a night out and yummie soup

I made this yellow split pea soup today, it turned out lovely, fresh and lemony, and the ginger gives it a nice kick! We had it for lunch, and Emm had some cold basmati rice mixed into hers. She absolutely loved it. I also made the broccoli and dipping sauce, but I had to substitute sherry for mirin, and lemon juice for lime, and my soy sauce was dark, it turned out quite dark and bitter. Might try it again some time, if I can ever get a hold of Mirin or Sake! 

The soup is really healthy, lots of garlic and ginger and lemon juice, and pulses. It was quite filling, too! I like to cook vegetarian and dairy free some days. I like meat and fish, but don't need it every day by any means! I worry about getting enough protein, iron and calcium though, especially for Emm. Going meat free some days means I can buy better quality meat, and free range on the other days. When I buy free range chicken I make the most of it and get 3 meals out of one, plus chicken stock. 

On Friday Night I spent my first night away from Emm! She was 15 months yesterday, if you count the pregnancy as well I have spent every night with her for the last two years! I was a bit apprehensive, but we had a good night with the girls, out in town, and three of us stayed in a hotel, they had a special offer on that made it as cheap to stay in the hotel as to get a taxi home, so we decided to enjoy our hangovers in peace! we got back to the hotel around 3, and spent another hour taking silly photographs and falling over laughing and drinking tea (there was no mini bar :-( ). It took me another hour to get to sleep while the other two slept as soon as they hit the pillow. I'm surprised I turned out to be the kind of mother that finds it hard to be seperated from her child, I always thought I'd happily leave them for a long weekend! Although the other girls told me it gets a lot easier when you have two!

Knowing she was safe with P helped, of course, I still can't imagine leaving her with anybody but my mother, if P and I wanted a weekend away together... 

Did I mention I finished breastfeeding a month ago? She doesn't seem to miss it at all! We were down to just the morning feed, I think it helped that it wasn't the evening feed, it was easy to distract her in the morning, she must have been ready to give up i suppose. The main reason I gave up is to get a chance to maybe have another baby soon! I feel passionate about breastfeeding, so few babies in Ireland get to nurse, the statistics are quite sad! I'm sad to be finished, but I'm glad we got to 14 months after such a difficult start! 

what's in a name?

I decided to change my blogging name! Péitseoga, the Irish version of my nickname, has some disadvantages, namely the fada (the accent on the e) and also pronounciation, also, I feel I should have a more German sounding name... so, 'Irmhild', I decided, is sufficiently German sounding, easy to spell, and to pronounce! ...and I like the sound of it!

I'm doing this on a whim, and might regret it, but I have posted so little lately, nobody's going to miss Péitseoga!! The blog name will change to 'tulpenpink'. It's German for 'pink tulips'. Tulips always put a smile on my face, brave little things, sticking their heads out on a cold grey winter's day!

nearly forgot!

the mittens!!

and the wool i used was manos del uruguay silk blend. so nice to work with!

stella pixie hat and yoga

Oh it's been a long time since I last posted! I just don't seem to have the time to read and post... During the day the lap top is off limits as M likes to take the keys off it with her little fingers, and if I don't let her she gets very annoyed! And in the evenings (if I'm not out), after the dishes and tidying up, I'm often so tired, blog reading or writing is just not on the agenda! I did however manage to knit this 'stella pixie hat'

and I am currently working on a 'little sister's dress'. It requires a lot more concentration than the hat did, but I'm ready for a challenge!

On Monday I went to my first yoga class in over 15 months, the last one being my last pregnancy yoga session! I felt like it was the first time i did something relaxing for just myself since I've had M! I was lying on the mat, focusing on my breathing, and of course wasn't actually supposed to think about anything, but this thought popped into my mind!

I'm very excited about starting yoga again, it just feels like I deserve doing something for myself! I'm hoping to find an audio CD to help me practise at home, too, something I haven't done with any of my previous yoga classes over the years. But now, I am actually at home during the day, and most days there is an hour where I could maybe fit 20 minutes of exercise in, if I put my mind to it! Usually I use M's nap time to catch up on laundry and dishes and tidying, but maybe it would do me good to take some time, and calm down and focus on just one thing at a time.

I'm reading (when I'm getting to read) 'buddhism for mothers' at the moment, and I hope to bring some mindfulness into my life. It'll be hard for a seasoned multitasker and well known scatterbrain like me, but I hope it'll benefit my parenting, and our quality of life! Time is flying so fast, and I worry my career break will be over in a flash and I won't have used it as best I could, if I just carry on being dragged through my days by trying to catch up with housework and little tasks, while keeping lots of random thoughts and lists in my head and never really being in the moment, enjoying time with my daughter. It's often only moments, one moment during the whole day, where I realise how lucky I am to have this time with her, and that I haven't been fully there all day!