premier and cocktails

Tags

entertainment, family, Films, friends, miscellaneous, premiers, quotes, random, thoughts

A Grabber at the screening, looked much better in the film

Yesterday was just one of those days, nothing quite worked out the way I wanted but it ended in a great premier and cocktails with a very good friend.

A few weeks ago I saw Grabbers in a press-preview and I really enjoyed it, a funny and well-written Irish independent film that made me laugh. So when I got the chance to go to the premier I grabbed the tickets (pun intended) and invited a friend to partake in a fun night out.

Yesterday was that night and we had so much fun. Not only did we get free wine and beer before the screening but after the film the lead actors, writer and director were there to talk about the film and give us some few extra giggles.

Afterwards my friend and I went down to the Gin Palace and ordered cocktail to accompany our chat and we sat till late talking about families, the good the bad and the evil. And while we sipped our colourful drinks and contemplated our lives a tiny thought crept in to the recesses of my brain, funny how we sometimes feel more ourselves with friends than with our families.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that we can be who we are, no childhood history or sibling rivalry, or maybe it’s be cause we are free from the role we have within our family structures. Or maybe it’s because we can redefine words and phrases, break away from communication patterns, but whatever it is friends seem to hear us better, speak clearer and understand what we mean.

As the hours passed and the bar and our glasses emptied I a remembered a quote by an unknown, that seemed to fit my silent pondering. So when I hugged my friend goodbye, I couldn’t help but feel yes, she is part of my selected family.

Here’s to the nights that turned into mornings. The friends that turned into family. The dreams that turned into reality and the likes that turned into love.

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sunny hopes

Tags

Albert Camus, feelings, hope, Ireland, Leonard Cohen, miscellaneous, quotes, random, thoughts, weather

I believed the weather woman so in hopeful expectation I put on a light summer-dress in anticipation of the sun today, but woe is me she let me down and the skies are grey and the sun is still hiding.

As I feel the chill creep up my arms and legs I am wondering if I should give in and change out of my summer-dress or if I should hold on to hope and just put on a cardigan for now. After all there are still several hours stretching ahead of me in which the sun could come out and bright up my day and warm up my limbs.

This mundane pondering thought whether or not the weather will change made me think about hope. All those hopeful exceptions we have about our days and lives, how we can’t help but look for a glimpse of the sun in the rainiest of days or why in the darkest nights we smile up at the stars. We seem to yearn for the light, want things to turn out well, it’s a bit like Leonard Cohen said in one of his poems:

There is a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in.

Hope really is a funny thing, unlike all other positive emotions, hope isn’t something we have when life is good, but hope is the very thing we hold on to when things are bad. Hope is the little engine that could and makes us believe in something better in spite of what reality lays out in-front of us. When fear or despair pulls us down, hope is our lifesaver that helps us bob on top of the waves and see the horizon, no matter how far away. Hope opens up our eyes, helps us see possibilities amidst the destruction and shines a light onto a hidden path. It makes us creative, inspires us and gives us that little push we need, gives us energy.

And even when we feel there is no hope somewhere within us a tiny glimmer flickers, always ready for us to fan it into a flame. Even anthropologists believe that hope is vital for survival, without it we would never dare to take a risk, we would always fear the unexpected because our logic tells us to, always calculating the worst possible scenarios. Only hope allows us to see the good and with it the future is possible, that is why humans are programmed to follow it. Like Albert Camus said:

Where there is no hope, it is incumbent on us to invent it

So with all that said I will cling to the hope of a sunny afternoon and let the goosebumps be for now, a summer-dress as a symbol of my inner undying belief of a  better future, even if it is only a few warm evening hours.

botanic stroll

Tags

Botanic Gardens, Dublin, flowers, gardening, glasshouses, Ireland, miscellaneous, nature, outdoors, photography, random, wrought ironwork

Yesterday was a bank holiday here in Ireland so instead of an early morning and time spent sitting at my desk I had a leisurely morning with pancakes for breakfast. The weather wasn’t great but as it slowly brightened up I decided to cycle down to the botanic gardens, since the rain had kept me away last week.

These beautiful gardens have been open to the public since 1800 and it is free to go, wander around and enjoy plants from all over the world. The stunning glasshouses are some of the oldest in the world and the twist and turns of the wrought ironwork are quite unique.

As I strolled down the paths, through the glasshouses and around the walled garden I felt a pang of envy at those lucky few who get to work in this beautiful environment. With it’s big research center and library I can’t imagine a more serene and calming place to sit down and contemplate the wonders of the plant world.

the research center

lots of flowerbeds everywhere

flowers in all stages of blooming: closed

opening

open

Weekly Photo Challenge: Growth

Tags

Dublin, gardening, nature, outdoors, photography, postaday

Watering-cans, Airfield, Dublin.

Without water there can be no growth, but with our wet weather the watering cans are lined up waiting to be used again, they just made me smile.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Growth

Tags

botanic gardens dublin, Dublin, food, nature, photography, plants, postaday, turnips

not quite ripe, squash hanging in the Botanic Gardens, Dublin

I nearly missed these as I was walking by as they were below eye-level, but the bright yellow caught my eye and I just couldn’t resist. I had to hunker down and shot upwards, but I think it turned out well.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Purple

Tags

Dublin, flowers, photography, postaday, tulips

taken last year in Airfield, Dublin

Last year I spotted these beautiful tulips in Airfield, Dublin and couldn’t resist a quick click. I just loved their delicate edges, like lace

dining out

Tags

changing trains, Dublin, friends, friendship, lots of laughs, love, luas, miscellaneous, random, switch platforms, thoughts, tram line, travel

Yesterday evening I took the Luas, the Dublin tram line, out to Tallaght, a Suburb on the outskirts of Dublin. I was on my way to have a home-cooked dinner with friends, a  girly night filled with food, talk and lots of laughs.

I have been able to read since the age of about five or six, so for most of my life being able to understand what letters mean when they are put into a certain order has been part of my daily routine. But for what ever reason I neglected to read the few letters telling everyone that the Luas I was on wasn’t going to Tallaght but was heading to Saggart, a little to the west of Tallaght and definitely not where I wanted to go.

The ride took much longer than I anticipated anyway, but when we reached the Belgard Luas stop a crackling voice muttered something about changing trains to Tallaght but between the chatter on the tram, the weird speaker noise and the not paying much attention I didn’t quite catch the gist and as the Luas moved out off the station we went right instead of left.

It didn’t take that long for me to realize that I was heading in the wrong direction, but as I wasn’t quite sure I waited for a few stops before I got out, switch platforms and return to then junction. Not a watch wearer makes me often unaware of time but I had the niggling feeling I was very late.

Lucky for me it didn’t take that long to return onto the right track and when I finally reached my destination I was rewarded with hugs, big smiles and only a hint of ridiculement. But who doesn’t like an anecdote, even if you are at the butt-end of the joke?

But the whole incident did make me wonder about how sometime in life we have to backtrack, return to a point before we get off the path we wanted to be on all along. Sometimes we are just that little bit to preoccupied with other things to really look where we are going, sometimes we don’t understand or can’t identify the hints given that we are heading in the wrong direction, and more often than not we need a few stops to admit we made a mistake.

But if we take a step out of the situation and take a few steps back we can return to what the route we wanted to take and if we are really lucky the reward makes us feel good about ourselves, hugs and smiles greeting us and making us feel welcome.

fleeing wet weather

Tags

beach, Dublin, holidays, Ireland, miscellaneous, random, sun, thougths, travel, vacation, weather, weather woman

Yesterday the weather woman told Ireland that July had been the wettest, bleakest, coldest and dullest one of modern times, and when I look out of my window August looks to be following in July’s footsteps in a big pair of wellies.

The next segment on the news was about the surge in people booking package deal holidays and how small loans applications had gone up. Normally most people book their sunny trips back in January but this year July has been the busiest month with people hopping on flights last minute style, suitcase in hand and dusty sunglasses perched on their heads.

Of course we all know that the sun can effect our emotions, helping our brains produce serotonin, the happy hormone,  making our moods rise with the temperature. For us Irish that means we got stuck somewhere in spring and since then our moods have been at an all time low, along with our finances and the sun.

Beside the loss of sun people need breaks from there everyday life. We need time to relax, wind down and be the person we really want to be, maybe its a beach bum or babe, maybe its a sky- or a scuba diver, maybe we just want to spend time painting, writing or indulging in hours of other fantastic hobbies reflecting the true us.

Studies have even shown that it is not just a break we need but actually spending time on the beach is good for us. Why is unclear, but the sound of the waves lapping up on the beach, sand between our toes and the sun making the water sparkle and glisten seems to affect us more positively than a stroll in the park or a weekend in any great city would. That we feel happier and more relaxed when walking on the beach or sunbathing beside the sea seems to just be hardwired into us.

So maybe the fleeing Irish are really just following the lure or the sea and by taking time away from the wet world of Ireland they will come home, happier, healthier and much more able for a probably equally wet winter ahead.

whole of the moon

Tags

irish railway, miscellaneous, moon, night, photography, random, sleep, thoughts, Waterboys

the moon from my window

Another sleepless night and this time I blame Eirod Eireann, the Irish railway company. As I lay in bed, snuggled down into my pillow, the light off and the last few pages of my book forming images in my head, a quite but very persistent peep,peep,peep crept in trough my window and scared sleep away.At first I thought it was some sort of alarm, fire, car or house but the peeping seemed to be moving, annoyingly closer towards my window. Pinching my eyes shut and trying to block out the sound with happy thoughts and the duvet, but as it just wasn’t working I decided to be Sherlock Holmes and figure out what the sound was.
I stood up on my bed and peaked out of the Window to take a glance around. It was well past midnight and the full moon smiled down on me, big, beautiful and perfectly round. As I smiled back I saw an orange flashing light moving slowly, snail like up on the rail-road tracks towards me.
As the orange light crept closer the beeping, peeping, bleeping sound became louder, not much but slowly it was obvious what was going on. Eirod Eireann had chosen last night to rob my sleep and fix, survey, clean or inspect the tracks running  up over the street I live on.
Knowing it would take a while for the sound, light and possibly mayhem to pass, I snuggled back down into my bed, but I left the window open and with a tilt of my head I looked up at the moon and let it soothes me, lull me into dreamland.

Tea-rrific

For all tea-lovers out there a cup of smiles

Jennifer Collins

When it comes to hot beverages, nothing beats a nice cuppa tea. Forget even drinking the stuff… The ritual itself is enough for me. As Mrs Doyle from Father Ted so eloquently describes it: ‘The playful splash of the tea as it hits the bottom of the cup. The thrill of adding the milk and watching it settle for a moment, before it filters slowly down to the bottom of the cup changing the colour from dark brown to… a lighter brown. Perching an optional jaffa cake on the saucer like a proud soldier standing to attention beside a giant… cup of tea!’ Magnificent.

So obviously I really love tea and this is why I’m posting this song (which I came across today thanks to friend and fellow blogger and tea-lover Jensine):

 

Note the Lyon’s cup in the foreground. I’m a Barry’s woman myself, but it’s still a…

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