Christmas is over....and my tree is coming down

Here in Ireland it is tradition to leave your Christmas Tree up until January the 6th (Little Christmas or Women's Christmas/Nollaig na mBan).

However, I am back in work tomorrow for three days which brings us up to the 31st of January. I am beginning to think ahead to the New Year and make plans to clean the house etc. Therefore, I decided to start taking down the tree yesterday evening. I have all the decorations packed away and will take down the tree today and get it all in the attic. I can then clean my house from top to bottom on New Years Day and start 2016 with a spotless organised house.....that's the plan anyway!

 Here's the tree all bare and plain looking.

I got these ornament boxes for half price in Dunnes a few years ago. If I saw any for sale today I would probably buy two more.

I only had one wrapping paper tube so I twisted one set of lights on to it. I bunged another set of light in to the Roses tin - I hope they won't be too tangled when I unpack next year.

I'm not too sad to see everything being packed away.....I just hope I don't bring bad luck upon myself by taking the tree down before Little Christmas!!!

Pets on Christmas Cards!

Every year I print a Christmas Card  with my dog Bones on it. This year I created something that has a Victorian feel to it, I think.

Recently my sister has also started featuring her cat Harry on her Christmas Card. I like her 2015 card. It's modern and fun.

Next year I will try put Bones in a funnier pose with a more humorous greeting (suggestions on a postcard)!

As I mentioned, I received a Kobo eReader for Christmas. I decided to load it up with free eBooks from the library so set to work yesterday. It seemed so easy from the instructions on both the Kobo and the library page. However I ran in to problems when I was transferring the files to the Kobo. I kept on getting an error message in relation to the Digital Rights which didn't make sense to me as the DRM issues are overcome by the licencing through the library. I passed it to Ciaran and he spent a bit of time on it. We tried a few different things - we deleted software and reinstalled it. Nothing fixed it and to say we were getting frustrated was an understatement. Late last night though I had a thought. I had been using Google Chrome and I wondered was this causing the issue (why I don't know). So I switched to Internet Explorer, reinstalled Adobe Digital Editions and BINGO, it worked! 

So I now have 10 books from Overdrive on my Kobo and 3 books from OneClick Digital. I read one Overdrive Book straightaway ("The Vow" - which a film of this story with the same name starring Channing Tatum was made) and returned it to the library and borrowed another. Technology is so brilliant when it works - I love having access to my library even when it is closed!!

If you are looking to make a life changing resolution for 2016, I'd say you can't go wrong with joining your public library....let me know if you do!

Santa came!

Santa came!

And I'm feeling quite spoiled. Ciaran got me some really nice gifts including a silk scarf, jewellery and most brilliantly a Kobo eReader!!

A few years ago, he got me a kindle which unfortunately died this July. I loved the kindle except that I couldn't use it to access my free public library eServices. The Kobo is different so I intend to load it up with free eBooks from the library and read away!

Christmas has been lovely so far. Very relaxing and enjoyable. I had the best sleep ever last night. Asleep by 11pm and awake at 8.45am. I'm now watching High Society on RTE1 while sipping a Bailey's Coffee. What's not to love?! 

Happy Christmas from Ireland!

Hello to all my readers and Happy Christmas to you!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve yesterday. We got up early and went for a wander around the city.  Ciaran had a few little items he wanted to buy. It was bitterly cold and one point there was a little flurry of snow. We went in to Massimo Dutti when it was snowing/raining and heard a little boy shout out "It's snowing.......this is the best Winter ever!" This made us smile at each other, it was very cute.

We got the Luas home and stopped off in Supervalu to buy rashers, sausages and black pudding for a "Full Irish" breakfast today. After dropping all our purchases off in the house we headed to what I think is the best restaurant in Ranelagh - Brioche.

We got a lovely friendly greeting - the manager welcomed us back! We knew we were seated at the counter near the kitchen because we had only made the booking the day before - I felt lucky to even get a reservation as the place is small and it was packed!!

Here are the pics of all our food (from a set Christmas Lunch).

Parsnip Veloute - they serve it by pouring it from a jug right in front of you at the table! 

Seared Foie Gras (Candied Nuts were served on the side due to my Walnut Allergy)

Venison! Delicious!

 Beef Fillet

 Poached Pear Dessert

Chocolate Ganache with orange sauce  (minus nuts)

All so good!

After lunch we met friends for a few drinks and then walked home and watched another Christmas Movie.  This one was "Christmas with the Kranks" with Jamie Lee Curtis.  Really enjoyable and certainly made it feel like Christmas Eve!

Once again, Happy Christmas Day to you - do enjoy your day!

It's Christmas Eve!

It's Christmas Eve!  
All is calm here after a busy few days.
Here is a catch up blog of all that has gone on....

On Tuesday, I made food all day for a Cocktail Party that we held on that evening. I served the following:
- Swedish Meatballs (thanks for suggestion Pam)
- Cream Cheese covered in Sweet Chili Sauce with Melba Toast (this is a South African favourite which I know about from my aunt who returned from living in SA for over 30 years)
- Cherry Tomatoes stuffed with Pesto Cream Cheese
- Charcuterie of meats with cheese & quince
- Cocktail Sausages
- Houmous with Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Stacked smoked salmon & brown bread sandwiches
- Mince Pies and a selection of mini pastries

My twin sister called over to help me at 4pm after work - what a god send!! Thanks Amy!

The next day on Wednesday morning we called to our parents house to drop off our Christmas presents for family members. 

For lunch we tried a newly opened restaurant called "Angelina's". It's within an apartment block on Percy Place. We had an enjoyable meal. The food was fine for lunch but looked a little pricey for dinner.

After lunch we strolled home and decided to watch a Christmas Film.  We chose "Elf" which I have never seen from start to finish. I really enjoyed it! Christmassy and funny!

A friend of Ciaran's gifted us this jar of homemade liver pate that he had made.  OMG!  So delicious!  I love pate and you can't beat it when it is homemade.  Went beautifully on melba toast with a glass of wine.

Our plan for today, Christmas Eve, is to wander around Dublin City and then go for lunch in Brioche in Ranelagh. We then may meet friends for a drink and then home to relax and maybe watch another Christmas Film.

What about you?  What are you getting up to this Christmas Eve?!

Basket Brigade

For the past four Christmas's, Amy and I have been involved with "Basket Brigade". It's an event where a group of people come together a few days before Christmas, bringing food and money, and make up and deliver 150 hampers for families in need all over Dublin.

Our best friend Alice is also involved  along with Kasey who unfortunately had to miss this year due to another commitment.

Here are the three of us before we got started! 

The first job that gets done is that each box is covered in nice Christmas Wrapping paper to make it look festive. Then we get down to the business of filling the boxes.

This is the list of everything that goes in to each hamper along with additional miscellaneous items including such things as pasta, sauce, soups and baked beans, etc.

This is the first hamper we made. Each hamper gets a chicken and a ham which are put on the top so that the receiver can see them and can refrigerate them immediately.

Amy paired up with another friend of hers - here she is working away on a hamper. While Alice and I worked together as another hamper packing team.

After each box is filled it is wrapped in cellophane and tied up with a cheery ribbon. They look attractive and are surely appreciated by whoever receives them.

Here is a batch of hampers all lined up and ready to be delivered. What great work by everyone involved!

A big thanks to all the companies who help with this endeavor. It really is a worthy cause and hopefully it gives a little help to the families who receive the hampers this Christmas.

Starbucks Names!

I get a kick out of how my name gets written in Starbucks!