Life on the Avenue: August 2021

Saturday, 21 August 2021

Homecoming

Back home on the avenue!

So our latest news is that we are back in our house! I have to say that it has made me feel much more settled and it was great to see all our neighbours, we chatted to them all as we met them on the street and everyone we spoke to gave us a lovely greeting and welcomed us back!

I'm currently remote working two days a week and am doing a cycle / dart mix to get to work on the other days. I love the cycle to the dart station which is about 10 mins away from my house and there are bike lanes in parts. After buying a new helmet, I then found my old helmet up in the attic. Ciaran doesn't have a helmet so he took the new one which is plain black and a skull cap style. My old one is black and white and a bit naf looking....but sure it does the job. For visibility in the dark, I ordered a Proviz jacket which illuminates really brightly in the dark when a car light shines on it. I feel much safer wearing my proviz and helmet!

PIGSY Art Exhibition

We've both been doing a ton of work in preparation for the PIGSY art exhibition in Kerry in Kenmare Butter Market. Ciaran got his very large artworks stretched and paper studies framed. All of these works will be presented at his exhibition.

Torc Brewery

Torc Brewery are the official sponsors of the art exhibition. They are a brewing company based in Killarney in County Kerry and the produce a really nice selection of beers including an Irish Wheat Beer and and Amber Ale. Guests at the opening night of the exhibition on Thurs 2nd of Sept will be able to enjoy the PIGSY art while sampling the tasty Torc Beers. Beer and art - what a great combo!

Trip to the Kingdom

We will head down to Kerry for the exhibition on the last Sunday in August and the art will get hung on the gallery wall in time for opening night on Thursday. It's seriously exciting!!

Tuesday, 3 August 2021

Coffee routine

Coffee time

As I said in my last blog, we are still not moved back in to our house (but watch this space, the move back is imminent) so I have no access to my Nespresso coffee maker. Instead of making coffee at home we get up early and go for a coffee in Butler's either on Grafton Street or Dawson Street. The Grafton Street branch was open at 9am yesterday (it was a bank holiday) so that is where we went. While this morning I am working remotely from home so we were up early and down to the Dawson Street branch by bike. We arrived home about 8.30am which has given me plenty of time to write this blog post before I start work at 9.15am.

Good boy Bones!

Bones comes with us. He is carried in a bag attached to the front of Ciaran's Brompton Bike and then he sits quietly (mainly) while we have our coffee and of course a little one of Butler's famous sweets!!

Double chocolate sweet with half filled short Americano - my fave!

Below is a quiet Grafton Street on Bank Holiday Monday

Sunday, 1 August 2021

Back on Irish soil!

Return to Ireland

The last flew weeks in Malaga turned rather hectic and after we finally left, time has just flown since we returned to Ireland. We experienced a bit of hassle with getting the dog transport finalised but we got Bones safely home after extending our return date by a week. Let me know if you need help transporting a dog from Spain and I can help you with a recommendation for a Pet Transport Company that can asssist.

Since our arrival back in Ireland I have returned to my 9-5 day job in the library service. Outside of my day job I am helping Ciaran work on his next art exhibition in Kenmare, County Kerry. He has a fair bit of work to do for the exhibition and additionally he is working on getting his new art studio set up.

Ireland 2021

So how am I finding Ireland after being away from it for a year.

Well to be honest it's great! Right now we are not back in our home as it is still rented so we are currently living in a lovely apartment in the Liberties area of Dublin. It's a pretty cool area and is kind of hip and definitely on the turn towards gentrification. We were down in Kerry last weekend to check out the art venue for the PIGSY exhibition as mentioned above. The venue is the Kenmare Butter Market in the centre of Kenmare and it is a fantastic space. The weather was incredibly good (Ireland was in the middle of a heat wave) in Kenmare and we had a fantastic time. It was a flying visit, we only spent one night there after after heading down on Saturday morning and returning Sunday afternoon, but we got to go out for a meal on Saturday night (in the BBQ attached to the Gallery) and then had a nice breakfast in The Rookery on Sunday morning.

This weekend is a Bank Holiday here in Ireland and given that only outdoor dining is available to Ciaran and I (due to only having one vaccination completed at the moment) we made plans to go for an outdoor dinner with friends on Saturday night. A night on the terrace of Fitzwilliam Tennis Club was planned and it turned out to be a great night with a bit of rain that didn't bother us because the terrace has large awnings. There are also heaters under the awnings and it was a mild night along with all of us wearing layers so we were all comfortable and had an enjoyable night out.

Covid Vaccinations Ireland

Right now Ireland is in a situation where it is flying along with the vaccination programme but we are still under certain restrictions. Restaurants only opened for indoor dining in the last few days after travel starting back on the 19th of July. Digital Covid Certificates are needed for access to the inside of restaurants and they are also being utilised for travel. With vaccinations available for all in Ireland over the age of 16 (12-15 yr old vaccinations will be starting soon)

, I am half way to being fully vaccinated with my next Pfizer jab due in two weeks. So it's all good!

Here's a few pics from the past few weeks for you to enjoy.