I love vegetables these days. Its a huge turnaround for me. Up to the age of about 20, my vege repertoire consisted of fried mushrooms in garlic and raw carrots (exotic….I know!). Now, I make huge efforts to integrate vegetables into every meal, even my simple pasta dishes. The wonderful thing about this recipe is...
I remember, as a child, reading ‘The Secret Garden’ and dreaming about living in a castle. Now that I’m all grown up and I know how much cleaning it would involve, I’m happy just to swing by for a night of decadence. This is a trip for the grown ups only – trust me, you...
When it came to reducing my household waste and my use of plastic, I knew I wanted to try, but I really didn’t know where to begin. I did a large family shop one week and the amount of plastic waste just from packaging was unbelievable. The rubbish bin was completely full of plastic before...
“Time-consuming pursuit isn’t so much about exercise as an existential cry for help.” Brian O’Connor Standing Up For Amateur Athletes Humans are teetering on the edge of a precipice. Over the centuries, the changes have been gradual, but in the words of Sam Cooke, A change is gonna come. We have made a decision that...
Jellyfish and drowning are two of the top fears held by open water swimmers. Following closely behind are swans and seals. These fears are very reasonable. Without a doubt, OWS (open water swimming) is a sport that requires a significant amount of skill, not only in swimming, but in judging conditions and safety of the...
Some of my best childhood memories include picking peas and french beans from the garden instead of going indoors for lunch. We used to pull sour apples off the trees to avoid a ham sandwich. That was way before veg was cool. It was in the dark days of off green broccoli that you could...
I was going to keep it a secret. I wasn’t going to tell a soul! You see, this little gem is one of my favourites in West Cork and I don’t want to have to share it with anyone. However, there is something so utterly ‘Hygge‘ about this spot, I just need people to experience...
Most of us can jump on a bike and roll along on our own quite easily. A quick spin to the shops or heading off to the beach with friends on a relaxed Sunday. However, when it comes to cycling in a group, most clubs adopt a cycling etiquette that would rival the discipline of...
We all love to hear stories of those rare, mystical creatures from fairytales and folklore – Unicorns, children that turn into swans, horses that gallop across the sea and of course, the warm Irish Summer! Well, I have a secret to share. One of these things is real, and its not unicorns! While the weather remains...
If your kids are anything like mine, they are always hungry but never hungry when it suits. Sitting down in a restaurant or in a cosy pub on a Sunday afternoon – not hungry! Seven minutes either side of this; dying of starvation, hysterical and hallucinating with the hunger. Believe me, I’ve been there! You...
