Why oh why is my WiFi gone

It's never a good time to have WiFi issues but it certainly isn't a good time when there are two people in the house working from home pretty much 100% of the time.

After having issues for the past while with TV & Internet service we were sent a new router box that we were told would resolve our issues. 

Somewhat optimistically we switched out the old box for the new one on Tuesday evening. I say somewhat optimistically because I did believe it would work but I didn't believe what it said on the marketing brochure that came with the box

And so after hours of work by Virgin Media on Weds they advised that they would need to get a technician out to our house to look at the set up. This has now been organized for this Saturday and we both tethered to our mobile phones for data today.

In other news, Lidl are collecting food items for Foodcloud  who will then distribute to food banks and charities. Such an easy way to help out - all you need to do is buy a few extra dried goods and put in the trolley on your way out of the store.

What I am currently reading is "Fleishman is in trouble" - when it is sunny after work, I have been pouring myself a glass of wine and sitting on my windowsill in a little sun trap and reading a good book.......and this is a really good book!

So where ever you are in the world, I hope you are safe and well and stay this way. 

Byeeee

Bike to Work - Brompton Style

On Weds I was due in the office for an 8am start. 

The night before work I decided I would do a combo cycle-train journey on Ciaran's Brompton bike. 

In order to get to work on time I got up about 6.50am, made myself a coffee which I tucked in to the bag that I clipped on to the front of the bike and tucked my handbag beside the cup to keep it up straight (even though the lid could close over). *Note to self, I need to order a cupholder!

 After that I set off and did the short cycle to Sandymount Dart Station where I pushed the bike in to the station, took the coffee out of the bike and then waited for the train. The train arrived in less than 10 mins and then I again pushed the bike on without folding it. On the train I just swung the back wheel under the bike in order for it to stand. There was about 4 people in the carriage so there was no need to fold the bike.

When I arrived at my destination I got off the train and then rather than waiting to get the lift (which I normally do with my electric bike) I simply just picked the bike up and carried it up the stairs - it really is light enough to do that!

I arrived in to work with plenty of time to spare at about 7.45am or so.

And on the return journey I did pretty much the same thing, except that I took the lift down the stairs and then stayed on the Dart until Landsdowne and cycling home via Baggot Street.
What can I say I am a Brompton fan! I loved it.
OK so they look a little weird but honestly I don't care because they are just so very smart and userfriendly. They are also a lot of fun - possibly the most fun bike I've been on. Even though it started to rain on me on the way home, I didn't care because I was enjoying the cycle so much. 
If you are thinking of getting one for city commuting I would definitely encourage you. Go for it!
 

Sunday in the City

I sure am glad that we lives less than 2km away from Dublin City. It means that we can go to Stephens Green or Grafton and still adhere to government guidance to stay within 2km of your home place.

This morning, we took a cycle in to Grafton Street to shop for groceries in Marks & Spencer. 

We were both impressed by how M&S were managing social distancing. There was one entrance in and one out along with sanitizing wipes for use as you entered.  I reckon we will be back again next weekend as it felt very calm and it didn't give me anxiety the way Supervalu and Lidl do.  We were also able to get our favourite things like sweet pepper hummus.....oh and I also bought this little mini prosecco because it's GOLD!!!

However, aside from the shopping in M&S being very pleasant, the walk down from where we had locked the bikes felt very surreal. We left our bikes up at the Stephens Green Shopping Centre but if we go in another time I think we will cycle down Dawson Street and lock the bikes at the side of Marks & Spencers.

Here is photos of some of the closed up shops on Grafton Street, with many of them boarded up. 

 

I never noticed what a fine building Monsoon is in - it's magnificent!

You have to wonder when they will all be open again and if we will ever shop like we used to without a one way in, one way out system......

Takeaway Saturday

Saturday started with yet another vet visit with Dr Bones.  The good news is that they were finally able to take out his sutures (but it took far longer than usual) and they were very happy with how the infection was clearing and his neck was healing. I'm happy to report that he is now released from their care.

When we got home, Ciaran got in to painting en plein air by moving the large canvas he is working on outside.  Later he moved it back in so he could do an online workout in the yard area. He also fitted in a Spanish class.

On the other hand I had a chilled out day, reading and drinking coffee while doing a little internet browsing.

Both of us had lined up some video chats later on so I ordered Rasoi online and scheduled in a delivery for 9pm as I figured we would be finished up then and it would be handy to have food come to us rather than us have to either think of cooking or going up the road to pick up food from Dillingers.

I ordered enough food for two nights so we will enjoy it again tonight!

 

I ordered the Prawn Curry for a change.  It was ok, but we missed our usual Chicken Korma.  All in all it was a great meal :-) 

 

I am thankful...

Here's a little post about something I am thankful for.

I know lockdown is tough on lots of people for various reasons. Whether you are on the frontline, self isolating, cocooning or stuck somewhere that you don't want to be, hopefully you find something to be thankful for. Even if it is the smallest thing like having a biscuit with your morning tea or hearing the birds at dawn.

Here's something I am thankful for.

The other day while browsing instagram, I saw that Reece Witherspoon was live on her insta. When I clicked in I found that she was in conversation with Jenna Bush Hager about books. Wow, what a great conversation to fall in to and with two people I think are great. I've always liked Reece I think she is so sweet and likeable and I am also a fan of Jenna Bush Hager along with her twin sister Barbara - they both seem so characterful.

Well I knew that my twin sister needed to be in on this live insta chat, so I clicked off quickly, sent her a what's app and got right back on.

Amy then joined me and we both had a great time listening to the two ladies, me in Ireland, Amy in Florida and I think Reece in Tennessee and I'm not too sure where Jenna was. Then when it was over, Amy and I had a further conversation about what we had just seen. What a lovely thing to bond over and it sure was something I was thankful for - very unexpected and perhaps would not have happened but for lockdown!

Speaking of books and the Bush twins, one of my favourite books is "American Wife" which is based on the life of former first lady Laura Bush. It's a great story fantastically written by Curtis Sittenfeld. As a Librarian, which Laura Bush was too, I heartily recommend it!

Goodbye Smartie! We are now a car Free Household

Back in 2019, I blogged about becoming a one car household.......well, guess what?! We are now a No-Car Household!!

We sold it today at lunchtime and as we drove up the road to the new owner to leave it with him, Ciaran remarked that he was missing the car already.  Smart Cars get under your skin and you become very attached to them (this was our second Smart and they really are awesome!!). But we have bikes and access to good public transport links. If we need a car for long journeys we will get a rental and if we need a car for other small trips or if we have to deliver Pigsy paintings we will use Go Car of which Ciaran is a member. 

Ciaran's office is close to us - perhaps maybe 10 mins walk away while I can get the bus or Dart to work. And sure for the meanwhile, Ciaran is working from home while I am working from home too and going in to the office one day a week.

Let's see if we can make this work!!

Goodbye Smartie!

Greetings from.....

The other day I mentioned that I sent some cards in the post. Well they arrived!

One went all the way to The Hague, in The Netherlands for Lydia while the other one landed in Katie's letterbox in Galway.

I sent a few more which will probably arrive in the next few days.  I enjoyed writing the cards with special messages for my sisters. I will make an effort to send a few more cards to friends.

Katie put her card on her piano - she is an avid piano player so I think this is a special place. 

And Lydia got to open her card in the sun as the weather has been great in The Netherlands as well as in Ireland.

Hopefully the cards brightened up the twin's days!

A new week, a new day: Monday morning walk

Before we start work from home we take the dog for a walk around the block. Today the weather was so nice, we walked in to the park and down Ranelagh main street and then back home - it's about 20 minutes all in.

I took some pictures as we went on our way....

The resident heron in Ranelagh Park has ventured outside the park walls. I think this is fairly strange behaviour and wonder would it because there is less traffic on the road so it feels more secure venturing out? 

I like the sign he proudly stands in front of.  "Live life to the fullest" - we should all be living like this. Living through the Corona virus pandemic is showing us how fragile life is and how every second is so valuable.

I took some photos of the Covid 19 related signs in the windows of some of the shops an restaurants in Ranelagh

        Tribeca                         GMale                   

              

       Gigi's                                              The Zipyard

This was perhaps the saddest sign I saw....the world premiere of Maeve Binchy's "Circle of Friends" is not to be. The run was meant to be from 6th of April to 2nd of May.  It's probably a play that I would have gone to see in the Gaiety Theatre

And I posted another card - this one including some yeast for a Facebook friend who plans to make bread with her children!

Hope you had a great Monday too!

Living Room Takeover

I mentioned in my previous blog that I was back in the vet with Bones.  The current issue with him is that he keeps on going at his incision and it can't heal and is now badly infected. 

We arrived promptly at 10am on Saturday at the vets and as they opened up, I let the nurse know that I had Bones and we had an appointment.  When she came back out a minute or two later, Bones began to start to pull away on his lead and tried to refuse to walk in to surgery. The nurse was so sweet to him and she coerced him in while talking kindly to him.

After the consultation, the vet met me on the street and talked through how he was. She gave us another set of antibiotics for him along with a wash for the affected area with instructions on how to use it. We also talked about solutions for stopping him scratching the incision.  In the heel of the hunt, we had tried all of the solutions including making a snood and wrapping his neck and also putting socks on his paws. The vet then suggested an inflatable collar and when she described it to me and how it works I knew it was the perfect solution so I immediately said that we would go with this.

So she then brought Bones out on the street with his meds, the wash and also the blow up cushion for his neck. If you ever need to get one of these blow up collars, I now see them online in pet stores.

As soon as I got him home I blew up the collar and put it on him.  He is not happy - but it is doing the job!

And then on Sunday it was time to do our usual big weekly clean.  Ciaran vacuums the house from the top to the bottom, while I clean the bathrooms.  I then steam cleaned all of the floors while he cleaned the kitchen. This big clean helps us keep on top of all of the work and means we only have to tip away at it during the week for maybe 40 mins or so every evening.

Seriously though it is a mystery of life how my bath gets so dirty when it never gets used.  Every week on Sunday I give it a full on scrub and then when I come back at it a week later it is full of dust and what not, and needs another good clean. It seems to be the one major dirt attractant in my house. Anyone else have a bath like this?

I'd actually like to take the bath out and replace it with a large size shower. We rarely use the bath and all I seem to do is clean it!! 

One thing I would be lost without is my steam cleaner.  If you don't have one, you need to get one. I used to hate the drudge of cleaning floors. All that scrubbing and washing and really it never even felt very clean afterwards.  However, once I got my first steam cleaner that all changed. No drudgery and it really cleans up the floor with practically no effort what so ever.  My one piece of advice for anyone when they first move in to their own place is "BUY A STEAM CLEANER" - you won't regret it!!

This is my current steam cleaner. It's a Hoover brand and it is so light and user friendly. 

   

Other than that there's plenty of other stuff going on, with my living room being taken over by Pigsy, as he completes a massive piece. I guess it is only fair that he works here as I did take over his studio to work remotely from.

You can check Pigsy's instagram here to see how this painting progressed.  I should note that I am aware that the pic below doesn't show him actually working but instead drinking a cold beer......hmmmm.

Life goes on under lockdown

What can I say that I didn't say on Twitter on the 14th of April: Lockdown has been a continuous cycle of cooking and cleaning

Well I guess you can add in eating to the above!

Here's how our Friday and some of Saturday has been going.....

 

I was running low on coffee so stocked up on some Kenco capsules - last time I stocked up I bought L'Or, but Kenco was on special so I got these instead.  I immediately made a coffee when I got back from the shop and I can report that it tastes good.

Later on Friday evening we sauntered up to Dillingers and got dinner. It sure was sad to see it all lit up but nobody allowed in. As you can see they have a table across the entrance and you have to stand at the door any they leave your order on the table and you can then step up to take it as they step back - it's done well and there is good social distancing.

It was really pleasant walking up the road to pick up dinner. We set off just before 9pm and the streets were so so quiet. Not eerily so, just very chilled.

Once we got back with dinner, I poured a glass of wine.  We then ate while watching TV and afterwards headed off to bed about 10.30pm. I was up early to go back to the vet with Bones (I'll let you know how that went in my next blog).

Ciaran has been busy. Over the past few days he has continued with the online workouts and then on Saturday (after getting a delivery from Evans Art Supplies) he set up to do a bit of painting in the living room - you can check out his instagram here to see how this piece is progressing.

Hope you are well, where ever in the world you are reading this from (do comment below), stay safe and healthy - all the best to you!