Friendship.

I was annoying when I was young.

In fact I think I'll rephrase that, I was very annoying when I was young.

The person I annoyed most was my sister Sam. The thing was that I adored her, wanted to be like her and be with her all the time only she was three years, five months and fifteen days older than me so once she went to secondary school at the age of 11 she didn't want a snotty little sister hanging around. Anything Sam did I wanted to do, anything she wore I wanted to wear and that didn't include wearing her cast offs when they were three years out of date *shudders, remembering grey pleated skirt*.

The thing I envied most about Sam was her close group of friends when she was in sixth form (16-18 years). This was a time when I was having friend issues, surely you remember the bitchiness of young teenage girls, so I was insanely jealous of Sam and her friends and would spend as much of my time as I could annoying the hell out of them. Yet they were so nice to me. Vicky was my patrol leader in guides (I lasted two weeks in Sam's patrol but it was most definitely not a match made in heaven), Rachel was always thoughtful and kind, she listened to me, Karen was just plain cool and made me laugh and Sheena, who I remember laughing a lot, was Sam's closest friend, they were just the best buddies.

The odd time, this group of friends would allow me into their gang. When Sam was 18 I was allowed to go to a nightclub with them to celebrate (although I was collected at midnight), I joined them for a picnic to celebrate her birthday and occasionally I'd sit and sip tea as they chatted. When I was in Bristol seeing Sam a few weeks ago we went out to dinner with some of Sam's friends. It was great to see them all, they look and sound the same and we reminisced although they were all kind enough to refrain from mentioning what a pain I used to be.

Sadly Sheena wasn't there because she was very ill and I've just heard the news that she passed away last night in her sleep. When I think of her I'll always remember the true meaning of friendship and how Sam, Sheena, Vicky, Karen and Rachel taught me about being a good friend.

Mushy Monday

Finally I'm getting better but poor Mollie now has the virus and is currently tucked up in bed, she's had a sleep and is now bored but the rule in our house is if you're too ill for school you have to stay in bed, no tv, game boy or psp whereas reading and drawing is allowed, maybe I'm a strict mother but I don't want them feigning illness to have a fun day off school.

It took me a few days to catch up on all my blogroll posts but I've been busy reading and feel ready to get back into blogging only my brain seems to have turned to mush and I don't know what to blog about. I know, I'll share the story with you of another time my brain turned to mush!

Back in 1998 my best friend Sarah from England was getting married. I was bridesmaid and Sarah decided to have her hen party in Dublin, so I booked a hotel, sussed out a club and was looking forward to the weekend which was about 10 days away. Then Sarah rang and started telling me the times of the flights her friends were arriving from various different UK airports, I said tell me next week, she said but we're coming on Friday...ahhhh....double ahhhh...triple ahhhh. Rang the hotel, no space for Friday. Rang some more hotels, no spaces. Panicked. Decided to put the 10 girls up in my shoebox of a house and kick the family out. Then I tried the youth hostel, and they could fit us in, phew! It was a very grotty hostel but also very cheap and we had a brilliant weekend so the girls forgave my ineptness.

Fast forward two months and the impending wedding. Our flight was booked for the Friday evening as I'd asked for an evening flight because Joules had to work and we were travelling without the children. On the Monday I became violently ill with stomach cramps and diarrhoea, so ill that I had to call out the doctor. Friends and family looked after the children as I lay in bed delirious worrying about the wedding. My GP said I probably wouldn't be able to go but he'd check me out on Friday and give me a decision. So I had to call Sarah and warn her, which didn't help her nerves. Friday rolled around and the doctor said I was just well enough to travel but to take it easy. The children went to their granny's, I packed our bags and checked the tickets as Joules locked up the house...ahhhh....the flight said 0700....I burst into tears said I couldn't cope and walked off down the road. Joules rang the travel agent to ask why they'd given us a morning flight when I'd specifically asked for the evening flight, their answer was that they would have listed all the flights for that day, I heard seven assumed it was 7pm and said yes! The travel agent rang the airline but the flight was overbooked so there were no guarantees, all we could do was get to the airport and hope there were some no shows.

We got to the airport and there were three places left, a couple turned up so only one place left with minutes to boarding. At least this meant that I could travel, we discussed driving but wouldn't have made it to Bristol in time for the wedding, this was my only hope...then another couple arrived. The manager came out to explain that only one seat was left but that he could fly the other person to Birmingham (90 miles from Bristol) and pay for a taxi to any destination. My ears pricked up at Birmingham, so I asked to speak to the manager and explained my predicament as I dissolved into floods of tears. He was fantastic and agreed to fly us to Birmingham at not extra cost but apologised for not being able to pay for our taxi as well. This was the best news ever and my dad drove to collect us from Birmingham and I made the wedding mushy brain and all!

Avondale

Yesterday we went to Avondale House for our Picnic and were joined by Sally and her three delightful children Chris, Sam and Chloe as well as Dillon's friend Rory. Avondale House is situated about 50km from Dublin in Rathdrum, Wicklow and was the home of Charles Stewart Parnell who is said to have been one of the great Irish political leaders. Avondale house is set in a large park and woodland, if you don't want to take a tour of the house you are charged a nominal €5 to park your car and from here there is a whole days entertainment ahead of you.

We started with our picnic, on previous occasions we have barbecued here, before setting off for a walk. There are many different paths and walks to choose from ranging from half an hour up to five hours. The route we chose took about two and a half hours with some natural breaks for us to have a rest, enjoy the scenery, have a drink and paddle in the river. We ended up at the house where we enjoyed a cooling ice lolly and the children had a second burst of energy in playground before it was time to head home after a very enjoyable day.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer

When you were a child, which crayon colour was your favorite?

Yellow, now it would be purple.

Soup

On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest), how likely would you be to change jobs if it required you to move?

2

Salad

Take all the numbers in your birthday and your phone number and add them up, one by one. What’s the total?

50

Main Course

Have you ever “re-gifted” anything? If so, what was it and who did you pass it on to?

I frequently 're-gift' toys the children are given from friends at their parties. They may be toys the children already have or ones they would never play with. They go into my present box and when the children have a party to go to they choose a gift from the box that will suit the birthday child.

Dessert

Name something you need from the store.

Juice.

Snow and Fire

Those of you who posted beautiful photographs of snow on the first Fun Monday will have read my comments which would have been something like 'you are sooo lucky, my six year old doesn't remember snow'. Well today it snowed for all of about 20 minutes. It was beautiful and melted within an hour of falling but we all got very excited. Mollie and Ben were allowed out at school to play in the snow even though there was not enough snow to make a snowball! All you people who live in snowier climates probably think we're mad but we got excited about the amount of snow you see in the photo above.

Yesterday was the birthday of the other member of the svelte skinnies club so we had a birthday outing to Avocoa that place of the yummy food, gorgeous clothes, sparkling jewellery, groovy children's stuff, sumptuous smellies and all sorts of knick knacks that you never knew you needed. After our tea/coffee and scone we wandered around the shop and ended up at the reduced section. I had a good nose around looking for a bargain when I saw a bag full of candles, lotions and potions. The first thing I pulled out was a bar of soap reduced from....hold on to your seats....€33 to €20. Now I don't know about you reader/s but I was shocked in fact the word Sally used was speechless. Who would spend €20 yet alone €33 on a bar of soap that neither looked or smelt special and didn't offer any amazing results like 'wash your face in this soap twice a day and look 20 years younger in a week'?

After the snow two hours earlier we were surprised to see a fire on the little sugarloaf on our way home and I quickly jumped out of the car to snap it with my phone. We were not sure whether it was started on purpose to clear the gorse or whether the sun was strong enough to set it alight naturally.

Bargains

Mollie and Ben were off school, I was minding a friend of Mollies for the day and the weather sucked - gale force winds have blown all my bags of plastic recyclables all over the garden. Of course if I was more organised there wouldn't be 10 black sacks worth of plastic all over my back garden! Those of you who know my dirty suitcase secret will not be surprised at my ability to leave things but you'd be impressed with my toilet! Anyway enough of my ramblings I'm hear to tell you about my bargains.

As the children were off school and the weather was bad I took them to the cinema. What I mean by that is that I drove them there, paid for their tickets, sweets and drinks and settled them into their seats with strict instructions about what they were (sit still watching the film) and weren't (move, get separated, talk to anyone else) allowed to do. This gave me 95 minutes to bargain hunt in the sales. Not a lot of time I agree but enough for me to buy a beautiful sundress from Monsoon (€18); jeans (€5.95) and two t-shirts (€2.95 each) for Mollie in Zara. Also in Monsoon, which had 70% off, I bought lots of girly, sparkly bits like sequined bags, body jewelry, desk sets and beaded purses. These go into our 'present box' and when the children have parties to go to they have great fun choosing appropriate presents from the box for their friends. When I checked the timeI realised I had five minutes to get to the cinema which was the other side of the shopping centre so I sprinted through the centre and arrived in the cinema foyer just before the children. So not only did I come home with some bargains I also got some exercise, what can be better than that!

Hiking and Bagels

Looking at Bray Head from Bray

Yesterday I woke to a beautiful, clear, bright, wind free day. I was very pleased because I had arranged to go hiking with my friend Sally and after spending the weekend feeling rotten I was feeling much better (thanks antibiotics) and dying to get some fresh air and exercise. We had decided to hike from Bray to Greystones where we would have a coffee, or in my case a peppermint tea, and get the dart back. The walk started off well, the weather was perfect and clear and we could even see a seal basking in the sun, then we saw another and another and another. My camera wasn't good enough to get a picture but we suddenly noticed that seal no. 3 had a square head and seal no. 4 was soooo not a seal. In fact we were admiring buoys although Sally is convinced the first was a seal, I'm not so sure!

Looking over to Dalkey and Killiney.

Shortly after we came to a sign warning us that the path ahead was closed so we decided to carry on and see how long before we got to the closed bit. Eventually we got to the barrier but saw that a new path had been trodden and we could continue our walk. So continue we did when we came to a fork in the path we could see a barrier on the left path so took the right which led us to a dead end. Here there was a path through the undergrowth but that came to an abrupt end. We had been walking for well over an hour and Greystones was within site whereas the path back to Bray was long and already trodden. I found a waterfall and suggested walking down the side of it. We were having an adventure and I love adventures and always the first to jump in with a (some may say crazy) idea. Sally felt she might fall flat and suggested we cut through the fields.

I have to add here that had we climbed down the waterfall I would have been the one to fall flat on my face as I am known as the clumsy one! There's a story involvimg the Avon Gorge and me running down it but I think Mum plans to tell that one!

I've done plenty of walking in fields and know that some have right of way for the public and some don't. I guessed these probably didn't so was a bit scared of bumping into a farmer, (give me the waterfall any day)! So we walked around the edge of two fields and could see no sign of the road. We were also getting further away from the path and Greystones and closer to the farmhouse. Thankfully Sally suggested turning back, I was very pleased as I had visions of a big farmer and his gun coming after us.

We walked back to the fork in the path ( I looked wistfully at the waterfall begging me to climb down) and went down the other path. When we came to the barrier we could climbaround it and continued onwards to Greystones. We shortly came to the reason for the barriers:

As you see the path has suffered from erosion quite badly just in this place. I hope they fix it soon because it is a lovely walk on a clear day. We made in into Greystones and luckily for me Ben was going to play with a friend after school so we had plenty of time to mooch around Greystones and enjoy a bagel (sausages and cream cheese) for lunch.

Glendalough

Yesterday saw the annual 47th Ballybrack Scout Andrew Carroll Memorial Hike. All family and friends of children who are in 47th Ballybrack beavers, cubs, scouts or venture scouts are invited and yesterday 98 brave (some may say stupid) people turned up for the event. Being scouts or relatives of scouts from Ireland we knew we had to come prepared for the weather. Those of us who had done our homework knew the forecast wasn't great but the day started bright and reasonably warm for this time of year.

Glendalough is a famous Irish landmark, though it's not where St Patrick chased away the snakes (which is a myth). St Kevin Founded a monastery in Glendalough (read more here) in the sixth century the remains of which are still there today. All around the monastery is the most beautiful Wicklow countryside including the Wicklow Pass and Sally Gap. There are a variety of walks here ranging from short and buggy friendly to long, steep hikes. The Wicklow Way also runs through this area.

As always the hike started with a climb up the side of a waterfall at the top of which we joined a path that sweeped it's way up the mountain. The weather although a bit dull was clear and the view of the lake was fantastic. The path up the mountain seemed to go on forever and ever and Ben (possibly the youngest there and the only little one who walked the whole way) was lagging behind a bit.

Here he comes stomping his way up the hill.

Not very happy because his boots had started to rub, so it was time for a plaster stop. Shortly after the drizzle started and we all put on our rain coats. Ten or fifteen minutes later the drizzle turned into rain so out came the waterproof leggings and still we hiked upwards. Ben and I were bringing up the rear, along with four of the leaders. Paul (Dillon's scout leader) offered to give Ben a piggy back but Ben (stubborn as he is) refused and started walking at twice the pace. We soon caught up with the rest of the group who had stopped by some thick trees for lunch.

Everyone scrambled up the bank looking for cover under the trees so they could eat lunch. Ben managed to drop his roll so it got soaked through and was inedible! Luckily I had plenty of fruit and chocolate to give him energy. After lunch the leaders decided to head back to the car park via the quickest route and not continue upwards as planned. Ben was determined to get back to the car and off he walked quickly and quietly with his head down. By this time most of us realised our waterproof trousers were really only shower proof not gallons of rain proof. We don't know how waterproof Dillon's are as he was the only scout not to put his on!

We arrived back to the car park about three and a half hours after we set off and were greeted with hot soup and sandwiches served by the ventures. We all gathered for a group photo then it was home for hot bath.

A girl guide is always prepared!

At least I thought so but maybe not today. I invited my friend Sally and her three children to lunch, along with a friend each of Dillon and Mollie's so I ended up feeding nine. I just about had enough chairs and crockery to feed nine which was a start. I made a big pot of potato and bacon soup. At least I thought it was a big pot until I began serving and realised that the four teenage boys were all adult size. Lucikly for me there was enough with not a drop to spare and plently of cocktail sausages and homemade bread to feast apon. The surprise hit was the carrot I had cut up to dip into homous, the homous was not so popular but I found myself cutting up more and more carrot as the girls nibbled faster than I could cut. To finish off lunch I had made chocolate muffins and Sally had made some rice krispie squares.

After lunch the boys went for a walk along Killiney beach, the girls played on the trampoline and Sally and I sat down for a good natter as we hadn't seen each other since before Christmas and had a lot to catch up on.

One Thing to do on December 22nd

Enjoy a hot chocolate with a friend.

Christmas Party #5

Yes this is my last Christmas party post, I'm exhausted and need to go to bed for a week!

Last night my book club had our Christmas dinner, we went to Rasam in Glasthule which I had heard glowing reports of but had never been. For the starters we had a couple of platters two with seafood and one without. I tried a few things, I found the lamb very hot but the prawn and squid were very good. Unfortunately I can't remember the names of the food I ate and I was on water all night! For my main course I had a monkfish dish, I checked that it was mild before I ordered. By the time it arrived I was starving as we had gone out quite late. It was the most delicious dish, the monkfish was cooked to perfection and just melted in my mouth and the sauce it was served in complemented it perfectly yet was not too spicy for me. This was followed by lots of chat and another late night!

Over the last week I have turned down invitations to two other parties, there's only so much partying a girl can do! This is so not the norm for me. I'm really looking forward to going to my Mum's for Christmas and having a rest!

Christmas Party #3 and #4

Yesterday was a very busy day. The morning saw Ben and Mollie perform in a nativity play. Ben was a shepperd and Mollie read. Joules drove to Donnard to collect Dillon from a hostel weekend away with the scouts. We had a hour to get changed and pack bags before heading to my in-laws for our Christmas celebrations, (we are travelling to the UK for Christmas so this was the only day Joules' family would all be together).

We arrived at Marie's and were greeted with a glass of mulled wine and lots of oohs and ahhs over the Christmas tree. This was followed by more mulled wine then it was lunch time. Marie had followed a new recipe from the Aga cook book, a fruit and chicken curry that could be cooked in one pan and feed over 10 people. It was very good and most people had seconds. This was followed by a trifle.

Then with seven very excited grandchildren it was time for the presents to be given out. All the children were very lucky and given lovely presents but my favourite was the presents my in-laws gave my children. Dillon was given a donkey, Mollie a goat and Ben six chickens. Now if you read my post aftermath of a storm you know my garden is no place for these animals. Luckily these animals are given to families in developing countries, they weren't coming home in my boot. These gifts were purchased through Concern and make a great gift.

At 6pm my friend Kathy collected me and off we went with Sally and Niamh to The Stillorgan Park Hotel for our girls night Christmas party where we were later joined by Ruth and Lisa. The evening started with (more) mulled wine then dinner (average hotel food), wine and vodka and music from Johnnie Be Good. After their set Johnnie Be Good transformed into an Abba lookalike band and performed an Abba set. It was great fun and I knew the words to all the songs and danced for hours. Alas the evening ended very early for Sally and myself. Kathy went to bed (three of us had booked a room to stay the night) and the other girls got a taxi home. Sally and I retired to the residents lounge and were very disappointed to find no one there (except three serving staff). We asked them was there a local nightclub open but being a Sunday night the answer was no. We managed to entertain ourselves with a few more drinks and lots of chat before retiring to bed at 4am. Awoke today at 11.10am feeling (surprisingly) great. I think the copious amounts of water I drank and the lie in helped on that front. Mind you I'll be glad to hit the sack tonight!

Christmas Party #2

Last night I was invited to dinner at Siobhan's house. Every Wednesday 12 of us play tennis and retire to the bar afterwards for a drink and a gossip. Siobhan invited all 12 of us plus two girls who regularly sub for drinks, dinner and fun. The evening started off with a couple of glasses of fizz with nibbles including smoked salmon on brown bread, vegetables and dips and crackers and bread served with the most delicious pate. Mary, who brought the pate, was accosted by most of us wanting the recipe and had to admit that she had bought it in Cavistons, a local deli.

Next we sat down to a delicious dinner of chicken pieces cooked in a spicy sauce, jacket potatoes and steamed vegetables. This was followed by yummy desserts of chocolate roulade or (or in my case and) individual meringues with chocolate. This was all washed down with a never ending supply of wine.

Suddenly the lights went out and Vivienne emerged with a plate holding a snow covered Christmas tree with a sparkler on top. It was beautiful. When the light came on we could see that it was constructed from plain chocolate. It was delicious to break bits off to nibble with our coffee (or tea).

Today I decided to recreate the tree to bring to my parents-in-law tomorrow as we are having our Christmas lunch there because we will be away for Christmas. Vivienne made her tree from melted dark chocolate mixed with nuts and raisins. As there will be lots of children at lunch tomorrow I decided to make some branches with dark chocolate, nuts and raisins and some branches purely from milk chocolate. I don't have any sparklers so stuck a star on top. I melted the chocolate in the microwave, I used 250g of both milk and plain. I stirred in a handful of nuts and a handful of raisins into the dark chocolate. Using a teaspoon I dribbled the chocolate into the branch shapes making lots of different sizes. I allowed the chocolate to set a little then added more chocolate to make the branches thicker. Once the branches had set I melted some more chocolate to 'glue' each branch together. I finished the tree off by sifting some icing sugar over it.
Simple but effective.

Happy Holidays

I'd just like to wish my number one followers a happy holiday. Have lots of fun and I hope you've packed a spare case for bringing all your shopping home!

Mark I hope you get by without your daily dose of crossroads a la O'Sullivan!

A Friday Out

Feeling a bit better today, but did not a lot! Slept in then read in bed, a real luxury for me. Took Mollie and Ben to Cabinbteely Park for a walk and play and have just pigged out on Chinese meal.

Yesterday morning I went out with my friend Sally. Two weeks previously we'd been to Heatons and I had bought Ben a tracksuit for tennis. He wore it on Monday and I realised too late (when he was on the court), they were faulty ie the waist elastic had no elasticity. Poor Ben spent most of the lesson pulling up his trousers! Sally had bought some cream enamel storage pots and when she opened them at home they were baby pink! So back we went to Heatons in Wicklow town to change our goods and have a quick shop in Lidl where I picked up marzipan bars for Dillon and Mollie then it was definitely time for a coffee break. We chose our usual haunt of Avoca Handweavers in Kilmacanogue and as we were under pressure for time (Mollie and Ben were finishing school early) we skipped through the shop ignoring all the pretty gifts, sumptuous clothes, glittering jewelry, sparkling pans and yummy foodstuffs and headed straight for the cafe. Luckily we had missed the coach parties as they had left as we arrived and there was no queue so we headed straight for the coffee counter and ordered our peppermint tea, coffee and two fruit scones. We, or should I say I, devoured my scone as if I hadn't eaten in a week (well I was very hungry)! Not as delicious as last week at Marc Michels but very good with plenty of lovely, homemade raspberry jam. If you're ever in Ireland I highly recommend a trip to Avoca Handweavers to experience the food (lunch is very worthwhile) and the range of goods they sell, there is something there for everyone!

A day well spent

I started today (after getting kids up, making three lunches, doing the washing, sorting out the dishes etc etc) with a lovely walk around the nature reserve in Glen of the Downs, County Wicklow. My friend Sally took me there after I had admitted to never having been there. It was a place she went to frequently with her family when she was a young girl. We walked for an hour and a half, it was a beautiful morning with the sun shining and it was warm for this time of year.



Of course we were busy chatting on the way up but when we came down we noticed many things we had missed, such as the many varieties of mushrooms growing in the woods



and the beautiful cobwebs glistening in the morning sun.



After our walk it was time for a sit down, refreshment and more chat. We went to Marc Michel's organic farm. A first time visit for both of us, although I had heard about it from Marie my mother-in-law and Mollie who had been there on two school trips returning with lovely organic fruit and vegetables. It is a large working farm with one large greenhouse adapted into a shop and cafe. We opted for the cafe section and ordered coffee for Sally and a peppermint tea for me along with a scone each. The tea had the most esquisite flavour better than other organic brands I have tried and we both agreed the scone, although huge, was light and very moorish; unfortunately we were given a huge butter each (wasteful) and tiny jam (beautiful flavour, just not enough). Overall our snack was delicious and much better value for money than our usual haunt. We read the lunch menu and agreed that we'd love to go back and sample it one day.

The shop sold many different seasonal fruit and vegetables along with a large range of organic foods including nuts, seeds and cereals. I came home with kiwi fruit, potatoes, a cuecumber and the most delicious looking lettuce. I can't wait to eat them all!



I rushed back from my morning out to help at the cake sale. It was a great success, my packaging was much admired and everything was sold. I came home with a lemon cake, chocolate brownies, fudge and flapjacks (as requested by Dillon). The only thing Ben would buy was a pack of my cookies and Mollie requested I buy one of my chocolate cakes (I refrained as I can bake another one easily enough)!