We went to Liath for my birthday. When it was Heron and Grey we ate there twice and had been trying to get a table, failing, succeeding and then cancelling for months due to Covid. It. Was. Sublime. Its hard to describe the whole experience, and it is an experience. Between the wine, food, kitchen, banter with the chefs and other staff and atmosphere it was a very special evening. Would we eat here again? Most definitely, if we ever manage to get a table again.
Weeks ago, knowing we were both off at the same time, I booked lunch in One Pico. It has been three years since we went there – the night the Pope visited Ireland when I was heavily pregnant. I enjoyed the food immensely, as well as the knowledge that this was one of the last nights out we’d have together before Mini Orchid arrived. We always wanted to come back but one thing and another, and Covid, meant it wasn’t until yesterday that we actually did.
I can highly recommend both One Pico and a lunchtime date. We’ve often been tired on the rare occasions we make it out the door sans children for a date night, but no such issues at lunch. It was sheer bliss to eat, drink and talk without yawning or wondering if we should wrap it up because we would have an early start the next day.
I’m still jealous of himself’s venison and beetroot tartare, but my sika deer and pear and chocolate made up for it somewhat. We shared a bottle of wine, enjoyed lovely aperitifs, savoured our coffee and truffles and didn’t watch the clock at all. It was all so gorgeous that we’ve booked it again for a pre-Christmas treat as our gift to eachother. Having wandered shops prior to lunch, we realised nothing we saw compared to the luxury of time spent together, enjoying ourselves.
We cannot wait to go back.
We had a busy weekend of birthdays, food, cycling (having no car thanks to a breakdown has its upsides). Middle Orchid is eight, and we were able to have an outdoor party with friends under glorious sunny skies in the local park. Then we were able to enjoy an impromptu picnic afterwards thanks to the food trucks that have reappeared.
There was also the usual tidying and catching up on jobs. The playroom, despite my regular State of the Union addresses to the Mini Orchids, cajoling, rants and decluttering all too regularly descends into chaos so that, once again, had to be put to rights.
Ten. Years.
We have been married for TEN YEARS.
It feels crazy. It feels like last year I was worrying everyone would have a good time at our wedding. And if my wedding dress would fit. And if the photographer, videographer, hair dresser and makeup artist would turn up.
I worry too much. It was a great day, In fact, it was two great days. We got married legally on the same day as the royal wedding and then a week later had a Humanist wedding ceremony and a great big party.
I’m sure if we were getting married now, especially with a pandemic, we’d do things very differently. But ask me ten years later whether I’d do a lot of things differently and my answer would be yes.
Ten years.
There’s a lot of food in the photos I chose for this post. A lot of our relationship has involved food. The duck I ate on our first date. The sushi place we went to on our third date. The steak restaurant we went to a lot when we lived in Monkstown. The dinner we had the night we got engaged. Eating moules frites for dinner on the day of our first wedding. Having a big wedding meal with our friends and family. Enjoying a randomly nice lunch on a stopover on honeymoon. Stacks of seafood in Napa and New York.
This wasn’t really the ten year anniversary we planned, but it was good all the same. I hope we have a lot more meals to look forward to.
This food tasted 100 times better than it looks in this photo. I’m on a week off so took myself into Dublin city centre for a day out. It. Was. Bliss. As I messaged one friend, it was like a weekend away. It was great to be more than 5km away from home, by myself, eating food I didn’t make and drinking a latte for the first time in a long time. It really is the little things that make me very, very happy.
More art from Eldest Orchid, made from anything and everything.
A battered but beautiful street sign on my daily walk, reattached and useful despite the cracks.
New bedlinen. Bliss.
A chocolate cake because we didn’t have enough chocolate on Easter Sunday.
Drinks outside on our new garden table on the sunniest Saturday of March. A much needed treat after a busy week.
Trying some new recipes to use up what we have and stretch out the time between visits to Lidl or Aldi.
Evening walks alone after dinner. I put my headphones in, listen to a podcast and enjoy the time and exercise.
Doing weights every morning. I only manage about 20 minutes but I’ve realised it makes the whole day so much better.
Back to our normal date night menu after a couple of weeks of indulgence. Yum.
Art, art and more art. I’ve become much better at ignoring the mess and dreading the tidying up, because the creation is the important bit.
It was one of those really, really good weekends. Every week it feels good to reach Friday and feel like maybe we’re a week closer to the beginning of some sort of end to level 5 and lockdowns.
We had the most delicious meal from Uno Mas. We have ordered from here before, and it was really good. This time we went for a duck feast and it truly was a feast. We had leftovers for lunch on Monday and saved our dessert for Sunday evening’s Antiques Roadshow.
I also caught up on a few small jobs like clearing my wardrobe of anything that hasn’t been worn since March last year. Mainly work dresses and clothes that don’t fit because of All The Eating and Drinking since March last year. I also found the beautiful cardigan my mother made for me in 1994. I’d wear it now if it came in my size.
I marked one year of This Shitty Situation with banana bread. I used up some questionable dates and very old frozen bananas. It was delicious and just what we needed with our afternoon coffee.
Mother’s Day was such a lovely day. For breakfast I reheated potato cakes on the cast iron pans that are my favourite kitchen equipment-every time I use them I exclaim how much I love them and how I can’t believe I left them unused in a cupboard for so long. Flowers, cards and homemade treats were all very welcome.
Finally, I’ve been listening to a lot of You’re Wrong About, especially after That Interview. This copy of the Sloane Ranger has been amusing me.
Sending the last of our ‘baby’ things to new homes. A little bittersweet, but tempered by the joy of knowing they’ll be used and passed on instead of shoved in the attic.
New garden furniture, and some nice weather to enjoy it in.
Leftovers transformed into something even tastier. I could eat potato cakes dripping with butter every day.
I know I shouldn’t, but I found a place to snark online and it is some very welcome relief.
Silly things to share in WhatsApp grounds. The main way I get some giggles these days.
A new(ish) bed for a boy who decided climbing over a cot railing was very good fun. Another last first thing for our family, and another load of gear off to a new home later this week.
Watching The Lady Vanishes on Sunday afternoon.
Some fancy drinks for Thursday evening. It was One Of Those Weeks.
Three loads of laundry washed and line dried today. I’m scraping the barrel this week, in my attempt to feel a little more positive.
Pancakes twice this week, because why not and tis the season etc.
Orchids on my budget 