Twin visit!

I have finally got around to posting my twin sister's recent and very unexpected visit to Dublin, a little while back. Having sourced a great last minute deal, my twin sister made a very short impromptu visit to Ireland. It was a quick fly in and fly out long weekend visit but boy did we pack a lot in - I like to describe it as a curated weekend for her and indeed she let me handle all of the restaurant reservations and bookings.

Here's some pics of what we got up to.

To start it was wings with Alice in The Canal Bank. I can only imagine how jet lagged Amy feels in this pic but it was smiles all round as we took this fun picture of us all wearing our reading glasses. It was great to have this gang all back together and we even began to nail down some plans for our next trip to celebrate a big birthday that is approaching next year.

Friday night brought us in to town where Dublin was hopping. The weather had not hit our recent heatwave highs but it was extremely pleasant and only a light jacket was needed. 

I had to work on Friday but I made a booking for L'Gueuleton on Fade Street for 6.30pm. However as I left Dalkey I experienced train delays so I was able to go online and push back the reservation to 7.15pm.

We had the Steak Frite which was just perfect with a glass of red wine.

Instead of a starter, at Amy's suggestion we opted for a glass of prosecco and some smoked almonds. What fun!

The ambiance in L'Gueuleton was everything we had hoped for and we got a great window seat facing out on to Fade Street where I was even able to point out to Amy where PIGSY held his last solo exhibition.

Virtuously  on Saturday, we went to early morning yoga in Yoga Yard ,where we took a hot yoga class with Jenice. Yoga Yard is the most incredible studio I have ever visited and I convinced Amy to go with a promise of a "spa like " experience. Well while not quite spa like(!) it is a beautiful studio and we had a great class with a cool down afterwards in the garden just off the studio.  Amy loved it!

After yoga it was on to O'Doheny & Nesbitt for the two things that Amy was hankering for - a full Irish breakfast and a Bloody Mary. Both well deserved after the early energetic start having completed both the yoga class and the 15 minute cycle to Ringsend and then a further cycle in to town from the studio.

Next up was a family meet up and then the Take That concert in The Aviva which I had long made plans for but Amy was able to snag a ticket for at short notice. I sat with my friends and she sat alone - but not really alone because she was surrounded by perhaps 50,000 Take That fans!

On the way to meet our family we stopped off in Stephens Green and explored the park, discovering parts we never had seen before. Here we are pictured at the little lake with a water fall and we also found a small area/amphitheatre known as "The Mount". This is well worth a visit and we really enjoyed seeing it.

At Aviva Stadium we had to go our separate ways to enter, even though we were not seated too far away from each other.

What a great Saturday in Dublin!

As I mentioned, Amy was happy to leave all of the reservations and restaurant selections to me. However, there was one spot that she absolutely wanted to go to and that was the newly opened Dions on the roof of the old Central Bank Building (designed by Sam Stephenson) in Temple Bar.

With 360 views of Dublin it is a stunning restaurant that is a must go destination for everyone - at least just once anyway!

We had a fantastic night taking in the views and enjoying great chats over a nice dinner.

Check out this amazing view of Dublin - what a great sight!

We even went for dessert which was divine!!

It was back to work for me on Monday, but I was able to book the afternoon off because Amy and I had big plans for more fun stuff which included going to get our hair done in a salon just off Grafton Street, And then on to The Shelbourne for a much anticipated seafood platter. 

Look at this platter - it was sensational!

I am off oysters so we asked for them to leave some off which they very kindly did and substituted crab salad which was sooo good.  With the relaxed atmosphere in The Shelbourne and the good food, this was a highlight of the weekend - out of so many great experiences.

You may be noticing a theme in some of the pics - Amy was a search for the best Bloody Mary in Dublin ;-) 

For some reason or other, I felt like we needed a little something before the seafood platter so I ordered a sausage roll. While very tasty it was entirely unnecessary because the seafood platter was huge!!

All in all it was the greatest busiest best weekend - a gorgeously curated selection of the best of Dublin which I was treated by my twin sister. What a great experience and super memories!

Shattering Saturday!!!

 Mini disaster this morning

I smashed my favourite espresso coffee cup :-( 

As I was getting ready to go to work, I was also double jobbing and emptying the dishwasher. So of course I was trying to get this done as fast as possible and as I put my cups back on the shelf on the bar/coffee dock, I dropped a cup.

And when I looked down as I heard the noise of the cup hitting the floor I saw that it was my favourite Key West cup. I am so sad. Drinking from that cup gave me such joy. It even got a mention on my blog before - see here.

I didn't rush to clean up the cup and had a coffee before I swept it up. Even though I was devastated that I had dropped my KW cup, I enjoyed my coffee in my 2nd favourite cup!

So I hope you had a better start to your day than I did - but in fairness I had a good day after this. And there are high temperatures expected here in Ireland (not as bad as the intense temperatures being experienced on the continent - Bonjour Paris with it's 40 degrees!!) so the weekend will be great.

Paddington Bear Glow Up

My vintage Paddington Bear, made by Gabrielle Designs, has been through a lot over the past 40 years.

He lost his hat at some point, his boots never went back on properly like when he was just out of the factory and he has now recently lost the toggles on his coat.

I had a plan to bring my original Paddington and his friends in to work for a Paddington Themed exhibition to mark Paddington's Birthday on the 25th of June. So I asked my mother (Paddington's current caretaker) if I could take a lend of them. We met today in town and she passed them to me.

So as I mentioned, Paddington has lost some of the toggles on his coat so I replaced them by sewing new toggles on.  You will also notice that he has a smart red hat which my mother bought for him in Penneys - a perfect fit!

The plan for the exhibition is to have Paddington on display along with a selection of Paddington books......and also jars of marmalade!

The marmalade will have a custom label and a tag that says "Please look after this marmalade".

Our patrons will be encouraged to take a picture of the bears and the marmalade and share it to our Social Media and also take a jar of marmalade home with them. 

I'll also have my Paddington Teapot on display too!

Such fun!  Let me know what you think - would you take part in the Paddington Bear fun and share a picture of yourself to social media?!

Summery Sunday

It was a lovely day here in Dublin, so I was up early and decided to do a litter pick on my way to Nicks for a coffee.  I had a seen loads of beer bottles littering in Ranelagh Park the other day when walking to the shops so I did those.  In total I picked three bags!

I left the bags of litter that I picked beside the public litter bins and they will be taken away by Dublin City Council.

I always enjoy this activity on Sunday mornings. It is surprisingly meditative and I generally end up chatting to a stranger  or two about the litter picking. Last time I did it I spoke to three people including one man who told me that he goes out and picks litter up himself!

And then after coffee I headed home and had a call with Ciaran (he is in China) and following the call I  got my shopping trolley and went on the bus to Rathmines where I called to the hardware shop in the Swan Centre for a bag of compost which I needed for transplanting some tomato plants to a bigger pot. The trolley was needed because the weight of the 25 litre bag of compost. 

Here's the tomatoes in their small pots that they came in (a friend gave them to me)

And here they are in their new larger home

And after these pieces of work, it was off to meet up with friends for lunch which turned in to a long lazy chat in a sunny beer garden with good chats, good food and nice wine. Just perfect and it felt so good to sit in the sunshine in Dublin. A great Sunday!

 

Sardine shortage

So back in 2024 I wrote here on this blog about Sardine Fasts.

Well fast forward to 2026 and I am still eating and loving sardines. My most favourite way to eat sardines is fresh and fried in the Malaga Fish Market but when at home in Ireland, it is out of a tin.

One thing I am finding is that sardines seem to be continually out of stock. 

Now I am putting this down to two things. The first being the popularity of "Sardine Fasts" which I am seeing all over Instagram and Tik Tok. However the other reason that I am seeing empty shelves where sardines should be, is down to the fact that there is lower catch rates over the past while which seems to be from rising sea temperatures (climate change) which is having an effect on sardine supplies.

So when I find sardines on the shelves now, I stock up. And even more so when they are on special at 2 for the price of 3 which this Tesco Finest was at!

I also bought some anchovies which I eat alongside the sardines for added flavour. Flavour wise I really enjoy sardines in oil best, but because it is hard to find them in good quality olive oil (they tend to be in cheap low quality sunflower oil - bleugh) I stick to sardines in brine or water. I eat them with Olive Oil Mayonaise from the new minimal ingredient range in Marks & Spencer - over 7 euro for a jar, but so worth it.

I do love sardines over all for their taste as well as their convenience. But another reason I eat them is that they are a great source of creatine and while I take creatine as a supplement daily, it is always good to get as much naturally too. It's found in eggs and meat which I eat plenty of too so hopefully I am taking enough along with my supplement.

For dinner today, I had grilled sardines on a bed of toasted cauliflower topped with avocado - so good!

I'm interested to hear what your thoughts are on sardines. Love them or hate them?!

Artist Trading Cards

 Artist Trading Cards - have you heard of them?!

I discovered Artist Trading Cards in the town of Ajijic in Jalisco, Mexico when I was having a margarita at a bar in a restaurant and saw a group of people enter and head to their table all carrying "binders". I asked the barman what the group were doing and he said he didn't know but "it was something to do with cards". Given my limited Spanish I didn't push it any further to try and see what type of cards or what they were doing with them. 

Anyway a few days later I was at a party in an Artist Residency and I happened to see someone who had been in the restaurant with a binder. When I got talking to them, I found out that what the group was doing was swapping "Artist Trading Cards". I then googled Artist Trading Cards and found out all about them.

And now back in Ireland, I am involved with an Artist Trading Cards group in Dublin.

Each month a different theme is chosen and after working throughout the month and creating artworks relating to the theme on the specific ATC sized cards, the group comes together to swap them.

Swapping the cards means you can build up a collection of cards and here's some photos of my collection.

Last month the theme was "Woodland Creatures" so I created 7 cards where I drew ladybirds. For this month the cards I created were all the same. But there are no rules, you can create cards that are all the same or different.

And here are pictures of my collection of swapped cards

If you like the thoughts of swapping Artist Trading Cards, you can google to see if there are any groups in your vicinity doing this activity, or I think some people swap or trade cards online. It's a fun activity and it is very social. The other great thing about it is that you can drop in and out of it and go to some meetings or miss one from time to time, there really is no pressure. 

I am really happy to be involved in this activity and I am always amazed by all of the work created by the group members. It is always fascinating to see the different approaches to the theme by all. I am also loving seeing my collection of cards grow by the month. For me personally, I am not much of an artist, but I do enjoy doing something creative and physically present that gets me off my screen. I spend so much time online that I feel it is really good for my brain to be involved in this non-digital group!

Let me know what you think of Artist Trading Cards and whether you will look to get involved in a group, where ever you are in the world.

Here's one of my favourite cards that I completed. It was for the theme of "Fruit and Vegetables"

Can you guess what it is based on?!

Ranelagh Arts Festival: Maeve Brennan events

We got straight in to the Ranelagh Arts Festival activities this morning with a trip to the gorgeous Devlin Theatre at 10.15am to watch a short film about Maeve Brennan and her life in Ranelagh as part of the Ranelagh Arts Film Festival. With a coffee in hand, it was lovely to watch this great 45 minute film in the comforts of The Devlin Hotel. A really great start to Sunday!

And after the film I made a plan to attend another Ranelagh Arts Festival event later in the afternoon. This was another Maeve Brennan activity and was a walking tour of Ranelagh that would start in the Arts Centre and go up to Cherryfield Avenue to see the house that she lived in from age 5 to 17 years before moving to USA.

It was a perfect day for a walking tour, a really bright Dublin day. Cold in the shade but bright and light - a jacket still required by me, but I am a cold person!

The tour was led by Sally Corcoran and was full of interesting information about Maeve Brennan and Ranelagh in general.

Here's a video of a past Ranelagh Arts Maeve Brennan event and if you are interested in her writings, do check out the Irish Public Libraries catalogue.

Hecho en Mexico - Made in Mexico

It's always lovely to buy a well designed and handcrafted item when on holidays and I feel lucky to have found this gorgeous leather bag in a shop in Tlaquepaque on my February trip to Mexico. A brown leather bag is such a classic thing, and I feel like I will get use of this bag for years to come.

It's a simple minimal design made with the most beautiful leather which will soften over the years. I didn't buy many souvenirs but the things that I did buy are handcrafted high quality items that remind me of a fantastic trip to Mexico. 

The designer is Santiago Jimenez and you can check out the store's instagram here.

The Devil wears Prada

We had a lovely trip to the Omniplex Cinema in Rathmines this weekend to see The Devil wears Prada. There were tons of options to go see it at lots of different times in all of the different screens and we got tickets for the Maxx screen with really comfortable reclining chairs.

So what about the movie?!

Well it is exactly as you would expect a big budget well executed very watchable film with great actors. A special mention has to go to Meryl Streep who is excellent as usual and entirely believeable as Miranda Priestley.....and looking great!

The fashion, the art, the settings are all beautiful and if you are looking for an escape from real life for a couple of hours, this is the movie for you.

And then there is Gaga - yes Lady Gaga is there singing on the big screen. Of course I am biased, being a big Gaga fan, I thought she was fantastic.

So all in all I recommend The Devil wears Prada.

I should also mention how busy the Omniplex was which makes me wonder that people are still going to the cinema (or have returned since Covid)....who knows, I haven't looked at cinema going stats in any detail but the Omniplex must think there is a future in cinema going because they have upgraded the Rathmines cinema and have extras available like cocktails, pizza and other hot food options. Definitely an upgrade from a popcorn and coke!

Bank Holiday Blooms

I've been having a quiet Bank Holiday weekend here in Ireland. Generally just getting up to some chores and gardening.

I mentioned in my last blog that I mentioned that I planted wilddlowers in the wasteland at the end of my road. Well would you believe there are some signs of some plants beginning to bloom!

The first thing I am seeing that is doing really well are some "Pentaglottis" which I think have been growing a few years now in this spot. They kind of look like nettles with fuzzy leaves but the flowers are a gorgeous blue colour.

Also growing for a few years in this area, is this flower which is called "Wood Sorrel" or Oaxalis Acetosella. From looking this plant up online, it seems that the leaves and flowers are edible.

And then the next one that is just starting to grow is the Oaxalis Tetraphylla, also known as the Iron Cross or Lucky Clover. 

It's great to see all of these different plants among the wild garlic and it will be interesting to see what pops up next!

Garden project time!

Well it is another gardening project in the makine.

This time it is not in my garden but instead in a little bit of wasteland down the end of the cul de sac that I live in.

For the past few years I have planted wild flower seeds in this area but nothing seems to have grown except for lots of wild garlic which has been there for years. 

While I love the smell of the garlic it is rather boring to look at. So I am really intent on getting some nice brightly coloured flowers growing in this area.

I am currently growing some seedlings on the window sill in my living room which I will transplant to the wasteland area. There are a few earmarked spots I have started to put down fertiliser in and water well in preparation.

I have coco coir ordered from Amazon and am expecting that to arrive in a few days. 

So on Saturday I will set up the areas for planting with coco coir and then compost and then give it a good water. Then it is a matter of planting all my seedlings. After this I have a box of wildflower seeds which I will scatter around in the bare areas near my seedlings.

And beyond that it is about keeping the area well watered and cross my fingers for this Hail Mary Project!

Watch this space......

Garden project - furniture upkeep

I noticed that my garden furniture was looking a bit shabby and decided to give them a little refresh by spray painting them.

It is a fine weather day here in Dublin so I took the opportunity to do a few chores this morning and then start on the garden furniture in the afternoon.

After dropping some WEE reccyling to the centre in Rathmines and dropping in some old clothes to the Oxfam charity shop, I stopped in to the hardware in Ranelagh and brought black spray paint.

Here's pics of the furniture as I started and progressed to finish. I am happy with the result and they certainly look "refreshed".  They currently sit in our front garden and will be great for another Summer!