Don't know where to start, but here goes..

It ironic that I hadn't time all summer to write a post, barely had time to comment, and now that school's back, and band's back, found time! So much to catch up on, better make a start.

Hubby and I had a lovely Italian holiday in June. We had a Silver Wedding anniversary, and coincidentally our flight was that day, and even better, there was a performance of Aida in the Arena in Verona. Yippee! Got a train from Milan to Verona.

It was very little extra to go 1st class, so we did, and free Prosecco was included! yay for Italian trains!

What better annniversary food than pizza. Delicious!
This is where our luck ran out.

As we began to eat our food, the rain began, and did not stop all night.









There was water running down the street, like a little stream.

There was great debate as to whether the opera would begin, and we got all the detail: if it doesn't start, you get a refund, but sometimes it starts, stops a few minutes later, maybe restarts, and so on. In this case, no refund!
We made our way over to the Arena, which was full of excitement, people wondering if it would start.

We waited half an hour, but the rain showed no sign of letting up, so we went back to our hotel.
Next morning, the sun was shining again. The opera had not started. Wise decision to go home!
To be continued....
I'm not sure what Blogger is doing to my pics, will try to rectify this tomorrow!

Read Only

Life has been a whirlwind, and my blogging has really suffered. I've been a terrible blogger recently, posts only whirling round in my head, never making it to the keyboard!

(this picture is of a glass of Cava!)

I'm still enjoying reading your blogs, and commenting when I can.

Hoping to be back with some posts soon. In the meantime, I hope you're all enjoying this amazing summer.
Last one like this I remember, it was the summer before my (now 17 y/o!) son was born, and my 2 little girls, then 2 and 3 y/o, spent every day in the back garden, swinging, sliding, paddling. Most days, we'd have some friends over, and what a blissful time we had. Endless days of blue skies and summer fun!

These days, they barely go outside the back door, the garden is mostly used by me, and I enjoy pottering, clipping, watering.

See you all soon, I hope!

A Race, and Rose Petal Butterfly Buns

It's been a busy couple of weeks here.

2 weeks ago, daughter was  stewarding at a rowing race, so Hubby and I went along for a look.

We didn't get to see her, but we did see some cool boats.
They're bigger than I thought up close

We had a "Country Fair" in school last week, organised by a group who are following a vocational programme of horticulture, woodwork, cookery and I.T. They had lots of games, a mobile farm, a falconry display and some cake competitions (for staff!).

Initially I thought I would make something for the Novelty Cakes section, but then I knew I wouldn't have time, so I entered the Taste section with plain old butterfly buns. For filling, I used my Rose Petal Jam, and cream. The recipe is a very easy, all-in-one method that I have used countless times over the years when baking for school cake sales.

Well, guess what? They WON!!!!! First prize!
( I know it's all about taking part, but I love to win! Others clearly do too, because the competition was huge...chocolate cakes, cheesecakes, pavlovas, profiteroles....)

We're now just 4 weeks away from summer holidays, and I can't wait!
The sun finally made a decent appearance this weekend, and I did loads of gardening...of course I'm exhausted and stiff now!

Tall Ships

Tomorrow is back to school!  Tonight I'm looking through my photos and looking back at a busy and funfilled summer, where the warmth of friends made up for the lack of sunny weather. And now we are just 2 going back to school! How did I suddenly become the mother of 2 college students?

This weekend, Dublin hosted the Tall Ships Race, and it was a very busy festival.

  I didn't go in on Friday to see it, and Saturday the weather was too miserable. Reminds me of that Irish saying "it would be a great country if you could put a roof on it!".

But yesterday was the farewell, and hubby and I went out to Dun Laoghaire. It was busy! Apparently there were 100,000 people watching from shore.

Those ships are so elegant!

 A photographer took our photo, and I thought "if you can take us, we can take you"- here's the result!

Lots of small boats were out in the bay, waving goodbye to the Tall Ships. And we got a blue sky!!

 It may be 15 years before they come back, so I'm kicking myself that I didn't go to the Docklands where I could have boarded. Lesson learned..grab the opportunity!
That will be my motto for this (school) year!

Summer Mountain Walk

I've neglected my blog again, and have so much to talk about that I don't know where to begin.

Maybe start with a recent lovely walk on the Dublin Mountains.. that's Dublin city in the background.

 The weather this summer has been bad, cold with lots of rain, but we were blessed on this Saturday, just the right amount of sunshine!

 There are some very interesting heathers up there

 and this green stuff only grows where the air is pure, so I'm told..

 the 3 amigos on top of the mountain!

 in the forest..

 looking into the forest, looks like snow in this pic!

 This is one of my favourites, just so much flora in it

 and cheering when we came down. It's hard to believe that this place of beauty is about 15 minutes drive from my house!

The break

We had a wonderful few days in Tuscany. Totally relaxed, had lovely meals, walked, walked, walked, took lots of pictures, walked some more. Oh, and cycled!

Here are just a first few pics, more to follow. This was just beside the leaning tower, flowing water keeping the fruit fresh and cool. Wouldn't need the water for cooling here, not this week anyway.

But the forecast is that "it will pick up" - at 11 degrees tonight, it would need to!