Working Saturday

Saturday was productive

First thing I did was pack a few little Christmas gifts that are heading off to people who live in different countries to Ireland. On the way to the post office I stopped off in Butlers for a coffee. At that point in the day the sun was shining and it was fairly mild - but as usual for Ireland, 3 seasons later by the afternoon it was cold and wet like Winter!

Glass Recycling

Pigsy has a lend of a van for a week so we took the opportunity to bring all our bottle recycling to the bring centre on the way to the art studio. In only a few minutes we had all of our bottles recycled by stopping off at Leonard's Corner to pop them in to the glass bottle bins.

Art Work 

And then it was off to the studio where we packed a lot of PIGSY art to be sent to USA. It was a whole afternoon of packing but it was a job well done and they will be collected by the courier on Monday and start making their way to the USA.

As I mentioned, Pigsy has a van for a week which was extremely convenient to pack the art in to and to bring to our house. Then on Monday the artwork will be collected from here. All in all a productive Saturday!

 

What time is it?!

Watch this! 

After years of not wearing a watch, I decided to change it up and start wearing one. The reason that I wanted to start using a watch was that I felt it would stop me looking at my phone so regularly.

Well guess what?! It helps! Since getting my watch a few days ago I've stopped looking at my phone for the time (which tended to lead on to me going on the phone and browsing) and just look at my watch instead.

And the watch that I got is a funky retro looking Casio watch......and it's PINK!

Keto Friday

Friday Funday 

After spending the afternoon in the city doing a little bit of clothes shopping, I decided that I would make Keto Chicken Nuggets for dinner. So after finishing up my shopping I got the Luas home and stopped off in Supervalu to buy a few ingredients I needed. Unfortunately when I got home I realised that I had no eggs at home so I had to return to the shops to get some - for this trip I cycled on my bike which only takes a few minutes.

Clothes Shopping

Speaking of shops and shopping you are probably wondering what clothes shopping I did. Well, the reason I went to town was that I saw a nice black jumpsuit online in Mango that I thought would be perfect for the next PIGSY event. However, when I saw it in actuality and tried it on, it wasn't exactly right. So I headed on to TK Maxx and I bought a Fat Face dress there and also a silver jumpsuit. Then I went on to Zara where I bought a pair of black trousers along with a pair of navy work trousers in Dunnes Stores.

Anyway enough about clothes shopping, here's the pic of the Keto Chicken Nuggets that I made from this Keto Connect Recipe. I added a little cream cheese to the recipe which I felt would make them more moist.

Keto Chicken Nuggets

The Keto Chicken Nuggets were a great success and both of us tucked in to them along with a mayonnaise and hot sauce mix. However, I will say, tasty as they were, there was a lot of palaver to make them. It probably is not worth making these regularly - unless you need to feed them to children who are missing regular chicken nuggets. For me, I think I would have enjoyed chicken stuffed with something like peppers and onions fried off and then mixed with cream cheese and some Cajun spices just as much......that might be something I will cook this Sunday!

My Keto journey can be up and down and sometimes I  have fallen off the wagon over the last 7 years of following the Ketogenic Diet (probably what I do can be described as Dirty Keto diet). I follow Serious Keto and I find his story really helpful for staying committed. Have a watch here - there are 5 videos but all are worth watching. Going keto for him was life changing. 

Will I return to going to the cinema?

Cinema Habit

I used to be a regular cinema-goer, in fact I think Ciaran and I were probably two of the last people to go to the cinema in Ireland before Covid. We went to the cinema back in March 2020 on a Tuesday evening. We were among a "crowd" of 5 people at this screening and by Thursday all cinemas were closed as Ireland went in to the first months long lock down.

Since this time I have not visited the cinema and I really am not inclined to at this time. The thoughts of sitting in a movie theatre, sharing a space for about two hours with strangers. No, not for me, at this time.

The reason I am writing this particular blog, is that this evening at my Spanish class my Spanish teacher was asking us lots of different questions in order to get us conversing and practising the language. One of the questions she asked me was do I prefer to go to the cinema or watch films as home. It was an interesting question and it sure got me thinking. And so in my pigeon Spanish, I basically answered something like "Before Covid I really enjoyed going to the cinema but now I prefer to watch films at home, but maybe I will go to the cinema again when the pandemic is over".

When will I return....

However I just saw a trailer for a movie that actually made me feel a little urge to make a plan to go see it in the cinema!

Check this out. It's the new Lady Gaga movie "House of Gucci".......I can't wait!

The Stella Ranelagh

Hopefully it will be shown in The Stella Ranelagh which is a small boutique 40 seater movie theatre in The Devlin Hotel which is around the corner from where we live. They have prosecco on tap in this cinema so we will make a night of it! 

Fingers crossed it come to this cinema.

A sweet story!

Honey Honey!

On Sunday mornings, we go for a coffee in Ranelagh and on our way to the coffee shop we pick litter (Dublin City Council will supply you with litter pickers and bags, if you drop them a line on their customer service email). 

This morning was a lovely mild day and we walked up Chelmsford on opposite sides of the road as we picked. Ciaran had the dog on his side. 

Lots of people say "Thank you" as they pass by but this morning I had the loveliest encounter with a man who asked were we part of a group who does the litter picking. I explained how we do it on our way for coffee on a Sunday morning. He said thanks but then told me to hold on a minute that he was a bee-keeper and he was going to give me two jars of honey!!

Well I was so happy! What a lovely thing to do. He went in to his house not far from where we were talking and then came back with this gorgeous Dublin Mountain Honey.

Here's pics of the honey which is available in The Village Butcher in Ranelagh. 

Certainly a sweet ending to our Sunday litter pick!

Saturday Morning litter pickup

Litter pick up by the Canal

I joined with the Friends of the Grand Canal this morning to pick up litter. There is a meetup once a month on the first Saturday of the month from 10am to 12pm. All you need to do to join is to turn up at the bench near Leeson Street Bridge on the Canal.

I collected my litter picker and two bags and then set off in the direction of Leeson Street to pick litter. There was a large amount of people volunteering today and most stayed along the canal. I prefer to leave the canal area and pick litter on the streets close by - I figure that if it doesn't get picked it will blow in to the canal so better to get to it before it gets in to the water.

In total, I filled two bags in a little over an hour. Definitely a job worth doing on a Saturday morning!

Join up with the clean up

If you are interested in cleaning up the canal you can come along to the next meetup - or you can contact Dublin City Council by email to request a litter picker and bags and they will drop them to your house which means you can pick litter in your own area in your free time. 

Happy picking!

Blanchardstown Library - offering so much!

Blanchardstown Library - a fantastic space for the Dublin 15 Community in Fingal

Great to see Blanchardstown Library has reopened after being refurbished. I worked here when it first opened about 20 years ago and it was a fantastic place to work and I enjoyed every minute of it.

It was always a busy branch that was constantly evolving and innovating and offering new services and resources to borrowers.

Check out all that it offers these days in this informative video featuring current library staff (I recognize some of my former colleagues!)

Flu You!

Flu, who?!

Flu Season is upon us again. After not getting the flu jab last year as I was living in Spain, I got the vaccine this year through work. It was quick, painless and convenient (I got it just before I started work at midday on my late shift) and I feel great knowing that I am protected from getting flu this year.

Ciaran sorted himself out with his flu vaccine by calling in to a chemist in Ranelagh. He asked them did they have the vaccine available and the pharmacist came out to say that he could give it to him straightaway. He jumped at the opportunity and after filling out a short form he got jabbed in his left arm and was out of the pharmacy in minutes. 

Great piece of mind for both of us - particularly as I am hearing that this year the flu may be a particularly bad strain. 

Are you vaccinated against Flu?  Do you get it from the doctor or the pharmacist? Let me know in the comments below.