Still busy

This week has just flown by and I am exhausted. I ended up going for a drink with some friends (who I hadn't seen since summer) after the performance on Wednesday and although it was just one drink we stayed till closing time and I didn't get home till midnight. I was still on a high after singing though and couldn't sleep. It was after half-one before I did I'd say and yesterday and today I have been shattered. Heading home from work now (my boss was out all day and let's just say I haven't exactly been productive despite my best intentions) and will probably be in bed before eight because I can barely keep my eyes open as it is. But want to wait till about then so there's a chance of me sleeping through the night.

I called to EcoLogic yesterday and picked up some meat from the farm who I normally buy from at Marlay Park Market on Saturdays [update: finally remembered it's called Terryglass Organics]. Bought enough for the rest of the month and it'll save me a trip there tomorrow. I'm going to head to Blackrock Market instead. I haven't been there for ages and want to visit This Is Knit (www.thisisknit.ie) who I saw at the Knitting and Stitching Show last week. I had a look at their website earlier and this really strikes me as the kind of place I'd like to give my custom to. Blackrock Market doesn't usually have any food stalls but it would be great if it did as I could do with buying some fruit. Otherwise I'm going to have a week or two of just eating what I already have on hand - I think I have more than enough for a decent variety and I have a good bit of tinned fruit as well if I don't see any at the market.

I'm going to try and start building up a stock of scrap bits of material to use for quilting the way I learned last week. I'd like to just lay into it and start making those little squares and then wait for a while to decide exactly what I want to make. This may not be the correct way to go about planning a quilting project but I know myself and if I don't just get stuck in and start doing it I'll never get back to it. There are a few steps involved. Cutting the circles and squares of material and batting is first up and even if I can start on this and build up a supply then it'll make it easier to just pick it up some evenings and just sew a little bit at a time. I definitely need to buy a decent scissors though and hope it won't prove too difficult. I'm left-handed and do have one left-handed scissors my uncle gave me about 20 years ago but it's not good enough for proper cutting of material really. Will have to check on prices and it may need to wait till I get paid at the end of the month. I'm not managing my money well this month at all and really only have enough left for basics for the rest of the month.

While at EcoLogic last night I aslo bought some lentils (something I have eaten and enoyed before but never cooked myself), some barley (want to cook the barely broth to bring you to health from Nigel Slaters cookbook) and some Irish-made organic pasta. Am very excited to have found this even though he only had the spaghetti and I don't really like stringy type pasta (due to being traumatised by my sister as a very young child who told me I was eating worms and the red sauce was their blood!). If I like the taste though I'll get him to get in other shapes as well. I was able to find out online that they do use local free-range eggs but am not sure if the organic flour they use is Irish. However I'm not sure there is any Irish organic flour around so this is probably the closest to fully Irish organic pasta I'm going to get. It's produced in Sligo by two Germans who moved there ten years ago or so and set up the Noodle House Pasta Company. I don't think I'll end up staying in Ireland but if I do I think I would move to the north west - it looks like there's a very healhty eco-conscious, organic community up around there.

Have a good weekend everyone.