On Camden Street

We had breakfast in Flavour on Camden Street on Sunday morning.  Flavour is a good value, cheerful type of place with extremely friendly staff.

Ciaran had the full Irish which he thoroughly enjoyed

I had pancakes & bacon.  Free refills of coffee were offered which is quite rare in Ireland but very much appreciated!

Across the street is Flannerys - the building was built in 1839 (as per the plaque on the building)

A stunning large black poodle was being walked across the road

There was no one about as it was early in the morning.  The street was calm and quiet.  It was nice to saunter along and take in the sights!

Angels in the Park

"Angels in the Park" was performed in the Ranelagh Gardens as part of the Ranelagh Arts Festival.  We managed to see two of these 10 minute short plays which were performed promenade style in the park.  All of the plays were written especially for the event by Peter Sheridan, Cathy Barry, Shane Fallon, Graham Stull, Alex De Witt, and Kevin Jones.  The two we saw were very funny.

The first play took place on a park bench and involved three characters, an older man with alzheimers disease and two young people.  

Although humorous, this play brought a tear to my eye as Peggy Mangan a Dublin lady who had been missing for days after going walking with her dog was still being searched for.  Unfortunately she was found dead an hour or so after we watched this play.  Very sad.  Peggy's dog stayed with her to the end but unfortunately Caspar died a few hours after Peggy's body was discovered in the undergrowth in a field near Ikea in Ballymun.  

The second play took place a short walk away from the above park bench.  It was a love story between two characters (this guy in the pond and a girl up in a balcony in an apartment overlooking the park).

The two shi tzus above became part of the play!

Angels in the Park was a really enjoyable event.  It had been running all week at lunchtime and the day we saw it was the last day it was being performed.  I had hoped to go to a few more events in the Ranelagh Arts Festival but was unable to, so it was great to see this.

The plays were produced by Shiva Productions

Fake painting

Day 2 of filming

Here is Ciaran "painting" for the camera.  The paint cup is empty and his brush is dry!!

Look at the gorgeous blue sky!!

Director Nicola watched everything being filmed on a small screen.  She was extremely thorough and noticed everything - even a small cable at the side of the window in the shower.  It was moved out of shot after she spotted it.

Ciaran's footprints were filmed from the bathroom as he walked above in the studio on the glass floor

LPA by night!

Bones conked out after 2 tiring days for him!

For more photos click here

TV Time

We have a TV crew of 3 (Matt, Kevin & Nicola) in the house today.  They are filming an episode of "Extreme Homes" for HGTV for the American Market.

They will be working here for today and tomorrow and will end up with about an hours film which will be edited down to 5 minutes!!!

Ciaran is working hard doing lots of dialogue to camera and showing of all the special features of the house.

Here is director Nicola and cameraman Kevin up on the roof filming.  This was a camera set up on a piece of equipment with huge weights at the end if it - I can only imagine what their excess baggage charges for all their equipment on the airplane was!

Cameraman Matt filming the front room (he's kneeling on an amazing Jan Kath rug, loaned to us by Conrad in RugArt).

Here is Ciaran doing a close up of the wood cladding in the studio.

The crew are such a team of professionals, extremely thorough and very pleasant to boot.  They do their work without leaving a trace that they have been there - it is very impressive to watch how they work.

For more photos - click here

The sky looks great in the above pic - I'm glad Ciaran got the window washer out this week.

Ciaran points out the concrete wall detail

While Kevin & Nicola worked downstairs with Ciaran, Matt worked away filming the upstairs on his own.

I do like how the Laura Ashley wallpaper looks in this picture!

I should mention that Bones the dog was not allowed in any shots.  He would mess up the continuity by being in different spots in different shots.

Cup of Joe

After buying a few items for the filming today (fresh flowers, cakes to stage the table, etc.) we went to Nick's Coffee for a quick cup before we got back to the house for 10am to meet the crew.

Here's Bones looking pitiful ;-)   P

Head of horse

As I drove home from work yesterday a horse and cart came up beside me in traffic.

It was a busy day in the city with lots of tourists and Dubliners in town celebrating Arthur's Day.

I rarely go to my work canteen but I did yesterday.  The options were Bangers & Mash or Chicken in Red Wine Jus.  I chose the chicken.  It was very tasty but probably too filling - I had a bad yoga class afterwards and I blame the fact that I ate such a big meal at lunch!

Clothes Bank

We are doing a big clean up and clear out before the TV crew comes on Saturday to film the house.

I brought 2 large sacks of clothes to the ISPCC clothes bank in Blanchardstown.  Some clothes banks collect clothes to sell in their charity shops (thrift stores).  However I think this clothes bank sells on the clothes to recycling companies in order to raise funds for the ISPCC (Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children).

What do you do with clothes when you are finished with them?

Busy morning....

I have an event on in work this evening so I needed to wear something nice.  I put on a dress that I had laid out last night but then I couldn't find the necklace I wanted to wear with it.  I tried on a few necklaces but none were quite right.  I then had to drive over to work early to buy a necklace before I started work.  I found this metal feather piece that will do the job.

When I get to work I need to get the room and sound system set up and check on the catering for the event.  Oh and I have to write my speech.  Forget about busy morning it's going to be a busy day!!

Making painting canvas

Ciaran has started work on a large art piece for in our living room. He made wooden frames that he will stretch canvas over.  The large frame in the photo is 1.2 metres by 1.5 metres.  The canvas material is coming by post from England.

My current fave

My current favourite drink is a "Falling Water"

The ingredients are simply

- Vodka

- 7Up

- wedge of cucumber

It has a deliciously refreshing taste!

If you do make a Falling Water, do let me know what you think of it!

You can also make a virgin version by leaving out the vodka - nearly as refreshing.....

Up on the roof

To clean the glass roof of the studio we have to climb out our attic on to the roof. It's such a great view from up there (but a little scary!).

Hard work for Ciaran - my job was to pass him things as he needed them.

It's a lovely sunny day in Ireland (Indian Summer!) and the tiles were very hot to touch.

It's so quiet up on the roof - I like the calmness...

A well deserved drink!

Have you ever been up on your roof?

I think we may need to invest in a power hose that we can just spray the windows to get them clean, in the future.

Punjabi by Nature

We visited Bunjabi by Nature (formerly Bunjabi Balti) last night for dinner.  Ciaran had Indian BBQ while I had a traditional Indian dish of a variety of curries - along with dessert of pancake and yoghurt on the plate!  Both of us really enjoyed our meals and tastes parts from both plates. I think I liked the mango prawn curry the best.

Charity Clothes Swap

In aid of the local hospice.

The concept is you bring along a few items of clothes you are finished with along with a donation of €10.  Then you get to browse all the other clothes and take away some items you like!

There was a raffle with tickets for €2 and also an auction of embarrassing photos of the event attendees. 

I'm unsure of this top - I will try it on again at home

There were accessories too - handbags, jewellery, shoes, etc.

This is a Per Una dress - never worn with the tags on.  Good find!

A fun entertaining event arranged by my aunt.  Hopefully it raised lots for the local hospice.