Beautiful brooches

My neighbours across the road were in Prague for a couple of days and while they were gone we fed their cat Zorro.  They kindly bought me a little gift back to say thank you.  

Isn't this just adorable!!

As it happens I am a big fan of brooches and pictured below are my two favourite.

This is a Star (literally!) by Julian MacDonald brooch.  It currently brightens up a black work blazer.

This is a vintage marcasite flower brooch.

My absolute favourite ever was a beautiful blue butterfly marcasite brooch which my twin Enid bought me for being her bridesmaid.  Unfortunately as can happen with brooches the clasp got loose on it and I lost it on a night out.

Ikea trip and then more diy

I woke up this morning and it was miserable.  Raining heavily and very windy.  The choice was either stay in bed or just get up and get on with it.  I went with the latter (part of my plan to get up and Do Something a the weeked).  

I decided to go to Ikea.  I didn't have to get anything but figured it would be nice for a potter.

First things first I got breakfast.  

Ikea have really improved their breakfast offering with everything freshly baked or cooked and laid out nicely.  They have scones, cereals, muesli, fruit salad, pastries and then a cooked breakfast of rashers, sausages, eggs and potato farls.

I bought: spare red blanket that I use to cover Harry's chair (see pic below), a toilet 

brush, and some chocolate ().

And then when we came home I put up a 4th blind in my house - I am gone blind mad but I think this is my final one for a while.  From the front of the house there is a blind on every window and it does finish off the windows nicely.  These are the blinds I bought in Harry Corry and I'm very happy with them.

Co-incidence or Co-twincidence?!

Yesterday on our shopping expedition Enid and I turned up wearing the exact same shoes and bag!

The joys of being identical twins :-)

Shopping trip - work clothes

My work wardrobe is looking really poor lately so I enlisted Katie and Enid to help me this morning.  I am a person who does not necessarily like shopping - I am very much a "needs must" type of person.  To be honest I tend to do a lot of my shopping when I am on holidays in America to last me the year.

It was a successful trip anyway. Soooooo a rundown of what I got.

A cute little blue and white stripey seersucker jacket.

A white top to wear underneath.

Trousers and shoes are from my wardrobe

Same jacket with a new navy and white top underneath

Light blue flowery top. Jacket and trousers my own

Black and white animal print (small print) top

Cream top.

Jacket and dress combo

You likey? :-)

Low calorie dinner

I am in the middle of a detox which involves 9 days of drinking liquids (aloe vera gel & protein shake) and tablet supplements.  The first two days was purely that and I was starving!!!!  But for the 7 days after that you also eat a low calorie dinner.

This evening I made a lovely piece of salmon with cajun seasoning and baked sweet potato.

To make the sweet potato I microwave it for about 4 minutes until it is soft (and easier to cook!) and then put it in the oven under the grill (broiler in the US) and caramelise it a little.  Oh I put lots of rock salt and pepper on it also.

Road to the Rising

The weather today was pretty stunning. The sun came out, and it was WARM, so unusual for Ireland.

If you follow Irish history you will know that Easter weekend is a big part of our history as an independent Republic. Next year will be the 100 year anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising and in preparation for that there was a large festival held in the city today.

Katie dropped us off near the Mater hospital and we walked down through Parnell Street coming upon the Garden of Remembrance first.  This garden is in memoriam of all freedom fighters and in the sunlight looked particularly well.

At the end of the sunken crucifix there is a large statue of the Children of Lir (an Irish legend/story).

On to the Road to the Rising where the sights and sounds of 1915 was recreated.

This girl in the centre is depicting a bride in the style of the time.

The GPO (General Post Office) is probably one of the most important locations seized during the rising.

Overlooking the festivities today was "Big Jim" Jim Larkin

Busy day!

Today was a GOOD day!  

I got a lot of (dirty) old chores done and a few new ones done too.  Plus also I had a nice catch up with some family.

The day didn't start out well, I had a bad nights sleep and then woke up very early. I had arranged to meet Kasey (cousin) and Enid for coffee at 10am in the towncentre and being completely honest I wasn't feeling great setting off.  But it was a lovely day and it soon felt good to be up and out.

On my way over to the towncentre Katie (little sister) texted to say she was there also so she said she'd meet us as well.  We had a nice coffee and then went into a few nice shops: Waltons where we looked at all their great musical instruments (Katie is looking for a new keyboard), Home Store and More (I bought Kate a Vanilla Lime yankee candle - that's my favourite; it reminds me of Key West) and then Harry Corry where I bought two blackout  blinds.

I also bought some baking soda and salt to tackle my icky shower drain.  See below (it ain't pretty)

First I did my usual removal of the hair gunge from the shower.  Where does it all come from???

Then I poured the baking soda down the drain, and the salt down on top of it.  I then emptied a kettle of boiling water and it satisfyingly bubbled away.  I then ran the shower for about 5 minutes to clear it all out.

Bit of a difference I think you will agree.

Sparkling clean!

Also today I  also installed two blinds in the bedrooms.