Oh such a perfect day!

Last weekend (well actually for the whole week) the weather has been A-Mazing here in Ireland.

On Sunday, Amy, Alice and I made plans for a picnic in one of the Dublin City Centre Parks.

Merrion Square Park was the chosen spot and boy was it a good one.

We set up our picnic at about 11.30am and after eating, drinking and chatting it was suddenly 4.30pm!!

One can only describe it as a perfect day with the best of friends.

Home to Vote in the 8th amendment referendum!

As I mentioned I took a recent trip to Key West at very short notice. I planned to go for  8 or 9 days but given that the most important (in my lifetime) referendum was taking place on 25th of May, I cut my holiday short and left on Thursday 24th and flew home through the night to land in Dublin at 7am on the day of the vote.

There were two reasons I wanted to come home to vote.
1. I was nervous about the result. If the No side won, I wanted to know that I had done everything in my power to ensure Yes won. I had canvassed for weeks and the final step was to walk in to the polling booth and mark x in the Yes box.
2. If the Yes won, I wanted to celebrate knowing that I was on the right side of history and by god I wanted the memory of casting my Yes vote.

Here I am setting off from Key West. Yes, I wore flip flops and denim cut offs on the plane to Charlotte - along with my repeal jumper of course!

 

When I landed in Dublin I went to sleep for a few hours (even though I had slept over 6 hours on the plane) and then got up to go vote. It was a lovely sunny day and I put on a skirt, top and sandals to go vote. It was an outfit I wouldn't regularly wear but I felt like dressing like a woman as I voted for women's health rights.
After I voted I pinned my Yes buttons on and we went to Smyth's beer garden for a cold drink. I gave one of my Yes buttons to a friendly lady sitting beside us who admired them when we came in.

At 5pm, my twin sister left work and stopped off at one of the main train stations to make a final push at convincing people to get down to their polling place and vote Yes! As she distributed leaflets she began to get the feeling we were going to win. She got lots of thumbs up or people saying that they had voted yes already.

And then just after 10pm when the polls closed, the results of the exit poll came through. It was a landslide Yes!

What a relief.

Once the 8th is removed from the constitution (which should happen in the Autumn) legislation will be enacted that will allow women to gain bodily autonomy and when they visit their doctor they will close the door and make medical decisions for themselves without outside involvement.

My Yes vote was for Miss P and her family. On a canvas in Dublin City, I stood on a doorstep and told a lady about this case, and as I explained how it was the 8th amendment that meant this lady was treated in this way, I began to see a change in her stance.  It was cases like these that Irish people couldn't stand by and do nothing about, they no longer wanted to see things like this happen. From 2018 the Irish people have compassionately voted that this will never happen again.

The next day Amy, Cousin Kasey and I all watched the count. With lots of Dublin constituencies voting over 70% and the final result coming out with a 64% Yes it was exciting to watch but in someways anticlimactic after all it was just the right way to vote.

Baked Key Lime Pie

Last time I made Key Lime Pie I made the no bake variety. It was deliciously creamy but I think I rather a more set pie.

This time I made Key Lime Pie I went with a bake recipe where the yellow of 5 eggs are added to the mix and it gets cooked for 20 mins. 

It is super easy to make but I think I went overboard with the lime. I added more lime juice than the recipe called for. Next time I'll stick with what it says it in the recipe.

The other thing I will do when I am next in Key West is buy a large bottle of Key Lime juice!!

So after eating two big slices, I put the rest in the freezer. Amy, Alice and I are having a Key West reunion and I will bring a slice for Alice and I. We love Key Lime Pie, Amy not so much.

A flying visit to Key West

After visiting Tenerife and having AWFUL weather (the worst in 20 years for that time of year), I decided to make a quick visit to Key West as my mam had rented a house and I knew there would be a bed there for me.

When booking flights, I paid a little extra to go the most direct flight and got a nice set of flights with American Airlines from Dublin to Charlotte and then on to Key West.

Here's a few pics of what I got up to during my 6 day visit.

Here are my aunt's and mother out for a pre-dinner drink in Schooner Wharf bar. Looks like some chickens joined them!

We got the bus to TJ Maxx for a little shopping. At lunchtime we needed a break and a cold drink so we went next door and shared a few apps - including the famous blooming onion!!  

 Every morning I got up and walked to the end of Duval and got a Cuban Coffee Queen. I loved this part of the day and it was possibly one of my favourite things to do.

 There is a new bus service for tourists called the Duval Loop. It is hop on hop off and extremely convenient with very friendly drivers. I used this a lot and ended up not hiring a bike because this service was so good.

On my first day I went out fishing and caught loads of yellow tail and grunts. I then ate fish for brekkie all week.

My younger sisters and I tried a new spot which is Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar. Check out the "Shark Attack" that Lydia got! It is actually a non-alcoholic drink for children and you get to keep the shark. Katie and I visited a second time for Taco Tuesday.

Jet lag had Lydia and up at 6am one morning so we walked to Harpoon Harry's before the sun came up. Our walk took us past Pepes.

I got Key Lime Pie on my last night on Duval Street.......and I may or may not have had a last slice in the airport too!

Sunday means brunch and we favour the Bistro 245 one in Margaritaville. Food is amazing and the mimosa's aren't bad either!

You might be thinking that Key West is a long way to travel from Ireland for only 6 day but quite honestly after a day in this place I feel so relaxed that I can barely remember the 15 hour travelling. It is quite honestly my favourite place in the world.

Vet Visit!

Bones was due a vet visit for his shots and also to check a lump on his throat that the groomer had pointed out to us.

I checked the hours of our vet on Charlemont Street as I planned to bring him over the weekend. I was pleasantly surprised to see they are open until 8pm, Monday to Friday so I arranged with my sister to call at 7pm to walk in the sun to the vet.

When we got to the clinic, Bones was his usual self in the vets - scrambling to get out the door and whining under the chair or while sitting on my lap.

When we got called and after I put him up on the table that is when the fun started! The vet was great though and he didn't seem put off by Bones's moaning.

The vet seemed concerned by the lump as first but when he went to sample it he was happy to report that it was just a cyst and it had drained nicely so all good!

Coffee Drop!

It is my Dad's birthday tomorrow so I dropped over to him this morning with his present.  But first I posed the pupper beside the pressie as they were practically the same size!

Amy and I got Dad a new coffee maker. It's the Krups "Drop" and it is fantastic! Once he unwrapped it I got him to immediately make me a coffee as I had bought some Dolce Gusto capsules to go with the machine - I had cappuccino, Dad had espresso.

It's a rather stylish machine and is really easy to use so hopefully he enjoys his new toy - I will enjoy having barista style coffee made for me when I call for a visit.

Double Denim on Denim

Friday was my day off so I was up early and out to get my hair done. I was booked in to Wayward Saloon (for the first time) and was looking forward to chilling out with a magazine for a few hours.

And chill with a good read it exactly what I did - along with two tasty Nespresso coffees.

I saw something really cool in one of the magazines. Look at this, if you buy a Brabantia air dryer they will plant a tree. Love it!

After the hairdressers, I got back in my bike (it was bucketing down rain at this point) and I went to the other side of the city to meet my mother for a browse around TK Maxx (I bought a swimsuit for my holidays).

Later Amy called around to me......and when she took off her jacket we could see that we were wearing pretty much the same thing - denim on denim. Now that's what I call #twinning!