Sundown on a gentle amble on the eve of Advent

This early evening it was sunny.  And beautiful.

We are enjoying a gentle coming of winter.

These photos were taken on an easy amble down to the lake to see the sun going down.

Enjoy.....

 

And just when I thought it could not get more beautiful sitting on ´my´stone by the lake watching the sun go down, there did n´t it go and get even more beautiful....

Yep.  On cue, just as the sun went down over the brow of the hill, did n´t two swans glide gently by...

And then the next day....

The next two photos were not taken from my little spot sitting by the lake, but I could not resist including them; they were taking in the Alps a month ago by Romeo H.

So take your pick: sit by lake for a gentle moment, or´step´into the pictures below and enjoy a nice hearty walk through the Alps.

Is life not sweet bytimes.

Hausfrau Róisín Housekeeping Tip of the Day: How to make the bed linen `APPEAR´ ironed.

Hausfrau Róisín Housekeeping Tips.  

If you have not been a regular ISFTS reader - and if not WHY not?  You may need an introduction to the Hausfrau Róisín Housekeeping Tip. 

A Hausfrau Róisín Housekeeping Tip could be anything pertaining to managing a home, be it cooking or cleaning etc. Indeed, on days I may be feeling a little bolder, I may even stretch to tips on managing one´s life, or one´s computer files etc.  But, all would be about running said home/life/computer a lá Hausfrau Róisín. 

The main characteristic of a Hausfrau Róisín Housekeeping Tip is that it would offer the best possible outcome with the least amount of effort/time/cost; and if Hausfrau Róisín gets a few brownie points after expending so little effort/time/cost for achieving said fabulous results - then so much the better!  Disclaimer:  Absolutely no cook, or medical professional anywhere has ever recommended any Hausfrau Róisín Housekeeping Tip. Ever.

Hausfrau Róisín´s Housekeeping Tip of the Day:  
How to make the bed linen appear ironed on the bed.
Few things look as delightful in the home as a bed dressed with freshly ironed bed linen. -  Well except a gorgeous naked body lying on the self same bed on which said bed linen has been draped - but we won´t go there, this being a family friendly blog and all.  

On the other hand, few tasks can be as tedious to face into as a laundry basket full of crinkled wrinkled  bed linen.  And for the Martha Stuart types among my readers who LOVE LOVE LOVE  setting into ironing the bed linen needed for a family of 12 - well woop de doo for you, but I am not with you on that one.  So you guys can leave now, and go do some ironing or something.

(FYI: I DO actually have in my circle of friends a real live person who thinks there is absolutely nothing better to do on a Sunday morning than listening to Marian Finucane http://www.rte.ie/radio1/marian-finucane while ironing a basket full of bed linen.  - About listening to Marian, myself and just about the whole Irish radio listening population the world over could agree with that.  But, there is a heck of a lot of of things other than ironing I could think of doing while listening to said Ms. Finucane!)

Anyway, where was I... 

OH, yes, here´s how to have the ironed look without the actual ironing.

1)  When washing avoid using the ´wring out the water to death` cycle. 

Note:  If you have only the dryer option for drying clothes rather than being able to hang the sheets up somewhere, you may have to use the ´wring out water to death` cycle when washing, to avoid wasting money and energy at the dryer stage; even Hausfrau Róisín would accept that the ´wring out water to death´cycle is the better option here.  

However when using the dryer, it is important to note the cusp, just that moment when the bed linen is dry enough not to cause pneumonia -  but not even a little bit dryer.  Because, after that moment the wrinkling starts in earnest.

 But for those of us lucky enough to have a hang up option for wet clothes...... 

2) Take bed linen out of wash machine as soon as the wash cycle is finished and hang up straight away.    - Nice and orderly with a little tuck and pull here and there as you go to ease out any wrinkles in the linen.

3) When dry fold carefully.

Now here is the pièce de résistance:- if ironed looking sheets is your aim that is.

4)  After dressing the bed sparsely spray warm water on the areas of  bed linen and pillow covers that can be seen. 

That´s it!  That is the magic.  

Now I emphasize the word sparsely; you don´t want lots of water soaking into your €500 duck down duvet, causing all sorts problems with rotting duck feathers at a future - and at a not too distant future, date.

In addition I want to make clear, to avoid any litigious situations arising for me either at a later date: 
Do not apply the spray water technique just before bedtime.  All those soggy sheets and pillow cases won´t do your health an iota of good.   

So you should do the spray and ignore thing several hours before bed time to make sure the bed linen is well dried out before you hop in.
 
Plan B - if you forgot to put the fresh linen on the bed until just before bedtime.  
All is not lost.

1) Dress bed. Assuming you have followed instructions 1-4, the linen will be O.K. enough.

2) Turn on only the low light*.  
This will give enough light to show the bed linen has been changed. - Brownie points right there. But, not enough light to show any wrinkles. -  This really does work - especially if there is a distraction with the suggestion or even hint of nice and naughty fun things to come for other parties who have access to said bed.....

.....Ah yes, tried and true: a plate of ice cream in bed and NOT getting up to wash your teeth afterwards! The wild boldness and fun of it all will, with certainty, distract from any consideration or observation of wrinkled bed linen having been just put on the bed.

P.S. *Regarding the low light mentioned above.  This is one of those no brainers that some people actually need to be told I understand:   The naked truth is everything and everybody, the latter being much more to the point here, looks a lot better in low light.

If you don´t have low light in your bedroom. GET IT IN -  NOW.  

Hausfrau Róisín.        P.S.......................

a) If you found this tip absolutely thrilling (!) you can review the earlier HRT below.

The link to previously published  Hausfrau Róisín Housekeeping Tips from March 17th 2013 under the title: Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!
About how to cut down on cooking time and on time given to washing saucepans. 

b) For more on the topic of low light in the bedroom: http://irishstewforthesoul.blogspot.de/2012/09/i-dont-know-about-you-but-i-just-dont.html

An analysis of the financial state of affairs in Ireland - from a bar stool somewhere in Dublin

I have a friend Anthony, he  is great at summing up the state of affairs in Ireland.  He really does not appreciate how much we his friends enjoy and learn from his observations.  In spite of our pleas, he does think he should be writing a blog presenting his ruminations.  So,  I am putting his ruminations into MY blog!  For the second time too.  Read on and see if you agree that our man Antho hits the nail on the head with his observations.

Let me know, dear blog reader if you would like to hear more from our man Anto sitting on a bar stool somewhere in Dublin......

And so an analysis of the financial state of affairs in Ireland from a bar stool somewhere in Dublin.  A la Anthony

…..Yes, I do have a problem with the idea that every Irish person must pay €8,900 towards private bank debt whereas the norm is €191.  So what, a property boom happened here.  But I have no property - not even a car!  All we ended up with was higher rents. 

Why do H, A, N and myself owe €36,000 when not one of us has ever borrowed from a bank... have limited enough savings that have yielded only minimum interest payments?  My sister, likewise has never borrowed from a bank, nor indeed has my mother, unless you include her as part of the deal back in 1971 when my Dad - and it really was only a male matter back then - purchased the house. 

The Irish did not print money... the money that fueled the boom did not originate solely in Ireland.  Much of it emerged from banks in Germany and France... and the UK.  In other words, from other private investors.  Why are the Irish only responsible for those 'bad bank debts'?  The bankers took the risk... and the risk wasn't worth it.  Weren't they able to see that the whole thing was a house of cards.  The whole thing collapsed.  Under capitalism, therefore, they 'lost'.  Ahem... not so... the Irish tax payer - and that includes all residents, regardless of where they came from - must 'pay' instead. How are we more responsible than anyone else?  A lot of people here believe that it was to save the euro and to save French and German banks.  Maybe so.  I don't know.

The taxpayers here would also include you and H in Germany, if ye ever decided to move over here to Ireland.  The debts of 2008 have simply been transferred elsewhere... to other people in another time.  I still find this perplexing.  Can you justify it to me?  Please do.   Even if I had bought a home at an exorbitant rate - we'll say €500,000, which was not 'unreasonable'  back in 2007, I'd still have to pay a mortgage on that... and still pay the €8,900 to cover the banks' losses.  How is that anyway fair?  The banks have been 'bailed out', but Joe and Jo Soap have not.

It's been the biggest bank robbery ever - except, this time, the Banks are the robbers.

Clearly, I now need to take a break... from the meanderings of a mad man.  I still haven't lost faith in the European 'dream' but increasingly; I think that there are fewer and fewer of us about.  I honestly think that if the UK leaves the EU, there'll be a hell of a lot of people here clamoring to follow.  Sad, sad days... and just months after the EU obtained the Nobel Peace Prize... for actually managing to achieve peace between the former enemies.  Is it from this that the European goals of the past half century die?

Thanks Anthony, came it coming.  You really do make your case.  Roisín Hausfrau.