I like things to have a theme; I like to be able to look back and easily sum things up in three words or a couple of sentences. Like the golden autumn when everything was shiny and sparkling and brilliant. Followed by literal and metaphorical November rain. Or the summer holiday with inauspicious beginnings that turned ...
Dublin, August 2016 Dear Universe, I'd like a little word about something. You see, we had this deal - I do the right thing, and you don't punish me. A very straight-forward agreement. But you don't seem to be holding up your side of the bargain these days, and I think we need to thrash it out. Take ...
"What exactly is Clara Lara?" asked a friend who hasn't been before. Good question. It's called a "Fun Park" but beyond that, it's difficult to define. But we've been every year for the last three years, and the kids love it more than any other day-trip we've done. So if you're thinking of a day out, ...
This post could also have been called "What we did this summer so far", or "Places I lost my youngest child this summer and needed help from strangers to find him" or simply "Brambles cafés we've been too, because they are EVERYWHERE now." We were away for the heatwave and since we've come home from holidays, the ...
Long, long ago, on a campsite far, far away, I met a holiday friend called Claire. She had long brown hair and was from Ireland or England – I wasn’t old enough to distinguish accents. I had spent two days sitting on the steps of our mobile home looking across at her, and she’d spent ...
"You've such a great colour!" said my friend. I was ten years old, and made an "ah not really" gesture, shrugging my shoulders, but secretly thrilled with the comment. Or let's call it a compliment - it doesn't really make sense that it's a compliment - I hadn't actually done anything that required talent - but ...
For five years in a row, we took the ferry to France, then last year, for the first time since having kids, we braved getting on a plane, and we did it again this year. Throughout the journey, I couldn't help comparing flight and ferry in my head, so in case you've only done one ...
If I’d married someone just like me, we’d have gone on holidays to Italy (we did), to a campsite (we did), to drink Prosecco on the deck every night (we did). But being married to that person just like me would have meant quite a different holiday for the kids - no scary slides, no scuba ...
Sitting on the deck at half past midnight, I can hear Killing Me Softly wafting across the campsite, to the background sound of waves washing up on the sand. I’m finishing a glass of red wine and thinking about closing my book. The candle flickers in the darkness, and I don’t want to blow it ...
The voice in my ear gives me the go ahead – I’ve completed my self-imposed time running on roads and forest paths, now Runkeeper says I can go onto the beach. I turn and run towards the gate. “Buongiorno,” says the security guard. “Buongiorno,” I reply, in my Irish accent. I keep my Italian accent for ...