"Life in Slow Motion, somehow it don't feel real...."

Does anyone else have an inner voice that just never seems to shut up? Mine is particularly loud and hasn't really shut up since I learned the results of the US election. I honestly wish I could shut it up.

I don't think of my inner voice as a "her." If I allow myself to wax esoterically for a moment I suppose that would be because our misogynistic society has never been comfortable with women speaking for themselves and my inner voice is often hurtful to me. So, subconsciously I guess I have bought into that role . Oh the conflict!

Anyway, my inner voice had a lot to say to me yesterday as I digested the news and the social media around that election of Trump. Me or my inner voice had a lot to say to me and some of it spilled out on the pages of Facebook. I won't apologize. Many things have been held in for far too long.

I have been coming to the realization for a while that I have lost myself. Que theme music:

Melodramatic, maybe. Honest, definitely. I have always existed mostly in other people's eyes. A fault I understand, but a comfortable spot it had become and thanks to great people in my life I became  a strong, confident, intelligent and productive person. Then I moved overseas. Suddenly the only person who saw me as that person was my Dear Husband (DH). Damn, that's a lot of pressure to prop up someone else like that. An impossible task to put on one person. Therefore over the year I have been retreating for comfort to that inner voice, which isn't always nice to me.

Okay, before you start feeling to sorry for me and begin to imagine the worst, stop! I am not doing anything physiologically destructive and I am hoping to stop the psychological damage now.

You see, because I do see myself in the eyes of others, I have been desperate (really desperate) to make friends in my new home and maybe recreate the person I felt I left behind. My inner voice told me that in order to get along that I needed to go along. "Keep quiet, don't say anything about that (racist, misogynistic, sexist, or unkind)  joke. This isn't your country and you can't criticize as a blow in." I even stopped this blog even before I got started. The reason? I convinced myself that I would offend the few people I did know and wouldn't make any friends.

Well....Fuck That! Inner voice I tried it your way and your way sucked. From now on I am going to remember what I looked like in the eyes of my friends back home. More importantly, I am going to remember what I looked like in the eyes of my adversaries.

I may not gain any friends, but I might gain back some self respect.

Now, I have some things to say about the election results yesterday. Maybe later today.  

Dear women in politics, it's a lifestyle choice, not a job qualification.

Elections are on here in Ireland. 

Dáil Éireann (Irish Assembly) was dissolved on February 3, 2016. The Constitution of Ireland provides that "Dáil Éireann shall not continue for a longer period than seven years from the date of its first meeting". The last Dáil was elected in February 2011 but that 7 years is an absolute maximum - current law (the Electoral Act of 1992) states "The same Dáil shall not continue for a longer period than five years from the date of its first meeting". The constitution also mandates that "an election for the membership of Dáil Éireann must take place not later than 30 days after a dissolution of the current Dáil." Pursuant to those requirements, an election is now set to take place on February 26th. That is an election cycle of merely 23 days. Admit it, you would love it if "Election 2016" in the U.S. only lasted 23 days. 

Before you mistake the process for a simple one, it is important to know that Ireland's system is single transferable vote with proportional representation. This system is considered one of the most fair and representative of all election systems and many among the League of Women Voters consider it the holy grail of democratic voting systems. I find it incredible interesting and I will write a really geeky post in the near future to delve into and explain the mechanism in detail. But, for the purpose of moving this post along let me just say that with 16 candidates running for the 5 seats in the Louth district, it is a frenzied time of posters, and door knocking and political fliers. Which finally brings me to the flier that came in today's mail.

I have very little doubt that Maeve Yore is a great candidate and based on friends that are going out for her, I am sure I agree with much of what she stands for. She will likely end up with a vote from me somewhere on my ballot. However, I have a rant about women running for office that I am going to get off my chest. 

Why is Ms. Yore marital status so important that it must take up two lines at the top of her mailing? Men never feel the need to mention that they are married and how many children they have. Can't we leave "marriage and having babies as an accomplishment" back in the the 18th century where it belongs?

I don't give a whit what her husband does for a living. Instead I want her to explain her "Zero tolerance in relation to Crime and Criminals" policy. Does she in fact favor the Renua Ireland proposal of instituting "3 strikes" laws in Ireland or is she committing to opening closed Garda (Police) stations? As I know that the 3 strikes laws have been proven not to work and Castlebellingham has only a part time Garda Síochána presence this would make a difference in my vote.

Also, what does she mean about being "passionate about People with Special Needs, Senior Citizens our Young People"? Is she trying to allude to a position on the current health system? Come on, give us details about whether you will move to reopen the A&E (emergency room) at the Louth Hospital.

Ireland instituted gender parity quotas in 2012. If political parties do not field 30% female candidates in the general election they stand to lose half of their public funding. This is a big issue and on a recent radio program, I heard women speak out against it. Saying that the best person for the job should run and if that person is a woman then she will do it. We all know it's not that easy. Systems in Ireland and the US need to change before parity in elections will happen. Legislation like Ireland's is necessary. But as the saying goes, change starts at home. As women let's think about what we expect to see in election material. If as employer would you expect to see this information on a CV (Resume)? Is it pertinent to the job? Is Maeve saying that she needs to leave the Oireachtas (Irish legislature) early on Thursdays so she can pick up her kids from school? Is this a special accommodation that any employer would make? If the answer is no, then it shouldn't be on the campaign literature. As a voter, take a stand for genuinely pertinent information in publications from women. Women running for office, please have respect for your voters by giving us real information. And if it is party leadership that is telling you that this sort of information is "what voters want to know about women candidates" kindly re-educate them and help move the glass ceiling.

In January, I had the great opportunity to meet Séamus Kirk , a prominent politician in the Fianna Fáil party and former Ceann Comhairle (Equivalent of Speaker of the House) of Dáil Éireann. When we talked about women running for office, he lamented that his party is struggling to find female candidates. This is my advice. Start asking women to be candidates, not female candidates. I would give the same advice to Maeve Yore. Sadly, here on Farm Lane, we are so rural the candidate herself did not stop by the house so I could impart my opinion directly to her and, since I doubt that anyone in Ireland reads this blog, I doubt she will see it from our mutual friends. But rants are really never expected to change the world, are they? Perhaps as we look at Trump's rants that is a good thing.

Cuppa?

"What do you think you will miss most?" Yes, I heard this question, a lot.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think what I have done (in moving to Ireland) is anything new or earth shattering. I know met many people in my life that lead very global lives. Much more global than myself, but I am not sure people expected me to do it. So the question was asked.

I couldn't have answered it at the time, even if I had tried, which I didn't. I have never been one to concentrate on what I don't have, instead I like to think about what I have. Also as I write this post I feel like I need to clarify that I am not whining. I really hate people who whine, especially when that person is me.

I know what I miss now and some of these things are downright weird.

I really miss Bar Keepers Friend. Really. I know it sounds odd, but I am obsessive about my stainless steel pans and this is the best cleaner for them, especially without lots of hot water. This particular obsession has wasted loads of time online while I search for a connection for Bar Keepers Friend. The good news is I think I "have it sorted." I have ordered some online to pick up in a store on Sunday.

Oh how I miss my American hot water heater! I have been so spoiled to have hot water at any moment that I wanted and I suppose that I also need to recognize how wasteful that practice is. Hot water in Ireland is dependent on one of two things. Either the boiler that heats your home or an instant hot water heater that can be quite expensive to run so it is turned on and off as necessary. When the instant hot water is running properly it can melt the skin off of your hands, but the one in our little rental home is a bit temperamental. We do have a non-temperamental shower box, so don't feel too bad for me, hot showers are in good supply, but I don't see me doing my dishes in the shower.

I just go off the phone with a friend from home. That I miss - conversations with friends who really know me. Where background, perspective, and intention are understood already. The sort of conversations that happen over a casual lunch.


I also miss the invitations to lunch. I simply don't have those circles here and I don't expect to become part a "ladies who lunch" group anytime soon. That's okay, a cuppa is more powerful anyway.

Like today when our neighbor and owner of the sheep out my office window stopped to say hello as she left the farm. "Won't you come in for a cuppa?" That's a cup of tea for the Americans. which also includes a buttery  fruit scone with cream. I do love that the answer from the an Irish person is almost always yes.

While I can't share a cuppa with all of you, I will share with you my favorite fruit scone recipe. I hope you try them out.

Fruit Scones
Adapted from Taking Tea at the Savoy by Anton Edelmann
Makes 12

220 g plain flour
4 tsp baking powder

5 tbsp butter
5 tbsp sugar
5 fluid oz milk or cream
1/2 cup mixed dried berries and sultanas

Heat the oven to 200°C/400°F.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Using your hands rub in the butter and the sugar until the it is a fine crumble. Mix in the dried fruit. Then make a well in the center and pour in the milk/cream. Using a rubber spatula mix in the milk gently, scraping the dry ingredients from the bottom to fulling incorporate. Mix until just barely incorporated.

Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured board and using floured hands press the dough out until it is about an inch thick and evenly distributed.

Cut your scones into the desired shape. I use a round biscuit cutter. Lay them on to a parchment covered sheet spaced about an inch apart. They will cook together a bit, but that keeps them from spreading too much. 

Let the scones rest in the fridge for 15 minutes. Brush with a lightly beaten egg yolk to produce the perfect color when baked. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until risen and lightly browned on top. 

Serve warm if you can or may be stored in an airtight container for up to three days. I recommend serving with sweet Irish butter and cream. 

Transitions, Milestones & Cairns

The next time I move it will be to Ireland...someday.

I think everyone who knows me heard me say those words at some point. I don't think many people believed they were true. Worse yet, I think people who didn't know me well thought that I said those words out of some misplaced romantic idea I had of the Emerald Isle. As if I had seen "Circle of Friends" one to many times and had come to see myself as modern day Bernadette Hogan. (I have seen is at least one too many times, but that is beside the point.) 

I don't think anyone really believed I would actually do it.

Yet, here I sit, staring at 40 shades of green dotted liberally with white sheep out my window. It's a little unbelievable even to me.

As friends heard that the move was actually in the works the number one question posed to me was, "But what will you DO?" It was and still is a question I don't have a good answer for. I am quite high minded and would like to see myself as an integral part of my community. But obviously that is not something you drop into a location as, it is something you build, slowly, over tedious years. So, what until then? I will do what all the young people are doing and blog.

Should you choose to follow this blog let's get a few things out of the way right up front. I don't know that I will offer anything of real value, just my point of view. Out the window you see above. There are bound to be sheep, but there will also be monotonous green and a lot of rain to be sure. I hope to find a little sun as well as a lot of baked goods. Mostly writing for me is like reading. I have always enjoyed it, but have done so much of it for work over the years that I never give myself permission to do it for fun. Here I will do it for fun.

That brings me around to my first post. Frankly when I got on the plane in Salt Lake on December 4th I had my usual good intention of writing this post on the plane ride to Dublin. Sharing what were my hopes and dreams of the transition I was making. So glad that fell through. I would have hated to go back and read that drivel.

Instead, I got here. The enormity of what I had just done hit and writing the idea of "writing for the fun of it" just flew right out the window. Two months down the road and we have reach a few milestones. The plan seems doable again.

I am grateful for the cairns we have encountered along the way that gave us a helpful prod in the right direction. It was much needed, as was the wet nose prod from the furry variety Cairns we brought with us.

So here goes. I making no promises about how frequently I will post here, but I will try to at least make it more often than I call. I will promise to pepper my posts a fair number of food and dog photos. Would you expect anything else?