sunny Sunday afternoon

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Clontarf, coffee and pastry, Dublin, Fairview, front door, home, perfect day, sunny Sunday

The arrival of summer time  was accompanied by a beautiful sunny day. The sky was blue, cloudless, and while it may have looked a little warmer from inside the house than the strong wind let it actually be, it was still a perfect spring day.

Because I didn’t want to waste it by staying indoors I got on my bike and went for a cycle to Clontarf. And I wasn’t the only one!

As I rode through Fairview park multitudes were playing football and even more were populating the playgrounds. Mums and Dads sat on benches and blankets, some with picnics others with bags of deliciously smelling chips.  On the promenade the picture didn’t change, it just got a little busier.

Bikes, prams, in-liners, scooters, tricycles and pedestrians – with and without dogs of all shapes and sizes – made their way along the seafront, chatter and laughter, some shouts and barks filling the air with life.

I had thought I’d find a spot in one of the beachfront cafes to enjoy the sun and a cup of coffee while I read but if the promenade was busy the eateries were bursting. So instead of stopping and sitting for a while I decided to make my way back home and sit outside my own front door. Enjoying the wind in my back and the sun on my face I took a quick pit-stop in a local shop (some yogurt, bread and milk for my breakfast was required) and bought myself a small pastry for less than half what it would have cost at a cafe.

Once perched on my bench, a book in my hand I couldn’t help but think that I had made the right decision. After all sometimes you find happiness right on your doorstep!

my Sunday treat: a freshly brewed double espresso and an apple pastry

celebrating my Masters

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cupcakes, Dublin, masters, perfect day, photography, photos, writing

You know those days where everything just seems to go wrong – you get up late, you spill your tea, you miss your bus and it just all goes downhill from there – well my Friday was the opposite of that. It was  a day filled with pleasant surprises.

The sun was shining so I walked into town as I was asked to teach a few extra hours, much to mine and my back accounts delight. The day went well, the students were great and I had exactly the perfect amount of material prepared, not too much as to be rushed and not to little as to run out.

I had to switch classrooms and buildings so on the way from one to the other I came across a little cupcake place that was doing a special so I purchased one on a whim – hazelnut and caramel –  a treat for later, it was if I knew I’d have something to celebrate.

On my way home the bus pulled up just as I got the stop and since the card machine wasn’t working I got a free ride. Back home a pair of free tickets to a film were waiting in my letterbox and the books I ordered last week arrived as I was shutting the door.

The guy who was  fixing the shower (it broke on Monday as I was washing the suds from my hair) had left and the show was working again, with a little extra power. But the best was yet to come, a ping into my emails and I found out I had completed my masters successfully. Relieved and happy I made myself a cup of tea and enjoyed my cupcake, celebrating my masters in the sweetest way possible, the perfect ending to a near perfect day.

perfect day for bubbles

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blowing bubbles, bubbles, bus strike, Dublin, normal day, perfect day, walking

big bubbles in Berlin

Today, all the buses were on strike in Dublin – and since traffic is bad on any normal day, today it was total chaos. It would have been the perfect day to stay home, but the pressing matter of having to input all my grades meant I had to make my way across the Liffey.

Not liking to cycle into town on the best of days, I opted to go on foot and so I promenaded my way into town.

Luckily it was dry, if a little windy, and once the work was done there was no need to hurry, so I wandered around town running a few errands. In one of the shops I saw some bubbles on sale and I couldn’t help but let my inner-child take over for a while and buy some to entertain myself with.

I know I must have been a comical sight, but I enjoyed myself immensely as I walked back home blowing bubbles all the way. At times it was even windy enough to just hold up the little wand and let gusts of fresh air create dancing rainbow orbs. It really was the perfect day for bubbles!

Some strangers did give me a few quizzical looks and a man on a bike even asked me how old I thought I was, I answered back, with a big grin and a burst of bubbles; “right now I think I’m six!”