Ireland Trip Day Two - Dublin

The Monday of our holiday was Jacqui's birthday so we started off by chilling out in the apartment and gave her her birthday presents before setting off out into the city. We went on a tram! I love trams. We ended up at Temple Bar for lunch, and went into the Temple Bar pub itself. It was expensive but so worth it - really delicious.

A lock crane on the canal docks

Tram faces!

Birthday girl

Looking down the Liffey

Temple Bar is just so beautiful, I love it

Sam with her Temple Bar Old Fashioned

Me with same

My lunch - a smoked salmon and potato salad sandwich. Incredibly yummy!

After lunch we wandered up to Trinity College, going past the Bloom Hotel as we did so. The murals were really beautiful!

Trinity College was FULL of students, but we managed to get into the Book of Kells with no problems. I saw it in 2006 but it was lovely to see it again. It is so beautiful! The amount of effort that goes into making something like this is just unbelievable to me. 

Trinity College

The college library. The number of books here is just amazing.

This sculpture "Sphere Within A Sphere" is also in the grounds of Trinity College. We thought it looked like the Death Star. 

We then walked up to the Little Museum of Dublin and on the way walked past this!

I love record shops

The museum was really cute, I'd recommend it. The guide was really funny and there's so much STUFF in it, all of it really interesting. 

I love old sewing machines.

We also came across this weird seat/palm tree thing so couldn't resist taking photos! 

After the museum we went back to the apartment, calling in first at the shop to buy supplies for the evening. Jac wanted to stay in for her birthday, so we cooked curry, drank wine, and watched rubbish TV - it was lovely!

Ireland Trip Day One - Dublin

So as I said in my last post, I went to Ireland recently with my friends Jacqui and Sam. It was Jacqui's birthday while we were there and she planned the whole thing, planning a whole road trip around Eire for us. I went to Ireland almost a decade ago with my friend Laura, but we went to Dublin and then up to Northern Ireland, so I was excited to see more of the south. I've broken it down into what we did each day as we packed a lot in!

We met at Manchester Airport at around 10am on the Sunday, and checked in, then had breakfast. We were then those people drinking even though it was early, drinking bellinis! We arrived in Dublin city centre around 2pm and left our luggage at where we were staying.

Aeroplane selfie! The flight to Dublin is so short, you'd barely have time for a drink before you're landing.

We stayed at Spencer Dock Apartments and I would recommend them, the apartment was clean and well furbished. We had a two bedroom one that was a maisonette, I liked it.

We went for lunch at Eddie Rocket's, which was a really fun and novel diner with delicious burgers and milkshakes. I'd definitely eat there again! Then we walked along to the Jeanie Johnston famine ship and went on the guided tour. The tour guide was excellent, plus it was really interesting and the ship is beautiful. We then went back to the apartment and chilled out for a while.

View down the Liffey

Jeanie Johnston's mast

Sam went to Dublin earlier in the year and went to a pub called the Hairy Lemon so we decided to go there for tea. I had Dublin Coddle which was a delicious broth with sausage and bacon in it. It was served with mashed potato that had spring onion in which is definitely something I'm going to try at home! 

Jacqui had some Guinness and I had something really yummy called Orchard Thieves, which was a very peachy, refreshing cider. 

Proof that she drank some

Delicious pint!

Sam took this photo of us but I promise she was there too!

In the decade since I went to Dublin, a lot has changed. It's extremely clean, and there's clearly been a lot of regeneration of it, especially down where we were in the Docklands. The tram lines are being put back in and Dublin looks stunning. I already want to go again!

The "Foiling" Method for Removing Nail Polish

I love wearing nail polish, but in recent months I've found my old method just too arduous. I used to always use a base coat, three coats of polish, and then a coat of Seche Vite which sets polish like rock. But painting all those coats takes time and energy that I just don't currently have going spare. For ages, this meant that I didn't paint my nails at all, but recently I've decided to just do two or three coats of just polish. Yes, it chips more, but it's worth it.

I recently went to Ireland with two friends - lots of posts about that coming up! - and decided to paint my nails green for the trip. I have a Helmer drawer unit and keep my polishes divided by colour, so I pulled out the green drawer, looking for a suitable "Irish" green. I found this China Glaze one called "Four Leaf Clover" which I thought was apt, and I decided to do an accent nail in this Urban Decay polish called "Zodiac".

I took nail polish remover and cotton wool with me to Ireland because I generally hate it when my polish chips and end up biting it off, which is really bad for my nails. However, even though the perfect manicure didn't last, I couldn't be bothered taking it off. A couple of days after I got back I finally took the polish off, using a sort of foiling method. I thought I'd share my method!

This is the foiling method using actual tin foil, and although I have done it that way, I don't find it necessary to use foil, and besides who even has foil to hand? Instead I use cotton wool and nail polish remover and soap and time and a little bit of patience.

First of all, pour some remover into the lid of the bottle and be careful to place both on a flat surface because there's nothing worse than spilling nail polish remover on, say, your bed. Rip the cotton wool into squares around two inches by two inches, they don't have to be perfect.

Then dip the squares into the remover in the lid. You want it fully soaked, but not sodden, so if the balls are sodden, squeeze a little liquid out of them back into the lid. Then squash the soaked ball on to one nail, wrap it around your fingertip a little, and then repeat for other nails. I tend to do two or three at a time.

So then you're left with something looking a lot like this! 

Then, have patience! Scroll through Twitter or something, check Facebook, text a friend. Don't rush, is what I'm saying. Let the remover do its thing.

After a few minutes, the polish will slide off in one go on the cotton wool, meaning you don't need to scrub at your nails to try to remove the glitter! That's the worst thing about glitter nail polish. I also find that this method works really well on dark colours, leaving my nails much less stained than they might otherwise be. 

Here you can see how much of the creme polish came off, with absolutely no effort from me. 

Here you can see how much of the glitter came off, again with very little effort. I just wiggled it a bit. The rest of the polish comes off with another soaked ball. Usually I find that glitter flecks stick to my fingers for ages, but this method avoids that. 

(You can also see where I spilt remover on the bed... oops)

And here's how my nails looked straight after removing the polish, with almost no staining and no glitter left behind. To remove staining, I wash my hands in warm water and soap, and scrub them with a nail brush and soap. It works for me!

Meeting up with Penpals

I've been a member of the League of Extraordinary Penpals ever since it first launched years back, and recently I've made a whole bunch of new penpals there which has been lovely. My pal Rosie came to Sheffield Zine Fest in April, so when she said we should organise a meet up in Sheffield I jumped at the chance. It was a gorgeous Sunday and I drove into the middle of Sheffield and managed to park my car close to where we were meeting.

Jess, Rosie, and me. Photo by Rosie!

We met at Starbucks and had a coffee and a chat. There were five of us: me, Rosie, Jess, Paula, and Kit. I was so nervous but felt I did okay. After coffee we went across to Paperchase which I haven't been in in ages, so I spent £20 on this little lot.

Posing outside Paperchase

Two lined A4 pads, two writing sets, and two sheets of stickers. I get 10% off at Paperchase as I'm a student.

After we'd perused Paperchase we went for lunch at Saigon 68 which is one of my favourite places to eat in Sheffield. Everyone liked it which I was pleased about!

Paula, Kit, me and Jess. Photo by Rosie

After lunch we went to Rosie's house and there we got down to the serious business of letter writing! The living room was a flurry of stationery and stickers. We made a mini zine about the day too, which was nice. 

I finally got home around 8.30pm and was absolutely exhausted, so I got straight into bed. It was a lot of fun though and Rosie and I are already planning the next one!

Trip through Standedge Tunnel

At the beginning of September I went on a trip through Standedge (pronounced Stannij) Tunnel with my mum and stepdad. I got interested in this when researching something earlier in the year and there are two trips you can do. One leaves only from Marsden and is suitable for children, and is just a half hour trip into the tunnel and back out again. The other leaves from both Diggle and Marsden and takes you through the entire length of the tunnel, taking about two hours to do so. There's a guide on this trip, but it isn't suitable for children under 7 or anyone who couldn't climb a 2m vertical ladder if they needed to. You also need to be aware that it's one way only - we parked at Marsden and the ticket price includes a taxi to Diggle, where we set off from, but another group got confused, so just ask if you're unsure!

The tunnel is also really cold, so pack a jumper or a coat. It's between 4 and 6 degrees, so a bit like sitting in a fridge for two hours. It's dark, there's a good long while where you can't see the light at either end, but the boat has lots of light on it. The canal is narrow, barely wider than the boat at times. My mum was worried she'd be claustrophobic but there's plenty of wider parts and also lots of space above the boat, which made me feel better. Just be aware if you're very claustrophobic.

Here's some photos, my stepdad took them all I think.

This is Tunnel End at Marsden. The leggers used to live in the cottages on the right. Above this is a lot of moor, this is really low down!

This is the sister to the boat we went on but they're identical, about seven feet wide I think

My mum and me standing by the tunnel end. The canal is around 2m deep which is really deep for a canal (most of the time, if you fell in one you'd be easily able to stand up in it)

This is the entrance at Diggle. The gates have leggers on them

The view from the front of the boat and the driver, who had to keep adjusting the steering. Here the canal is brick lined, which it is in places due to the train tunnel nearby. You can hear the trains and feel the draughts from them too!

But in the middle, where the train lines don't go, the canal is hewn out of the rock

Here, you can see the marks from where the navvies used a hand drill to get through the hard gritstone.

Is that light at the end of the tunnel...?

Yes, yes I think it might be!

And here's a really gorgeous photo of the sister ship framed in the tunnel entrance.

Films of the Month - August

I did pretty rubbish at films again, but I was away for two weekends so that's my excuse. I was also watching lots of The Good Wife on Netflix.

First of all Lee and I went to the cinema at stupid o'clock on Saturday morning to see Ghostbusters and I LOVED IT. I thought it was clever and funny and showed these women off to their absolute best. You can also sign me up to the Kate McKinnon/Jillian Holtzmann fan club immediately.

Tallulah was a film I saw on Netflix. I liked it, I like Ellen Page anyway and would watch her in anything. I'd recommend this film about a girl who steals a baby from a woman who she thinks is neglecting her.

Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List. This is based a book by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, which I've never read but I thought I'd see the film instead. It's really hipster, but it looks spectacular and was enjoyable enough.

This was recommended since I watched the above, it's one of those unscripted type of films which I felt gave it a really natural feel. It's about two young adults who've been together for six years but who are falling apart quite spectacularly.

Lee wanted to watch this and I liked it even though the premise is absolutely terrifying. Sandra Bullock was excellent. It was a bit like Alien. Definitely worth a watch!

Books of the Month - August

Another good month for books, I read 7 and enjoyed all of them.

The Boy Who Killed Grant Parker by Kat Spears. This is about a boy who moves to the edge of nowhere and becomes popular at school. My in depth review is here. 

The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths. I love the Ruth Galloway books and find Ruth a really likeable protagonist. This one was quite slow, but I still liked it.

As I Descended by Robin Talley. I've really enjoyed all of Talley's books and she's definitely one of my favourite current authors. This book is a queer retelling of Macbeth set in a private boarding school in America. It's really creepy and fascinating, I loved it. My in-depth review is here. 

Keeping Her Secret by Sarah Nicholas. This is a cute f/f romance set in a summer camp with a bisexual, multiracial main character who I really liked. Very sweet book. My review is here. 

The Lost and the Found by Cat Clarke. This is about a girl whose sister was taken when she was six and the protagonist was four. Now she's back. It's really interesting. My in-depth review is here.

The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill. This is one of her crime novels and I liked it. It wasn't perfect but her main characters were likeable, if a bit posh.

Local Girl Missing by Claire Douglas. This was alright, not amazing and I guessed some of the plot. I liked it well enough though.

What did you read in August?