hollowsolid: April 2018

Sunday, April 29, 2018

Nano Nano

D uncovered a forgotten ipod nano (now discontinued) in one of the drawers in the house and was delighted to find she could fit her entire playlist onto it. After a long and multi pronged search for the required connectors we're still looking for the perfect set of headphones. In the meantime she's rocking her daddy's.

An Cailín Bán's Communion

We had another big event last weekend when S made her communion. We were absolutely blessed with the weather, the food, the friends and the company. An amazing day befitting of the occasion for an amazing little girl. Eagle eyes will note that the dress is very similar to the one D wore on her special day. It is in fact the exact same dress as made by their Nanny. So that made things extra special.

The Bazooka Purse

The Ladies

Schtreesin'

Post Lunch Photo Shoot In The Old Town

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Even On Their Communion Day

Japanese Gardens

If as a family we ever co-write a Mormon self help book, this will be the press photo and the photo on the dust jacket.

Japanese Gardens

Sisters

Much Needed Refreshments

Sisters - As Long As One and One Is Two

Completely Unprompted

Huge thanks to all for their thoughtful and generous gifts and for turning out to make the day so very special.

Norway In Monochrome

Mid term came around and we set off on our first roadtrip in our new car - a quick post-Easter trip to the northern reaches of Donegal. After a crazy GPS guided trip through the backwoods of Cavan and Fermanagh we reached our destination and stayed in a nice modern hostel at the base of Mount Errigal.

View From Errigal Hostel

The plan was to base ourselves as close as possible to the Glenveagh National Park and it most definitely wasn't family camping weather, so the hostel ticked all the boxes.

Errigal Hostel

The wet in Donegal is a special kind of wet and it rained for our entire trip and snowed for some of it. In Donegal, the wet gets in. We caught glimpses of the snow-covered peaks around us but spent most of the time driving the coastline or cooking/eating back at the hostel. Despite the weather, we'll definitely be back.

The scenery is spectacular when the cloud breaks and some of the beaches were in the most picturesque settings I've seen anywhere.

Mount Errigal in Winter.

The shoulder to shoulder contours of its snow-covered summit left for the imagination to join the dots on as it had been dunked upside down in a bucket of cloud.

One day we'll come back to see Errigal's outline against a bright, brilliant blue sky. We may even tackle the climb. All things are possible with some determination and a favourable wind.

Donegal = Norway In Monochrome

Very Chilly Near Lough Swilly

I made an announcement on a big decision I'd made recently to the girls in this café in Letterkenny. It was received warmly with a kiss and a big hug of support. We regularly underestimate the maturity of our children's outlook on life and I'm definitely guilty of overthinking when trying to predict their reactions. I think we may be reaching a tipping point where our children have learned enough (or perhaps they're still sufficiently unlearned and unencumbered by society's hand-me-downs) to start teaching the adults a thing or two.

Glenveagh National Park Visitors Centre

Exploring The Grounds Of Glenveagh Castle

The Entrance Hallway Of Glenveagh Castle

The Machine Is Telling Us Something

A Brief Break In The Weather

We made our way home via Sligo, knocking in to that old drapery store we normally visit when in the town in the hope of scoring some unicorn / faery livery for the ladies, but no joy. We had a magnificent supper in the Sweet Beat Café (highly recommended) in the town and then made our leisurely way home.

Friday, April 27, 2018

Hoovers Don't Chew

The year began with the usual new year's resolutions to eat less decadent food (indeed less food in general) and get more active....

These noble ambitions were followed by the usual ignoble lapses when faced with genetically targeted temptations.

Even allowing for the genetic bias we wear on our waistline, home-made bread can be the most decadent of foods. You know the half panicked half regretful whump sound a hoover makes when it has inadvertently swallowed something larger than what it was designed for, for example a plum stone, a small ping pong ball or a teddy's cloth shoe? If you were to record that sound and play it back slowed down so that it lasted fifteen minutes (or say 5...) that would be the ambient backdrop accompanying the dispensing of this defenceless, barely cooled "24 hour bread" loaf. In our house we hoover down hot bread loaves is what I'm saying. Obviously vacuum cleaners don't salivate in expectation of over-indulgence, planned or otherwise. They don't smother these objects with butter in preparation. Hoovers don't chew or involuntarily emit satisfied mmmmms or corporeal grunts as they ingest. But aside from these trivial differences (and the lack of an audible whump sound) the end result is the same - the large formerly outside item has become a large inside item, sitting dishevelled in the bag wondering what just happened.

Speaking of what just happened, weekends in January were occupied with an unplanned car hunt due to a similarly unplanned write off of the bat mobile (back breaking edition). But we scored a comfortable and sturdy motor so it was worth the daily pitched battles with the insurance company, the hire car people and those shameless car salesmen who swear by the Lynx effect as a selling strategy.

We also celebrated a tenth birthday. This was the "Birthday of the Shelf" that quickly became the birthday of the dress and the trip to Paris. In anticipation of her birthday, D cleverly observed that as part of the celebrations for their 40th birthdays, both her parents had taken an extended city break. Her logic, which we couldn't argue with, was that while 10 is not generally considered a milestone birthday, 10 is a number which is technically a multiple of 10 and if we were to be fair about things that her tenth birthday celebrations should also include a city break. And she'd reeeeally love to see Paris. What could you possibly do with that information / willful emotional manipulation other than start pricing flights? There was also Pistachio cake from Dolce Sicily (more timestretched whumping noises).....