Sunday morning walk and Pantigate

After breakfast of rashers (bacon) and eggs we went for a walk around Ranelagh.  We passed Litton Hall (built 1877) on Leeson Park next to the Wesleyan Church.

 

Northbrook Clinic is in an attractive building.

 

 

Our dog passed by this point without even noticing the cute kitty popping out to say hello!

 

We made our way back up to Ranelagh village and stopped in Coffee Society for coffee and a read of the Sunday papers.

In the afternoon I met my sister and we attended the LGBT Noise protest over Pantigate

 

If you have a few minutes to spare I urge you to watch this video of Pantibliss which gives some of the background to the protest against the Irish State Broadcaster for their shutting down of the discussion of Homophobia and Gay Equality.

 

 

Here's my little sister.  We had Irish flags with us because we went to watch the Ireland v. Scotland Rugby game in Sinnots after the protest.

 

I expected to see lots of Pride flags at the protest but was a little disappointed it was not a more colourful affair.  It was attended by lots of different people including many families with their children.

When I got home I made curry broth for dinner.  After dinner we got in to the hot tub which was so good.  It's probably been about 4 weeks since we were last in the hot tub!!

From Monday's Irish Independent

Mr Muscle

Cleaned my oven with Mr Muscle today - wow it is strong smelling and over powering.  It comes with a warning that if you get any on your skin you need to rinse under water for 20 minutes.

Here's my oven before the clean.  You spray on the noxious Mr Muscle and leave for half an hour.

Wipe down your oven and this is how it looks!

Voila! A beautiful clean oven.

I have two ovens - this the large one that I very rarely use.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Blanchardstown Shopping Centre have nice balloon decorations to mark the Chinese New Year.

2014 is the Year of the Horse!

Georgian Mile

I had meetings in the city yesterday.  One of my meetings was in a building on Fitzwilliam Street which is home to rows of preserved Georgian Houses.  Most have been converted to offices.

Here is a pic  in the other direction. To the right of  the photo is Merrion Square (the area with trees).

Go Cars are an interesting concept.  It is a car sharing initiative, offering short term car rental to members on a hourly basis.  Unlike renting a car, users of Go Car pay a monthly subscription in order to then pick up a car from many different convenient locations city wide at a very reasonable hourly rate.  Parking in the city is also free when using a Go Car - perhaps one of the biggest benefits of partaking in the car sharing scheme.

Fat Bombs

When eating an LCHF diet it can be hard to find a snack that is high fat.  A fat bomb is the perfect solution to this problem.

 

To make my fat bomb I mixed 325g of butter with 125g of melted 85% chocolate. To this mixture, I added toasted coconut flakes and ground almonds.

 

I then spooned in to baking cases and sprinkled with more toasted coconut.

 

They taste so good and are the perfect way to add more fat in to your diet!

I got the chocolate in Aldi and the ground almond and toasted coconut in the Hopsack in Rathmines.

 

Fat bombs need to be stored in the fridge or freezer as they melt quickly due to their high fat content.

 

To make the fat bombs look nicer they could be pressed in to candy moulds.  I will probably do this on my next batch.

 

Variations include using peanut butter in addition to regular butter.

Times they are a changing....

Starbucks Blanchardstown was given a makeover.  The majority of the comfortable couches are gone - replaced by high bench style seating.  It's a lot darker and it is covered in mock wood.

 

 

This stencilling on the wall looks pretty cool!

 

Changes are also taking place on Charlemont Street where the old flats are being knocked.  Read about the stalled regeneration here.

Here it is a few days later

The historic Ffrench Mullen House block of flats is also being knocked.  They were designed by architect Michael Scott who also designed Busaras.

I took these photos when I stopped on Charlemont Street to call in to the laundrette to pick up my laundry. 

Edit:

Here is the above block of flats on the 1st of March.  It's now partially knocked.

Oil Pulling

Have you heard of Oil Pulling?

It involves swooshing oil around your mouth for 20 minutes every morning.  It purports to leave your mouth fresh and toxin free.  You can read more about it here

I plan on starting it tomorrow morning using Coconut Oil.  Common advice is to do Oil Pulling on an empty stomach as there is a high risk of vomiting (eek!)

I wonder can it really whiten teeth?