http://englishmum.com Living in Ireland, shopping, kids, greyhounds, cooking, more shopping and a load of rubbish about, well, nothing really Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:30:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Righty ho, then.  The very first challenge for our fledgling book group was Alexandra Fuller's Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight.  First off, I would say that this is not my usual reading material, which tends to be either cookery books or nasty, grisly Mark Billingham-esque murder mysteries.  Having said ... http://englishmum.com/2008/07/05/ems-bookish-club-our-june-book/   So phase... er... three?  (I've lost count) of English Towers' race for self sufficiency began last week after lovely C (the one with the boat) and Hubby came to some drunken, pub-induced agreement that we could have the greenhouse that he'd purchased for his wife, the lovely K, but that she didn't really want.  Hmm.  ... http://englishmum.com/2008/07/04/the-friday-photo-dont-come-running-to-me-if-you-chop-yer-legs-off/ So I've had a few people say to me 'ooh, I wanted to leave a comment on something you said, but couldn't work out how to do it'.  So here's a step by step for all you 'lurkers'.  Come on now, speak up! At the end of each 'post' (or article) ... http://englishmum.com/2008/07/03/have-your-say-how-to-leave-a-comment/   It's raining.  It rains and it pours and it buckets.  It plops from the gutters, rattles off the (newly completed) greenhouse roof and hammers the skylights. Bert, who has eaten nothing since Taz arrived, save half a slice of toast and a lick at some milk, languishes on my bed.  He ... http://englishmum.com/2008/07/03/rain/ So we're driving through farmland, and all of a sudden our nostrils are assaulted by the dreadful smell of a pig farm that we pass. 'Ew', smirks Hubby, 'who dropped one?' #2 (he'll never learn): 'Well it wasn't me!!!' 'Are you sure?', chimes in #1, 'you're not talking crap are you? 'Yes', adds Hubby, ... http://englishmum.com/2008/07/02/fun-with-children/ A clever person once said that the best way to housetrain a puppy was to get yourself a nice, firm, rolled-up newspaper.  Then every time the puppy messes in the house, you smack yourself very hard on the head with the newspaper whilst repeating 'I must watch my puppy, I must ... http://englishmum.com/2008/07/01/how-to-housetrain-a-puppy-not/ So yesterday, Hubby and I decided to consult our greyhound guru, lovely M the trainer, top greyhound geezer and keeper of that most wondrous of hounds, Irish Sprinter of the Year, Johnny Gatillo. First surprise was that Mrs M (hello L!) reads the blog.  I love it when I hear that people visit ... http://englishmum.com/2008/06/30/greyhound-or-tasmanian-devil-you-decide/ Honestly, I don't know how it happened.  One minute Jen was telling us about the little scrap that a lovely paramedic (hello Willie!!) found wandering alone on the Curragh and brought back to the station house, and next thing, #2 and I are whizzing down to meet Jen at Maynooth ('oops, ... http://englishmum.com/2008/06/29/uh-oh-here-comes-trouble-2/ So, my house is slowly filling up with guitars.  In the office/music room/throw-any-old-shit-that-you-can't-be-arsed-to-put-away room there are guitar stands everywhere; the bedrooms are littered with guitars, there are amps, wires and foot pedals all over the bloody place, and yet they come. Last Saturday, then, found us once again in our spiritual home: ... http://englishmum.com/2008/06/28/in-which-2-seeks-the-holy-grail-of-all-stratocasters/ So today's FP is dedicated to that most wondrously lazy and patchily hirsute of individuals, the Bertmeister, aka Burpy, the Biffer, Biff Sniff, Sir Biffington Sniffington, Bishous, Mumma's bubby (sorry), the fella, the geezer, yer wan, that f*cking dog!!!, and any number of other stupid nicknames depending on how loved up ... http://englishmum.com/2008/06/26/the-friday-photo-happy-birthday-bertilicious/