Red cabbage

With all due deference to Bluesheep, our veggie maestro, I can't resist choosing this as the blip for today. Not only is it a small tribute to Bluesheep (and now also, indeed, to benek), it also marks my first b&w effort here.

With work out of the way and my Grand Prix lunch-hosting cancelled, I was actually able to relax and enjoy my Sunday. I went over to Carl's at 9.30 to watch the Hollyoaks omnibus (my, but we had lots of fireworks!) and then we turned straight away to the French Grand Prix, and we were happy to see Ferrari give McLaren a bit of a comeuppance. That brought us to 2.45 and an opportunity to do some preliminary research into flights and other aspects of our Croation holiday in September, at which stage it was time to head out for a breath of fresh air.

Morning weather had been a story of sunshine and passing clouds, but at least it had been dry. The sunshine had passed away by the time we hit the great outdoors, but at least it was pleasantly warm. Our first port of call was The People's Park In Dún Laoghaire, just down the road from Carl's place, to check out the weekly Farmers Market. We spent a pleasant while there, had a few bites to eat, and came away with some pastry pies and some cheese.

The Royal Marine Hotel in Dún Laoghaire has just re-opened after a three-year renovation and extension programme, so we decided to check it out, stopping on the way for a nice big bottle of al fresco cider outside the Kingston Hotel, which we wimpishly finished indoors when the rain spotted down. The Royal Marine was a huge disappointment! Not only did they not have a cocktail menu, but the overall look and feel of the place turned out to very disappointing and totally lacking in character. Service was bad, and none of the little touches were evident which you'd expect in what's trying to market itself as a top-class establishment. We checked out the restaurant on our way out and weren't even approached by the staff to see if we were either interested in a table or in making a booking for later. All in all, not on our list of places to go back to.

A quick trip to an ATM to replenish wallets led to a bit of a session in Walters pub, an old haunt which we like to visit from time to time. A pleasant-enough piano-and-vocals music gig was in progress, the drink was nice, the chat was mighty, so it was approaching 10.00 by the time we headed home to dig into a couple of the pies we'd got earlier.

All in all, a wonderfully satisfying day. And what a relief it is to be able to take things easy again after all the pressure and hassle of recent times!