Water in the ears!

Water in my ears after I swim!  What is with this???

Currently I am training for a 12 mile relay swim around the island of Key West in June.  The training is going great except for the water in ear condition that I am experiencing.

Having swam competitively through my childhood,  I don't seem to recall having this issue.  Now after I get out of the pool I can't hear anything and as I shake my head I can feel the water rolling around my ear drum.

The only way I can get it out is to bend forward and shake my head vigorously and then turn my head to the side and shake more.  Huge big drops then come out and land on the floor!

What is with it???!!  Very annoying!

Laura Geoghegan holistic Massage

Are you based in Galway?

A good friend of mine, living and working in Galway, is a very talented Holistic Masseuse.  I can personally vouch for her magic fingers - I was relaxed for weeks after getting a massage from her.

Laura does a range of holistic therapies including full body massage along with Reiki and Indian Head Massage. 

She has just started to begin marketing and promoting herself on Facebook and is looking to grow her business.  I'd love if you could give her support and click like!

And if you are ever in the Galway area of Ireland - do yourself a favour and book in a massage with Laura Geoghegan!!

Her contact details are on her Facebook page.

Oh and as well as being a great therapist Laura is also a swimming teacher too!!!  So if you want the kiddies to learn to swim - click here.

The Natural Bakery

The Natural Bakery is now open in Rathmines.  It seems that it has branches in both Donnybrook and Kilmainham.

The bakery has a stylish frontage and display cases full of nice treats.

There was some great novelty cakes in the window.

They do cakes, pastries and breads.

There is a huge selection of breads.  They all look great.

Ciaran got an Apple Danish.  Look at the size of them!!

Although you can sit in and have a coffee we took ours to takeaway.  Ciaran thought his Danish was nice but not as good as the Danish he used to get in Bretzel Bakery.

I got a cupcake.  It was a bit "meh".  There was not enough frosting and it was quite tasteless.

Next time we visit we will buy some bread as it all looked super!

"Love Dad" by Evan Hunter - My favourite book

A good few years ago, I first read "Love Dad" by Evan Hunter.  Since then I have considered it to be my all time favourite book.

Based around the relationship between a daughter and father through the 1960's it brilliantly describes how complex this relationship is.  It follows through their life and shows her gaining independence from her loving family and going through tumultous scenes to finally land where her father probably wanted her to be from the day she was born.

The above is what I consider the book to be about.  However a reviewer on the Good Reads website said it was about "the dissolution of a family by drugs and adultery" - funny how different readers can see different things in a book.  Yes there is drugs and adultery in the book but I would have not said they were the central theme to the book.

I love the 1960's and 1970's,  it's a time I would have loved to live in.  I enjoy reading about how people lived then and I love that people made serious stands for peace.  It is a decade when people power pushed for huge social change and achieved it!

I think this book captures the mood of this time extremely well - the father and daughter are quite possibly used as a contrast or a juxtaposition of the old and the new. The daughter is a baby boomer, she grew up with Woodstock and the Vietnam War.  To be born in this era and not be part of it would be unthinkable.  However, for her parents to be part of it was seen to be a rebellion - it went against all that they had believed in. The hard work that had gone in to achieving the status quo be generations before looked like it was being torn apart by this generation who engaged in free love, drugs and free thinking.  

For the parents, conformation was the only option (although the father griped about the triviality of suburbanity and ultimately moved on from this himself).  For the daughter non-conformation was the only option.  They were at an impasse so there was only one thing going to arise - a shattering of the family relationship.

Have you read this book?  I hope my account of it would make you want to read it.  Although out of print, it is available on Amazon (preowned).  

Check out this slating review when it was originally published!

My house!

I seem to be attracting many readers from a particular website who have an interest in the rebuild aspect of my house (this is great because obviously it was why I started blogging in the first place!). 

Rather than having to trawl through my blog from the start here are a few links that you can click to get a indication of what the job entailed and how it progressed. 

Click here  for an album of pictures of the job from the beginning.

Click here for pics of some completed details.

The state it was in!  Click here & here.

Back wall had to be removed.

Little Horror show!

Beginning to look like a home.....

Kitchen album

Follow ODKM on Facebook to see lots more great projects! 

NEVER gargle Tea Tree Oil!!

So yesterday I wrote about the wonders of Tea Tree Oil.  Today however, I write a warning about how disgusting gargling Tea Tree Oil is.

This morning I added a few drops of Tea Tree Oil to water and gargled.  Instantly I found the taste to be extremely unpleasant but continued for about 30 seconds.  After I spat out the oil the taste would not go and it stayed with me all day!!!  Nothing would get rid of it and it made me feel a little ill all day.  Yuck!  I will not be doing this ever again!!


                                      DOUBLE YUCK!

Wonders of Tea Tree Oil

Happy Earth Day 2014!

Tea tree oil is something that I always keep in the house.  It's something that I find so good for cleaning and keeping the house fresh.  I add a few drops to my washing machine every now and again in order to kill mould and keep it clean and fresh.

However, the best thing about Tea Tree oil is its health benefits.  Especially when it comes to skin conditions.  I get a recurring Staph infection about once or twice a year.  After continually going to the doctor and being given a prescription for an antibiotic cream (generally Fuicidin) I decided to look at alternative options.  One alternative was to use Tea Tree Oil.  I spoke to a pharmacist who advised against using TT Oil on my face but I went ahead and used it about two weeks ago on the infection.  What do you know?  It healed it and in super quick time.  What a result!

Tea Tree Oil can also be used to cure fungal toes and also sun burn. Do you use Tea Tree Oil to stay healthy?

Did you know that you can even add it to water and use it as a natural mouthwash???

City Bin

A few years ago the Dublin councils privatized and sold off their waste services. Since then a few companies have come online and have offered services to the people of Ireland.  We are currently signed up with City Bin.

I rate City Bin very highly and have found them to be brilliant.  On the very one occasion that our bin wasn't collected I rang them and they picked up the next day.  I also rang them to mention that our bin wasn't very visible because there was a car in the way.  The lady I spoke to said she would text the lads on the truck and tell them to look out for it.  How great is that service?! 

We have 3 rubbish bins - Black for general waste,  Green for recycling and Brown for compostable waste.  Every month City Bin sends me a report on how much waste I have disposed of and how it compares to other customers.  As a family of two we have very little waste - and because of this City Bin charges us a lower yearly charge.  

It is obvious from dealing with this company that they are focused on customer service - it is the little things like they always put your bins back to the spot they took they from.  Having been with another bin company before, I am extremely happy that I made the switch to City Bin.

         How do you dispose of your waste - are you happy with your waste company?

Coffee time - Nespresso capsule system

My twin sister and I visited the Nespresso Boutique in Brown Thomas to look at coffee machines.

I was under strict orders to buy a black machine so I bought a "U" made by Magimix.

A special offer was running where you got a €50 voucher to use against coffee when you bought a machine.  A "Welcome Pack" of 150 different coffee capsules along with a perspex storage box was on sale for €57 so I used my voucher for this.

The machine I bought was €149 so for €156,  I got all of the below.  What great value!

I set the machine up on my wet bar turning it in to a coffee bar!

It is incredibly easy to make a cup of coffee.  Pop in a capsule and choose what size coffee you would like (there are 3 sizes - espresso is the mid size)

Lovely creamy coffee on the make!

The midsize coffee fits perfectly in to my Smart Car espresso cups.

The perspex box is very convenient and very dinky looking.

My sister (check her blog here) got the very funky limited edition "Bright Orange" Inessia coffee maker.  This machine cost a ridiculously reasonable €99.  I would have been happy to have bought this model but unfortunately the black colour were all sold out.  I love the bright cheeriness of the orange machine.

Have you got a capsule system coffee maker? I know that Keurig is a popular range in USA but unfortunately you can not buy K Cups in Ireland - otherwise I may have considered buying one in the States.

Salt Lick pop up in Ranelagh

Salt Lick is a new restaurant in Ranelagh that is based in Hobarts on Friday and Saturday nights - a variation on a pop up restaurant, I guess.  In true hipster fashion they only take bookings through their social media on their Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr pages.  I facebooked them for a table and they fitted the two of us in for 7.30pm on Saturday night.

Salt Lick has no licence so it is both BYOB and BYOC.  You might be wondering what BYOC is!!  It's Bring Your Own Cocktail - well bring the spirits that you want to add to their delicious cocktail fixings.

I have this great wine bag that my cousin brought back from New York City for me.  In to it I put a bottle of Chateau Neuf du Pape (a young 'un - perhaps not the best choice to go with taco's) and two little baby bottles (1 of vodka the other of bourbon for Ciaran).

The food in Salt Lick is themed each month.  This month is taco month - how fun!

For starters we got bacon bites served with three sauces/dips (I will edit and put up what they are when I get home and check the menu again).  We found the bacon bites to be very salty and over fried which made them very tough.  We wouldn't be rushing to have them again.

For main there was tacos in three different varieties - lamb, pork and beef.  You could choose three so we chose all of the above.  Both of us agreed that the lamb was our favourite.  Ciaran said he would have three of the lamb if he was reordering.   Our least favourite was the beef - neither of us are a fan of horse radish (maybe we should have left it off?) 

For dessert I had the coffee milk pudding which was creamy, sweet and smooth - very tasty indeed.  

As we ordered dessert we handed over our babies and they made us a Moscow Mule with the vodka and an Old Fashioned with the bourbon.  Both were quite delicious and a lovely finish to our evening in Salt Lick.

Our bill for all of the above came to a very reasonable €51.  

Saturday swim

I got up this morning and set off to the pool for a swim - only to find it not open until 10am!!!!  

I walked back to Starbucks and settled in  with a coffee until the pool opened. 

Ceiliúradh

President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins (Uachtarain na hEirinn) is currently on a momentous and historic State visit to Great Britain. Hosted by the Queen of England he is staying at her private residence Windsor Castle.

On the third night of his visit a celebration of all that is Irish was held in the Royal Albert Hall (which is amazing!).  Called a "Ceiliúradh" it consisted of performance by Irish dancers, musicians, poets and storytellers. Very enjoyable altogether!

Pictured is President Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabine

At the Library!

Recognize anyone in this video?!

Does your library do all of this too???

Share if you love libraries!!

Sunday Swim!

I had been "paying as I go" to swim in the Swan Leisure Centre in Ranelagh, but today I bit the bullet and took out a years membership.  In fairness it is a great pool and there is also a gym and lots of fitness classes available.

I'm not sure if I mentioned before that my sisters and I have signed up for a 12.5 mile swim around Key West this June.  We will be competing as a relay team so we will all end up swimming around 3 miles each.

Before I swam today I was working out how many meters 3 miles converts to, which is 5000 metres.

Therefore when training in a 25m pool we will need to get 200 lengths under our belts (this means we should be fit enough to swim against the sea currents which will be way stronger than in the pool).

I haven't been swimming for the past few weeks since I had minor surgery and was easing myself back slowly.  Today I finally I felt like I was swimming well and that I can do the KW Island swim!

Awesome!

I'll blog regularly about my swim training and how I am getting on and do look out for my blogs about the actual race when I complete it in June!!

Obviously you can see from this sign that Linn Snamha is the Irish for Swimming Pool.  (I think if you had asked me to translate it I possibly might have said it was Snamhlann)

I put this photo up because my American friends get a kick out of the fact that we call swimsuits "togs" here in Ireland.  In fairness I think it is fairly funny that English people tend to call their swimsuits "costumes" - it sounds as if they are putting on a performance or something!

Proposal Ring Box

Many times when someone proposes marriage to their beloved they use a fake ring so that afterwards they can choose the engagement ring together as a couple.

Today in the Kilkenny store I saw the most amazing silver ring box that could be used as part of the proposal.

The box had a ribbon on it so afterwards the box could even be hung each year on the Christmas tree!

I think it is the most adorable thing!

It's made by Newbridge Silver and retails for €25

I think it is a lovely keepsake and would make a great family heirloom.

"Digital Speak" - A new language

A few days ago I received the following What's app message:

#Bookshelfie is trending on Tumblr.  You need to take a selfie of you in the library and tweet it and share in on FB"

So I followed all of the above instructions and this was the result

(I should mention that a library all the way in Ohio shared this pic with their followers too!)

This got me thinking.  If someone had said the above message to me 10 years ago I would have had no clue what they are talking about.  Has new technologies and social media given rise to a new language which I like to refer to as "Digital Speak"???

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this 

- do you speak digital???...........

Here's my final thought:   #Digitalspeak

Digital Marketing Course - Wk 2

Here's what I learned in Week 2 of the Digital Marketing Course that I am currently studying.

The following relates to use of Social Media by businesses.

Bitly!
I had used Bitly to shorten links to share on Twitter, etc.  
A better use for Bitly is to sign up to track your links to gain useful information like where clicks on your links are coming from.

Images
Images add value to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) if tagged properly.  Use keywords when saving an image that you are then going to share on Facebook

Chat with and endorse other brands that have shared interests or shared target audiences 

When tweeting someone put Hi before @----- in order for the tweet to show up in your followers feed

Second Screen
Have you heard of the Second Screen?  This is when you are watching TV but also tweeting about the TV show at the same time. In Ireland the Late Late Show has been broadcast every Friday night for about 40 years.  There is a large live thread/discussion about the show on Boards with lively discussion about the show as it is broadcast.  We have changed the way we watch TV and there has also been changes to the way that TV shows are produced.  TV shows have social media ad-ons like hash tags and actors are employed to, as well as act in the show, engage with viewers on social media.

Hashtags
When hosting an event, create a specific hashtag for it.  If people tweet about the event they should include the #tag which may get it trending.

Facebook check ins
"Check ins" are crucial - they endorse your business.

Status Updates
Status updates can be scheduled - spend an hour or two to schedule all your updates for the week.
Look for the clock on the post/status update - put in times and dates you want the updates to go live.  This allows you to mange your time more effectively on FB.
But do remember to react to timely events and take down scheduled updates if they are no longer appropriate.

And finally, always include a link to your website in "about" on Facebook and Twitter, etc.  This creates the all important back link.
Remember that the reason for using social media is to drive traffic to your website.

Hope all of the above was useful and look out for my post about what I learn next week in the third week of my course!

Tunnocks Tea Cakes

Is there anything nicer on your morning coffee break than a Tunnock's Tea Cake???

Open the cool retro box to take one!

Unwrap the printed tin foil to reveal the chocolate jewel!

And Voila!  The Tunnock's Tea Cake in all it's glory!!

Soft marshmallow on biscuit enveloped in chocolate.  The perfect food!!!

Here's the Tunnock's Tea Cake stash in work!!