This blog was originally started to track our progress as we regenerated a derelict Victorian house in Dublin. We turned an old crumbling ruin in to our dream house! If you wish to read through the trials and tribulations of the house build it is best to start at the oldest blog post and read in date order. The blog then evolved in to being all about my life in Dublin, Ireland and then life in Malaga, Spain with artist "PIGSY" and now back in Dublin
I hope you enjoy reading it!
We are expecting cold weather here in Ireland, with the arrival of what is being called an "arctic snap". For the past few days it has been fairly windy and stormy, and cycling home from work yesterday evening was one of the worst - no rain, but bitterly cold. Luckily its a short 10 min cycle from the train station.
When I did eventually get home and got in and got warm, I set about making dinner of Keto pizza. As per usual for this time of year, I am back on low carb along with Intermittent Fasting. The IF is working really well and to be honest I don't miss breakfast or lunch and generally only eat in the evening time.
The pizza turned out great - I covered the top with cheese but be assured, it is loaded with pepperoni under all of that cheese. If you want to make Keto Pizza the recipe is linked here on my blog.
As well as making the pizza I filled bowls full of slow cooker bone broth and popped them in the freezer when cooled. Again with the cold weather, I will be glad of the broth, over the next few days and will probably make some hearty soups with the bone broth as a base.
After dinner, I watched possibly the last of the Hallmark Christmas movies until next Christmas. It was called "Haul out the Holly" and in fairness it was funny and gave me a good giggle in parts. On Friday I noticed a tree still up and lit in the neighbourhood which was nice to see. So nice that I took a pic!
I'm sad to see the end of Christmas really and thinking about it as I was prepping this blog, got me thinking that I really didn't listen to enough Christmas songs over the season.
So I pulled up The Pogues on Youtube and had a listen to "Fairytale in New York". This of course took me down a youtube rabbit hole. After seeing Matt Dillon in the opening scenes, I then went on to look at him and Annabella Sciorra in Mr Wonderful and then went and looked at her in the Sopranos.......and so on - that's what happens with youtube, isn't it?!
Anyway here's Fairytale in New York for you to enjoy now!
I joined with the Friends of the Grand Canal this morning to pick up litter. There is a meetup once a month on the first Saturday of the month from 10am to 12pm. All you need to do to join is to turn up at the bench near Leeson Street Bridge on the Canal.
I collected my litter picker and two bags and then set off in the direction of Leeson Street to pick litter. There was a large amount of people volunteering today and most stayed along the canal. I prefer to leave the canal area and pick litter on the streets close by - I figure that if it doesn't get picked it will blow in to the canal so better to get to it before it gets in to the water.
In total, I filled two bags in a little over an hour. Definitely a job worth doing on a Saturday morning!
Join up with the clean up
If you are interested in cleaning up the canal you can come along to the next meetup - or you can contact Dublin City Council by email to request a litter picker and bags and they will drop them to your house which means you can pick litter in your own area in your free time.
Saturday was slow. We got up and went out for a cycle in to Dublin City (less than 2km away from our house). Ciaran rode his Brompton fold up bike while I was on my electric bike. We cycled to Fallon & Byrne on Exchequor Street where I bought some freshly made bread and some Ranch Dressing (this seems to be the only place that I have found in Dublin that sells this type of dressing!). I also bought a 50% off Easter Egg that includes mini peanut butter eggs inside - can't wait to taste those!
We then did chores around the house (my kitchen could not be any cleaner and we are on top of all of the laundry). Ciaran did a video lesson with his Spanish teacher at 4pm while I did an online class at the same time. It felt really productive to do that and I will do another class today.
Later on we decided that we would pick up dinner from Dillingers which would be our normal Friday or Saturday haunt (we sit in the exact same spot at the end of the bar, every time we go, yes that is how regular we are!). We walked up to Ranelagh Village and visited Dillingers to get our order in. They have it set up that they have the door open and then it is all blocked off to the actual restaurant. In order to comply with social distancing we stood at the door and spoke to the manager with space between us all and then gave in our order. He told us to call back in about 10 minutes and it would be ready then. While we were waiting for our food, we walked up the road to Redmonds Beer & Wine shop and bought some supplies there.
We walked home fairly smartly in order to keep the food warm. Look how good it was......so tasty! Hearty American style food at home - what can beat that?! I had Ribs while Ciaran had Hot Wings and then we had a side of Chilli Fries.
And so for the movie selection......we watched.....wait for it...."Contagion"
Oh my gosh what a film. We had seen it before a couple of years ago but jeez what a different perspective watching it while we are living in a real life pandemic. Seriously scary.......
And that was our Saturday with us heading to bed about 11.30pm - how did your Saturday go? Hope you had a good one!
Saturday night in Dublin certainly gave me Key West feels, even though it was bucketing down rain! My mother had managed to snag a Jimmy Buffett ticket and she went on the hunt for me. He was playing in the Olympia Theatre which is a really small venue so I really didn't feel hopeful. During the day I was receiving texts from my mother about tickets she was seeing for sale for €200, €300 and upwards that she was considering buying. Both of us rang the box office to see if there was any returns but no luck there either. So at about 6.30pm, I got on my bike in the rain and cycled in to the city to the Olympia with the intention of getting a ticket outside. So there I landed in my pink Margaritavile shirt and found loads of Parrotheads hanging out having fun in the rain with lots of tropical clothes and accessories on view! So while waiting for my mother to arrive, I scoped out the ticket situation. There were certainly a few available going for €150 upwards. So while having a think what my options were, I decided to call in to the box office to see if there was any returns. Well guess what! There was a returned ticket that I promptly snapped up at cost price of just under €70!!! Let's just say I was a little bit happy! And so after a few drinks in Brogans we went in to the venue, Mam to the circle and me to the standing area. Well I can't begin to tell you what a great show it was with such a fun atmosphere. I felt truly blessed to hear all my Jimmy Buffett songs live. He is a superb performer and his band the Coral Reefers aren't too bad either!! Here's a few pics of the evening:
It was my off day from work today so I met up with my mother for a nice breakfast facing out on to Stephens Green and then I pottered around the place. As I unlocked my bike, I noticed that my garden has come in to bloom. I took a quick pic before I set off.
I had to drop my bike to the bike shop for a service so I sauntered down Grafton Street and then on to Greenaer on McGennis Place. Afterwards, I picked up Bones from ODKM's office and walked back home along the Grand Canal. Here's a few pics that I took on my stroll.
I heard that DHL have started delivery using electric vehicles but I saw this more environmentally friendly delivery system outside their office!
These artworks were on the wall outside the bike shop. I like them a lot and they brighten the city.
Pigsy & Kemp worked on some collaborative pieces which was so interesting to see their processes. In some ways it was such a juxtaposition seeing Kemp's structured stencil work as opposed to Pigsy's free flowing loose approach.
The Kemp Gallery is a really great space to work in - there is a massive roof light in the centre of the room that sends light streaming in to the gallery. It is a great showcase for all of the amazing art.
While the paint activity was ongoing, beverages from O'Brother Brewing were enjoyed by the artists and all of the visitors to the gallery.
Amy and I enjoyed the beer and art too!
Look at the amazing results of the day! Here's the before and after of one of the pieces.
The response online and off has been incredible - look at this instagram post
Oh and did I mention that he sold 2 more pieces yesterday?!! The exhibition is in it's final week so do get in and see Pigsy's before it finishes up. However, if you don't get to make a visit you can always visit online on The Gallery Kemp website.
Visited the house today with my sister. We were both pleasantly surprised by what stage it is at. The steel cladding looks really well on the external walls of the new extension to the back of the house.
