A few days off work

Dublin Town

I've a few days off work this week which has been great. Unfortunately I was due to visit my sister in The Netherlands but I decided to cancel my plans with changes to travel rules by the Irish government recently. From early December, nightclubs are now closed in Ireland and no large group bookings are allowed in restaurants. Another change is that a negative PCR test is required when arriving in to Ireland. As I was going on Wednesday afternoon and returning on Friday afternoon, I decided to cancel my trip for two reasons (1) the hassle of getting tested upon my return seemed too much given that I would be there for less than 3 days in total (and I was also concerned that I might test positive and have to stay on for 10 days) and (2)presumably the Irish Government introduced the test in order to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant by only allowing those with negative tests return to the country with no further restrictions imposed on them and also to stop those travelling for non-essential reasons. I probably fall in to the second category. And while I would love to see my sister (it's been 2 years since I last saw her) it probably is best to hold off at this time. Travel is really just not on the cards at the moment.

Anyway I had a lovely time being off work for 3 days this week and got lots done!

PIGSY Art News

In PIGSY news there are now 9 PIGSY artworks being showcased in an art gallery in Florida.In other PIGSY news, we tidied up a few loose ends together in the studio yesterday and got a packaged artwork mailed to its new home in County Galway. There's always something to do in regards to his art so it sure was nice to have the time to do it.

Strolling around Dublin

We cycled in to town yesterday and had a wander around Drury Street area and Grafton Street. I'm sorry to say that I thought it was very quiet. Too quiet for 9th of December. In fairness being so quiet, it made for a pleasant afternoon for us, but you have to feel for the retailers who probably need to make bumper sales in order to get them through the whole Covid situation we have been experiencing for coming up on two years. 

While in town, we decided to get late lunch and made our way to Pitt Bros for some barbeque. It's been awhile since we were both there (I ate here about 2 months ago with one of my sisters) and it was super tasty along with good music playing and friendly staff assisting us with our order. We enjoyed it immensely and split a 3 meat combo meal between the two of us.

"And just like that......"

And after our trip in to Dublin City, I settled in for the evening to watch the reboot of "Sex and the City".  There were two back to back episodes of "And just like that....." on Sky Comedy and boy was I glad of that after the big shock ending of the first episode! At first while watching it I wasn't feeling it and I thought there was a bit too many mentions of ageing and also a very  poor writing out of Samantha. However, once that was done it was right back to business and it was as good as Sex and the City ever was. Personally I liked it but was always a fan of the original series (don't mention the movies!) and it will be a regular thing for me to watch it for the next few Thursday evenings.

You've got mail

My Christmas package to my sister arrived in the States this week and it was quickly unpacked in order for her cat to pop herself in to it. What can I say, Cats will do as Cats do!

Thanks to An Post for the prompt delivery.......but I wonder where the envelope that I sent about 10 days previously is?!

And just like that.....my Christmas Tree is up!

My Christmas Tree is up! 

It's in a new position this year. I took the cushion off the conversation pit and positioned it in the front window.  I love it!

I also started setting out my Christmas crockery and tableware. It all adds up to a very merry festive feeling in the house. Just lovely!

Christmas Tree Ornaments and memories

It's hard to say which is my favourite Christmas decoration on my tree. I love my tropical ornaments that I picked up on holidays all over the world - I have a shiny green turtles that reminds me of the time that I swam with turtles in Tobago Cay on my sailing trip in the Caribbean. And then I have tons from Key West which always bring back great memories as I hang them on the tree. There's a little reindeer wearing a blue raincoat that always gives me a kick as I hang it (it was a gift from my twin sister) and I I always love hanging a decoration with a year on it as I think back to all of the exciting things that happened that year. It sure does make me happy to set up my Christmas tree because of the happy feelings each decoration brings as it goes up on the tree. Even my tree skirt makes me happy - it's 20 years old, I bought it while on honeymoon in Key Largo!

Ode to my bike!

Biking around Dublin

As I cycled home from work about 6pm on Friday, I realised how much I love cycling all over Dublin. It was a particularly mild evening and I got off the train at Pearce Street and cycled to Wishbone on Hatch Street to pick up some wings for dinner (if you are looking for wings in Dublin - these are the best ones!). 

From there I cycled up Harcourt Street and then towards Ranelagh turning off on to Northbrook and then on to Leeson Park. It was on Northbrook Road that my cycle became even more enjoyable. On this street there are huge big old Georgian houses with the most beautiful trees and Christmas lights. It was a delight to cycle by them! It reminded me of the time that my twin sister and I went on a cycle to Ailsbury Road, a few years ago, to look at the Christmas lights on this street. So nice!

But I digress, the main thing that I love about my bike is that it gets me all over the place in no time at all. Dun Laoghaire to Ranelagh on a bike/train combo takes me just over 35 mins.

Sunday Cycle

Then on Sunday, Ciaran and I both cycled to his art studio to pack a painting that will be heading off in the mail to it's new home in County Galway. Again, it was such a lovely cycle. We both really enjoyed it so much as it was a fresh bright December day - just perfect for a short cycle (about 15 mins or so) to his studio.  After we left the Studio we stopped in Butlers in Rathmines for a coffee. We sat in the bright (but cold sun) on a bench outside the cafe. Then we stopped in to a stationery store to buy a roll of brown paper and then continued on our way to the supermarket where we stopped for food for dinner. I also found an Argentinean Malbec with 35% off so I bought 3 bottles......I also popped two mini bottles of prosecco in to my basket!

As we unlocked our bikes outside the shop after clicking our bags on to their carriers, I couldn't help saying to Ciaran, "Hey, how great are bikes?!"

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.