Flapjack

A good 5 days in at the deep end with Emma and Alex, her folks, her sister (plus boyfriend), and her gran. All in a big holiday cottage by the coast (Tenby - a first for Shane). Good beaches, crabbing, larking about with a 4 year old, glad to be by the sea, glad to be in the sun, glad to... ... damn those three-part lists. I returned 2 days ahead of my co-trippers - pre-planned and work-related. The whole experience reminded me of a combination of 80s Wexford family holidays (mostly Blackpool) and childhood confusion at why anyone would visit any of the Tyne, Wear and Tees coastal towns for a holiday (Whitley Bay, South Shields, Redcar...). Anyway, the trip included self, Emma, Alex and Emma's father taking a visit to Caldey Island - home to a working monastery, a handful of 'ordinary' permanent residents, angry Mallard ducks, and reasonably priced chocolate-covered flapjack. Getting the chance to see Emma for a sustained length of time in her broader family context was useful, though at the same time frustrating, very frustrating. Good people's neuroses, good people's defence mechanisms. Left me pondering how and whether to share views of the not-so-positive observations of how families interact.

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Sun-dried tomatos: As opposed to what? Hair-dryered tomatos?

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Was interested to hear that the Australian equivalent to the UK Conservative Party are 'The Liberal Party'. In the UK, the Conservatives are associated with economic 'liberalism' and social 'conservatism' (general right-wingery). My own use of the term 'liberal' has tended towards the social stuff. The up-front Australian use of 'Liberal' jars in the Wexford ear. Probably says something about priorities. Probably says that Wexford is ignoring the folly of splitting the economic and the social. Sod the three-part lists. I often flinch at other people's (ab)use of 'liberal' and 'conservative', but heh, rhetorical swings bullshit roundabouts.

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I love preaching. But it's usually a sign of tiredness.