The Best Scones I’ve ever made

I wanted to eat scones, so we made scones. Simple. We’d never really made them much over the years, I hate the mess, but we decided during Lockdown 1 to test some recipes. This one which comes originally from Donal Skehan Raspberry Scones recipe was the one my mam said…

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Snapshot: Lockdown Lite

Here we are, back in this weird, new lockdown. New normal, new guidelines, it all seems unreal, a limbo phase., The thing about the new lockdown, the one that I have decided is “Lockdown Lite” partly due to the diluted version of the rules, and partly due to the lighter…

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Number 2 Turns Ten

Sometimes when it’s the second child who hits a milestone it doesn’t get marked properly, and it’s my second born’s life’s work to ensure that this injustice does not happen to him. So here’s Cathal’s tenth birthday post because Ciarán got one and it’s only fair. (Makes diary note for…

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Hotel Review: Yeats Country Hotel, Rosses Point, Sligo

We visit Sligo often, as my husband is from there so we have relatives to visit. Generally, we stay with them but this time we decided to book a hotel and have a little Sligo mini-break. After some googling and clicking we decided taking all factors into consideration to book…

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What to expect on your Post-Covid Dublin Zoo Visit

I  spent a wet Wednesday afternoon in Dublin Zoo last week with the kids and some of their friends. This was our first post-covid visit so we were wondering what differences that there would be, and I thought you’d like to know too. As it turned out the day was…

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Re-emerging with Lessons from Lockdown

I won’t pretend this whole lockdown has been easy. I haven’t even managed to finish my lockdown diary that I started. I might, sometime. Or not. We’ve re-emerged from the cocoons we built ourselves and our families. We built them to hold us tight together, and to keep us apart.…

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Days Out: Eagles Flying, Ballymote, Co. Sligo

We visited Eagles Flying near Ballymote, Co. Sligo last weekend (July 2020). We’d heard about it from friends so decided to see it for ourselves. I phoned ahead to book tickets, we paid. It’s about 20 minutes from Sligo town in the deep countryside near Ballymote. The site is a sanctuary…

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Days Out: Johnstown Castle, Wexford

Johnstown Castle has been on the Wexford family days out list for years, but last year it got some refurbishment and a new playground so we were keen to visit to try them out. We visited in June June 2020 when there were Covid19 restrictions in place, and on a…

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Days Out: Greenan Maze, Co. Wicklow 2020

We used to go to Avondale House a lot a few years ago and often wondered about the fingerpost sign that we’d pass near Avoca which pointed to “Greenan Maze”. We went one day to explore and have gone back every year since, it’s a firm fixture in our summer…

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