the Chicken or the Duck?

Being married to my husband is never dull. To be honest, as the years trickle into decades I find myself constantly wondering what the hell is going on behind those smiling eyes of my handsome Chef. There was never a doubt in my mind that he would make a good Dad. He is forever doing all those kind of creative projects that I hate doing. 

One of the more recent projects we have been working is the new abode for all our feathered friends. To date we have only six...

'The Simpsons'

Bart, Maggie and Lisa

Horny Henry (aptly named)

Henrietta and Grace

My husband likes animals. Other than having an allergy to cats he would fill the house with little furry creatures were he to have his way. We have an understanding that as long as it lives outdoors, he can have it. Needless to say these birds bring us endless hours of fun and a fresh supply of eggs. 

The children love the hens and ducks. They spend a lot of time walking around the garden with one each under their arms, chatting away to them and helping them find big fat garden slugs. 

I just sit back and take it all in.  

To be happy and content with life is a very great place to be. How lucky are we!

Those are all the WiseWords I have for this sunny spring evening,

WiseMóna