I made a song! Have it for free!

The last few weeks have been different! I spent a week in England with friends seeing all of the touristy parts of London that I'd never actually seen before. It was definitely different to see the city from that point view, instead of just somewhere I have to be for a show or event.

Ellie and I pose by Tower Bridge after a rainy production of Henry V in the Globe!

Since then, I've been recovering from the dreaded strep throat and hosting the above Ellie for a few days of fun here in Cork.

While I was in Southend-On-Sea, I got a phone call from a university I'd auditioned for. They offered me a place in 3rd year of the four-year degree programme! Back to college - woooooooohhhmygod. Delight and apprehension are flooding me! Think of all the new stationary that awaits....

In order to keep myself from going nuts with trying to imagine myself back in college, I've been trying to stay creative. Last week, I collaborated on a song with Belfast musician, Martin Byrne. The song is free to download, so please have a listen! It's freeeee and I really like it!

Martin is a composer who created a project last year called "Song a Day for a Year" (SADFAY). I featured on his October album then, and this year he's making a Song a Week for a Year (SAWFAY.) Both are incredible projects and it's interesting to see how versatile the styles of music that he comes up with are, considering the time scale he works to.

Obligatory visit to Blarney Castle

Mrs Sparkly's Ten Commandments Award

It's so nice when the people you know acknowledge your blog! I sometimes feel I'm writing to myself (which is fine. I'm comfortable with self-communication.) Thank you Evin, from Sláinte Cork for nominating me for Mrs Sparky's Ten Commandments Award. What’s involved? I need to answer some questions about myself, and here we go…

*Describe yourself in 7 words:

Friendly, interested, loving, sincere, enthusiastic, eccentric, weird.

*What keeps you up at night?

Planning adventures and projects. Sometimes I'll start writing little songs in my head or stories, sometimes I get really involved. It's a problem that I get really excited about things when I'm trying to sleep, because I just want to get up and sing. Someone sleeps next to the music room in my house, so I've had to be really strict about no late-night song-writing. (Which, now that I think about it, could account for my lower song output!)

*Whom would you like to be?

The best version of Amy. It's my ambition to keep trying to be a better person, with better skills. I have a loooong way to go, but I'm trying!

*What am I wearing right now?

This:

But with a black and gold waist-cinching belt, and black tights. Spectacles. A head of curly brown hair, and a smile.

*What scares you?

• Greed, ignorance. 
• Being misinterpreted.
• Animal cruelty. 
• The quest for happiness - not fully knowing if I'm happy now or if it's something that's coming later. 
• The concept that I'm wasting my life, that I'm spreading myself too thin and I should be focusing just on singing.
• Artistic confinement.

*What are the best and worst things about blogging?

Best: It's nice to have a place to just get it all down. It doesn't matter if no one reads it, it's a thought that I had and it's good to be able to revisit ideas and events with another frame of mind.

Worst: Not being able to do it while I'm running. I write the best mental blogs when I'm running!

*If I could change one thing about myself, what would it be?

I'd like to be more able to relax, and to suffer less joint and muscle pain.

*Slankets, yes or no?

No. They seem like such a good idea in theory... but no.

*Tell us something about the person who nominated you.

Evin has beautiful eyes and a blogging addiction. She has lovely, long, straight hair and looks completely different when it's up or down. In her apartment, Evin has a Little Liam, a fishy chair, and a staple gun, which she uses to staple things, and to ward off clowns with suspicious-smelling fridge foods.

My next step in this award is to nominate 10 others.

These are my favourites, and my friends! I really hope that you'll all give it a go! :)

The TARDIS in my Mind: http://thetardisinmymind.blogspot.ie/

The red red robin goes blog blog blogging along: http://redbreastedbird.blogspot.ie/

Goodnight Boutique: http://goodnightboutique.com/

The Smallest Smallholding: http://www.smallestsmallholding.com/

This Yorkshire Life: http://thisyorkshirelife.blogspot.ie/

The Savage Searching: http://savagesearching.wordpress.com/

LizzDelicious: http://www.lizzdelicious.com/

A Ripping Yarn!

Every night before I go to bed, I'm writing down everything I've done in bullet-points. I want to look back and not wonder what I did for the whole of June.

The thing is, I've been a bit under the weather for about a week now, so most of what's up there is:

• Poirot.
• Crocheted a snowflake.
• Made brownies.

It's not quite as productive as I'd hoped! I also have a code. If I had a singing lesson: (Y) If I did singing practice: (X) and if I went for a 30 minute run ( ✔). I'm also trying to do a plank every day and build up my time. I have practically no core strength! I hit 60 seconds this week and was SO HAPPY!

Considering I can't do a lot of running around at the moment, I've been doing a lot of knitting and learning to crochet!  Here are a few of the things I've been making!

Add caption

I love this headband! I made it in a really nice earthy green aran yarn (which was on sale!!)

Such is my amazing talent at crochet that I can follow the same pattern and come up with two completely different snowflakes. That's talent, right? Oh... you mean that's NOT mean to happen?!

Again, I followed the same crochet pattern and came up with different sizes of jumpers. The teaspoon is for scale. Aren't they sweet? They're a present for a local bar/restaurant in Cork. :)

This was to show the difference between using usual acrylic yarn and using proper cotton thread. The yarn looks nicer with this pattern, I think. 

I've been making this quilt for about four years. I'm nowhere near done! Maybe this will be the year that it finally gets done? It seems that a patchwork quilt is a massive undertaking. I wish I'd known this four years earlier... It's pretty, though. And I've learned to follow patterns and to make new stitches through making this. Following a varying pattern is way more fun that plain garter stitch.

Hopefully I'll recover in the next few days, and I can post all about my adventured with avocado chocolate mousse... :D x

The Meaning of Life

At the end of this week, I am FINALLY going to sit down and watch The Great Dictator. I love Charlie Chaplin. This speech will never stop being relevant, it's incredible.




"You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful! To make this life a wonderful adventure!"




Just listen. Then live.

Le Petit Chat Noir Vintage Fair

The greeting-ladies set the tone for the event with
 their fabulous hair and make-up..

On Sunday, Cork saw it's only proper vintage fair arrive at the Flying Enterprise complete with victory rolls and bunting. I have several friends in the UK who craft and sell at vintage fairs and I wonder all the time why we don't have more of them here. It seems that (in Cork, at least) there is quite a strong interest in the vintage and classic.

Just inside the door I found Aoife from Potty But Posh. Aoife makes beautiful hats, as I learned at the wedding of a mutual friend in February. (I'd meandered over to the table she was sitting at because all the ladies had such  amazing headwear!)

Below are some examples of  Aoife's work. She also sells her hats and headpieces in  Miss Daisy Blue, in the English Market in Cork. Miss Daisy Blue is a vintage clothes shop and also had a stall set up at the fair.

Potty But Posh

Potty but Posh

A treasure-trove, as usual!

This was a stall by one of my favourite shops in Cork (also in the Market!) Peacock and Ruby had a selection of their fine vintage-style wears on display. I love this shop so much and always bring friends to stop in when they visit from outside of Cork.

The 'peacock' from Peacock and Ruby

A purchase! From 'The Gilded Rose'

One of my favourite stalls was this one called 'The Gilded Rose,' which was run by a very nice lady! We had a great chat about her crocheted flowers and I ended up buying the pale blue barrette you see above

Congratulations, Le Chat Noir! It was a lovely event - I hope we'll see more soon!

.

I thought these hairbands were
 very cure and great value for money!

A selection of hand-crocheted soft-furnishings by 'Flour'

This was unusual! Historical coins. 

These cakes were INCREDIBLE! I had a mint grasshopper mini
cupcake. Seriously - Swell, if you're reading: can I PLEASE have
the recipe?!

Note: This is how you set out an eye-catching table! These designs are by Silkscreen Sweetie. She wins bonus points from me for having bunting... :)

International Yarn Bombing Day

 This morning my knitting group engaged in a spot of 'Yarn Bombing' in Electric. We subtly knitted bits and stuck them to things. I am responsible for the hideous tea cosy you see pictured. Liz from Reckless Knitting made the cake-stand cosy! 
The staff at Electric must have liked them, though, as they gave my my latte for free! And later they tweeted that if my knitting group knits them a jumper, we'll get a free lunch each! There are plans in motion...

How to Organise Your Fridge in 3 Easy Steps

 Dear friends,

In the interest of inspiring others (and in shaming myself into action) I am letting you see the awful state of my fridge.
Look at it. It's awful. There's so much food crammed in there and none of it is organised.

In my defense, it's been a crazy few weeks and I'm not the only person who lives here. Most of that food is not mine.

Recently on Pinterest I saw a picture of someone's freezer, which had plastic baskets keeping it tidy. I had to try this! In a pound shop I found exactly the right sort of baskets for just €1.50 each!

Is this not a most beautiful sight?

STEP 1:

Empty the fridge and throw out ANYTHING that needs to go, or that won't get used. Any dairy products that are past their use-by date need to go. Condiment bottles that are nearly empty - let them go. 

STEP 2:

Clean, scour, scrub! Take out the shelves, clean and dry them, wash the sides down and make sure it's all ready for the food.

STEP 3:

Fill the baskets. Use one for cheeses, one for vegetables, one for jars, etc. Make sure that the bottom of all jars, bottles and cartons are clean before you put them back in the fridge

Vegetable basket.

The cheese basket.

This has worked out so well! And it's lovely to know exactly what's in there. I'm hoping that the baskets will keep things a little neater, and show more clearly how much of each thing we have. :)

The finished product! 

I'd love to know if you try this! Let me know how it works out! :)