Columns - Irish Examiner

Aida Austin

It’s important no one family member comes off as more stupid than any other

Sunday morning. My husband is in bed. I am in the kitchen, waiting for the coffee pot to boil. I turn up the radio; I’m trying not to listen to the small voice of my conscience.

Sat, 17 Sep, 2016

Maybe, I think, just maybe tonight I’m in luck

I’M sitting at the kitchen table, staring at a blank Word Document when my husband returns from town.

Sat, 10 Sep, 2016

She’s delighted she had six children, so we’ll fill the benches at her funeral

Home, 4.30pm. Having arrived home from our three-week holiday, my husband and I are sitting on the sofa, at something of a loose end.

Sat, 03 Sep, 2016

What harm that I haven’t slept all night? I’ll find my sea-legs!

Meganisi Port, aboard the “Sophia”.

Sat, 27 Aug, 2016

My husband is trying to coax me off the jetty and back on the boat...

We are in Meganisi port in Greece. It is 1am. There are about 50 boats all politely moored in a row up against the jetty. All is pin-drop quiet.

Sat, 20 Aug, 2016

No one would say ‘yes, please’ if invited to sleep in a coffin underground

7.30 pm.

Sat, 13 Aug, 2016

"There’ll be no more wine crossing my lips this holiday"

Lefkada, 5pm and I’m standing on a jetty. My husband, his sister and her husband are standing on the boat that is to be our home for a week. 

Sat, 06 Aug, 2016

It’s happening already. My holiday expectations drop from 50 to 40

THURSDAY evening and I am just two sleeps away from the holiday of a lifetime: Greek islands! On a boat! Hurrah!!

Sat, 30 Jul, 2016

"I like my bag the way it is, I consider, stuffed full of hopes and expectations"

SUNDAY, 11pm. Home, in bed.

Sat, 02 Jul, 2016

You might like to eat the bread first, before the mussels, while you are still alive to enjoy it

SUNDAY, 7pm. The sun is still shining and my husband and I are making impromptu plans for the evening: short coastal walk, swim and a meal out in a newly-opened restaurant.

Sat, 25 Jun, 2016