The Rossiters

Mendocino.

It's December 2000 and the fiasco of the impending doom that the millennium was supposed to bring has past by 12 months and we are all still alive and computer systems have not shut down nor taken on a life of their own and grown legs and taken over the world.

Myself, Liz, a 12 year old Leigh, a 4 year old Aaron and a 7 month old Jordan find ourselves living,  and at their good grace,  in my parents house in Mulgannon as we build our first home out in "the country". We bought a house in Clonard Park in 1992 and loved it there, but I had the building bug so we sold and built out in Courtclough The Ballagh which was not within a country mile of the Ballagh, but anyone who follows auctioneers directions will know this to be true.I know where every nail, screw,wire, pipe and timber is in that house but from the day we moved into it there was something about it I did not like and still don't. I have to drive by it on occasion looking for Dakota when he f***s off and I still don't like it.

So back to December. The Crown Bar in Monk Street was our local at the time and we would often walk to it from Mulgannon and get a cab home, kids and all, which we enjoyed. One day on the way to the Crown I saw an advert for flights to San Francisco in Mackens window and thought "some day I get to the States". The next morning I rang Mackens and enquired about flights for all 5 of us to San Francisco.....I didn't expect the response I got.... £1300.00 return and I was told to get in there asap by the girl as she has never seen flights so cheap.I had to pull a lot of favours to get the time off but my boss Jack Goldsmith sorted it all for me. So we were off to spend the first Christmas away from Mams, dads, brothers and sisters ever.

Annie and Eric lived at the time in an appartement on Geary Ave which had a view from the kitchen window of the fire station which Aaron loved and used to lie on the kitchen table each morning, head out the window and watch the raising of the Stars and Stripes.

We rented a house up the coast from San Fran in and around the time of Liz' birthday for the weekend. None of us expected what we got!!!. This house was perched on the side of a very, very high cliff overlooking the pacific ocean and surrounded by tall cedar trees. The outdoor hot tub which was at the precipice of this cliff and surrounded by glass was to become our best place ever, We celebrated Liz' birthday in that hot tub drinking fine champagne till the wee hours watching migrating whales by the moonlight, never will I forget the sights.

 

The town we stayed in was called ........Mendocino.

Murder She Wrote was shot there all but 1 episode, Hitchcock's "The Birds" was shot near in Bodaga Bay where Eric and I visited a huge oyster farm and came away full on them and had enough for a bbq that night too.

We sold Courtclough and built again where we now live which has taken on the name of Rossiter Mountain thanks to Liz' brother Michael. Due to some postal confusion when we moved in first we decided we needed a name on the house, so Liz and I and the kids immediately knew it had to be ....Mendocino.! So now all post includes this name.

But we still needed a name plate for the house. We returned to SF again in 09 but stayed in Stinson Beach this time for a weekend, equally as breathtaking and memorable as Mendocino but not the name we wanted.

Annie and Eric traveled back to Mendocino and stayed close to where we stayed that time and during a walk on the beach a piece of drift wood washed up against their feet as they walked. Eric picked it up and decided this was to be the name plate for "Mendocino" on Rossiter Mountain. They dried it for weeks, stained it, laquered it many times and Annie hand painted "Mendocino" on it.

It arrived in the post today and no time was wasted in securing it to the outside of our home. I feel our house is now finished as this defines it as a place with a name, with memories that span continents and with people we love and a place that we hold dear in our hearts where so many memories were forged.

Oh , and wish this builders bum good luck in his junior cert exams next week!!

Thats all!!

 

Davey.

 

 

 

 

Here Comes The Summer.

There is a switch inside us that goes off telling us its time for barefooted Sundays on the deck with long cold drinks whhile the bbq gently cooks an entire meal without any help. This weekend our switch was well and truly turned on and I hope it stays on for a long time!!

We decided as we lay in bed on Saturday morning listening to the dawn chorus through an open window, which is a prerequisite at this time of year, that we would have a very relaxing weekend free from visiting, helping out and time schedules.

I was off work sick on Thursday and Friday so I didn't enjoy the heat we were given due to a stuffed up head and sore throat. Saturday I felt ok so a plan was formulated. Liz brought the lads to town for a bit of shopping while I cut the hedge and the grass, slowly due to running repairs on the lawnmower, and fired up the bbq. Beercan chicken and pork steak was on the menu.Liz and I then found ourselves in Freddies for a few cold ones with Declan and Theresa.

That evening saw some antics in the garden wich involved Lauryn facing her fear of our two big dogs and playing with them.....very happy man here!!!Soccer and general good times were enjoyed so much so it was gone ten when we all came in.

Paul Galvin from Doonties, Liz' cousin, and his wife and kids, stayed with us the previous wednesday night before they traveled to the UK for a wedding taking the ferry from Rosslare. They brough a load of their own beef for us for the freezer but there was a big rib roast I had plans for so it was spared the freezer, instead it was soaked in herbs and garlic from the garden and sun dried tomatoes and placed on the bbq on Sunday morning after mass for and hour and a half along with what are now described as the best roasties ever which were done on the bbq too!!Leigh and Gary and the kids joined us as we soaked up the sun on the deck and ate and drank our fill!!

Aaron even abandoned his room and xbox, I mean study, for the whole day too!!

Buster got revenge for annoyance he recieves too!!!

What is wrong with this picture???

Nate got his revenge too and won the race on shanks mare !!

Next it was Jordans turn for a race against the title holder, this time on two wheels.

Jordan wins.

The poor dogs were not able for the heat so the shade of the tramopline came in handy.

Lauryn was jumping for joy with her new found love of the dogs.

I am giving the last word on this post to Aaron. He starts his junior cert exams next week and we want to wish him well. He has worked hard over the last year and we know he will have no trouble with them.Your a good lad Aaron and we are proud of you for all your hard work.

 

Till next time.

Davey.

 

Mans best friend?

I went for a walk this evening with the dogs.....ok who am I kidding? I brought the dogs with me this evening as a distraction while i sneaked into a field down the road from our house where they have started harvesting this years crop of Wexford New Potatoes. Loads are left behind albeit a bit small, the smallest being a large egg size which is ok. So, we climbed up the ditch to get out of the field and back on the road where we walked casually towards home until I spotted a man coming down the road for a walk with his dog and a stray loose dog following him. My dogs had no leads because I thought no body would be out walking that late!!!. I grabbed Dakota, the oldest, blindest and deafest by the collar before he spotted the on coming dogfight waiting to happen, as I reached for Buster, the young sharp as a pin brat, I dropped the bag of contraband as he spotted the on coming dogs and made a run to my left side I grabbed his collar by 2 fingers but he was going up that road no matter what.

What happened next was akin to what was seen in carry on films or Benny Hill from years ago. Dakota completely oblivious to what was going on and being dragged by my right hand as Buster jumped down into the river as I held him by 2 fingers of my left hand and they were twisting and I feared of breakage so instead of letting go i did a barrel roll, righted my hand and grip, and ended up in the river with no buster and only a confused 12 year old Labrador on his back.

Embarrassment was now foremost in my mind as the guy walking was about to breach the bend and come into full view so out i jumped, mud to me hole and wet to the head, and pretended I was all the while trying to stop dogs fighting.....where was buster.......on his back feet up playing with the mans dogs!!!!!!

I knocked on the sitting room window when I came home to hand Liz the spuds because I had to do a strip at the back door.I gave her the story at the window but I dont think she took it in because she was laughing so much!!

These spuds better be good.

12 Today!

Its been a busy start to the week to say the least. Our son and brainiac Jordan turned 12 today and his gift to me was to wake up taller than me?????.I'm afraid, very afraid now!!

His uncle Michael made a chocolate biscuit cake, yes Michael did this, some time ago and Jordan loved it and as he ate it in Michael's house in Cork he told Liz that that's the cake he wanted for his birthday. Liz said no more about it neither did Jordan until it was landed on the table this evening for Jordan. His response....." thanks for remembering mam"... that's why mams are mams.

 

Nathan's front tooth seems to have been falling out for the last months what with all the knocks and bleeding and turning around of said tooth, but it was being stubborn and every day I would say "that'll be gone by this evening" trying to instill a bit of calm. His auntie Annie was here for two weeks and it took all her willpower not to rip it from the poor child's tender gums!!!

So this evening I took a photo of his tooth still in its bed for I was sure it come out tonight. 5 minutes later Nathan was up tooth in hand and a smile of success as big himself!!

So after all the excitement I spotted a lonely lemon near the end of its shelf life in the fruit bowl and did the decent thing to it.......

 

......preserved it in gin!!

Snap!

Things are about to become more visual on the blog from now on thanks to the arrival of this little piece of genius.

I didnt realise how complicated and precise photography is until now. Thankfully it has a point and shoot option which will be well used until until I can comprehend things like shutter speed and aperture settings etc!!.

I went for a walk/cycle this morning and brought the camera and took several photos of the same thing at different settings to see the changes. Next time I will write down what I did so I wil remember!!

Here's a few photos of Wexford Quay front.

Shame about the dog poo!!

U.A.V

I went to the cinema this evening with Aaron to see Act Of Valor. It's his kind of movie and seeing how it was its opening night here I decided to treat him.
The movie was as expected very patriotic and full on. They used real serving navy seals in a mock up rescue mission, thankfully for all the bad guys they shot the shit out of!!!

At one point I learned that I know fuck all really about covert stuff and James Bond was all made up. One of the seals fires , for all the world a tiny small airplane like the ones in a lucky bag made from foam or balsa wood, upwards to the sky as they burst along a dirty river in Costa Rica. Once airborne it's tiny engine kicks in and it soars above the bad guys camp relaying live camera footage back to the seals in the boat.

"What's that" I ask Aaron from the side of my mouth so the other two in the entire cinema wouldn't hear and tut at me. "It's a uav" he mutters back all cock o the walk like!! "a wha?" sez I , "unmanned ariel vehicle" sez he even more cocky and head shaking at my ignorance , " it's a bit more advanced than air hogs planes like you know" ........and he relaxes back into the slouch from where he came.

As you can guess it was the last question I asked for the rest of the movie!!

And we're off................again!!!

Well, they did it. After 12 rounds and 72 hard questions Screen National School are off to the RDS on the 1st of April, yes April fools day, for the finals.

They came second with 57 points to the winners 65  which are from up the road in Crossabeg.1st and 2nd go through to the finals.

Oh the excitement and anticipation from all the parents and teachers in the ballroom of the The Millrace Hotel in Bunclody as the results were very slowly announced!!!

I cant begin to tell you how proud we are of the whole team but in particular our quiet Jordy. 

Well done all, now get swotting!!!

Deja Vu!

Tomorrow we head for Bunclody for the next round in The Credit Union schools table quiz competition. Jordan, in 5th class, is on the team  with 3 others who are from 6th class, Sadbh McCarthy, Sarah Doyle and Fiona Kinsella. They qualified for this round, called The Chapter, when they won the last quiz in the Ferrycarrig Hotel which was made up of all the schools in Wexford with each school entering between 4 to 6 teams each!!.

The excitement was high that night as they went to 3 tie break questions to win on the 3rd.The question that won it for them Jordan knew and answered. I didnt know the answer, which would not be out of the ordinary!!!. "In what sport does the robot Deep Blue play against humans?"......... Chess.

If they qualify tomorrow its off to the All Ireland finals in the RDS where teams teams from schools from all over Ireland battle it out the win the title.

This is all familiar to us as back in 2009 when aaron was in 6th class he and his team took the same route and made it to the finals in the RDS. Read all about it here.

There is a good omen here too. In 2009 aarons team had the brother of one of Jordans team mates, Sadbh, on his team. In fact Screen National School has not gone this far in the competition since then either.

Hopefully we will be off to Dublin again soon for another day out but for now all we can do is keep our everythings crossed and wish the guys all the best tomorrow. 

Stay tuned!!

Happy Hallmark Day!!

It has dawned on me that this blog is about, as it says on the tin, the life travels and adventures of the Rossiter clan.Something I had forgotten about to say the least until Typepad contacted me to say the account had been frozen until payment is made and then i thought what a shame it would be to lose all that has been accounted here.

However boring to the outside world the reason for starting this blog was for the kids and me and Liz to look back on in years to come and have a laugh and a cry too at times.

In that spirit this blog comes courtesy of Lauryns wonderfull, artistic, intelligent and loving mind.

She hid herself away in her room for a few days before Valentines only to surface to the kitchen or whatever room Liz and I were in to check the spelling of certain words and then disappear off again.

The result was two of the most imaginative Valentines cards ever!

We were at a Family Christening many years ago, Taylers I believe, and Fr.Aodhan Marken was the celebrant. Now, I am not one for listening in Mass because the story has been the same for the last 2000 years so I tune out a bit!!!, but I do recall him saying..."if you want to know the truth...ask a child" and he is right.

Anyway, what follows are a series of photos to some how bind together my ramblings.

All very standard to this point you will agree but the mini stories are what made me laugh and are an expression in a way how she feels about Jordan!!!

Lovely!!

Now its time for another card and a mini story too, thats all I'm sayin'!!!!

............................................

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!

Love ya Lauryn!

A Snip It!

This post is an extract from a letter that a friend of mine wrote to our Taoiseach and also posted on facebook.

His name is Mick O' Brien and he has owned  Snip its mens hair salon for as long as I can remember and so has seen many, many changes in trading over the years.Mick is not without his own demons of life at this time and is dealing with them with gusto and a positive outlook.

This letter seems to sum up what all of us are thinking at this very uncertain time in our life and the life of our country and her people. Read it and pause for a while, and if you feel the urge write a letter to our leaders without holding back.

Dear Enda Kenny,

Last night you addressed the nation. You patronised and you downplayed people's very real fears. You deigned to tell people that the mess we're in wasn't our fault. That we are not to blame. We already know this.

You recently suffered the loss of your mother. You expected, and received, condolences from the very people who are desperately hoping hospitals stay open, nurses are kept on the front line, and doctors are available to care for the sick. Thousands of people up and down this country are mourning the loss of loved ones. Thousands more are terrified that they will suffer a loss because they cannot afford the medical care they have a basic human right to access, but ministers like you have decided they can't have access to.

We are a changed Ireland, filled now with different races, cultures and creeds. But we are still Ireland. We are a small but mighty country who have seen tremendous loss in our history and have come out wearing our national pride like the badge of honour it should be. You and other ministers have brought this pride to breaking point. You have brought a country to its knees. But you have done it slowly knowing that had you (ALL of you) been honest about your intentions the fighting spirit of the Irish people would have been woken, and people would not have allowed you to destroy them the way you are doing now.

Instead you have done it slowly, you have brought people to such levels of despair that suicide has become a bigger part of people's lives than it ever had a right to be. Families are living on rations and still you tell us we can survive more. You have emptied people of their spirit, their fight, their confidence and you have done it knowingly and willingly.

You and your wealthy, elitest friends will laugh at the feeble attempts of students trying to fight for their right to education. At working class people who are trying to take a stand against cuts that will make it impossible for them to have a decent standard of living. You laugh because your cronies will not suffer from the future and their children will be able to afford an education.

You laugh because you have created a nation of people who look out for themselves, who you have programmed not to care about others because they can't afford to. But eventually EVERYONE will suffer from the Ireland the governemnts of recent past have created. One day, soon, people will remember that they have a right to have their ministers work FOR and not against them. One day they will decide that they will not take anymore from you. They will remember this small and might country and the legacy left to them from fighters who never took anything lying down.

I hope you are prepared for when that day comes. This is not YOUR Ireland, it belongs not to you, or Germany, or the investors you're so keen to impress but to US to the people who are suffering because of your heartless, soulless fight to the top. But the Irish people will not forgive or forget and they will force a change. One day

Lenora!

Leigh and Gary have moved into Beechlawn and they have the place looking amazing.During their move in a lot of stuff had to be removed which was overseen by Liz of course!!!, a general clear out if you like. 

When Tim retired in 1996 he was presented with many gifts but the one that caught my eye was the framed John Ironside photo below. It hung in the sittingroom in Beechlawn since then and it caught my eye every time I was there.

If you look closely at the boats and the grey painted one in the back left in particular, that is my Dad's cot that I helped build many, many years ago in our shed in Mulgannon. I learned a lot that year and can still smell boiling tar to this day.

He named the boat "Lenora" after Norah and Len his relations from Swansea who moved here in the 80's.