Two in the air

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Note to self:

Research vegan recipes
Talk to Sean
Water geraniums

The phone call came out of the blue.

‘Mum, I need some rest and recuperation.  Can I come home for the summer?’  What else can a mother say but ‘of course, you will be very welcome’.

Aoife had studied hard for her uni exams and had not had the time to look for a summer job.  I strongly suspected the wish to come home had something to do with money too.  I went into full motherly overdrive.  If only she hadn’t become a religious vegan, therefore potentially making every family meal a deadly warzone.  Rick can’t abide grub without dead animal and Sean enjoys stoking the fire.  I will be the peace maker, as usual.  Nobody asks me what I like.  For the next six weeks I will need the cooking skills of Ottolenghi, the diplomatic skills of Ghandi and the inner peace of the Dalai Lama.  I rush out to the supermarket to get vegan supplies: oat milk, soy spread, soy yogurt and cashew cheese.  I am looking forward to having my family around the table.

Note to self:

Book weekend to Dublin with Aoife
Book weekend in Dublin with Sean
Water the geraniums

The first week was bearable.  The weather was glorious and meals were of the bread and salad variety and tons of hummus, making it easy to cater for a vegan and a confirmed meat eater at the same time.  Aoife was tired and Sean was in a tennis camp, coming home hungry and too tired to stoke Aoife’s fire.  After the weekend the weather broke and so did the peace.  Aoife and Sean started bickering and Rick, going through a difficult patch at work. Just wanted quiet and the television,  Nobody asked me what I wanted.

Note to self:

Passports
Buy drip-dry shorts for Rick
Urgent: water the geraniums.

The trip to Dublin with Aoife was a success.  Without the daily vegan sermon she was actually quite pleasant.  We had sticky buns in Bewleys, saw a play in the  Abbey and shopped in Brown Thomas.  We came home on Tuesday and on Wednesday I made my way to the airport with Sean for the same trip – same hotel – I could have left my luggage.  Still nobody has asked me what I would like to do – I just took a week off work to take our two children out for a treat  and to keep the peace in our house and Rick just manages to grunt and complain.  I should be wearing the Blue beret and get the Nobel Peace prize for what I have achieved in the last two weeks.  Sean went off by himself in Dublin and I was left to eating sticky buns in Bewleys and shopping in Brown Thomas by myself.  It was an expensive week.

Note to self:
Book a day for the spa – just me
Buy new geraniums


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