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Taking advantage of a Sunday off in November, myself and the boyfriend decided to go for a nice stroll through town in search of food and to take a look at Winterval, I had somehow managed to forget that while it all looks pretty that Winterval is pretty much catering for families and the food stalls don't have a whole lot to offer someone on as strict a diet as myself. This would probably be quite a sad story if the first stall we had encountered on our walk to town had not been Slice Woodfire Pizza. When I first met John Keane, he was not actually making pizza but singing his own songs at an open mic night and doing a pretty great job of it might I add. It seems he his a man of many talents though and he is also excellent at making woodfire pizza. He started serving these to the general public over the summer in the New Street Gardens and has since branched out and gotten his own mobile trailer so he can set up anywhere in town and make his pizzas. The last few weeks he h

I am definitely more hermit than social butterfly at the weekends these days but as chance would have it I had a social engagement two weeks in a row and I had three whole days off work. After spending my Saturday afternoon in a very leisurely fashion, I was all dressed up and ready to go out by 7. A band called Wyvern Lingo were playing in Shortts Bar and we had tickets to go see them. The gig was on nice and early which suited me just fine because there's only so late I am inclined to be in the centre of town on a Saturday night sipping a fizzy water. I know, I live an exciting life.  Susan O'Neill accompanied by Michelle Haberlin were playing support and they warmed up the crowd nicely. Susan is a local singer who I have heard so much about but tonight was the first time I had the honour of hearing her sing and can I just say wow, what an amazing voice. She had a really rich tone to it and is a talented songwriter as well.   Her performance was so lovely that it has me

It feels like only days ago I found myself sitting in St Patrick's Gateway awaiting the debut of Between The Bars but a whole month has passed. Time as always seems to crawl by so slowly and then pass all at once. The very first Between The Bars gig featured Corner Boy and Ronan O Snodaigh and it created a great buzz in the South East. For the second event Elm, The Casanova Wave and In the Willows were all set to perform. It seems the people of Waterford knew they were in for a rare treat because crowds poured in as soon as the doors of St Patrick's opened. As always we began our night with a meal in Momo. They were offering a pre-concert deal of a two course meal with a wine or beer for €21.50 and I was glad we had booked our table because it appeared as though plenty were taking full advantage of this great offer with every seat filled as we sat down to eat. I really did mean to get something completely different but I had been dreaming about their falafels since m

The weird thing about healthier eating is some of the recipes people pass on to you. They sound implausible at best and disgusting at worst. The trouble is that even though I want to eat better and look better as a result I hate the feeling that I can't have any treats. I don't know why that concept is fundamentally so important to me but it is and so I spend much of my free time looking for better ways to treat myself. Then I usually follow that up by eating way too much of the healthier treat and being forced to take a break for a while. I recently learned how to make my own protein fudge and since discovered its a lot more calorific (mostly good calories but still) that I had thought, mostly because I was too busy scoffing it and feeling good about myself for eating so healthily. Its made up of almond butter, coconut oil, vanilla rice protein, cacao powder, rice syrup and pecan nuts so it shouldn't be too surprising that combining lots of good fats makes for fairly fa

Those of you who know me will be aware that I have no children. I have one nephew and three nieces but I know that's not even close to the same thing. I was asked a few months back to mind two of those nieces over a long weekend while my sister and her husband were away for work. The kids are pretty easy to mind so once I got the go ahead from work I agreed. Its not like I am a complete novice, I have babysat my nieces over night before and I work in social care so there are many elements of my day to day work that is similar to looking after children. I decided that myself and my boyfriend would go away for a few days just before said niece sitting because our two year anniversary was coming up and I thought it made more sense to take a longer holiday and do both. The week before said holiday I somehow ended up working 72 hours and was on my way to the airport only a few hours after finishing work on the Sunday. Due to us starting the holiday very tired and my inability to find