Seamus Heaney Exhibition in Dublin City

In the heart of Dublin City in the Bank of Ireland building at College Green, there is the most amazing Seamus Heaney exhibition.

Ciaran was at the opening night of the exhibtion and had visited it twice since then.  However, I had never been to it.

But yesterday on my day off work we were in town (I was buying a bikini for upcoming sailing trip) and as we passed the Bank of Ireland, I said "let's go in".  And how happy was I that we did - it's excellent, I highly recommend!

Here's the details of the exhibition - see here

I've written about Seamus Heaney on my blog before and you can read that post here

Heaney's "Mid-Term Break" brings me to tears every time I think of the line "A four-foot box, a foot for every year"

Pictured above is Ciaran sitting taking in the exhibition 

Let me know if you know of Seamus Heaney and his work and also let me know if you get to visit this exhibition!

The other thing we did was that we went on around to the front of the building where we visited the House of Lords chamber which is a room off the working bank.  You can read all about the House of Lords here 

This is worth a visit too and it is literally steps away from the Seamus Heaney exhibition.

Strawberry, cookies & cream icebox cake

So I made my first "Icebox Cake".....

I offered to bring dessert on Saturday night to friends who were kindly hosting us for dinner so I had a look online to see what I could make and bring.

I settled on making an icebox cake which was a new concept to me, as it is not something that is common in Ireland.

I decided I would make a mish mash of recipes and settled on the following layers which I created in my springform cake tin

Layer 1 - broken meringue

Layer 2 - Sponge covered in strawberry sauce/puree - I made the sauce by mashing up strawberries and sugar with lemon juice and lemon zest

Layer 3 - Whipped cream and vanilla essence

Layer 4 - Oreos (firstly dipped in cold milky coffee)

Layer 5 -  More cream

Layer 6 - more coffee dunked Oreos

Layer 7 - More Cream

Layer 8 - Chocolate ganache

Then on the final layer, I made a circle of mini meringues around the top with half an oreo between each one (I used some chocolate mousse to fix the meringues in place. 

And finally I filled the space in the centre with lots of strawberries which I topped with white chocolate chunks and crumbled oreos.

This was the result!

I made the cake early in the morning so it had a few hours to set up before I actually put the last layer of meringue and strawberries on top (just before I took it to the house we were visiting).

All in all I thought it looked good and tasted great so was happy with it and I will make it again for sure!

Barbenheimer: Cinema is back!

Barbie V. Oppenheimer

So as you know I used to be an avid cinema goer before the pandemic but then found it hard to get back in to a routine again after. It just seemed like it was a better option to stay at home and watch movies in the comfort off my home

However, slowly I started going back to the cinema seeing the odd film here and there.

But it was "Oppenheimer" that I was most eagerly anticipating with it being marketed for months as the big block buster of Summer 2023. I've probably been planning since January to go and see this film.

However...... didn't Warner Brothers go and open "Barbie" on the same weekend as "Oppenheimer" so  they ended up going head to head. And this lead to a huge worldwide cinema experience of "Barbenheimer" where cinema goers all over the world went to both of the films back to back.

For me, I went to see Barbie firstly on opening weekend and then I went to Oppenheimer yesterday evening.

So.....which one was the winner for me?! Well read below to see.....

Barbie at the Savoy

With sold out shows in most of the Dublin cinemas, my friend booked our tickets on Tuesday, for a 6pm Saturday showing of Barbie in the Savoy. However, the gods were against us, with our train to the city from Dun Laoghaire experiencing a big delay. It was also bucketing rain so we eventually arrived to the cinema, 20 minutes late for the film and soaking wet! 

We changed our tickets for a Sunday afternoon showing and then went and dried off over cocktails in the hotel next to the cinema. Not a bad thing to do of a Saturday after a day in work!

And then it was take 2 when we met up again the next day to see Barbie at a 1.40pm showing - again it was raining heavily so I was glad to be in the theatre for the afternoon. 

However, perhaps I had been hyped up by rave reviews of Barbie, and the let down of not getting to see it on Saturday, but overall I didn't think it lived up to my expectations. That's not to say that I didn't think it was good, and that I found it entertaining.  There were certain parts and characters that were really great (Hello Ken, loving your Kenergy!) but in a lot of ways I felt it was just an average film aside from some standout moments in it. It's been received well with big audience figures so perhaps it just wasn't to my taste which is not to say that it won't be yours! With that in mind, I wouldn't say not to see it as generally movie taste is highly subjective and personal to each viewer.

Oppenheimer at the Omniplex

For Oppenheimer, we went yesterday evening, having booked our tickets on Friday for a Saturday 7.40pm showing in the Omniplex Rathmines. With this "Maxx" screening nearly sold out, we ended up with seats in second row, towards the middle.  

I thought Oppenheimer was excellent - great pace to it, brilliant cinematography and all in all everything that you would expect in a big blockbuster movie.

And although Barbie was the winner in the opening weekend viewer results, Oppenheimer was the winner for me.

After the movie which finished close to 11pm, we cycled home (it's all downhill) which is always a good ending to any night out at the cinema!

Pop Up in Nicks Ranelagh

Coffee & a Sandia pop up

Saturday morning here in Ireland was RAINY to say the least. We knew it was too wet to take the dog for a walk but we donned our waterproof gear and walked to Nick's Coffee for, you guessed it, coffee!

I had seen on Instagram that there was going to be a jewellery pop up so I looked forward to having a browse at all of the gorgeous Sandia earrings made locally in Ranelagh while I enjoyed a coffee.

So after much deliberating, and chatting with Sandia creator and designer Betzy, I bought this pair

Mystery Box

And after I had made my selection, Ciaran bought me a "mystery box" which was a little brown box that contained a surprize - you can't open it until you buy it, What fun!

When I opened I found 3 pairs of really cute earrings - two resin big statement pairs and then the third were simply a metal stud that said "Yes". How exciting and I love them all!

When I got home I tried them all on. 

These pink circle earrings were in the mystery box. How cute are they?!

This is the pair I selected initally......

And then these kind of groovy looking ones were also in the mystery box. I think they would be perfect for a 60's flower power costume event.

I just can't decide which I like best. Let me know which is your favourite!

Sandia in Nicks

Sandia will be in Nick's Coffee on Ranelagh Main Street on Saturday 15th July and Sunday July until 5pm. Do pop in to this pop up!

Restaurant Wrap Up

 Here's some pics of some meals in Dublin restaurants over the past while....

The Ivy, Dawson Street, Dublin 

- visited with my mother and niece 

My mother's order of cod - I think she may order this dish every time she eats in The Ivy!

Eleanor's Duck Salad 

And I ordered a starter portion of Steak Tartare with a tomato side salad. I really liked this!

Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6

Visited with friends in a group of five

Pics of food and after dinner cocktails are below

Beetroot and crab as far as I remember

Three desserts for the table to share

Espresso Martini

These were a "snack" of chicken skins

The Tap House Bar, Ranelagh, Dublin 6

And the final pic is of two starters that we order when we visit The Taphouse in Ranelagh. Lately what we have been doing is going to this pub for a drink and a starter and then walk home (about 5 mins away)  for our main course in our house.  This works great for us!

Pictured above is a Crab & Crayfish Tostada that we request on lettuce rather than a taco shell.  The other dish is cauliflower florets with a spicy rub - this is so filling that sometimes we only need a snack for our main dinner when we get home - something like a few wings each......and this suits us great because you know we love our chicken wings!!

Fun in the City!

Friday Funday.

Friday was my day off work so we decided to head in to Dublin City for lunch.  We were in Ranelagh in the Arts Centre so hopped on the Luas and went to Dawson Street. From there we walked to Grafton Street where we went up on to the roof of M&S - I had a prosecco, Ciaran had a tea.

It was then on to Capel Street (my favourite pedestrianised street in Dublin) which we walked through Temple Bar to get to.  When we got to Capel Street we decided to check out White Rabbit which is an Korean Street Food place in the back of an Asian supermarket.  It's normally packed but today we were able to get a seat at the bar. We ordered some kind of meat roll to share.

This was very tasty......

Little selfie of us both before we headed on to our next spot.

After the White Rabbit, we had a browse in Evans Art Supplies where Ciaran bought some spray paint and also some acrylic paint.

All Bar Chicken

The reason we had decided to visit Capel Street is that we wanted to get wings in All Bar Chicken. And so our next stop off was here!

We shared a plate of BBQ wings which were so good. I highly recommend this fun place for a nice atmosphere and great wings. They do cocktails too with all of the tables around us ordering them - but we just had a beer and a glass of wine.

From there is was back over to the South Side of the City with a walk over to Parliament Street and then up to Wicklow Street where stopped in "Size"  where I had been looking at a pair of Nike Air Max which I really wanted to get but they were half a size too small.  Anyway I tried them on again, and I still loved them (I had been trying to get my size online all week since I first tried them on) and so I decided to buy them and will try stretch them out (they are currently in my freezer with a bag of water in them!).  

Thie Hideout

After Size, it was on to The Hideout in South William Street where we booked in to play pool!  

This was our first time visiting this place and it is great. Loads of pool tables over a few floors and you can do BYOB with a fridge near each pool table so you can keep your beer cold.  We brought in some Moretti beer and I had Orange & Grapefruit Smirnoff Seltzers. It was the first time I tasted this flavour and I thought it was really good.

It was a hot day in Dublin and the pool hall was really hot, so we were glad to see that there was an open back door near to our table which let a little cooling air in.

I like the concept of the BYOB here and think it would make a great place to visit for a work team building event. 

As you can see I put on my new Nike's straight away in order to try and stretch them out!  Watch this space I'll let you know how I got on with the ice in a bag trick.  Next up is two pairs of socks and a hairdryer......

We played for an hour (it went so fast!) with the cost being 20 euro per hour and 5 euro per person for BYOB. All in all great fun.

And after the hideout it was off to the Luas at Stephens Green where we boarded to go home to Ranelagh.......with a little plan to stop off in The Tap House for our final piece of food for the day, this was crab & crayfish tostada which we asked for on lettuce instead. Just delicious!  

After setting off about 2pm we got home just before 9pm after a great day all over Dublin City. A great day off from work and it set me up for going in to work on Saturday.

Home made bunting - no sew method

Over the years I've made bunting in a variety of different ways and if you do a search on this blog you will see lots of results of my efforts. The most time consuming way is when I sew fabric triangles together and then sew the doublesided triangles to ribbon - see this here.  The results for this method are great and it makes long lasting high quality bunting.

But I have devised a no-sew method for making bunting which is quick and fun. 

It involves cutting triangle shapes our of pretty fabric to your taste, using a pinking shears. And then when you have your triangles cut out  you simply iron them on to ribbon using "Wundaweb" which is normally used for repairing hems but works perfectly when you put it between the ribbon and the fabric.

I would say it took me less than 2 hours to make 4 buntings (approx 3 metres each) and cost less than €20 - it would have cost me less if I had used scrap fabric but I needed to buy a metre of fabric in Hickey's as I donated my scrap fabrics to a charity shop after a recent house spring clean.  Hickey's were having a Summer sale and had 20% off craft fabrics so it helped keep the cost down.

I had planned to buy readymade bunting (the Carolyn Donnelly range in Dunnes always has nice bunting) but it was far more fun in the end to make my own!

Here's pics of my no-sew bunting - it's been hung in preparation for our neighbourhood street party which used to be held annually but I think this may be the first one since Covid.

And here's a pic of what I brought to the neighbourhood street party - a little charcuterie plate!