Tag Archives: Granny

Visiting Great Granny Walsh

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We took a short trip over to Ireland at the weekend, flew out Saturday morning and flew back Sunday evening, just one night away, to visit a very special relative: Great Granny Walsh.

The last time we visited Great Granny Walsh with Allegra in tow was in December, so it was before she was walking and before she’d started saying anything resembling a word, so it was exciting to be bringing her this time around so Granny could see how much of her own little person and personality she’d become.

We had a lovely couple of days and were very lucky to have sunny weather, most unusual!  So we enjoyed…

In fact we enjoyed more than just posing by Blessington Lake, which was really stunning and so peaceful… Allegra enjoyed checking out the small collection of farmyard animals there – although was a bit freaked out by the squealing pigs!

And on day two…

Looking forward to the next time, Great Granny Walsh.

love you xxx

Baby takes flight…

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At the weekend, we took Richmond Baby on her very first aeroplane flight!  We (well, mostly I) were a bit nervous about it:  would her ears hurt? would she scream the place down? would we get dirty looks from all non-parents in the vicinity (after all, we all know pre baby how it felt to get on a plane and realise you’re the one sat next to/in front of/behind a baby…)? – it was only a 50 minute flight, London to Dublin, and I’m delighted to report that it was a success and none of the worries I’d had were realised.

It took us (well, mostly me) practically a whole day to pack and despite the fact we were staying with family – so arguably didn’t need the proverbial kitchen sink – and only going for 3 days, you would have thought judging by the suitcase that we were off on a 2 week long-haul vacation to somewhere with no shops or baby related goods available locally.  Well, it’s best to be prepared right?

I packed for sunshine, for showers, for blustery wind, for hot nights, for cool nights, for nappy changes, for bottle feeding and for starting weaning (more on that another time), for playtime, for sleep time, for days out and days in.  Hell, I even threw in a swimming costume! (actually that last bit is a lie, but everything else is true).  Let’s just say, I made the most of my 20kg luggage allowance.  Well, as I said before, it’s best to be prepared right?

The first thing that differed when travelling with a baby vs. travelling without (other than foregoing the usual obligatory boozing on the plane) is that we couldn’t check in online and just turn up and dump our bags then charge through security and bodyroll onto the plane just before they shut the doors.  Like we normally would.  No, we actually had to do it the old-fashioned way and queue up, answer questions about who packed our bags, and then we got old skool style boarding passes and checked in our mammoth case before heading to the oversized luggage drop off area to dump the car seat.  I did enjoy having to hand over Richmond Baby’s little passport, too cute!  I didn’t really understand why her boarding pass just said “Infant Cox” on it – why don’t they print them with their actual name on I wonder?

And we're off!

Anyway, off we went to the departure gates, where we then made our way through the “family lane” at security – never noticed that before – and thankfully didn’t have to try or give up any of the formula I had packed in our hand luggage.  All the while, baby was happily looking around and smiling at all the new faces, bouncing about in her Baby Björn.

Then you get to board the aircraft first, by nature of the fact that you have a child with you, nice!  We got settled into our seats and still all was well with baby, she got a bit frustrated when she had to be strapped in on my lap and sit relatively still, but singing the Teletubbies theme tune on loop seemed to do the trick and she was happy enough (probably the same can’t be said for the people in front of us who had to listen to me overemphasizing the name Po every time I repeated the jaunty little song).

As we took off, she happily drank her milk and there were no signs of any ear issues, she didn’t even flinch as the aircraft got noisier and noisier around us, just carried on glug glug glugging contentedly.  For the rest of the flight she was happy to look out of the window,

Are we nearly there yet?

sit on mummy or daddy’s lap, chew on her toy frog (dropping the toy frog on the floor a lot was another game she enjoyed playing) and then before we knew it we were starting our descent into Dublin.  Another little glug glug glug of milk and we were down on the ground without any fuss.  Phew.  I was glad the flight was so short as even though she’d been really good, it’s quite a challenge to keep a 20lb baby happy in a small and confined space – all that bouncing up and down really kills your arms!

We then spent a wonderful weekend in Naas with family, who – I think it’s fair to say – all fell in love with our beautiful little girl (and who could blame them!), particularly because of her sunny disposition and the fact that she “didn’t make strange”… which apparently means she didn’t grimace every time she met someone new and they beamed at her and said hello.  So that’s a new phrase we all learnt: “she doesn’t make strange”.

She made friends with Roly the Ragdoll pussy cat,

The very handsome Roly

she impressed cousin Robert with her ball skillz (she can grip a small inflatable beach ball between her feet and move it from her hands to her feet, it’s quite a sight!), she delighted my cousin Angela with her pudgy thighs and her big smiles, and she even ROLLED OVER for the first time while we were there!!  Most exciting, rolling has begun.  In fact it was quite a weekend for firsts as she also had her first taste of real food!  Weaning has begun… and no, we didn’t start her on Guinness just for the craic, we stuck to a teaspoon of baby rice,

Baby rice: more out than in?

which despite some face pulling she did actually chow down.  That’s my girl!

It was particularly special that she had the chance to meet my wonderful Granny, her great granny, who at 95 years of age is an amazing woman who is adored by everyone.  I have written about her here before and I was so happy that Richmond Baby – who is Granny’s 12th great-grandchild! – had the chance to meet and spend time with her, they got on fabulously well, even though baby made more than one attempt to make off with her glasses!

Lovely to meet you!

Despite us only being there for a short while, I am pleased to report that I managed to squeeze a bit (well, actually quite a lot) of super shopping into our trip.  We swung by the Kildare Village outlet shopping mall and despite only being there for an hour, I managed to do some SERIOUS damage!  Well, there were just too many gorgeous things for Richmond Baby that were bargainous (well, mostly bargainous) and I couldn’t help myself!

So let’s just say that basically baby is well kitted out for Autumn/Winter 11/12 and not just that, we’re talking well kitted out in the most B-A-U-tiful clothes you can imagine from chic winter woolies, cords, and dresses by Petit Bateau to a wardrobe essential Burberry parka (ahem, yes, okay I realise I went a bit over the top here) and high fashion stylish separates from Chloé.  Okay, yes, perhaps I did go more than a bit over the top, but honestly they were discounted and it was too good a deal to walk away…. Plus, I bought all sizes 18months+ so she’ll have a decent amount of wear out of them… honest!  Watch this space to see all the clothes modelled in due course, but in the meantime, here’s a sneak preview of some of my favourite pieces from the “Allegra AW11/12 Wardrobe”:

Soft pinks and greys from Petit Bateau

Breton striped top and a pop of colour, again, Petit Bateau

"Autumn Romance" - Chloe

The essential autumnal parka

It was a fantastic weekend and so lovely to spend time with family, even though it is only a short flight to get over there, we just don’t do it enough – I guess life get’s in the way.  But, I will plan another visit in the not too distant future and we’ll be back over there again in no time (well, besides, baby’s wardrobe will need updating for Spring/Summer 12 let’s not forget!).

The Gallery #3

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Granny Walsh

It might not be a picture she’ll thank me for making public, but this is a photo of my wonderful maternal grandmother, Granny Walsh.  It was taken a few years ago when my sister and two cousins and I went over to visit her in her home town of Naas in Ireland and we spent the day around her kitchen table drinking cups of tea, eating toast, and messing around with this magnifying glass that she uses to read the paper.  It was brilliant and I will always smile when I think back on that day as I always smile when I look at this hilarious photograph.

Granny Walsh is truly an amazing woman.  She’s 95 years old (but who’s counting?!), still lives independently and on her own in her own house in her native Ireland and has a penchant for Pringles and Buckfast tonic wine (which, I am reliably informed by Wikipedia, is “associated with drinkers who are prone to committing anti-social behaviour when drunk” and whose “relatively low price and sweetness are characteristics that are thought to appeal to underage drinkers”): I think she justifies the Buckfast as it was originally made by Benedictine monks and she is very religious.  Hmmm….

In fact, some of my earliest memories of Granny Walsh are of her dousing us in holy water before bedtime when she’d babysit my sister and I.  She’s a god-fearing woman Granny Walsh and from a young age she taught us all about her favourite Saints like St. Martin and St. Anthony (who helps you find stuff, particularly when she prays to him – I think she has a hotline) and of course St. Jude, who helps the hopeless.  I’ve prayed to him a few times…

Granny left Ireland when she was pretty young, she moved over to the UK and subsequently married my Grandfather, who was also Irish (we don’t talk about him though…), had three children – the youngest of which was my mum – and stayed in England for most of her life before retiring back to her native Emerald Isle.

We loved her weekly Monday visits when we were kids, she’d come and spoil us rotten, teach us how to play card games, encourage us to pick a horse to bet on (just for fun, no money exchanged hands), and made us laugh with the funny things she’d say in her charming Irish accent.

In fact she’s famous amongst our family for the classic things she’s come out with over the years like (*said in soft lilting Irish tones*): “it’s amazing isn’t it, no matter how much exercise you do, you just can’t shift that weight…”; and “do you have cheese or a burger, what? you have a cheeseburger? two for the price of one, that’s amazing!”; and “that woman… she’d take the priest off the altar!”.  And, one of my favourites: 

Doctor: ”so tell me Mrs Walsh, are you drinking regularly?”

Granny: ”oh yes I make sure I have 2 pints a day”

Doctor: “2 pints?! really?!”

Aunty Kathleen: “no you don’t mum, don’t be silly!”

Granny: “I do, I have 2 pints a day”

Doctor: “2 pints a day of Guinness?!”

Granny: “God know, 2 pints a day of water…”

Priceless.

Granny is a great person to go to the dogs with as she always backs a winner.  She loves horse-racing and in particular the Grand National and shouts “go on, go on” at the TV when it’s on.  In fact she is quite a big sports fan generally and cleverly plays on the fact that she’s hard of hearing when the football is on, but can hear you perfectly well if you whisper “Granny’s looking tired…” – “I am not!” she’ll retort.

She is funny, she is kind, she is in fact the most kind and generous-hearted person I’ve ever known, but she’s not soft and she doesn’t scare easily either – only a few years ago she had two young lads kick in her door and make a dash for her handbag in the sitting room, she came out of the kitchen and saw them and shouted “look what you’ve done to my door!! and what are you doing with my handbag?!” and they ran off taking nothing!

She adores, and is adored by, her family, and in fact anyone she’s ever come into contact with:  everyone loves Mrs Walsh.  I can’t wait to introduce her to Richmond Baby, who is her 12th great-granddaughter! 

Granny, we love you.

This post is for week 64 of The Gallery over at Sticky Fingers, where the theme this week is Grandparents.   Visit  http://stickyfingers1.blogspot.com/ to read the other entries.