Doggy holiday

Normally when we go away at Christmas my parents mind Bones.  This June, however, we are all going away so we needed to organize a minder for him.

We finally chose Doggy Holidays which is run by the head groomer in Mutt Ugly.  The dogs are minded in her home and then taken in to Mutt Ugly during the day.

Last Friday, Bones did a trial day in day care to see how he got on with the other dogs.  He was fine so we are all now set for our hols and his "Doggy Holiday"

We will be able to see how he is getting on while we are away as there will be photos put up on the Doggy Holidays Facebook page!

Stir it up!

I had a chicken noodle stir fry for dinner last night. Loaded with fresh vegetable and a soy & ginger sauce.  We followed it with strawberries and meringue. Yum!

Feeling nostalgic

A 1 litre of fresh milk in a glass bottle by Adare Farm

Glass bottles were phased out in the 1980/90's in Dublin.  Deliveries used to be done by the milkman who would leave fresh bottles of milk and remove the empties.  As supermarkets began to open earlier and close later - as well as stay open on Sundays the role of the milkman became defunct.  Milk also began to be sold in cartons (tetra pak to start with) which I presume was more cost effective.

Adare Farm have just started selling milk in glass bottles again in certain shops.  When I saw it on the shelf in Superquinn Ranelagh I had to buy it!  The milk looks so good - so tasty and fresh looking.  It's also way colder than milk from the carton.  

Although more expensive, I think it is worth it.

What way is your milk sold?  Glass, carton or plastic bottle?

What I'm reading

The weather was great yesterday so it was a day of reading for me.  A batch of new books arrived in the library on Friday and thought this one looked good so I borrowed it.

It's the "Autobiography of us" by Aria Beth Sloss.

It was an easy read and I enjoyed the era it was set in - it started in the 1960's and was set in America.  I always think the difference between USA and Ireland in the 1950's and the 1960's was amazingly vast. Ireland only saw money coming in to the economy in the very late 1960's through the beginning of Foreign Direct Investment.  Prior to this it was quite backward and extremely rural, for example Ireland only became fully electrified in the late 1970's.  

In this book there is a part where the main protagonist is preparing to go to college.  Although not from a well off background she gathers together a fairly extensive wardrobe that will see her through the college year and all of the events she will have to attend.  An 18 yr old in Ireland at that time would have a few staples to see her through the working week along with her "Sunday Best" for mass and dinner on Sunday!

But back to the book.  As I was reading it I realised that the author jumped over large sections where you had to assume what had happened.  I can be a little slow on the uptake so it took me awhile to cop where the story was going.  There was a slight twist near the end (which obviously I hadn't seen!) which gave a little bit of a lift to the story.

Overall a book which is readable in a weekend and a very good effort from a first time novelist.

Dublin Writers Festival

After dinner in Dillingers we went to hear Caitlin Moran in the National Concert Hall.  She was very entertaining and extremely funny.......and we found some Bookcrossing books which was very exciting!


We got 4 dishes to share in Dillingers.
Mini Corn Dogs (my first time eating a corn dog)
Mac & Cheese
Chilli & Corn bread
Brocolini with crispy shallots & garlic crema

Kasey and Amy outside the National Concert Hall -  what is the lady with the bike wearing?!

A free bookcrossing book for me!
Amy and Kasey got copies of Caitlin Moran's "How to be a woman"

Hot doggedity dog

We went to Dillingers for dinner on Tuesday night (Ciaran is still in the boot for his torn calf muscle - he's down about that so he needed cheering up).

I'll be back in Dillingers tonight with my cousin and sister before we go to a Dublin Writers Festival event in the National Concert Hall.

The other night I ordered what I thought was an all pulled pork hot dog but was actually a hot dog topped with pulled pork.  It tasted good but was messy to eat.

Ciaran had a burger (tasty but bad bunability) with a bottle of Brooklyn Lager.

I had a vodka and diet coke which they very kindly served to me in a retro cocktail glass so I can pretend to be somewhat sophisticated!

Incy wincy spider....

This massive spider was living in our bath for the past few days.

This morning I released him in to the wild.

Spiders are getting bigger in Ireland, I wonder why?

Ice cubes!

How do you make your ice?

I have noticed when I go to the States that there seems to be a national obsession with cold drinks. Here in Ireland we are not too bothered.  In bars, the mixers are kept in little glass bottles (sometimes in fridges but generally on shelves).  When you order your drink you get a few cubes of ice (about 3 maybe 4) in the alcohol and then the glass bottle is served on the side at room temperature or maybe a little colder.  In Florida, I've seen the glasses being stored in fridges before being filled!!

These are fun ice cube bags.  They make ice in the shape of bottles!

Is the Internet making us dumber?

Watch "What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains [Epipheo.TV]" on YouTube

I'm off to read a book!!

Tornado Alley

My thoughts and prayers are for the people of Moore, Oklahoma after the devastating tornado yesterday.  I complain about the dull wet weather in Ireland but it does mean that we don't have the extremes that brings things like hurricanes, tornados or drought.

Sunny Sunday

Yesterday was a lovely sunny day.  I sunbathed in the courtyard in the back of the house then chases the sun up on to the flat roof off the bathroom.

This is a strange angled of photo of me that Ciaran took from the courtyard.

Best little country in the world!!

When the sun shines Ireland is the greatest country in the world!!

Breakfast in Donnybrook

The Heineken Cup Final is on in the Aviva today so there was loads of French people around Donnybrook this morning.

We went for a takeaway breakfast in Donnybrook Fair. They had specials because if the game so we chose the "Toulouse Sausage Baguette". It was great, really tasty!

Fun Friday

I was off work yesterday so I was able to chill out and relax. The weather was bad to start but it turned in to a really nice day.

I got the dog off to the groomers at 9am and only had to pick him up at 2pm. He got a great cut and looks so neat and tidy.

I also cycled up to Starbucks in Mespill and got a coffee and brownie. Afterwards I browsed in Superquinn for some cheese & chorizo for some nibblies before we out.

Ciaran had an office meeting in TriBeCa in the afternoon so he was home from that at about 5pm.

Sushi time!

On Thursday night we set off walking to Dillingers but after just covering 100 metres we had to turn back as walking was too painful for Ciaran on his crutches (he is also strapped in to a boot for a torn calf muscle).

We then decided to drive to go for sushi. What a great decision!

We went to Yo Sushi and it was delicious. Very low key and casual - perfect for a quick bite on a Thursday night!

Great Gatsby

Will you go see the new Gatsby movie?!

I am planning too as Baz Luhrmann is one of my favourite directors - I loved what he did with Romeo & Juliet. I studied Romeo & Juliet for my Junior Certificate. My class loved when our English teacher would let us watch the BBC film starring Michael York from the 1979's.

I sound so old when I say there were no DVDs then so we would watch it on a worn old video that had been played so much that it was fuzzy at the bottom of the screen. My twin sister and I didn't mind this as we had no television at home so getting to watch a video (even Shakespeare!) was like entertainment!!!

I am digressing but the reason we had television at home was that my mother is very anti-television for children. My parents still have no television or radio but they did get the Internet a few years ago when my younger sister just rang the phone company and arranged for it all to be hooked up. Speaking of telephones, I think I was about 10 when my parents got a house phone. It was something that we weren't encouraged to really use!!

Anyway back to Gatsby.....,
Seems like the reviews aren't great for it but I will still go see it!

Island vacations

Congratulations Key West you made the top 10 islands in the USA!

Magazine article

Our house is featured in "Ireland's Homes Interiors & Living" (June Edition).  A 15 page spread and also an article on how to get our look - " The Ranelagh Look"

Contact ODKM Architects if you are contemplating your own dream project!