Vegan May

This mushy mess is actually an amazing butternut squash risotto and will be on the menu this month.

Not quite sure where April went but Hey Ho! It's May now and that means Vegan May. This is our third year doing it so we pretty much have the hang of it now.
A little back story for you just in case - ee are strict vegetarians and tend to eat vegan a fair bit too. But we slip and fall occasionally so we go totally Vegan for the month of May each year (as much as we can) to get us back on track and feeling healthy again
.
There are some Caveats:

1. Eating out gets a free pass.
We tend to mostly go for Indian and Chinese anyway so it's not much of an issue but we eat out so rarely that when we do we are not gonna beat ourselves up about it. This is not really about hating the Dairy industry (although I kind of do but am too weak to do much about it), so much as about making some healthy changes.

2. If we go to someone's house we do not expect them to accommodate our faddish ways. We are happy with friends and family being so generous and kind when preparing vegetarian food for us.

3. We can use whatever is already bought or in the freezer. No point in wasting food.

And "Rules".
Again this is more to do with health than Dairy

1. No white carbs.
All wholegrain and wholemeal breads, rices and pastas

2. No soft drinks.
I never used to drink them except occasionally at a fast food place but they weaseled their way into my (shared) fridge via my husband and we buy Pepsi Max way more than I'd like.

3. No processed Vegan foods-burgers, "cheese" etc.

So that's it I think. I've learnt my lesson about lofty statements about losing weight and life-changing err changes. So I'll quit the grandstanding with a whispered "Bring it on Vegan May and watch our energy levels soar."

Care to share your favourite Vegan dinner recipes?

Ciara Xx

Friday Fancies

Unrelated photo of the Bay by my Mam's house in Ireland from our recent trip.

Well we made it to Friday (again). It felt touch and go there for a while. It was our first full working week since early March so it was tough going.
Also, and much more importantly, one of my very dear friends had a pretty major setback and it's thrown us for a loop. It's not mine to go into but I've been spending time with her since and I can't not say how impressed I am by her resilience and bravery. I'm pretty certain that I would be hiding under a blanket, afraid of what the world had thrown at me but she is meeting with people, organising things and taking control.
I am so proud of her.
Just in case she has a wobble (and believe me she is more than entitle to one), I supplied chocolate, a bit of bling and a copy of Seeking a friend for the end of the world. I also recommended not showering and staying in her Pjs for a day (or several). Because that is what I would do.

The weather in good old Britain has been warming up a little and we've had some good solid park time. We are such an old couple sometimes. We love a "nice sit down" on a park bench with chatting, people-watching, canoodling and hand holding. Long may it continue.

So this weekend we have some of that planned, along with some cherry blossom viewing and possibly a little picnic. But undoubtedly one of the highlights will be date night. We're rocking it old school and doing dinner and a movie. Not traditionally romantic I guess - Iron Man III and Indian. I was looking at shapewear today for our date and put it down in favour of eating my bodyweight in Saag Panir, Naan and Biriyani. I can't wait!

Oh-as a slight PS and because I never do-I have some three links to share. I feel like I read the entire internet at work every day. I must start sharing more.

28 Signs you were raised by Irish parents

I am a research Scientist and this is why I drink

One Day in History by Andrea Gjestvang Award winning photos of the survivors of the Norwegian Utøya massacre

 Hope you have a lovely weekend.
Ciara Xx

Mission: Make a friend - Part 02

Recently I went to the first meeting of a group of people wanting to set up a new comic book.
Ciara had spotted the wanted ad at our friendly neighbourhood comic shop, and had originally  said that she would go along to it if I did.
That'll be a fun thing for us both to do, I thought.
Obviously, Ciara didn't go at the last minute. I should have seen it coming. She's busy enough as it is, and has never before showed any inclination towards writing a comic.
I think she was just saying it to encourage me to do it, knowing that it's the sort of thing I'd want to do, but wouldn't (after an experience at a stage writing group I used to go to a few years ago that I just found thoroughly depressing).
My wife is always looking out for me, and helping me onto the right path. Like a mysterious guardian angel character in a film, that just appears in someone's life at a difficult time and nudges them towards getting back on track.
Not that Ciara has just appeared. Or that I'm having a difficult time right now.
I recently finished my book though, and am currently sending it to agents in the hope of selling it. This means I will have a period of 6-8 weeks to fill until the standardised rejection letters start flooding in. I need a new project to fill my time with that isn't starting on my next book, and this could be it.
With it being a group activity, and less solitary than writing a novel, I should also not spend forever fine tuning it until I am satisfied (like taking 5 years to write one book).
Also, it means I can double on projects and use it to make a new friend (or two).
So, I went along to the group, ready to be outgoing and like some sort of new friend magnet.
My approach going in was to be like an upbeat, slightly madcap Jack Black-style character. I had planned to be slightly too loud and too overbearing, in the hope that this would be mistaken for awesomeness and lead to some of the other people there being interested in being pals with the stranger acting a bit oddly. I had thought about giving everyone hilarious ironic nicknames from the beginning - so if there's a big guy there I can call him Lil' Mikey, and if there's a little guy there I can call him Big Stevie, and if there's a really quite, calm guy there I can call him Mad Dog.
And they'll all probably call me Darth Che, or C-Money, or Captain Yikes. Or something.

And then I arrived. There were four other people there, all of them very very reserved and quiet and ever so slightly nervous looking, and two of them so young that I was slightly concerned that trying to become their friend would make me look suspicious to the point that I may be placed on some sort of register.
I can't do my Jack Black thing now, I thought, for two very good reasons.
1) It is not appropriate to the situation, and they will probably arrange future meetings for a different time and venue and not tell me.
2) I am not a Jack Black guy. Where as he looks like a bundle of slightly aggressive fun wrapped up in infectious enthusiasm, if I try and Black it I will look more like some sort of paranoid schizophrenic who is being hysterically hostile and calling people by oddly insulting names.
I'll do what I normally do, I thought. I'll just be silent, stare at people intently like I'm really interested in what they're saying (even though I know it actually looks like I am staring at them like I want to set them on fire with the concentrated power of my mind), and that they'll slowly realise over a number of years that I am actually kind of okay.
Like with Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins in the Shawshank Redemption.

Trying to make friends was possibly my most ill-conceived idea yet.
Che

Sunday Snapshot

It's Bath fashion week this week so we hit up Green Park Station this afternoon for a vintage and retro fashion market. But of course I didn't take photos of that. Nope. I reserved my snapshot for a picture of Che carrying our new hoover home through the park. It was pretty heavy (also half price in Argos at the moment) and it's quite the distance but he did it uncomplainingly and we are having Chinese take-out as a reward tonight. We will pair it with either "Ruby Sparks" or "Water for Elephants" and popcorn if there is room. Not a bad day's work.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend?

Dublin: Kilmainhaim Gaol

I promise I won't wax lyrical for too much longer about Ireland - this and some photos of home and we're back to "regular programming".

Whilst in Dublin we visited Kilmainhaim Gaol.
I went with my Dad years ago and was very impressed by it. I was studying Irish history for my Leaving Certificate at the time (A levels in the UK) and being there helped me visualise everything so much better and surely helped with my essay questions. Since then a lot of money has been poured into it and it's much more polished. It hasn't lost any of it's charm though.

As you go in the door there is a museum on the left where you can spend some time waiting for the tour to start. It covers the history of prison reformation and prisons in Ireland as well as specifics about Kilmainhaim and the class of prisoner at the time. It's a great display and worth circling back to if you don't see it all before your tour starts. I was especially moved by the letters of prisoners to their loved ones. So poignant.

I can't remember the name of the man who led our tour. He was an older gentleman with long-ish white hair and beard, a great voice and socks and sandals. I am a big fan of socks and sandal people. They scream sensible yet fun, a winning combo in my eyes. He led us around the prison, chatting as we went. There were about 30 people on our tour so not exactly intimate but it was very relaxed. First stop was an old chapel which doubled as a lecture hall where we sat for a little while and got our first does of verbal history. It was mostly walking though, and plenty of it so comfy shoes are a must.

Mostly the tour focused on Ireland's unrest, famous political prisoners and the tragic stories surrounding the martyrs of Irish rebellions. This was stuff I already knew so I was most fascinated by the architecture and atmosphere of the prison and the imagined suffering contained within. Is it horrible to say that I was blown away by the Victorian Wing? The light and metalwork combination is amazing. I wish I had a decent camera.

Fun facts: 
The prison was used in several films including "The Italian Job", "In the Name of the Father" and "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones".
It was also the backdrop to U2 song "A Celebration"

Review: The Irish Film Institute, "Compliance" and "A Late Quartet"

In an effort to find my feet again after our short holiday in Ireland, here is a quick review and some photos of one of the highlights of our trip -  the Irish Film Institute or IFI. It's located in Temple Bar in the heart of Dublin city and well worth a visit if you are in the area and fancy a civilised evening out. There is an internal courtyard with a cafe and restaurant and if I remember correctly there are 3 screens. We saw two of them and they were very beautiful and comfortable. I'd get married in any of them (if you are new here that's an injoke as we did actually get married in a cinema).

We're not really big on drinking and having overindulged last month with guests and birthdays we are taking it easy these days. So this was the perfect evening for us.
I say evening but we actually went to two films so it was the afternoon too. In our defence we had been up since 3am and had done loads of city walking and a tour of Kilmainhaim Gaol by this time so we weren't wasting our time. It felt quite decadent actually watching two films back-to-back. Especially considering the brilliant IFI and the films we saw - Compliance and A Late Quartet.

Compliance is based on the true story of a person calling a fast food place in the US, and, under the guise of being a police officer, instructing the staff to act heinously. 
I had seen the Law and Order episode of the same incident so was somewhat prepared but it was still a pretty disturbing film and I wonder whether such films should carry "trigger" warnings? Like some articles do when they discuss certain subject matter.
It was very well done, the acting was superb and it is definitely a conversation starter. I'd recommend it, but proceed with caution if you are sensitive.

A Late Quartet on the other hand was just completely beautiful. The Quartet in the title had been playing with each other for 25 years when their time together starts to draw to an end, The balance of relationships, love and harmony are explored against the most perfect background of New York and classical music.
This film was provocative, emotional and inspiring. Faultless. It was so subtle but I was tearful from the beginning and floored by the end. Highly recommended.

Ciara Xx

Outfit Post - featuring a man!!!

So, here's some unbridled picture whoring from Che. Also, a picture diary of a sunny day in our fair city. Nothin' to do put play in the park and get tea.

 

 

Over the last few years I have taken an interest in how I dress. I think, what with getting older and stuff, I'm worried about suddenly being dressed too young and not realising it. As with most things I do, I may have now gone too far the other way.
I'm going for a kind of college professor thing. A bookish man of civilised tastes.
I am, however, dressed somewhat like the 8 year old Indian kid from East is East, so it's another partial success.

Coat: William Hunt
Sweater vest: Joules
Shirt: vintage
Tie: Topman
Trousers: H&M
Shoes: Superdry