Now I am Five

Half a decade.  Half as long as I've been married and half as long as three of the Childerbeasts have been on this earth.  That's how long I've been writing on Babaduck.  The soundtrack to this piece is running through my head and it's Never Forget by Take That.  Because I never forget where I've come from.  Babaduck began as something to keep me busy during the dark days of recession when the company I loved working for, folded like a pack of cards, and went into receivership.  I spent a very long and lonely 10 months out of work, desperately afraid that I wouldn't find another job and frantically worrying about how we would manage to pay the mortgage on just one, ever decreasing salary.  My confidence plummeted to an all time low because I couldn't get a first interview for the vast majority of the 200+ jobs that I applied for, never mind the luxury of a second one.  I buried my fear because I didn't want to worry The Hubs who was the only one earning.  I cried when we didn't qualify for any assistance apart from jobseekers benefit, despite hitting all the criteria on paper.  I lost a lot of my hair because of the stress, a fact that my amazing little sister hid from me, in case it never returned.  Thankfully it did, and she only told me about a year later when I was working again and was able to deal with it.

This is when I started to write. Because once I'd scanned every job website known to man and sent off my CV to all the recruitment agencies, I had time on my hands and it gave me a voice when I had lost my way.  My friend Aifric would phone me to ask what to cook for dinner with the contents of her fridge, I would give her a few suggestions and she'd promptly forget and call me back.  Usually when I was cooking our dinner.  Emails were sent and this transformed into a blog.  Initially I wrote it just for us but time passed and other people started to read and comment, so I was encouraged to write more and more.  I've now written over 450 different recipes and articles covering food, drink, travel and nice things and I've readers from all over the world, and also right beside me in the three full time jobs I've had since 2010.

It actually only clicked with me during the week when I was chatting to Barbara Scully on her afternoon radio show The Hen House.  We talked about where I began, how I got to where I am now and what makes me tick.  All very Desert Island Discs but with only three music choices rather than the much more encompassing seven tunes that Kirsty Young allows on BBC Radio 4.  If you want to listen to a whole hour of me waffling on about me, myself and I, the day job and my irrational love for a small fluffy dog, then please do. I'm honoured that Barbara thought I was a suitable guest for her inspired and inspiring show.

Aoife Ryan talks food, blogging and airlines by Thehenhouse on Mixcloud

Anyway, now I am five.  And it's all because of you.  Thank you for reading, commenting, sharing and being bloody brilliant.  Special thanks and lots of love to Ru, Aif, Moo, Lulu, Sandie, the rest of the family & friends and my WhatsApp sanity group for unconditional love and frequently bringing me down to earth.  Now, who's making me a celebratory cake?