Olivia Boutique

Today was another freezing cold day with high winds and swollen seas. We stopped on the way to town to check out the waves. The ocean looked like a swirling whirl pool with frothy white capped waves crashing onto the rocks. Even the locals were pulling over for a look.

We did a little bit of shopping today for family. I picked up a couple of postcards and a t-shirt for Emily to wear on St Pats Day next year. Then I popped into Olivia's Boutique which is my sister-in-laws and has the most gorgeous giftware and dresses.

Touring Around

We spent today driving around checking out the scenery and sites on the Atlantic Drive near Downing. It's bitterly cold so a great day to sit in a warm car and check out the amazing views and beautiful coastline.

Something that has been very noticeable since arriving is the effects of the recession. There are so many vacant houses for sale and businesses closed down. While driving through The North of Co. Donegal you see loads of almost finished houses that builders just abandoned when the recession hit. It's incredibly sad to see a country that was so prosperous suffering in this way. Amazingly the people are still happy and always have a funny story to tell and a smile on their face.


We stopped at a little pub call Glen Inn and the men in there were quite interested in what Australian life is like. They asked about recent flooding and the Victorian bush fires.

Now we're back at the house enjoying a glass of wine by the fire. Maybe we'll go to the Pub later and listen to some music. One things for sure, rain or shine its a fine life in Ireland.

The Trip So Far

Well we made it! 40 hours to get here but we're finally in Ireland!

I thought I'd fill you in on the trip so far....

We took this at Singapore Airport. It's amazing that after sitting on a plane for the last 8 hours Emily still found the site of them landing a thrill....

Emily finally fell asleep on the last leg of the journey after much coaxing and crying. She looks sweet here but half an hour earlier she was a nightmare!

Day two and Emily was enjoying some time with her cousin while watching CBeebies. These two were born three hours apart on opposite sides of the world but their friendship has been instant and they are a joy to watch together.

My mother-in-law took me for a walk on this beach which was just gorgeous, although freezing cold, and absolutley pristine.

This is the view of the town of Dunfanaghy Co.Donegal where we're staying and it's taken from Horn Head which boasts the second highest sea cliff in the world.

Hubby has a cold so there's no going anywhere for a couple of days but this is really a blessing in disguise as it forces me to do nothing and just relax. The jet lag is finally subsiding so hopefully we'll get out and see some more sites this week.

What are your best travel tips?

The Week That Was......

God I've been hopeless this week with my blog! Totally neglected it. Even the awesome bloggers who have more than one child and are attending the blogging awards managed to post something.

Well if you've been wondering what I've been up to, here goes.....

• Working like a crazy woman in the shop to get all the product on the shelves so Mum doesn't have to do anything but sell while I'm away

• Sewing, sewing, sewing! I'm determined to feature some of my own creations at the next Little Me Markets

• Toddler wrangling. This consists of negotiating bath, PJ's and bedtime routine with a 20 month old. She's a determined little bugger who managed to scream her head off till 9:15pm last night!
• Getting Emily checked out by the doctor because she had an epic stack in our driveway and a day later her eye was still swelling.

• Cooking dinner every night. Doesn't sound like much but we always do at least one to two take out dinners a week as we both work and it can be hard to get something cooked in time for Emily (we don't get home till about 5:45pm and by then she's starving and crazy). The reason I'm cooking every meal is because we're trying to save money for our big trip to Ireland.
• I must be totally crazy because I also committed to another market before our trip. Now I'm doing the Little Me Market on 15th April in Wodonga and the Golden Horseshoe Festival in Beechworth on 7th April.

To top everything off I have developed a lovely sinus infection. Albury-Wodonga sits in a basin and pollen hangs around for most of the year. We have gorgeous Autumn trees but when their leaves begin to fall so do these potent fury spores along with their seeds. They cause havoc with my sinuses which over-react to the pollen and I inevitably get an infection. Now the infection has spread to my lungs so I've had to start two courses of anti-biotics or else it will become full blown bronchitis and I won't be able to travel.

Speaking of travel, I can't believe we're leaving in 2 1/2 weeks! I'm excited and nervous and very stressed. Taking a toddler on a plane is a daunting task in itself, but the longest flight I've been on is 5 hours to Bali. I didn't even get jet lagged. I have no idea how I'll handle the flight let alone how Emily will handle it. Then there's my hubby who is terrified of flying and will have to be sedated the entire trip, so I'll also have very little help with Emily. I'm just praying we have nice flight attendants who will give me some tips.

Anyway, I'll try to make an effort next week to blog a bit more often. What a crazy crazy life.....but I wouldn't have it any other way!