Midterm Break at Avon Ri

Once again, I am vowing to catch up on posting about some past trips!

I'll start with the most recent trip, which I took with the kids to Avon Ri Lakeshore Resort and Adventure Center. Avon Ri is located on the shores of Lake Blessington in County Wicklow, 31km southwest of where we live in Dublin.

The playground.

This was our second trip to Avon Ri. We went last Easter for 5 nights after I found an amazing deal on Groupon. I had hoped to return for Easter this year, but it was all booked out by the time I called. Boo. Seeing as the kids seem to have an inordinate amount of time off of school this year however(2.5 weeks at Easter, a full week midterm break in February, another full week in May, and a June bank holiday weekend) I decided to book 4 nights over the February midterm.

(the zipline treehouse on the left)

Last year, over Easter, the weather was spectacular and the place was buzzing with activity. The kids said it was their favorite holiday ever. We rode bikes along the 6km lakeside greenway to Russborough House, explored their "Fairy Trail", kayaked on Lake Blessington and visited the pool at least once a day. It was sunny and warm and a perfect getaway.

The balcony of the cafe

This trip was a little different, but still wonderful. Being earlier in the season, it was very quiet at Avon Ri. This meant however, that we had the pool all to ourselves most of the time. Because it was quite a bit colder than last time, we didn't venture down the greenway or onto the lake this time. We still had a nice relaxing break, in peaceful tranquility, surrounded by beautiful scenery, in a house more spacious than our home in the city center! What's more, is that though the kids were on break, I was not. So I commuted into the city!!

The pool (jacuzzi, sauna and steam room) all to ourselves

I got a taste of the commuter lifestyle, and I can tell you I am seriously tempted. Half the drive (the Wicklow part) was lovely with winding country roads, little traffic and beautiful scenery. The second half, well, that was typical Dublin City traffic. Not so fun. But, I would seriously consider doing it regularly (if I were the one with the regular schedule, that is) in order to have more space and live in the beautiful Irish countryside!

Waking up to a frosty morning

We love Avon Ri and are seriously considering a week there in the summer!

Knitting: Grey Spring Poncho

While on holiday last week, I was able to catch up on a knitting project that I had started a while back. A friend of mine had given me 3 balls of grey wool that she had leftover from a project. (Everyone knows I love grey!) I was being cheap and decided I wanted to find a project that wouldn't require me to purchase extra wool and I didn't want to pay for a pattern or needles. (Seriously cheap!)

So, I weighed the three balls of wool on my digital kitchen scale and found that I had about 280g of bulky wool. I searched on Ravelry.com for a pattern in that range and which used size 15 needles. Mostly I found headbands and gloves, but I also found this lovely Pepper Wrap Poncho

The only glitch was that this pattern used size 15 circular needles! I caved and decided to purchase new needles and give it a go because the poncho looked so cute. Seeing as this is only my second knitting project (third if you consider the teddy bear I knit in third grade/class) I was a little nervous about jumping into circular needles, but it was very intuitive and no problem once I got going. I was more stumped by the YO stitch, but quickly figured it out with the help of youtube.

This poncho is quite comfy and great for throwing over your shoulders as the afternoon turns to evening and the temperatures drop a little. I am not sure I would recommend it for the selfie-obsessed though, as it makes it a little hard to get your arms out very far. That's not a problem for me though!

a weekend in Terryglass, Tipperary

I know, I am way behind on chronicling all of our excursions around Ireland. It is my plan to play catch up very soon (story of my life, I think!) We just got back from a lovely trip that I will write up asap, but for now I want to share a lovely getaway we took a few months ago to Terryglass (on Lough Derg) in County Tipperary.

I have a soft spot for Lough Derg. My dad had a house in the lovely town of Garrykennedy when I was younger. I made some good friends down there and especially love the scenery in that part of Ireland.

I was trolling AirBnB, as I often do, for a nice place to visit and happened on a lovely looking cottage in Terryglass. 

We love old cottages in peaceful, rural locations. Somewhere to escape from the bustle of the city, relax and chill out. We also like to be able to bring our dog along...

This cottage was everything we usually look for and more! Firstly, the cottage was traditional but had all the nice, modern conveniences. It was perfectly clean and outfitted with everything we could need. It was in a nice, tranquil location, not too far from the lake.

The added extras that made it especially great: the sauna!!!! The childrens toys, books and movies that were in one of the bedrooms. The shed full of bikes that we could use. The go-cart!!!

 My kids spent hours riding up and down the country lane on the go-cart.

The play area with a bin full of balls. The fairy door. The swingset. It was a fabulous place to bring kids and that makes for a happy family all around. I also personally appreciated the free-range eggs.

One thing I would like to mention is that there seemed to be 3 or 4 cottages here. No one else was staying in the other cottages while we were visiting. I mention it as it seems like a great place for a group to go to, to have some shared space and also some separate space. I know that if we had friends staying in one of the other cottages, my kids would have had an even better time!

I highly recommend staying in Niall's restored stone cottage in Terryglass.

Tags: AirBnB, Ireland, Travel, Terryglass, Tipperary, Cottage, Vacation

Bacon, Leek and Barley Soup

I love soup. It is probably my favorite "type" of food. Recently, I landed on my new favorite: Bacon, Leek and Barley!

I believe that bone broth is extremely nourishing and healing. So, I love to get as much of it into my family and myself as possible. 

I recently tried making the English Bacon, Leek and Potato soup from the Nourished Kitchen blog. Seeing as I live in Ireland, I had no trouble finding the right kind of bacon. I loved this soup SOOOO much. 

This soup made me nostalgic for the soup my granny used to make. No one I have asked seems to know what her recipe was and it has been over 30 years since I have tasted it. So I am not sure if it even tastes like this, but this definitely brought me back. One big difference that I did notice though:  Granny's soup had barley in it. 

I tend to oscillate between following a strictly paleo diet and experimenting with traditional grains. So I decided to try their recipe with added barley. It was fabulous and even more like granny's soup. Either with the barley or without, this soup is a winner and my current fave. Here is the recipe:

Bacon, Leek & Barley Soup

250g rashers (English/Irish bacon)

80g leeks chopped

100g carrots chopped

470g potatoes chopped

100g barley

1-2 Tbsp butter

Sea salt to taste

8-10 cups bone broth*

1. Sautee the leeks in butter until they soften.

2. Add the carrots and sautee about one more minute

3. Add the bacon and cook til nicely brown

4. Add bone broth, potatoes and barley. 

5. Simmer until the potatoes and barley are both soft, about 20 minutes

6. Add salt to taste.

*Note. Every week, either on Sunday or Monday I roast a chicken for dinner, so that  afterwards I can stick the bones in the crockpot overnight and then have broth for the weeks cooking. From one chicken I end up with about 10 cups. (I fill three empty passata bottles and keep them in the fridge)