Happy St. Patrick's Day.....

Now that I am the proud owner of a new Irish passport, I feel it is even more important that I embrace my Irish-ness and with it, take the opportunity to wish you all a very Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

As I child and into my adulthood I was always part of my family's St. Patrick's day celebrations, even on a school night!  All day long my mum would be boiling up crubeens (pig's trotters), tripe and onions and lambs tongues, all 'delicacies' that my dad and his friends loved, and these would be wrapped in foil or put in plastic containers to take out to the local Catholic club in the evening, when a fair few pints of The Black Stuff (Guinness) would be consumed to accompany the Irish dishes!!  I'll never forget how greasy everything would feel afterwards, door handles, tables, glasses...YUCK!!!  And no, despite my new Irish citizenship, I've never acquired the taste for any of the above!

Here is a little Irish Blessing for you!

I don't think I have any dolls clothes in green but here is Marisol wearing shades of turquoise....it is after all, the colour of the Irish Sea when it's not stormy!!!!

Who knows, one year I might even have clothing for my dolls that reflects 'special occasions'.....but it's highly unlikely as I'm not that organised!!!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and that the week ahead is a great one for you!

Big hugs, Sharon x

Out and about with the Two Antes....

Today I took the two Antes, Fiona and Marisol, with me when we went out for lunch (my goodness, does it seem like we're always going out for lunch!!!!  It's just that this is when I take the dolls with me for photos! Honest! )

The weather today was really bright and sunny, but it was sooooo windy and the wind was really chilly.  However, it didn't stop us taking a detour up to the top of a cliff to take some photos of the view.  It wasn't till I took the dolls out of the car to photograph them though, that I realised just how windy it was.....poor Fiona nearly lost her wig!!!!  And my camera was jiggling all over the place being tugged by the wind!  (That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!;) )

The water looks really chilly...

 

Not many people on this little beach today! 

Even Fiona looks cold, it's a good job she has on her nice warm hoodie.....

 

 Sheltering from the wind, the perfect spot to catch her breath after the climb...

Where she is joined by Marisol who had opted to stay in the car whilst we went to the top of the cliff, as she'd insisted she'd not be cold without her cardigan! 

Back at sea level again, most small towns have a place where locals can go and collect drinking water from communal taps.  The water points are either natural stone with a trough or highly decorative Andalucian tiles like this one below!  Of course the water that comes from the mains taps in our houses is completely clean and drinkable these days but some people still like to collect their drinking water from a local water point.  Often the water comes from a natural spa so people prefer the taste.

Since she learned this 'sign' Marisol seems to want to do it in every photo I take nowadays ;)

Well we are already almost one full week into the New  Year......and I have already taken two lots of dolly photos in public!!!  Must be a record for me!