wet Sunday and warm socks

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flowers, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, photography, photos, quote, rain, socks, sunday, wet

The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.

American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It has been raining since last night, big, heavy drops creating soggy puddles discouraging any desire to leave the house. And since the temperature has dropped to a slightly frostier level I felt the need o pull on some socks for the first time in months.

With mt feet all snugly warm, cups of hot tea and a book to keep me company I have decided that staying in may not be a bad thing at all – the sound of rain a wonderful  soundtrack for a Sunday afternoon.

leaf puddle in my backyard

pink drops

wet leaf

quippy quotes

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ambition, dreams, Elizabeth Jane Howard, quote, quotes, sunday, thoughts

I’ve got lots of ambitions, but I only ever think of them when I’m lying around in my undies having a snooze

English Novelist Elizabeth Jane Howard (Mr Wrong)

As I was recently flicking through a magazine I stumbled upon this quote and had to laugh out loud. Not only is it clever, witty and more than a little sarcastic, it also fits me like a pair of well worn shoes.

Dreams I have plenty, and even the desire to make them real is there, but that drive that turns ambition from an emotion into an action is sorely lacking in my DNA. It is something I greatly admire in people and strive to obtain myself.

Not wanting to give up on the hope that one day I too shall be ambitious, I tore the page from the magazine and it now hangs by my desk.  But I have to admit that while it still makes me smile, it hasn’t changed me yet ( case in point : I am sitting in my pjs on a Sunday afternoon as I type this – giggling to myself).

fairy tale Sunday

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chick-lit, dragons, fairy tale, fairy tales, quote, rom-com, romance, stories, sunday

I have always loved stories, especially fairy tales – good triumphs over evil and the princess always gets the prince – a happily ever after as certain as the once upon a time. As a pigtailed little girl this is how I thought life was – days filled with adventures and wonder, riding off into the sunset included.

But as an adult somehow we lose that innocence and quickly learn that good does not always triumph and many single princesses are slaying their dragons on their own. And while this doesn’t mean that the world isn’t still filled with adventures and wonder we often do miss our happy endings.

Maybe our yearning for some happily ever afters are the reason why every now and then we buy a chick-lit or watch a  rom-com , just to remind us of those fairytale moments we loved as little girls. And there is really nothing wrong with enjoying a little bit of tacky romance or shedding a tear over some fictional heartbreak.

In my books there is no better time to indulge in some make-believe than a gray Sunday afternoon, and that is exactly what I did yesterday. As the evening approached, and with only sports and violence on the TV, I curled up into my nest of trow pillows and watched some soppy Hallmark movies.

Yes – they where predictable; yes –  the music always gave me the cues on what to feel and who to like, and yes – the stories where trite and unrealistic – but also yes – I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  For me, it was the perfect fairy tale Sunday – time to allow the little girl inside to remember, but always knowing that Monday morning is just one sleep away – the real world just lurking around the corner, with some real life dragons waiting to be tackled.

Happiness is like those places in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons; we must fight in order to conquer it.

Alexandre Dumas

sometimes Sundays

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photo, quote, reading, relaxation, sunday

Every now and then I love spending time on my own, doing nothing much other than be. Cups of tea, a book, some music, maybe later a film and the day is a perfect antidote to a hectic schedule.

And sometimes Sundays are the best day to take time out and breath, especially when the week has been filled with a snotty nose and blurry eyes. Luckily today the nose is nearly clear and my eyes less itchy so it does mean I can breath a little bit freer today, but unluckily everything has shifted to my right ear, clogging up my  hearing and muffling the sound.

I am hoping that with a day of rest it will clear up, otherwise I will just have to pay the doctor a visit. So sometimes Sundays are just a day of waiting for what is to come, a pit-stop before a busy week, a dock to recharge the batteries on.

So while I enjoy a quite day in my own company I will indulge in some magazines I bought at the airport and hope that tomorrow my head will be unclogged and free, ready for a new week filled with new thoughts and unexpected experiences.

Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week

Joseph Addison

reading for today

 

 

ukelele hooley

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Dun Laoghaire, entertainment, festival, lifestyle, music, sunday, ukelele, ukelele hooley

Some words just make you smile and ukelele is one of them, hooley (Irish slang for party) is another. So what a perfect combination when you throw them both together. After all what could promise a better afternoon than a whole bunch of tiny instruments strumming under the sun?

So  on Sunday afternoon I met up with my American gal pal and after wandering around an antiques market and a spot of lunch we strolled down to the Peoples Park in Dun Laoghaire, just outside of Dublin.  As we passed the gates the unique sound of ukeleles sang out to us and we couldn’t help but smile.

Once a year the lovers of the tiny Hawaiian instrument invite everyone to a festival by the sea to celebrate the ukelele. Of course it is an interesting, colorful crowd that comes together to sing and dace along to the strumming of the guitars tiny cousin.

Like every year there are workshops and stalls, food and drink and f course musicians from around the world. This year the cute Les Poupees Gonflees (Inflatable Dolls)  came from France delighting us with Chansons and a ukelele twist. Minnie and the Illywackers  gave us swing, cabaret and some jazz  and the wonderful Janet Klein jetted over from LA to deliver her quirky speak-easy style ukelele music.

But for me the high-light was the duo turned trio Gus & Finn. These Scottish dudes, dressed in Motorhead t-shirts, lumbered onto the stage, their miniature ukeleles dwarfed in their big hands and played songs from the Ramones and other rock greats.

The only problem with the yearly Ukelele Hooley is that I’ll now have to wait for another whole year until it comes around again. But while I wait I can at the very least listen to some of my favorites on YouTube.

light and dark in the park

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barking dogs, beach, contentment, crying children, Dublin, light and dark, miscellaneous, nature, outdoors, park, photograpy, photos, random, St Anne's Park, sun, sunday, thoughts

Yesterday was a close to perfect day. After a leisurely morning at home and some chocolate spread on toast I decided to enjoy the sun and spent the day in the park. At first I was going to go to the beach and enjoy the sea, sand and air but because it was literally a  Sun-day I decided against it. You see when it’s hot, sunny and the weekend the beach fills up with loud teenagers, crying children, barking dogs, barbequing families and lobster people, those weirdos who lie out in the sun till they go bright red and then just flop over to burn the other side. I normally don’t mind but yesterday I wanted a bit more peace and quite.

I packed a small bag with a picnic for one, my camera and lenses, a book and applied a lot of suncream, not wanting to join the multitudes of lobsters walking around Dublin today. I jumped on the bus and enjoyed the short trip down the coast to my favourite park, St Anne’s. I have been going there ever since I was a little girl and love the variety and space it has to offer. As the light was beautiful and I had all the time in the world I was looking forward to taking some photos, a hobby of mine even if most of the time I have no idea what I am doing. Sadly after just a  few clicks my battery told me I needed to charge it, yes I had made the vital error of not checking before I left the house.

A little annoyed with myself I decided to continue my stroll underneath the arches of the trees and enjoy the play of light and shadow. I loved how the leaves varied in their shades of green and how they were back-lit from the sun, casting shadows and shapes on the ground, trucks and branches around me.  Later I sat leaning against a tree and watched as a dad blew bubbles for his toddling child, couples kissed in the grass and a family played tag running laughing across the field. As I observed from a distance I felt a little sad to be on my own, not having someone to share the moment with. But I suddenly realised that without sadness you can’t feel happiness, just like light can’t exist without the dark.

After a few hours of reading, dreaming and ambling barefoot in a field laced with daisies and buttercups I treated myself to cup of cappuccino and strolled around the rose-garden. With the smell of BBQ in the air and birds song welcoming the evening I started to walk home along the coast as the sun began to sink slowly in the sky. And as the sun lit up the sea I felt content to be on my own, a feeling like dusk, where light meets dark and creates its own unique light, contentment is a feeling that can be both sad and happy but simply enjoys the fleeting moment you are in.

The last photo I took before my camera died … shadows on bark