Goodbye Christmas.....but not quite yet!

 Traditionally Christmas trees are taken down on 6th of January here in Ireland on what is known as "Little Christmas" or "Nollaig na Bán" (Women's Christmas).  However, I'm not ready to see the back of my tree or lights just yet so still have mine up.  It's Sunday the 8th today and am considering taking it down this afternoon - will see!

In this blog I will show you 3 new Christmas ornaments that I added to my tree this year.  All 3 were thoughtful gifts and so appreciated by me.

The first one is this oh so cute wooden ornament that was given to me as part of a larger gift from my sister who had travelled from The Netherlands with her baby for the New Year (having had to cancel Christmas travel arrangements due to Covid).  This ornament means so much to me being a regular cyclist but I love how it connects my sister and I - her living in such a cycling centric country while I cycle in the beginning to change Ireland with a push towards active travel.  As I hang it on my tree in future years, I'll also always have the memory of meeting my sister, her baby and her husband for the first time (again Covid being the reason why we never met before with travel being off the cards for so long and all of the hassle that it entailed when it started again). The baby was a little ball of fun and energy and had us all captivated. I look forward to seeing her again!

The next new Christmas ornament is this sweet crafty one, gifted to me by a colleague. How cute is it?! It's a knitted Frida Kahlo! It's made by "Knitivity" who you can find on Instagram and Etsy. It made a great addition to my tree and encompasses a lot of what I love - including my love of art and handicrafts, As you probably know from having seen past tree blogs, my Christmas tree is full of a brightly coloured eclectic mix of decorations (some might say a little kitsch) so this one fits in perfectly.

And then the next new Christmas ornament is an interesting one. It's a glass boot and there is an interesting back story to it.

This one was also gifted to me by a colleague and I love everything both about it and all that I got involved in through it.

This boot part of the Tyler Hynes Boot Shot Tradition. Tyler Hynes is an actor that has started an annual boot shot event with his fans. It involved a facebook live event where he chatted to fans and answered questions and then everyone joined him in taking a shot of whatever they fancied - he took Whiskey I went with champagne because that was was what I was drinking. It was on the 23rd of Dec and for me it felt like the real start to Christmas as I had just finished work that day and had my Christmas Eve lunch event planned for the next day.

At the time of taking the shot, all participants took a selfie of themselves and then uploaded it to a Tyler Hynes fan page. I was wearing my Key West "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" Christmas Santa hat for fun!

I loved being part of this event as I love being involved with things like this that connect people all across the globe, with a common interest, through the use of technology (a bit like my sister's "Christmas Portraits" project).

Here's the photo of me just before I did the boot shot. 

Christmas to me is all about traditions, memories and the feelings that are evoked throughout the season. Hanging particular ornaments on my tree always reminds of different things such as travel or people - if you search back on my blog you will see lots of blogs on this subject matter.

Thinking back to my childhood I remember when we were putting up the tree there was always a big clamber to see who would get to hang the favourite decoration which was the "granny on the swing" - my older sister Faith tended to get the honour. The granny on the swing, as far as I can remember, was a not very Christmassy ornament of a plastic white swing with a little old lady sitting on it (again she was plastic).  I must ask my mother about this and see if she can remember the granny on the swing and where it came from!

Hope you had a lovely Christmas where ever you are reading this blog from. Let me know in the comments below and let me know if or when you will take your tree down.

Ham it up!

So I cooked a ham for the very first time!

It was so delicious - I used my meat thermometer so it was perfectly cooked along with a turkey and stuffing.  Just a perfect St Stephen's day dinner and then sandwiches made from leftovers the day after. 

So good!

It's been a quiet few days between Christmas and New Year. Yesterday we wandered in to town and browsed the sales, with Ciaran getting a jumper in Superdry. After town we set off towards Baggot Street intending to walk but then seeing a bus and making a run for it. The bus driver was the nicest man ever, stopping for us even though we were no where near the stop and giving us a friendly greeting as we go on the bus and a big goodbye as we got off. 

The bus literally gave us door to door service to the venue on Baggot Steet where a PIGSY art work is proudly hung in the window seat. 

I had a hot chocolate near to PIGSY's James Joyce - such fun!

Speaking of James Joyce I am currently reading "Running with Bulls" by Valerie Hemingway which has a mention of the famous Irish artist - referred to as "Jim" Joyce by Ernest Hemingway. The book is very interesting about life with Hemingway by his to be daughter in law Valerie - who surprizingly had a Cabra connection having boarded with the Dominician Nuns at the same school that I attended!

It's a biography worth reading.

And in good news, the HSE has just opened up availability for Covid 2nd booster vaccinations for 18-49yr olds so I can finally get boosted. I saw it on Twitter this morning and booked immediatly, getting an appointment for this Saturday. Great news as there seems to be a lot of Covid going around again....it will probably surge again after Christmas and New Year celebrations.....we will see.

Slow Cooker Christmas

 Do you have a Slow Cooker.......and is it barely used and buried in a kitchen press?

Well Christmas is the best time to use your slow cooker!

I have two slow cookers in two different sizes and they both came in to their own this holiday season. 

My large slow cooker was used to make batches of mulled wine for the open nights of "Art Deli" in Ranelagh Arts. 

And then my mini slow cooker was perfect for making hot chocolate. My tip for this is to make with oat milk (for extra richness) and dark chocolate - and add brandy for an extra kick and to make it more special for Christmas!

My small slow cooker is a 1.5 ltr so it is perfect for making hot chocolate for about 6 people.

We are now in the between Christmas and New Year period....which can be a little bit dull - so I reckon today might be a good day to whip up a batch of hot chocolate to enjoy while watching Christmas movie or reading a good book (blog to follow about what I am currently reading).

What do you use your slow cooker for at Christmas - let me know in the comments below.

Small pleasures in Winter

Being a warm weather person, I can find the Winter tough to bear. However, I've learnt how I can deal with it best and that is by firstly dressing for the weather.  This one I am still not quite there with, as Irish people we generally don't dress for the weather, barely using umbrellas and certainly not having full water proof gear that perhaps a German or Scandinavian might have - a massive generalisation I know, but I put it down to the fact that Irish weather can be very mild really and who actually needs an umbrella for a "few drops of rain" or a good warm winter coat for a couple of days of really cold weather.

Anyway this week has been particularly cold with an arctic mass bringing temperatures of below minus to Ireland (quite rare here) and icey streets and even a dusting of snow last week which never really defrosted.  This cold weather however for me was actually easier to deal with then a semi mild temp drop. I actually did dig out my padded winter coat and wore it over another jacket (which if temps were mild I may have only wore the jacket and would have been shivering and feeling pretty miserable while out and about) along with a scarf, hat, big warm gloves and also a thinsulate layer which all made me feel very comfortable. So in essence preparation is the key for comfort in Winter......who would have thunk it!

Anyway I digress because the main reason I wanted to write this blog was to explain the other way I get through the Winter season and that is by enjoyng the "small pleasures" that the season brings or that is going on in my day to day life.

These small pleasures include things like really enjoying the lights that people have put up for Christmas in their homes. The other day it was too icey to cycle to the train station so I took the bus to work because the bus stop is only a short walk from my house and even though it was slippy on the paths it was a safer option than on the bike. The bus drops me close to work in Dun Laoghaire but it was an excrutiatingly long journey because the traffic was bad. So on the way home there was a train leaving 10 mins before the bus so I decided to get the train which then leaves me with about a 15 min walk at the other end to get to my house. Well, let me tell you, it was a lovely walk! 

Bitterly cold (I was dressed for that!) but I got to walk past the most beautiful houses in the Dublin 4 area with gorgeous lights and trees - particularly on Waterloo Road. I took photos but the lights came out all blurry so I then just decided to enjoy the atmosphere in the moment and just lap the gorgeous Christmas lights up as I walked home on my own.

Enjoying the trees and lights is something Ciaran and I also do on our walks to Ranelagh or in to the city. Ciaran does it to humour me, I think,  but it does give me great pleasure when he excitedly points out a tree that he particularly likes - we have decided that the best one is on the corner of Winton and Appian Way which has a big bay windown on the 2nd floor that has the most massive gorgeous tree. I love houses with both trees and some additional lights on their railings or stair rails up to the front door but Ciaran seems to prefer just trees. Both of us do love a good Christmas wreath on front doors though and there are lots of them on the classic doors around here in Dublin 6!

And so at this time there have been other small pleasures that I have been enjoying, these include an invite to a neighbour's house for the most delicious hot chocolate spiked with hard liquor - so good! I have also been enjoying warmed mulled wine in "Art Deli" in Ranelagh Arts where PIGSY/Ciaran has work for sale in this Christmas Pop Up. 

And then another "small pleasure" I've been enjoying is eating off the Christmas crockery! I know it's such a small thing but I really do love it all and it gives me such joy.  Check out my crazy Christmas table cloth too.  I like to think it is vintage (its well travelled anyway) having bought it in Cudeca second hand shop in Malaga, Spain and brought it back to Ireland when we returned from our year there.

And then one of the final small pleasures that I am enjoying is my sister Amy's "Christmas Portraits" instagram.  For the past few years friends have been submitting pics to her of themselves and their tree.

Check out "Christmas Portraits" instagram here (what fun!) and you can even submit a picture if you want to be included!

Let me know in the comments below what you are currently enjoying this time of year,,,,,,

Blogging break

I didn't deliberately take a break from blogging but November was a month that came in fast and it went by in a blink of an eye. Here's a bit of a catch up blog and hopefully I won't be as remiss for December and will actually write a blog or two.

I got up to a lot of different things including lots of birthday celebratons (mine included!) with a fun 30th birthday party for twins where I tasted my first "Whiskey Sour" which was so good, then a 90th birthday lunch and then my own birthday where we went out for chinese food to a new(ish) spciality duck restaurant in Ranelagh. It's CN Duck and it's BYOB. It's a casual place that is ull of atmosphere with tasty food, you can check out the website here. 

Other than that there has been a lot going on with PIGSY with him moving in to the new studio and getting set up. Then there have been art sales and deliveries along with prep for four (yes 4!) Christmas events - Art Deli in Ranelagh, Art for Christmas in Ranelagh and Pinazo in both Malaga and Seville in Spain. The Spanish events needed a little more organisation as they started earlier and the artworks needed to get to Spain earlier.  Art Deli opens this week in Ranelagh and you can read about it on the PIGSY blog.

There was another Critical Mass cycle at the end of November which for the first time I joined from the start of the cycle on Parnell Square and took in the route which went down the pedestrianised Capel Street. It was a lot of fun and I made an extra effort to be "lit up" with a set of Christmas lights flashing around my neck. The next critical mass cycle is on 16th of December and for this one, I plan to wrap my bike in flashing Christmas lights! 

I got my Christmas tree up after planning to put it up on the evening of The Late Late Toy Show but then not being organised to do it. So I put it up yesterday.

However.......I made the decision to only put about half of my decorations up as to be honest there are just so many. I was happy with how it looked but then Ciaran remarked that it looked bare (it doesn't!) but I am second guessing myself so will top up the tree with the rest of the decorations (photo to follow in a later blog). 

I wore my new Christmas jumper to put up the tree and check out these cute little santa earrings that I got in Home Deals in Ranelagh. Just adorable!

So that's it for the month of November - there was lots of other things going on but for now I'll leave it at that and as I said I will try and be better at blogging this month!

Happy December everyone and enjoy the lead up to the holidays!

Nutritional yeast - tasty and beneficial

 Nutritional Yeast

A little while ago I wrote about adding collagen to my diet. After doing this for awhile I can say that I think one of the benefits of the collagen is for hair growth and I am glad to say that I am seeing thicker hair growing at my hairline.

Another thing that I add to my diet is Nutritional Yeast. It's packed full of B12 and along with this it is very taste and adds an umami taste to food.

I tend to add it to my home made bone broth to make it extra tasty.  I literally sprinkle a little over a cup of heated Bone Broth.

The nutritional yeast looks just like fish food! It's got a flakey appearance.....

Have you ever tasted Nutritional Yeast? It's popular with vegans who tend to think that it has a cheese flavour which I kind of get too.

For me, I'll continue to add it to my food, whatever about the health benefits, I like the taste and I think it adds extra depth to soups and sauces.

Let me know if you have eaten it and what you think it tastes of - leave a comment below.

Flying visit to Malaga

Malaga!

In order to get two PIGSY paintings to Spain, we decided to fly to Malaga and hand deliver them rather than sending them in the mail. It was going to be my first time back in the city after spending a year there during lockdown so I was unsure how I was going to feel about it.

So last Sunday we went on an Aer Lingus flight to Malaga arriving in the late afternoon. We immediatly headed to our favourites Casa Lola for a few tapas and then on to La Classica for some Gambas and White Fish.

We packed lots in and met up with different groups of friends. Some of the restaurants we ate in included Ocho (lunch and dinner) and a little wine bar on Paseo de Redding that I can't think what it was called. 

One of the things I definitely wanted to do was eat a portion of Berenjenas which I had been dreaming of - these fried aubergines were definitely as I remembered them!

Other than that we swam (pool and sea) and even managed to have ice creams in Casa Mira for old times sake along with all of this we got a bit of art in with a trip to the CAC (along with a drop in to La Casa Amarilla to delivery the PIGSY paintings)......I also might have had a few glasses of cava and vino tinto.

In no particular order, here's a photo dump from the short trip of just Sunday to Wednesday. A flying visit for sure - but so good to be back!! 

At the rooftop bar in AC Malaga - a Marriott hotel

Just off Constitution Plaza

In La Classica near Uncibay Plaza (for the best white fish)

Pastries and cava for breakfast on a friend's rooftop terrace

Gambas

With a friend that I met for coffee - selfie time afterwards

Looking out on to Constitution Plaza

La Casa Amarilla Crew

In Ocho for lunch with friends from Ireland

Foie Gras in Ocho

Pate in Ocho

I tasted a fresh fig for the first time!

Rooftop pool in AC Malaga

Cathedral view

Sitting at the counter in Casa Lola's

Ice cream at Casa Mira

Visiting CAC

A plate of Berenjenas in a square just off Calle Larios