Gremlin’s Fireside Chat

- First time I heard Maeve utter this word was today

We had this recipe from this restaurant (Schiffergesellschaft) and chef (Holger Grätz) when visiting Lubeck  a couple of years ago – well recommended, as is the restaurant in a find old house where you eat on 16th-century banquet tables and benches in the candlelit great hall of the historic Shipmasters’ Society. Its a popular Lübeck institution that’s always busy, and funny enough whilst I was hanging around outside for my wife I was mistaken for the bouncer by a flower seller – but thats another story.

I came across the recipe from a webcast and the ingredients consist of for 2 people:

1. 500 g Corned Beef
2. 250 g Red Beets
3. 250 g sour pickles (Gerkins)
4. 1/2 peeled Onion
5. garlic
6. cloves,
7. bay leaves,
8. salt,
9. pepper,
10. sugar 1/2 tbsp.
11. Mustard 1 tbsp.
12. salt
13. 2 Eggs
14. 1 young Herrings
15. 1 Tomato Pumpkin cubes
16. 1/2 kg Potatoes

Watch the video for the instructions.

Maeve has been trying to speak and is doing a lot of baby babble – probably trying to generate sequences of sounds that she hears from adults around her. She has mastered “Mama” and “Papa” and “dada”, Last week some of this babble started to make some sense and gel with what Maeve was feeling inside. Maeves first meaningful comment came as a result of her teething which must be painful. Maeve said “teeth oww” – and we got the bongella out.

Today she managed “bye bye” and waving her arms as Bernie carried her out to the car.

Over the last few weeks a more discernable trend in Maeve’s musical tastes an behaviour has become apparent. I am a “folkie” – nothing to be ashamed of, but someone who likes traditional music of most nations but with a particular emphasis on my on Celtic race of Ireland/Scotland and England. One of my favourite groups is “Fairport Convention” and I recently bought a new album which had a track called “Si Tu Dois Partir” and it really excites Maeve. Its a catchy tune, even though my French is rusty I like it and for Maeve its gets her bouncing up and down in the car seat and swaying from side to side in harmony with her hands in the air and legs bouncing up and down with joy. It makes your heart warm just watching her with a big smile on her face enjoying the simple things in life.

For a while now Maeve has been trying to clap, but without success; Either her hands don’t make contact or not in a way that causes a sound to be generated. Today that changed and with “Si Tu Dois Partir” Maeve (to her own joy) started to clap in time to the tune…

Life’s simple pleasures are by far the best.

Here is a picture I took of Maeve on the beach at the back of our house on Thursday April 2 2009.

Isn’t she pretty