Return to Dillingers!

Dillingers Ranelagh

Do you have a favourite neighbourhood restaurant?

I do, and after a hiatus of about 18 months, I returned to Dillingers for dinner yesterday evening.

With a change of menu but still the same staff, it was great to be back!! We got a lovely warm welcome and one of the guys even pointed out that they still have Bones picture up above the Cash Register. Lol!

Pictured is steak, veal and super fun mac & cheese truffle balls- all just delicious. Like I said, it's good to be back! 

Ranelagh Arts Festival

In PIGSY news, the PIGSY short movie was screened in The Stella in The Devlin Hotel as part of the Ranelagh Arts Festival. Unfortunately, I was working yesterday so I couldn't attend but PIGSY went along to the screening and was very impressed with the high standard of all of the short films, He also enjoyed seeing the PIGSY film on the big screen in the beautiful surroundings of the boutique cinema that is The Stella at The Devlin. To read more about what PIGSY has been getting up to lately, see his blog here.

Keto Tuna Melt

Back on Keto!

This post popped up on my blog feed and after reading it the other day it set me back on the Keto path.

Tonight we ate Keto Tuna Melts for dinner. 

Here's my recipe:

2 slices of Keto Bread (see my Keto Bread recipe here)

Avocado

Tuna & Mayo mix

Cheddar cheese

All you have to do is top the bread with some avocado and then spoon some tuna mayo mix on top. Finish off with some cheese (you can grate it if you want). Then pop it in under the grill to melt the cheese. 

Easy peasy and mega cheezy! 

Brewing coffee at home!

 Killarney Coffee Roasters

I was in Kerry recently (for the PIGSY exhibition) and tasted the delicious Killarney Roasters Coffee. On my return to Dublin, I vowed to start drinking more coffee at home while forgoing using coffee capsules. In order to do this I ordered some whole bean coffee from Killarney Roasters along with buying a coffee grinder.

When my coffee arrived (along with some delicious Salted Caramels that I also ordered - they are handmade with butter!) I set to grinding some beans and made coffee in my French Press.

It took a few days of experimenting with different grinds and I finally cracked it and made the most perfect pot of coffee this morning. I know the perfect grind now and am looking forward to lots of lovely coffee at home......but don't get me wrong I still enjoy my coffee in the local coffeeshop too!

To order coffee from this Kerry company, click here.

Dublin Community Clean-Up 21

Dublin Clean-Up

On Sunday mornings, Ciaran and I have a routine where we do a little bit of litter picking on our way to Butler's Cafe in Ranelagh for a coffee.  This week as part of Dublin Community Clean-Up 21 we picked litter on the way to the cafe and then I brought a second bag and we cleaned up litter on the way home too. Dublin Community Clean-Up runs from the 11th of Sept for a about a week and it brings together the four Dublin Local Authorities in this community clean-up initiative.

Ranelagh Clean-Up

On the way to our coffee stop we headed in the direction of Ranelagh Gardens Park and picked litter in the park all the way to the bin at the Ranelagh Road entrance. From there we went up Ranelagh Road, stopped for coffee and then picked litter on Chelmsford down to Appian Way. In total we cleared 2 sacks of litter off the streets of Ranelagh.

Dublin Litter Picking

Litter picking equipment is provided by Dublin City Council at any point during the year and not just at Community Clean-Up time. If you are interested in litter picking in your area, you can drop a line to customerservices@dublincity.ie and request delivery of litter pickers for your family.

To see more about the community clean up, check our #DublinCommunityCleanUp on Twitter!

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!!

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

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.

My vaccination card - I'm a member of Team Pfizer! 

PIGSY exhibition starts on 2nd of September in Kenmare Butter Market Contemporary Art Venue in County Kerry

Visiting Kenmare - what an incredibly picturesque part of Ireland 

Living in the Liberties in Dublin City - life is good

PIGSY's new Art Studio in Dublin - contact him to visit

Seafood Tower enjoyed by us last night in Fitzwilliam Tennis Club