Life in General Archives - Felicia Thomas

Humbug Free Christmas Shopping.

Well, even though the TV and shops were shouting about it since Halloween, Christmas is finally here!

The tree is up since the 1st December (it’s never been that early before), mince pies have been consumed and Hallmark movies are on a loop.

What have I been doing since my last post you may ask… well considering that was early last year, quite a lot!

Too much to tell you really, so I’m going to skip ahead to now and pretend you’re all up to date.

Last Christmas I joined the Old Market Flea in Killarney. It is found at the back of The Laurels pub on the second Sunday of each month and every Saturday & Sunday in December.

I have been there for most of them, I think I missed two. It has been such a lovely market, I’ve met new customers and made lovely friends with other stall holders.

This Sunday is my last one for the year. It will be on for the following weekend too, but i’m declaring Christmas holidays after this one!

So, if you want to get a print, a framed print, a card or a cushion (I’ve only got three left) come in and see me.

Humbug free Christmas Shopping.

(Look how nice the cushions look piled onto a bed!)

There are so many different stalls from cakes and doughnuts to wood carving and antiques. Vintage clothes and fairies to jewellery and art. With so many things in one place it definitely makes Christmas shopping Humbug free!

Have a lovely weekend,

F xx

14/12/2018 By felicia

In Blogging/ Life in General/ Painting

That Friday Feeling!

For some reason I am filled with Fridayosity today. This is odd since I don’t have a Monday to Friday job, but lets go with it anyway!

What do I have to show you today? well, I finished the painting of the little creatures that weren’t pigs. They are in fact ‘Spoonlings’ ( I told you my head was a bit strange). I’m not sure where they live yet, but I have some other little illustrations of them in the making. I’m very fond of them indeed.

What else?

As tomorrow is the first of October, I decided it was time to put out some Autumn decorations. Last year I had a lovely table decoration (as you can see here) so I used the same again. I added some oak leaves , acorns and leaves from the Virginia Creeper which turn a beautiful red colour at this time of year.

This is a very subtle lead up to the Halloween decorations…. As there are no kiddos at home anymore I cannot pretend to be putting them up for them, but they’re gong up anyway!

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I like this, we’ll see how close I get to it. There are so many Halloween decor ideas on Pinterest I could get completely carried away, all I need is a local pumpkin patch and a black cat (surprisingly hard to find!)

I will be working like a mad woman to put the finishing touches to all the bits and pieces i’m bringing to Meath. I am now the proud owner of a travelling display wall (another ingenious invention from Tim) so I can display the paintings I may or may not get finished. My Christmas cards arrived from the printers today so that’s another thing ready to go. Its coming together and my aim is to be packed and ready a full 24 hours before I leave, not racing around at the last minute….. We can but hope.

Wishing you all lots of that Fridayosity feeling, have a great weekend.

Felicia xx

30/09/2016 By felicia

In Craft/ Life in General/ Painting

The Paint Bug.

The last few weeks have been a bit crazy. A lot crazy actually. We were away on holiday, then Zac went back to college. Tim had an minor surgery and then we had a family wedding. The holiday and wedding were fantastic and the surgery and college move went smoothly. I’m not complaining at all, it was a great month, but I am totally wrecked!

This week I have had the luxury of mostly staying at home. Of course, as soon as I stopped racing around I caught a cold (doesn’t that always happen?) so I’m really making the most of it. Being at home doesn’t mean nothing to do though, I have taken a stall at the Women’s Inspire network event which is on the 5th October. This is a bit of a leap of faith, but nothing ventured and all that. I will need stock to sell, the cards are ready. The fauxdori’s are ready, the aprons arrived today, but I don’t have any paintings.

This was my desk today.

Fortunately, today was the day the paint bug hit! which means I don’t want to do anything else but paint pictures.

I set a task of finishing six 5″x 5″ paintings which of course I didn’t! Although I finished and framed two and drew out some outline ideas for the others I got stuck on the last one.

I love to paint houses, so I drew out some of those. After that I drew some floral outlines, and then while I was doodling these little characters appeared. I love it when that happens, I’m just painting away minding my own business and suddenly these little creatures turn up saying, “paint us, paint us!”

Because I have a very strange imagination (I’ve always said my head is a lovely place to live) they suddenly developed names and hobbies and a bit of a story…… and now I’ll never get the other paintings finished!

This is what they look like so far. Meet Doris and Hector! They look a bit like pigs but they won’t be when they’re finished, I really hope I can make them look like they do in my head.

I wonder if you can set up a stall with just two finished paintings?

If you are going to the Women’s Inspire event in Meath then please come and say hello, then you’ll see how many paintings I actually got finished!

Felicia xx

23/09/2016 By felicia

In Blogging/ Life in General/ Planner Love

Planner Review – Episode 2.

Hello again, last week I looked at the Filfox, MAMBI, Erin Condren and Kate Spade planners. Today I have four more, you might not have heard of them all, but I thought they had enough good points to review them.

This first one is called the Ban.do Classic Agenda. Nope, I hadn’t heard of it either but it is a whole world of colour, positivity and fun!

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I will say I have discounted this from my search for being ( I can’t believe i’m going to say this, i’m so old!!) too young. However, it would be a perfect gift for a teenager. It comes in two sizes, the medium measures 6 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ which costs $28 and large which measures 8 x 10″ which costs $32.

As you can see it has a month on two pages layout with note space. Laminated tabs, a ribbon page marker and elastic closure. It again is a 17 month agenda, so perfect for the school year. Whats really nice for teens are the little compliments that adorn the pages, there are doodles to colour & loads of stickers. You could go a bit mad on the accessories too!

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Ban.do offer loads of different covers (which can be personalized with your name for an extra $5) but its the shipping that makes it a big purchase. The medium planner would cost $38 to ship from Kentucky and again there is import duty. But guess what? Those lovely people at My Shining Armour have a selection of them on their site. You won’t get to personalize them but how bad? for between €27 – €37 and minimal shipping you have a perfect gift for any teenage girl in your life.

Plum Paper Planner.

This one is my favourite so far – but of course its shipping from America so it makes it a big purchase.

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It’s very Erin Condren like in layout and has a multitude of customizing choices. It measures 7 1/2″ x 9″ for the medium size, the larger one is 8 1/2″ x 11″. Whats really nice about this one is that you can choose to have anywhere between 6 to 18 months in it and you can choose when it starts! It has all the usual things like a strong spiral binding, laminated tabs and pocket folders, there are also a huge amount of add ons to choose from.

Of course these push up the cost but if you’re going to get it you may as well do it right! The list of add ons include, a fitness tracker, budget planner, meal planner, home and blog planning to name a few, they cost $4.50 each.

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It does say that the national holidays are on an information page, so I think you can opt not to have them included on the calendar. (Again, American holidays aren’t much use to me). The paper weight is 120gsm so its pretty good quality, so far I like it all.

The postage to Ireland would cost $19.75 , which with 2 add ons makes a total of $58.50.

Plum Paper also have an Etsy shop, you can still choose all the options for add ons, layout, add your name etc but you don’t get as many covers to choose from. The costs on Etsy are in Euro, so it would be €52.17 (that’s a medium planner, 2 add ons and shipping).

♥ PLUM PAPER HAVE VERY KINDLY OFFERED A DISCOUNT CODE TO ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE A PLANNER! ♥ leave a comment if you would like me to send it to you.

Mrs Brimbles Printables.

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So what if you want to make your own planner? well, there are lots of options available online to print your own inserts. You just need to have either a Filofax style cover or an A5 binder. Then you choose your calendar, dividers, to – do lists, checklists and anything else you can think of from and Etsy seller and print away!

One of my absolute favourites is Anna Brim, also known as Mrs Brimbles. Everything on her site is hand drawn, some are coloured already and some just outlines so that you can colour them. She has a particular love of rabbits… and bees…. and owls. You can get a beautiful set of bumble bee decorated planner inserts for €8.49 which contains all of this:

About Me / Personal information
Address sheets
Birthdays / Anniversaries
Chore Chart
Diary pages (week per two pages)
Dinner Plan
Housework Chart
Lists
Meal Plan
Medication Chart
Notes
Quotes pages
Reminder pages
Sites and Passwords tracker
Spending Money tracker
To Do checklist
Wish list

That’s a complete planner right there! of course you do have the expense of printing it yourself but that is still a really good deal. This way you get to choose the paper you use, I have purchased a few printables from Anna and found lightweight card to be perfect.

There are designs for all seasons and occasions, the best bit is once you have purchased them you can print them as many times as you want, so you never run out of pages. The calendar is not date specific so you can print a new one for each year (but i’d want to have another design by then!)

Finally, Paperchase.

Paperchase stock planners, inserts and every kind of stationery you can think of. I was in the Covent Garden shop over the weekend and had a good look at what was there. The paper is really good quality and what really surprised me was the size of the large planners. They measure about 8 x 9 1/4″, which doesn’t look so big on a ruler but when its in your hands it’s huge! It would definitely be something that would be left on your desk rather than be carried around in your bag. The standard size is 5 1/2 x 7 1/2″ which is the same as Filofax.

I of course did the same thing I have done in the past. I stood surrounded by planners and couldn’t decide which one I liked. Then the voice of reason said, “what about your Filofax?” so I bought a calendar for 2017 (the holes are punched to fit Filofax or their own planners) just in case I decide to use it again next year….

If you look at there online shop they have a sale on some planner right now. The personal size is £11 and would cost £6 for postage. There are also Paperchase departments in Dundrum shopping centre and Arnotts in Dublin. They have a great range but don’t ship (even within Ireland) however, well worth a look if you’re in Dublin.

So, that is the round up of Planners for 2017. I’m not sure if I’ve helped you make your minds up or just confused the issue more! I can’t choose between the Plum Paper, Kate Spade or my Filofax…… I know, it’s only September, there is no rush, I’ve had a feast of stationery shops this weekend and am now addled. On the great scale of things this doesn’t matter at all, but its such fun choosing. As any other planner lovers will agree I’m sure!

Please let me know what you’ve chosen. I had a message from a friend to tell me Prima had a new planner out so there are more choices all the time.

By the way, I was in this shop yesterday but didn’t have much time to look around as I was heading back to the airport…. probably just as well!

Felicia xx

13/09/2016 By felicia

In Blogging/ Life in General/ Planner Love

Planner Review – Episode 1.

As I said in the last post, choosing a planner is a big deal. They can be pretty expensive, so you need to know you’ll use it. My first planner was in 1990, just as the Yuppy period was coming to an end I finally saved enough to buy a black leather Filofax. It is a personal sized Buckingham – they probably haven’t made that style since then.

I still have it, last year I bought all the new inserts. I thought I would resurrect my vintage Filo, but the paper (even though expensive) is really thin and I find the personal size just a bit too small. So, back on the shelf it went, it’ll probably be worth a fortune one day!

Then I moved onto Dodo Pads. Anyone heard of them? I had at least four of these, they had very nice paper and lots of doodles to colour.

Way back then they were spiral bound, now they are punched for rings- but they are still around i’m glad to see!

So, what are the choices today? I have looked eight different planners, I will give you as much information as I could find on each. i’ll just do four today and four next week. Go and make a cup of coffee and settle in, this could take a while!

Filofax –

These come in A4, A5, Personal, Pocket and Mini sizes. There are so many different styles with prices that range from about €40 for a denim cover to € 179 for a top of the range leather cover. They are available in Easons, so you can have a good look at the layout before purchasing or at Filofax.com . Since you replace the calendar each year it is obviously reusable, and you can buy different add ons such as budget sheets, address book and note pages.

They are very smart looking planners, they have pockets for bits and pieces, a pen loop and card slots. I’m starting to wonder if my one deserves another chance?

MAMBI , The Happy Planner.

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“The what?” I hear you ask. If you are someone who loves to decorate your planner then this might interest you.

MAMBI stands for’Me and My Big Ideas’ , there Create 365 ‘Happy planner’ has a lot going for it.

You can order either horizontal or vertical layout. It has a month at a view followed by a week on two page layout. The dividers are decorated and the tabs laminated. It measures approximately 10 x 8″ and the basic cost is $29.99. It also has ’12 month kits’ with different themes to allow you to have coordinated decorations, so sticking to the basic planner could be tricky! This planner covers 18 months which is ideal if you are a teacher or student, but it’s not for everyone. There aren’t any customizing options but there are quite a few designs to choose from.

The good things about this planner are really good, but here are the cons…

My big dislike of this planner is the binding. It uses a disc binding system, little plastic rounds that grip onto the pages. They may be fine, but I definitely wouldn’t trust this planner in my bag.

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It ships from California, the shipping cost is $46.50 (yes, you read that right) which is crazy! Bare in mind the dreaded import duty that we get charged on a lot of orders from America.

However, there is another way. While I was searching around I found a fabulous site in Surrey, UK. called’ The Homemakery’ they have a selection of Happy Planners priced at £29.99 with a shipping price to Ireland of just £8.00. No import duty, I would imagine the post would take a week at the most, so if you like this planner its a better option.

The Erin Condren Life Planner.

You knew it had to make the list somewhere! I think this is the most talked about planner of all, if you have a love of planners then you’ve heard this name. There are thousands of ‘unboxing’ videos on Youtube, it really is a craze that seems to be lasting. Okay, where do I start?

There are loads of cover designs to choose from. You can customize your cover with your name or even a photo (which I like) It measures 9×7″ and is coil bound (not spiral bound) this year the size of the coil has been increased to give more room for ‘stuff’! You can have horizontal or vertical layout, you can add and take out sections, its colourful, the tabs are laminated, and it has matching accessories. It would take a while to put your order together simply because there is so much choice. Things like changing the colour of the coil to match your cover, or even using your own unique design for a cover are options but beware, the cost of the changes add up quickly!

The presentation when it arrives to you is really nice. It’s wrapped in tissue and has notecards and stickers in the box. It’s the little things that make it special.

I looked at a basic planner with no accessories and it was $55.00 and the shipping is $19.95 for 8-12 day delivery. The cost isn’t actually as bad as I thought it would be, but don’t forget the import duty. I could go on and on about this one, but there is no need – hundreds of Youtubers have done it for me!

Kate Spade Planner.

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Forgive me while I swoon a little over this one! It measures 73/4″ x 6″ . It is spiral bound within the cover,horizontal layout, the tabs are laminated, there are note pages (very important) and the public holidays are listed on a page and not printed onto the planner (excellent idea if you live in a different country). This one covers 17 months from August 2016 to December 2017.

I have a planner that last until this December, so is this a bit of a waste? Also, I think its very sensible, no colour, this one has a good chance of being next years planner, but is it a bit too grown up? (I may be an adult, but i’m not a grown up!) I’m also a little worried about the weight of the paper, the reviews of the 2016 edition claim the paper was too thin (the same problem as the Filofax).

Already i’m thinking, “you could change the paper”, but that is why i’m searching for the perfect planner. Something out there must tick all the boxes right? Then the part of me that is in love with the cover is saying,” you write in pencil, whats the problem?” –

Kate Spade = quality = expensive but Guess what? I found an Irish source! Nicki Hoyne from ‘My Shining Armour’ has this for €38.00 and since it ships from Kilkenny postage is only €5.50! (or €10 if you’re in real hurry). It’s also available in a larger 91/4″ x 71/2″ size that costs €46.00.

Actually, this site has some amazing goodies – if you sign up for the email list you get a 10% discount that you can use for jewellery or their pouches. I always say shopping online isn’t really my thing… I may change my mind!

Right, that’s the first four. I will be back on Tuesday with the rest – and hopefully a decision on which one to order!

Felicia xx

09/09/2016 By felicia

In Blogging/ Life in General/ Planner Love

Back to school means..

Back to school means….

Okay, it means the kids go back to school. But, what about all the things that go with that? like new school bags, new notebooks, new folders and my all time favourite new pencil cases!

It also means new starts to me,like a new years day all over again. No matter what that might be it’s a fresh beginning. A great time start something new, or give up something that you don’t need.

I am a stationery geek. I get ridiculously excited at this time of year when I go into Easons ,all those pens and Hello Kitty erasers!

We haven’t had any ‘going back to school’ kids for a while now, my son is going back to college tomorrow for his second year. (He chose a Spiderman pencil case, because apparently, ‘You’re never too old for Spiderman’). That doesn’t stop me buying new stationery for myself.

(My current stack of notebooks)

Now, my absolute favourite and most used item is my diary/ planner. I literally do not know what i’m doing or what I’ve done unless I write it down in there. Because there is a hint of neat freak about me, I write in pencil so I can rub out any changes and not have scribbles ( I told you I was a geek!)

Around now I start to think about next years planner, start watching all the Youtube videos on different brands and say, “next year i’ll actually use those stickers I ordered..” I love those planner videos with the colour coded pens and the stickers, but realistically it’s not me. How do they have time to fill it in like that?

How do you choose a planner?

All of this got me thinking, I’m not the only one who uses a diary/ planner. I know there are many different criteria for finding the right one for you. Is it spiral bound? Is it a horizontal or vertical layout? What size suits best? Can you customize it? What’s the cost? These are important questions!

So, I am going to write a series of blog posts on the subject – I know some people who just fell off their chairs with excitement and some that don’t get this at all. (In which case, sorry and please come back soon x)

I’ll be back on Friday with my first look at whats out there for my fellow paper lovers.

Bye!

Felicia xx

06/09/2016 By felicia

In Blogging/ Life in General

The Joys of getting Older.

The joys of getting older.

When I write my odd ramblings on this blog I don’t really consider who might read it. I used to, and do you know what? It really held me back because I worried about what those people might think.

That sentence has a lot to answer for.

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I hadn’t really noticed that this had changed until today. I was talking to a friend who was trying hard to ignore her fortieth birthday. She was really sad that her thirties had passed and wanted to know what was so good about being in your forties.

That’s a really good question. What is so good about getting older?

There are many things, but the one that cheered her up the most was, ‘The older I get, the less I care what people think of me.’ To be honest I surprised myself with this answer, but its true!

A big part of this comes from the support and friendship of other women. When I think back to my teenage years, I shudder! There were always the cool girls who decided who was in and who was not. I was always way too ‘out there’ to be in, I hated most of secondary school. In fairness, if I hadn’t been so shy I would have stood up for myself a bit more and it wouldn’t have been as bad. That’s another good thing about being over forty- you can look back and realise things weren’t as bad as you thought. Whats done is done, if I knew then what I know now etc!

I am blessed with good friends both in ‘real life’ (as in, women I know) and online. I have been encouraged by their words and inspired by their stories-

And here’s why I don’t mind getting older:

I think the older we get the more confident we are in ourselves, we become emotionally stronger and more aware of who we surround ourselves with.

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So, thank you to all my women friends, those of you I know and those of you who I know through the power of the internet. There is a little voice in my head saying, ” are you really going to post this, what will people think of you?” but, yes, I’m going to. I trust that my tribe won’t judge me and might even agree.

Here’s to being over forty and loving every minute of it!

Felicia xx

23/08/2016 By felicia

In Hungry?/ Life in General

Rainy days and Sundays.

Rainy Days and Sundays.

Good afternoon from a wet and windy County Kerry. Before you say it, I know the title of the song was Rainy days and Mondays, but i’m using artistic licence here!

So, as I was saying it is wet and windy.Yesterday I took the dogs to the Copper Mines at Ross Castle, this is a favourite walk of ours. If you are visiting Killarney it really is worth a visit, very pretty indeed!

Look at that for a moody sky.

We got home before the rain started, but once it did there was no let up. I happen to really enjoy days like this, you might as well try and make the best of them because we get a lot of them!

I spent some time knitting more of the jumper and decided to make soup. Since there was a butternut squash waiting to be used the choice was obvious. I first had this soup when Tim’s brother made it, I can’t remember where he got the recipe but if you like spicy give this a try.

Butternut and Chilli Soup

You need:

A butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped.

Garlic, chilli, ginger and onion – all chopped.

100g red split lentils.

800ml of vegetable stock.

1 can of coconut milk.

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 200°.

Put the chopped squash into a roasting tin with a little olive oil and a handful of crushed chili flakes. Put them in the oven for about 20 minutes until soft. The time will obviously vary depending on how small you chopped them.

Saute the onion, garlic, ginger and chili in a little olive oil in a large pot. Its really up to you how much chili you use, I used one large red chili and left the seeds in.

When the onions are soft (but not browned) add the vegetable stock and lentils.

Bring it to the boil and then simmer gently for 10 minutes.

When the squash is roasted add it to the soup with the coconut milk. Simmer gently for a further 15 minutes, whizz it up and there you have it!

Delicious, heart warming soup that make rainy, windy days worthwhile.

So, now its Sunday. I spent the morning at a yoga class. That sounds very virtuous doesn’t it? Well, since it was the first yoga class I’ve been to I can hardly claim I do it all the time! It was actually really enjoyable but surprisingly hard. They all made it look so easy and graceful, and i’m like, how do you stand like that without falling over?’

I’ve always shied away from yoga because I like energetic activities like kick boxing and rock climbing. Well, let me tell you ,it may look gentle but my abs hurt and I feel amazingly stretched. I will be going back for sure.

I apologise for all those times I thought yoga wasn’t really exercise ! The class was run by Elaine from Nave Yoga and held at Heathers in the Gap of Dunloe. We had a great class and then brunch in the restaurant, all in all another excellent way to spend a rainy day!

Felicia xx

21/08/2016 By felicia

In Life in General

What’s for Dinner?

Whats for dinner?

Here is a really quick, totally delicious dinner that uses up all the leftover veggies in the fridge.

It tastes amazing and you make it from scratch. No jars of sauce, so you feel even healthier eating it!

Did I come up with this recipe all by myself?

No. I took it from Jamie Oliver, Jamies’s 30 Minute Meals to be precise.

As much as I love his recipes, this one has evolved to suit my family over time, so that’s the version i’m sharing with you.

So, Whats for dinner?Thai Veggie Curry.

( I realise that this is not the most amazing food photo you have ever seen. However, if you could smell it cooking you would forgive my lack of photo skills!)

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

2-3cm of ginger, peeled.

2 small red chillies ( adjust to suit you spice level!)

2 cloves of garlic, peeled.

4 dried lime leaves.

1/2 a jar of grilled peppers.

1 heaped tsp of tomato purée.

2 TBSP of soy sauce.

1 tsp sesame oil.

1 can of coconut milk.

Veggies of your choice – I use, mange tout, spring onions, green beans, mushrooms, red and yellow peppers, broccoli and asparagus.

Cashew nuts.

Rice of your choice. I used Jasmine infused Basmati.

Method:

Put the ginger, chilli, garlic, lime leaves, 1/2 the jar of peppers, tomato purée, soy sauce and sesame oil in a food processor. Blitz it into a paste.

I get the jars of peppers in Aldi . They are in their ‘Anti pasti’ section, which is above the pizza freezer (that’s assuming your Aldi is laid out the same as the one here) if you find them buy two jars – they don’t always have them.

Ok, put the paste that you’ve made into a large frying pan. Heat it gently and add all the vegetables. Cook gently for about 5 minutes, add the coconut milk. You might not need a whole can, it depends how much sauce you like. Let this gently simmer for another 10 minutes – until the vegetables are cooked but still crunchy.

Meanwhile, cook your rice. I have a rice cooker and my mum had a rice cooker so I have no idea how to cook rice without one! If you add a jasmine tea bag to the water it tastes delicious though.

And voila!

I suppose you could add chickpeas to the curry for protein – I usually just throw in a handful of cashew nuts in instead.

If you have all the ingredients in the larder this is super quick, cheap and delicious. Enjoy & let me know if you try it.

Felicia xx

26/07/2016 By felicia

In Book Love/ Life in General

That time Marian Keyes nearly killed me….

That time Marian Keyes nearly killed me.

*Disclaimer* I ADORE Marian Keyes and do not hold her responsible for my own stupidity in any way. (Then again, if she wasn’t as funny….)

About eight years ago, Tim and I went on holidays to the Alps. He, being a mountainy sort thinks that all holidays must involve huge height gain and in fairness the area around Mont Blanc is beautiful.

(You can’t really tell from this shot, but it is beautiful!)

It was January so as well as having a full week of walking and climbing in the snow we also had a great week of Apres Ski (or apres climbing in our case). On our last night we celebrated Tim’s birthday at a lovely restaurant that we’d been to a couple of times before.

(Standard mountaineer pose!)

This is all just background information before we get to the ‘incident’.

We were staying in a little village called Les Houches, just a few miles from Chamonix. Its really small, not somewhere you would expect to find any mad nightlife. But, since we had been to the restaurant before and since the staff were very friendly they decided to take us out to celebrate his birthday.

Things had been going so well up till then. We crossed the road, went down some steps under a house and found ourselves in an underground nightclub. It may have been the size of someones kitchen but we were in France so it was uber cool. The music was slow and hypnotic ,people were dancing in an effortless sway. It was just dripping in French fabulousness.

While I was dancing (not in an effortless sway) Tim sat at the bar and found …. a Guinness tap. We like wine, we had had lots of lovely wine already. No one in that place looked like they drank Guinness, which means it wasn’t going to be like a pint at home. It was going to be nasty. But he drank it anyway!

The following morning we left early for Geneva airport. Tim was quiet, apparently not feeling his best – I wonder why?

I know, you’re wondering where Ms. Keyes comes into this – soon, very soon.

Airports always involve a lot of waiting around don’t they? so to kill time I bought a Toblerone (if you can’t eat Toblerone in Switzerland where can you eat it?) and settled down to read my book*

*I never go anywhere without a book, not a Kindle, a proper, three dimensional book.

The book in question was ‘Rachels Holiday‘. I had read it before and have read it many times since. But still, every time I laugh and laugh. There is something so fabulously normal about the Walsh family. They argue, life isn’t always great for them, you don’t laugh at their predicaments (because they are very real) just at the way they are handled. You climb into the book and live there with them, I just love them.

This book has got me through some tough times and I’ve come out smiling.

Anyway, back in Geneva…

We were sitting in a small waiting area. There were several business men, all in grey suits, all hiding behind newspapers, all very sensible looking. Then there was us. Two skanky mountaineer types with climbing boots and rucksacks that had a slight whiff of week old mountain socks escaping from them. Tim by this time, was fast asleep.

I managed to break off a triangle (it was a big Toblerone) but it was really cold and I couldn’t bite through it. So, because no one was looking, I PUT THE WHOLE THING IN MY MOUTH.

This unfortunately coincided with the ‘Real Men’ and the leather trousers. I started to laugh, quietly (didn’t want to draw attention to myself) but I couldn’t stop and my mouth was FULL of chocolate. So I started choking, tears rolling down my face, chocolate dribbling down my chin, completely unable to draw breath. Tim was no help to me. By now I was on my hands and knees still laughing and spluttering- so much for not drawing attention to myself . But do you know what? Not one of the suits looked up from their newspapers!

So that is the long and drawn out story of how Marian Keyes nearly killed me.

The moral of the story is don’t expect anyone who has drunk bad Guinness to help you if you’re choking.

Don’t eat whole triangles of Toblerone (especially the big airport sized ones).

But DO read a book by Marian Keyes, I bet you laugh (you might cry too, but that’s what her books will do to you.)