Living the life of Riley

Okay folks, I have been tagged and I want you all to know that this is my first tagging. Hopefully I won't disappoint!!

The rules of the meme are as follows:
1. When tagged, place the name of the person Helen and URL on your blog
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Write 7 things about yourself
4. Name 7 of your favorite weblogs
5. Send an email letting those bloggers know they have been tagged

Here we go!
1. Living Arrangements: Not Good (only joking), I live in Co. Wexford Ireland with my ever so charming Farmer Boy and my two gorgeous sons (11 3/4 yo and 9 yo) and my newly crowned as of Friday 8 year old sidekick daughter. Sidekick had a 6 week countdown to her birthday which started on 26 December! We live in peace and harmony on a 60 some odd acre farm which produces barley and lamb. We also operate a Bed and Breakfast in Fawlty Tower tradition, don't be mean or rude to the B&B lady or you will find a dead fly in your breakfast!!!! I'M JOKING.... I can see my mother reading this and not finding it funny...

2. Schooling: I have a BA in Economics from a wonderful Jesuit University located in New England. I spent the first two years of my university schooling in Washington DC and then transferred back up north to be closer to home.

3. Favorite Food/drink: Anything as long as I don't have to prepare it! I live in the land of meat and potatoes so I love Italian food and I have grown very fond of my chicken curry dinner. I used to be a hard core coffee drinker but I have grown more fond of tea. I love cappuccinos but finding a good one over here is a bit of a challenge. Part of my job as proprietor and B&B lady extraordinare involves cooking so I grow tired of standing in front of the stove but can't really afford to eat out (I would rather buy fabric than a meal out on the town).

4. Morning/Evening person: This is a tough one. I think I am mostly a night owl, I could go on and on for hours at night. During the tourist season I have to be up super early to get breakfast going so I go to bed early and get up bright eyed and bushytailed. During the winter I reverse my hours a bit, I stay up later and get up later.

5. Since when have you been quilting: I started quilting in 1988/89 while I was living in Vermont after college. I fell in love with the quilts hanging in the window of a store in Woodstock Vermont and that is what started me off. I am completely self-taught, I have never attended a class since I never really lived near a quilt store that offered courses that fit in with my working girl lifestyle. I was in my early twenties and had more important things to do!!!! When my first child was born I simply didn't have the space or time or desire to quilt. I took a sabbatical of sorts. When we moved to Ireland in Dec 2001 we had plans of building a home on what was an outfarm and the next thing you know we were building a B&B. Once all was running smoothly I realized that there was something missing and that I needed to get back into doing something that I had alway enjoyed, Quilting. I have a serious addiction to fabric and really love Moda fabrics, in fact I feel like a bit of a groupie LOL! I know all the designers and the names of the lines - serious trouble!!!

6. Pets: Here is one of the goof ball pets I have chosen to live here! This is Sophie our golden retriever and she was abandoned here in August 2006. She showed up and was in very bad shape, the poor thing must have been terribly abused. But as you can see here, she is living the life of Riley and has really landed on her feet.
Sophie is sound asleep, in fact the camera and flash noise woke her up. This is not a very lady like position and she sleeps like this all the time. You will also notice a shot gun by her head, that is a toy left by DS1. Please excuse the messy room, I live with children - need I say more!

We also share our home with Sheila the wonderdog, she is a terrier mixed with god knows what. I tried to download a picture but for some reason I can only download 1 picture at a time tonight. Actually most of the time I have nothing but hardship downloading pictures from flickr. What gives with that????? We also have a handsome tomcat named Sammy. Sammy lives in the house by day and stalks the farmyard by night.

7. Vacation: The United States is our vacation of choice for very obvious reasons, shopping. Nooo, to visit family of course.... We like to go camping with our caravan or camper to the West of Ireland or Co. Waterford along the coast. Anything to get away from the B&B during the summer is delightful. B&B work is 18 hour days 7 days a week for months on end, I have to block off a week and a couple of mini breaks here and there so that the children have some sort of a decent summer and I need a chance to catch my breath. It takes alot of energy to be charming you know!!!

My favorite weblogs are so vast, I am without a doubt addicted. I draw inspiration from most blogs and there are a few bloggers that both inspire and seriously amuse. I have a dark sense of humor and try to find humor in all things, if you can't laugh at yourself then you are in deep trouble. Here are just a few of my favorite blogs Nicole, Kim, Megan, Sherry, and of course last but not least Bonnie. These are just a few and there are sooooo many more I would be here all night. I have a lovely Swiss family staying with me tonight so I need to go to bed so that I am delightfully yodeling tomorrow!!!

I will have a new quilt that I just finished to show you tomorrow!!!!

All the best and keep smiling!