Rounding Up - It just makes cents!

The Central Bank in Ireland is going to start phasing out 1 & 2 cents shortly. To this end, rounding up is also starting this week.

From now on, your total bill will be rounded up.  So if your total is €10.92 you will be charged €10.90.  While if your bill is €10.93 you will be charged €10.95.

So in essence you will win on the round down sometimes and lose on the round up sometimes but it will probably equal out over time....unless you manage to put €20.02 in to your petrol tank each time you are filling your car!  ;-)

Ready for Winter - got the Flu Shot in the Pharmacy!

This year I made the decision to get vaccinated against the flu. We are both really busy in work so I felt that we really didn't need the hassle of getting the flu and having to take time off.

A few days ago I started looking on the Internet to see where we could get it. It seems that most pharmacies offer it which is very convenient. It is also fairly cheap with most places charging €20-€30.

I decided that we would get it on Saturday and after hanging out in Starbucks Waterloo Road for a bit we then headed to the nearest Boots on Baggot Street to see if the pharmacist was available to give it to us.

We arrived about 3pm and completed a questionnaire. After that the pharmacist brought us in separately to a consulting room and jabbed us in the arm. So quick and not really painful!

We needed to wait a little bit to see if we had a reaction to the injection and then were on our way.  All in it took less than 30 minutes in total.  And it only cost €20 each.  

Great to know that we are covered for the Winter!

Happy Retro Birthday!

Yesterday was Ciaran's birthday. I had originally thought of getting him a portable Bose Bluetooth speaker. However, I decided that something better was a Record Player.

But not just any Record Player. A retro looking Philips with a modern update being that you can play bluetooth through it. This is quite a nifty feature - we popped Spotify on and the sound quality through the speaker was excellent.

The new Philips OTT2000/12 is based on a 1965 Philips Record Player

Along with the turntable, there is also a CD player, a radio, a USB connection and of course the bluetooth facility.

Here it is all set up and working. The lid can also be closed when playing a record. At the moment we have all of two vinyls. A Talking Heads album and a Hits of the Sixties compilation record which cost me €2. I suggested to Ciaran that we head in to Tower Records to buy another album but he said no way is he buying new. He said he is only buying second hand and not spending any more than a few euro. What a hipster!

For info., I shopped around for the Record Player and found it was the cheapest in Harvey Norman.

Dublin: Take A Deep Breath

Check out this great video of all the things you can do in Dublin!


I had planned to do zip lining up the Dublin mountains before the end of Summer but never got round to it.  I may try do it this Autumn before the weather gets really cold.  We will see!

We have a big day tomorrow.  We are booked in to lunch at Amuse for Ciaran's birthday celebrations and then we have the New Zealand/France Rugby game. Should be a lot of fun.  

Dublin Morning

This morning was dark and cold.  Winter is certainly coming!

As I drove to work it was still quite dark.  The Conference Centre was lit up and could be made out in the grey light.

But to the right out in Dublin Bay, I could see light appearing. Quite stunning!

It then brightened up and turned in to a nice Autumnal Day :-)

Baby Booties - My latest project!

I borrowed this craft book from the library which was full of the most adorable little booties to make.

I decided to make these little grey felt ones.

I used leather elbow patches for the soles (this was not in the pattern)

The pattern called for a daisy embroidered on to the front but I found it too fiddly to do.......so I stitched on these cute little lamb buttons. I love them!
Once the blanket stitch was added it really finished the booties off.

These will be packaged up in cellophane and given to a couple who have just had a new baby.  

Modern Wife Exhibition

Amy, Kasey and I visited the Modern Wife Exhibition on the last day that it was on in the Print Museum on Hadleigh Road back in August. It was fairly interesting with lots of ephemera and paraphernalia that would have been common to many homes in the 1960's.

Presumably, many an Irish girl got a pink hairdryer from their boyfriend at Christmas!

There was a few books with dodgy titles like this one!!

Here's Kasey and Amy picking up tips on how to be good Irish wives......
Tip 1. Be prepared to have lots of children!!

"Why would I want to get dressed up"
Why to look good for your husband of course! ;-)

In fairness, I am a big fan of all things kitchy and retro and I found this exhibition to be informative - it was very enjoyable to have a good read and a laugh at how the Irish lived in the 1960's.

I am interested to see that there is an upcoming Modern Wife event in the Dun Laoghaire Lexicon on the 31st of October.  Hopefully Kasey & Amy will join me.  We will probably get the Dart out to Dun Laoghaire or as Bagatelle said we can hop on the 46A!

The above pic is of the Starbucks where this blog was written in the comfy confines on Waterloo Road which is my favourite Starbucks in my locality. It's roomy and there is always a spot with a power point plus it is nice and quiet!