After my last bridesmaid post, in which I wallowed in my uselessness at this particular job, I noticed that I had forgotten my nephew’s first birthday. I say “noticed” but in reality my sister, the bride-to-me and mother of said nephew, phoned me to tell me. She was probably simultaneously wondering if she could get… Continue reading Operation Better Bridesmaid
Last Saturday night a couple of friends and I went out. We had a cocktail. We chatted while music played in the background. We grabbed a bite to eat. In the restaurant I spotted a girl from work. By the end of the night AC/DC was blaring from the speakers and people were singing along.… Continue reading Don’t Look Down
For all the organisation and planning and parcel-sending that usually goes on in my life, there is one date I am always late in marking – my sister’s birthday. I only have the one sister and her birthday is on the same date every year (surprise, surprise) so you’d think I’d remember it. It is… Continue reading Creating Cottage Charm with Bloom & Wild
So, it has been a year. This day last year I began my 40-by-40 reading challenge. 12 months gone, 15 books read, another 4 or 5 begun and set aside for later. As I write I am halfway through the 16th book and number 17 is on my beside table, ready for starting in a… Continue reading 15 Down, 25 To Go
A steam mop is going to change my life. I know it is. I know because I read this blog post a year or two ago and since then I firmly belive that if I had a steam mop I would always have clean floors. Having clean floors would mean that on weekend mornings I… Continue reading On Clean Floors and Big Changes
A lot of ideas have been whizzing round my mind on and off for years. Ideas about what I want to do with my life and how I could go about making those dreams reality. My dreams of love, home-ownership, a life abroad and motherhood have all come true, as have my lesser goals of… Continue reading One Year, One Word
Blue Monday. The dampness and drabness. Empty bank accounts. The gloomiest month of the year. Everything I see and read about January each year makes me think that I am possibly the only person in the world who enjoys January. Actually like is the wrong word. I love January. I look forward to it, and… Continue reading Reasons To Love January
Things have been quiet here on the blog lately. The reason is that things have been very, very far from quiet in our house. We’ve had my family staying and, while it was wonderful to spend four whole days together, I know now that stopping at three was the right decision for me. Seven children… Continue reading 16 from ’16
Back in my college days I worked in Magill’s deli in Dublin. Around Christmas it was always alive with people, some just popping in for the smell. “Oh if you could bottle this!” they’d say, raising their nose and taking a deep breath of the spicey, smokey smell that hangs in the air. The mood… Continue reading Memories, featuring Butlers’ Chocolates
We moved into our home in quite a hurry in 2010 with a toddler and a newborn – a proper little family. We hadn’t time time or the money to spend on major renovations, so it was very much a case of do what has to be done and moved the furniture from our rented… Continue reading Red Is Not Just For Christmas
