ManicMammy's Blog

Reviews, news, family, wine and me

Wine, wine, wine and some spirits

photo credit: Matt Biddulph This summer I completed the WSET (Wine and Spirit Education Trust) Advanced course in Cork. It was run by the Wineboard of Ireland. The lectures and tastings were carried out mainly by Gary O’Donovan. His experience and tales from working in the wine industry for many years  made for entertaining and [...]

Run, run, run as fast as you can

Last Monday I spent cheering on the some of the 10,000 or so runners in the Dublin Marathon. It  was a really uplifting and emotional day which I thoroughly enjoyed. My brother was attempting the marathon in aid of Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland and old friend Eoghan was running for Dundalk Mental Health association. [...]

Emergency, emergency

Last Saturday I was fortunate to be invited to attend a Tots2Teens one day Paediatric First Aid course which was held in the Kingsley Hotel in Cork. When I arrived just after 9am, there were already 15 or so attendees there:  pregnant women, creche employees, dads and mams. The course was given by Pat McCarthy [...]

Castle Celebrations

Last May I had a significant birthday, yep, one of those with a zero on the end. My 30th birthday was spent in labour and giving birth to our first child, Oscar. So it was rather special and going to be hard to compete with. This time around I would be happy to settle for [...]

Wanna write a story with Francesca Simon?

I think this is a dream competition for most kids. All my kids love the Horrid Henry books and they’re very excited and enthused about the idea of being able to contribute to a story started by Horrid Henry’s author Francesca Simon. McConnells Advertising contacted me and outlined the upcoming innocent smoothie competition. Francesca is [...]

In awe with a touch of vertigo

If I had my UCD days again, I’d probably opt for Architecture or Civil Engineering as my course of choice in preference to Mechanical Engineering. I’ve always loved the clarity and logic of maths and physics but I am also fascinated with the design, vision and practical know how of people who responsible for erecting [...]

Bridge on the go

As previously mentioned, once in a while, I like to play Bridge. These days, however, time to go to the bridge club is elusive. So I had been looking for a version of bridge for the Nintendo DS. Alas none of card games on the DS had come up to scratch, they were all very [...]

Natascha, me and charidee

Last Monday I was invited to lunch in London to hear about the Pampers-UNICEF “Gift of Life” campaign.  In attendance, amongst others were Irish and UK parent bloggers, UNICEF ambassador and actress Natascha McElhone, UNICEF and Pampers representatives. What transpired was a very interesting day. Natascha recounted her recent visit to Angola with UNICEF and [...]