The Queen of Tarts in Dublin, which has two locations, has become famous for their good food, amazing cakes, beautiful atmosphere and sweet atmosphere. But next door the the Cow’s Lane Queen of Tarts is an inconspicuous looking restaurant called La Dolce Vita. There is nothing striking about it’s exterior next to the bright red busy-ness of Queen of Tarts, but as soon as you walk in the door it smells like great Italian cheese and home and it’s laid back, the staff are chilled out in a way that makes you feel totally at home there and you will wonder how you weren’t always here.
Kilkenny is one of Ireland’s oldest cities and thus settled comfortable home to culture, history and a great arts scene. It is definitely more a crafts arts scene than a contemporary arts scene but it has it’s moments for that too, especially at the Kikenny Arts Festival which runs every August and is well worth checking out. (Bring / borrow / rent a car if you’re going to this as there’s usually stuff all over Kilkenny county as well as in the town centre and it can be a great adventure.)
I’ve started spending a lot of time in the garden and hanging around the little pots of tiny plants in the kitchen. And there’s a few things i’ve learned. When you meet nice ladies who love gardening and they’re all calm and happy and sweet? It’s not because they spend time with nature, it’s because they’re so glad to be having a tiny break from it for five seconds and talking to a human for the first time in what could be months.
I was overly excited recently when, as a present, someone gave me a certain amount to spend on their credit card. I don’t have a credit card, so this was exciting because suddenly i was given the option to buy stuff online. Suddenly it seemed as if anything was possible. Like anything i could dream up i could buy. So i started my quest excitedly after arriving home from work last night.
The first step was the funniest bit. I attempted to type ‘Where do Japanese people buy clothes online?’ into Google. I had gotten as far as, ‘Where do Jap…” before being prompted with the following search options….
Yesterday evening i sat in a sitting room filled with the smell of laundry drying and brown bread scones baking. It must have been the warmest, loveliest combination of smells. Made more all the more lovely by Debbie (who made them) giving one to Mikey Fleming Likes This to take home with him on his cycle home. And all this after we had all sat out in the last of the sun and listened to Leonard Cohen and drank beer (fake beer for me) and chatted. Pretty great for a tuesday. So Debbie kindly shared the recipe. I was asked if i’d like “The Debbie makey-upey one or the ready mix one?”
