Fascinating fascinators!

It has become very fashionable to wear "Fascinators" to Irish weddings rather than the more traditional hat. I saw lots of fascinators for sale in Boots and Penneys (Primark - not to be confused with JC Penny) this morning. Normally a fascinator will set you back about €25 euro in somewhere like Marks & Spencer's or Monsoon Accessorize but they were only €11 in Boots and half that in Penneys. My sister got a very nice fascinator in Dunnes Stores so do shop around if you are looking for one! They tend to be either clip in or on a band. If you are anyway crafty you could easily make a fascinator to coordinate with your wedding outfit.

India!

Here's a great blog post by my sister about her travels in India.  There are also a few photos too. Enjoy!

When Spencer Tunnick came to Ireland

American photographer Spencer Tunnick is best known for organizing large-scale nude-shoots all over the world. In 2008, he visited Ireland and photographed two installations. One at the South Wall in Dublin (see photograph) and the other in Cork at Blarney Castle. Blarney Castle being the site of the famous "Kissing" stone.

Poor puppy

There we were trying to enjoy our breakfast in The Farm on Leeson Street while Bones stared in at us while he waited in the car. Poor little fella'. BTW, the pancakes were "American Style". They definitely were fatter and fluffier than Irish pancakes. I wonder what is the difference. Does bicarbonate of soda get added to the American pancake batter?

Steak time!

This is what we ate for dinner. Fillet steak, chips & pepper sauce. So simple, so good!

Bringing home the silver!

Ciaran just came in the door and handed me a silver plate. He came 2nd in the Over 40 Irish Squash Open. I'm delighted for him!

Breakfast at Mary's

My cousin Kasey invited me for breakfast this morning.  She had friends over from London along with my other cousin Fiona (who it was great to see as it has been awhile since i have seen her).  They were setting off on a road trip to Cork for the weekend so Kasey's mam, Mary, (assisted by Kasey) cooked up a big breakfast before they set off.  Another cousin of mine, Dawn, was also at breakfast along with her really cute daughter Isla.  You are probably wondering how many cousins I have.  I should let you know that my mother is one of 13 children so I think my Nana has over 25 grandchildren aswell as a handful of greatgrandchildren - I have a lot of cousins!!

Anyway back to breakfast - what a spread!  There was a delicious selection of breads, meats, cheese & smoked salmon along with croissants & jam.  After all of that there was a huge big platter of sausages, raashers (bacon), black pudding and white pudding.  Mary then cooked eggs to order, I had mine scrambled which were devine.  Further to all of this there was also fried tomatoes and eggs.

All of the food was gorgeous.  My aunt Mary has a great table with a Lazy Susan on it that makes it so easy to serve food.  My cousin joked that my aunt likes to imagine that she is a short order cook working in a diner!!!

The weather is so bad here there is flooding in lots of parts of the country so it was a really nice start to the day.  Hopefully the girls have a safe journey to Cork and a great weekend in the country.