Long weekend memories

I hope everyone who celebrated Easter had a wonderful time, lots of chocolate (if you wanted it!) and a relaxing time adjusting to the time change as the clocks went forward.

We had family  to stay - The Offspring and his lovely fiancée and the grand-dog  Lola  came to visit and stayed overnight. This was the first time that Lola had stayed and the cats were pretty indignant at having a d-o-g invade their space.  It was funny to see Ruby (who is about the size of a little bit dropped off  Lola)  fluffing herself up - with the fur on the back of her spine standing on edge to show she was no pushover. Charlie gave some fierce deep growls to warn the intruder that this

was his house  and she'd better watch her step.  But Lola has grown up with 6 cats so she knows the ways of felines and then  after  a few hours they   all settled down and  kept  a safe distance so that peace could be established.,

Most of the weekend,  I spent a fascinating  and nostalgic time watching the ceremonies carried out in Dublin to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising of 1916.  It was an important  Centenary for Ireland and it re-awoke some personal memories of my own.

One hundred years ago my mother was just a baby of seven weeks,  and my father was  14 months old, both  born in Ireland  but obviously totally unaware of the major events in Dublin that week.  My grandfather though was only too well aware of what was going on. He had been friends with Eamonn De Valera  who taught in 2 of the colleges where my grandfather had held the position just before him.

Fifty years later, I was in Ireland at the time of the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising. My grandfather had just died and left behind his collection of technical and complex  mathematics text books. (He had gained a degree in Mathematics and Classics) These were not the sort of thing that any of his granddaughters were at all interested in.The only person my mother could think of who might be interested in those books was the man who had once sent my grandfather messages in complicated codes with mathematical problems - Eamon DeValera who was then  President of Ireland.  He and my grandfather had  broken off contact and ended their friendship  as a result of  'the Troubles'  and  it was only when she wrote to tell him that he learned of my grandfather's death.  As a result, he then invited my family to afternoon tea at his official residence Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin. I remember a very tall, almost blind old man (though he hid that most of the time, only admitting any problem when he asked my mother to pour the tea instead of going it himself) who admitted that he when he was asked to sing at school picnics,  always sang The Minstrel Boy to the tune of The Harp That Once Through Tara's Hall. He was thrilled to receive the mathematical tomes, though I doubt that he was able to read them with any ease.   No mention was made of any of the events of Easter 1916, or afterwards,  even though it was the year of the 50th anniversary.

The generation of my family who lived in Ireland at the time of the Easter Rising are now  all dead, but later this year, the Babe Magnet and I hope to revisit the country of their birth to mark this centenary  and to visit  and the family landmarks  - the house where my mother was born in Clones, the church she was married in in Limerick,  my grandfather's house in Dublin.  That will bring full circle the memories   that this 100th anniversary  has sparked off.

Happy St Patrick's Day

A Happy St Patrick's Day to everyone - specially my two Irish writer friends Abby Green and Trish Wylie. And of course to all the Irish side of my own family. Just the thought of the celebrations in the 'Emerald Isle' makes me think about going back to Dublin again and sharing a special drink with Abby to mark the day.

I'm sure you've spotted that I actually dedicated my current Presents EXTRA title The Konstantos Marriage Demand to Abby as a thank you for her company and generous chauffering duties when the Babe Magnet and I have visted Dublin in the past and when she and I went on writers' retreat to Delphi Lodge in spring last year. Happy St Paddy's Day Abby!

Today I'm celebrating St Patrick's Day with another guest blog in the company of the Mamawriters. It's a long time since I combined writing with fulltime motherhood, but I remember it only too well. And that's what we'll be talking about over there if you'd like to come and join us.

Oh - and the winners of yesterdays RNA prizes were:

Romantic Novel of the Year

Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts - Lucy Dillon

Love Story of the Year

Animal Instincts - Nell Dixon

Maeve Binchy and Joanna Trollope were presented with Lifetime Achievement Awards for their contribution to romantic fiction, as the Romantic Novelists' Association marked its 50th anniversary.

Many congratulations to all the winners - and to the RNA on this very special anniversary.

All About Alphas 17 - Abby Green

Well, how about that - this discussion is being talked about all over the web. I found people mentioning it in the new Mills & Boon Community and then this morning I've discovered that it's also got a mention on the I Heart Presents Blog! If you want to add your comments on what you love about t he Alpha male - or what you've learned about him here - or anything - then you can find the post here.

But don't go before you've read todays post - because we still have a couple of comments to put up before this whole subject is done with.

Today's post makes me think in amazement of just how quickly time has gone by - alpha males discussions, tweaking revisions, Bank Holidays can do that to you.

Just this time last week I was settling back at home after an amazing week in the west of Ireland - in Connemara to be precise. We stayed at Delphi Lodge, a beautiful place where it was so peaceful and quiet you couldn't help but relax, where 'rush hour' meant that there were four or more sheep on the roads, and where I learned more about fly fishing than I ever wanted to. (To be honest I wasn't interested in much of it but as that made up the majority of the conversations over breakfast and dinner, I was sort of obliged to absorb some.)

(If Caroline from Galway is reading this then Hi - and thanks to y0u and Tom for some conversation that wasn't about fish! And Hi too to Sandra and her partner from Paris - it was great to meet you all)

My companion there and the person who found the place, invited me along, generously did all the driving and introduced me to seaweed baths at a nearby spa, was today's author - up and coming Presents star Abby Green. Thanks to Abby I woke to this view every morning from my bedroom window and took my daily walks along lakeside roads edged with yellow gorse while the birds called from every tree. I even heard my very first cuckoo, declaring that it was very definitely spring.

Thank you Abby! Delphi was a glorious place and the memories will stay in my mind for ever.

And thank you too for today's contribution to the alpha discussion.

Here's what Abby has to say:

My Alpha hero is the ultimate man. He is at the top of his game and knows
who he is and what he wants. And invariably what he doesn't want is the
distraction of a female he can't control. He has everything he wants and needs
at his fingertips and has become perhaps a little arrogant (!) along the way
because he is so used to dealing with sycophants and success. However much he
thinks he's not ready for commitment and love, somewhere deep down, he is. And
when our heroine comes along, she effortlessly taps into this need within him.
Even though at the start she might not want commitment either!




The Alpha male is the boy who everyone fell in love with at school,
he's the twenty-something you wanted at college, and now he's the uber-male.
Totally unattainable, unfathomable. Cloaked in an air of mystery, he proves
lethally seductive to anyone with a pulse, and yet the only person fighting that
attraction turns out to be the only person he wants.




Did I mention that he's also, absolutely gorgeous?!

For Abby's next novel, USA readers should look for The Spaniard's Marriage Bargain which is coming in June. Her next UK book will be Ruthlessly Bedded, Forcibly Wedded, which is out in July.

Back in her husband's bed...

Rowan had discovered two things that would change her life forever. The first filled her with joy - she was pregnant! The second was something that she felt compelled to keep to herself - even from her husband...

Rowan had been Isandro Salazar's bride of convenience. But, knowing that he would never love her as she loved him, her choice was to make her unborn child her priority and then, once he was born, make her dark journey by herself...

But in Isandro's eyes Rowan's decision rendered her a gold-digger who had committed the worst possible crime. However, he couldn't stop her seeing her baby son - or deny that the passion between them was as raw and intense as ever...

Dublin Wednesday - or how much can you fit into a day?

Well, the Black Angel is tweaked mercilessly and sent back to my editor. And now I can back to giving the details of the Dublin trip. There has of course been a sort of secondary blog on Dublin over on Anne McAllister's blog where the story of Abby Green and Eamon has been attracting lots of attention. For those of you who have been following this serial, the third and final part will be posted just as soon as Anne can manage it.

In the meantime, back before Abby met Eamon and was transfixed with love, she and I had arranged to meet around lunchtime on the Tuesday so that we could go off exploring together. The BM was spending the morning tramping the streets of Dublin and taking the photographs he needed for his book so I spent the morning in Grafton Street wandering around the shops. That at noon the BM joined me and Abby to go exploring further.

The rest of the day was just wonderful. Abby had remembered that I had talked of wanting to go to Sandymount, just outside Dublin. This was where I spent so many of my childhood holidays, staying with my grandfather and my aunt, my mother 's father and sister, and it was where I grew to love Ireland so much. So Abby drove us to this village that has such happy memories for me.

It had changed so very little - a few more shops, restaurants that were never there beofre, but the little village green was there, with the house where I spent many happy hours with my cousin overlooking it. I could also remember exactly where to go to find my grandfather's house which was still there. And I could find my way to the beach - 'The Strand' just as I had done all those years before. Perfect nostalgia. Such great memories

Then we needed to find a place for lunch. Abby suggested we drive to Powerscourt in Enniskerry - a beautiful great estate where there is a fantastic old house and gorgeous gardens. They had a lovely restaurant there too - in Avoc, a great shop. And She was right. Powerscourt is just beautiful. So beautiful that it has been used many times as the setting for period films. And that was what was happening when we arrived. (Yes India - this is the bit you wanted to know about!)

At the moment, Powerscourt is part of the setting for the filming of the second part of The Tudors. Part one is currently showing on BBC 2 in the UK. As you'll remember from our earlier trip to Ireland this year, Abby's 'day job was as a second assistant director on many film and TV projects. So when we arrived at Powersourt to find they were filming parts of The Tudors she was able to introduce us to many people working on the set. The stars weren't filming there that day but we were able to watch a 'royal' procession and see the filming of that before we went into the house for lunch.

It was such a gorgeous day, sunny and mild , ridiculously so for late October, so we were able to sit outside on the terrace to eat lunch and look out over the huge gradens and the wonderful waterfall in the distance, with the Sugarloaf mountain over on the horizon. And once we'd eaten then Abby and I raided the Avoca shop where it would have been popssible to spend a small fortune. Believe me, I was tempted by lots. But I contented myself by buying a black embroidered wool coat - and persuading Abby to treat herself too, to a pink jacket that looked just great on her. The BM took this photo of two happy shoppers on our way back to the car.

The next stop was at the film studios at Ardmore - where the filming of the Tudors was also going on . Again we met lots of the crew and people who Abby had worked with (which is where I fell for a very handsome Irishman - but then I always has a soft spot for Irishmen, after all my father and my uncle were both handsome 'Paddies). They had been filming Anne Boleyn's execution but we missed that! Perhaps just as well as the stories of fake blood being squirted all over the place was enough to make me feel a little queasy as it was.

But we were lucky enough to meet Irish costume designer Joan Bergin and congratulate her on her recent win of a Creative Emmy Award for the costumes on The Tudors. And we wandered round the great sets for the production, watching them set up for a banquet scene the next day - and Abby and the BM were able to sit on one of the great four-poster beds. I'm not sure if it actually was King Henry's bed or not - but it looked fine enough to be so!

I loved being able to get close to the fantasy pretence of the sets and see the makebelieve that goes to make up the wonderful images that will appear on the TV scenes. It reminded me of the bits of amateur dramatics I did at school and university and it was fascinating to see the way that the 'food' for the banquet was fake and sprayed with varnish etc to make it look as if it was freshly cooked. It was great to see the way that old and new - even a tree - was all bundled together behind the flats ready for use when needed.

Eventually we made our way back to Dublin, had a quick chance to refresh ourselves and then set out again (with Abby and I both wearing our new coats!) to head for the Shelborne Hotel on St Stephen's Green where, in real lady novelist style we drank champagne and toasted our new books - and a couple of wonderful reviews ) and one really nasty one too! But after a glass of champagne we just didn't care.)

Finally, needing something to soak up the champagne, we headed for a restaurant for dinner and sat talking late into the night again.

It was a fantastic day filled with so many wonderful moments, reliving special memories and creating new ones. And it wouldn't have been possible without lovely Abby's generosity with her time, her car, and her knowledge of Ireland.

Thank you Abby, love. It was a day I will always remember.

Back Home

I'm back! And I'm tired.

But that is because I had a wonderful, wonderful time. It's impossible not to have a wonderful wonderful time with Ms Abby Green in charge - she is a brilliant tour guide, social secretary and events organiser, and she knows how to make sure her friends have a good time.

Reports will follow on my blog just as soon as I recover enough and catch up with everything else in time to write them. But I hade a wonderful mix of sightseeing, shopping, eating, drinking, a fabulous trip down nostalgia lane to places I loved in my childhood. I visited a film set (which is where this photo of Abby was taken), watched filming, and I fell in love with a gorgeous Irishman - someone Abby works with sometimes in her day job. Though how she manages to concentrate with him around it beyond me! I wanted to bring him home as my souvenir of Ireland but apparently he's already taken. Ah well, I shall have a great memory of black hair, lovely blue eyes and a sexy Irish accent to keep as research for the next time I'm considering an Irish hero.

And Abby and I also shared a shopping expedition as the result of which we now both have new coats and a lighter bank balance.

The BM wandered the streets of Dublin taking all the photographs he needed for the next Foul Deeds and Suspcious Deaths book - which is, obviously, FDSD in Dublin - and we met up in the evenings with The Offspring and his girlfriend to eat and talk over our days and drink a little wine . . . Just a little.

So I'll be back tomorrow with a report and photos

Be seeing you!

Quick dash in to wave goodbye - I'm on my way to Ireland again. The BM has to do research on Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in Dublin so I'm going with him - it's a good excuse to meet up with lovely Abby Green again

And I'm going with a smile on my face and you can all say 'I told you so' - because you did. Well, those who commented did . You said that my editor would love the Black Angel - and she does. Apparently he's – dark and believable. . . wonderfully brooding and sexy. '

There is just a tweak - and it really is just a tweak which I will do when I get back from Dublin.

So with one Greek on the bookshop shelves and another one about to be scheduled, I'm feeling pretty happy and ready to relax in Dublin.

Back at the end of the week so be good while I'm gone

Great Big Blog Party 10 - Abby Green

Those of you who were reading this blog in January and February will already know a fair bit about Abby Green who is one of M&B Modern and Harlequin Presents newer siginings. Abby had her very first book - Chosen as The Frenchman's Bride - out in January, her second The Brazilian's Blackmail Bargain was published in May (and you can still find it on Amazon if you missed it). This book will be out in America in August.

Her third title - the Kouros Marriage Revenge (she's been pretty busy!) will be published in UK Paperback in September.

As you'll know if you've read her author biography in her books and from the fact that I talked about it on my blog - Abby still works in the film industry in Dublin - she's probably out 'shooting' two football teams of five year olds as I write this! Abby's 'day job' is why she was able to arrange the wonderful dinner Anne McAllister and I enjoyed with James Nesbitt when we visited Ireland a few months ago.

So when I asked Abby to write something on the theme of 50 for the blog party, she naturally turned to her life pre-publication to do so. She's also included some great photos of life on a set.

So here you are -

Abby Green's FIFTY…lesser known truths about the film industry




1. All sparks (electricians) have hairy bums
2. The first person in the lunch queue will be a spark
3. The second person in the lunch queue will be a spark
4. The extras will always go back for second helpings…of everything
5. Extras always arrive at least an hour early, even if the call is for 5am
SOUND MIXER
ACTOR'S TRAILER
6. The crew, despite a movement order and map to the location will, without fail get lost
7. The assistant directors are the universal scapegoats
8. The director is never the smart, gorgeous, intelligent person he is usually portrayed as in books or films
9. The second assistant director is, except no-one knows who they are so they’re never portrayed in books or films
10. The photocopier is a production runner’s (lowest of the low) best friend
11. Paper cuts are the only way they know they’re still alive
12. For the duration of a job, much of it is done in a sleep deprived stupor
13. It really isn’t glamorous
14. At all
15. Especially in the rain
16. And muck
17. At six am in the morning
18. The drivers are the wisest people on the crew and it’s good to recognize that early on
19. Wisest after the second assistant director
20. Wardrobe, Hair and MakeUp people are sometimes called ‘the fluffies’
21. But if you call them that they will kill you
22. When a MakeUp artist tells you they need ten minutes with an actor, add ten minutes
23. When a Hair person tells you they need twenty minutes with an actor, add ten minutes
24. Despite their intelligence, if a driver tells you it’ll take 45 minutes to get an actor to the location, toss a coin and either add fifteen minutes or subtract fifteen minutes, either way (pardon my French) you’re screwed
25. When an actor tells you that no, they don’t want to be allowed time for breakfast, add fifteen minutes to their call time because when they arrive, they will want breakfast
26. The locations department have the worst job on a film, after the production runner
27. The camera department works under a hierarchy that dates back to the ark
28. The Production Manager is an elusive creature, they hire you and then they disappear
29. Especially when you need them to sign off on a time sheet
30. As an trainee assistant director/runner/PA, you will spend many, many boring hours stopping cars/people from walking up a road that is ten miles away from the camera
31. This is as exciting as it gets for a long time when you start out
32. And this is invariably in the rain when you still haven’t cottoned onto the fact that rain gear is vital
33. Generally and bizarrely, the more famous an actor is the nicer they are
34. The less well known an actor is has a directly proportionate effect on their obnoxiousness
35. If the special effects department is required to blow out one window in a street of terraced houses, guaranteed when it comes to shooting, every other window will blo

w out except that one
36. And then locations have to pick up the pieces, literally
37. The Sound department can actually hear a plane fly over New Delhi
38. Or so they would have you believe
39. Even when in a field ten miles outside Dublin
40. The Script Supervisor will always be late for work
41. And they can always be found on the back of the props truck hiding in a corner doing their notes
Assistant Directors'(ie Abby's) Production Office
42. The best boy on the credits is a misnomer
43. The best boy is just another hairy bottomed spark who does paperwork
44. The Grips invented the dolly (like a mechanical pram) on which the camera sits in an effort to learn how to walk upright
45. They’re still learning
46. The first assistant director shouts a lot
47. The third assistant director shouts even more
48. And the trainee, ten miles away will shout Rolling! even louder even though no-one can hear them


THE CREW
49. The last week of a shoot is always consumed by finding out what job is coming up and how you can get on it
50. That’s why a lot of producers go up to pretty young girls and tell them they’ve got a big one coming up and they want them on it



GIVEAWAY:

Abby has a signed copy of her new book - The Kouros Marriage Revenge - to give away. To win just answer this

QUESTION
What's the worst job and the best job you've ever had in your life?

As always, post your answer in the comments and Abby will be along to chat with you when she's finished shooting

Happy St Patrick's Day

An Old Irish Blessing

May love and laughter light your days,


and warm your heart and home.


May good and faithful friends be yours,

wherever you may roam.


May peace and plenty bless your world


with joy that long endures.


May all life's passing seasons


bring the best to you and yours!

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY

With love to two wonderful Irish writers and friends -

ABBY GREEN

and

TRISH WYLIE

And just for Anne McAllister (and India Grey's Ruby - Here the O'Cat himself

PS And the answer to yesterday's Red Nose Book Question was that the book title was JESTER'S GIRL

Congratulations to Rachel from UK and Donna from The Netherlands who both got it right and win a prize each.

New Contest

March 17th is St Patrick’s Day and as many of you know, I just spent a wonderful week in Ireland with my friends and fellow Presents authors Anne McAllister and Abby Green. So I’m celebrating both St Patrick’s Day and the publication of my latest book – Sicilian Husband Blackmailed Bride with a contest that has a special Irish connection.

While I was in Galway, I picked up some lovely crafted, gold-plated bookmarks with a suitably Irish shamrock design – you can see them in the picture here - and they’re part of the prize for this new contest.

Because there has been so much interest in my contests lately, the numbers have grown too big for me to handle on my own, so now most of my contests will be run by Lee over on the My Tote Bag site
So you need to send your answers to her on her special here on my web site) The second part of this duo is coming up soon. So the question for this contest is:

Question: What is Guido's brother's name and when will his story be published in North America?

Hint: You can find the answers on my web site!

Contest Deadline: April 15th, '07. Winners will be notified by email.

Prize: TWO WINNERS who will each receive:
An autographed book from Kate's backlist,
A Kate Walker book bag and
A beautifully crafted Shamrock bookmark as pictured here.

Please email So if you’d like to be included in this extra prize opportunity you can join my Newsletter list by clicking on the link on any page of my web site - or the one in the sidebar on this blog - and then you’ll find out how you can enter the special extra chance contest.

Sid the Cat will not be able to choose the winners of the main contest as Lee will do that – but don’t worry – he’ll still be busy choosing the winners of the special Newsletter Contest and all the other Newsletter specials in the future. So he's hoping that lots of you will join up and he will still get his choice of plenty of cat crunchies as he chooses the winners.

Ballyvolane 2 - Archie, Noodle and Wriggle

One of the loveliest things aboout Ballyvolane Houose - and as you'll have gathered, there was a lot about Ballyvolane that was wonderful - but one of the nicest things was just how friendly everyone was. There were Jenny and Justin, the owners and hosts, there was Justin's father who managed the garden, the chef who we only met on our arrival and I'm afraid never found out her name - but she was an excellent cook!


And there were the animals. Archie, Noodle and Wriggle who all seemed to have been specially trained or had decided to join in on welcoming guests to their home and making sure we were comfortable and happy.



Archie was described as the largest cat in County Cork. I live with a big cat - and Archie was bigger! He also had the most magnificent set of whiskers and a purr that could be heard all over the house. Archie was normally found in his very special spot in the front parlour (you can see him there on Anne McAllister's blog) but when he discovered that we had the log fire burning in the sitting room, and perhaps a smackeral or two of cheese, then Archie graciously condescended to join us - and to hoover up any bits of cheese that happened to drop his way. He also was very partial to my pashmina - perhaps because he could scent that Sid had been lying on it. Certainly he gave it a very good sniffing before settling down to sleep on it.


Then there was Noodle the terrier. Noodle was described by Justin as being a JLo of terriers - specially when she had just had a bath and her fur was beautifully clean and silky. The problem is that I never actually got a photo of Noodle that really shows her face - or perhaps it's because her long sillky fringe hid where her face should be and so most of the time all you saw of Noodle was a bundle of fur - and sometimes you couldn't quite be sure which way she was actually facing. Except for breakfast time - at breakfast, Noodle would join us and sit under the table and on those occasions you could always be sure which was she was facing - towards the food.


Finally there was the delightful Wriggle. Wriggle was part chocolate lab and part Springer spaniel. She had a Irish Setter look about her but was small and compact - and a real delight. One of Wriggle's duties was obviously to show everyone around - her guided tour of the house and grounds was so enjoyable that we wished there had been a little less rain so that we could do it all over again. You can see a detailed report of this tour on Anne's blog - with lots of pictures of Wriggle herself. The only thing that's missing is a photo of Anne with Wriggle - so I shall amend that.

Because Anne and Wriggle bonded. Wriggle would endear herself to anyone but Anne was missing her own dogs so Wriggle very graciously agreed to fill in for Gunnar, Mitch and Micah so that Anne would not feel at all homesick - and it worked. So much so that everyone settled in and felt right at home. And when the time came to leave, no one wanted to go. But Wriggle and Noodle were the perfect hostesses right to the end and they came to see us off with a wave of each tail and a 'come back soon' woof. Archie stayed right where he was - in his special snoozing spot, but it had started to rain again, and he sent a farewell purr after us to wish us well.


So that was Ireland - and it was wonderful. Now I need to get back to work and as I have a new book out in March (April in USA and Australia) I'll be blogging about that soon. And about the new Spanish hero who will be absorbing my days for the next few weeks. (Very few my editor hopes!)


Which reminds me that I should also mention what I read on my holidays. Well there was the RITA book I was judging, which I can't talk about, just as as I haven't been able to mention all the others I read for this contest recently. But remember this post - a Great Day for Romance? Well I was lucky enough to be given two hot from the press signed copies of the first books in Day Leclaire's brand new Royals Trilogy for Silhouette Desire. Thank you Day! Anne McAllister brought them to Ireland for me and so I was able to have an extra holiday treat by reading them when the rain was just too bad to leave the fireside. I loved them. The Forbidden Princess and The Prince's Mistress were everything I remember a Day Leclaire book to be - wonderful heroes. bright sparky heroines and that magical fairytale element that kept me hooked right from the start. The flight back to England passed in the blink of an eye as I became absorbed in the story of Lander and Juliana in the second book - so much so that I didn't even have to grab the BM's hand for take off - the part of the flight I usually like least.


And now I'm intrigued. Because The Royal Wedding Night, the third in this trilogy, features as its hero Brandt von Folke, a character who appears in The Forbidden Princess - in a somewhat less than heroic light. I can't wait to see just how Day turns this story round to make Brandt into the hero he's meant to be.


When did you say that the third book was out, Day? Do I really have to wait till April? And then there's Joc Arnaud, the fascinating character I met in The Prince's Mistress - his story is coming but not until September . . . . Can you tell that I'm addicted? Now I know why I missed Day's 'voice' so much.

Welcome back Day!




So now I have to get down to work - but I'll leave you with one more image of Ballyvolane House. This time it's the view from my bedroom window. Imagine waking up to this everyday? Nothing more to be said really except that, as Anne said in her comments on yesterday's post - I want to go back!

Ballyvolane - a B B & B

Anne McAllister who started her report on the Ireland trip back to front – beginning with the ending - has already blogged about Ballyvolane in great detail. We agreed things this way because after all, Ballyvolane was her place – the major research she needed to do for her book. She was looking for a draughty castle – what she found was Ballyvolane House - and it fitted her requirements perfectly. So if you want to read more about this lovely place than check out her blog as well.

But when I think of Ballyvolane what comes into my mind – apart from the log fires and the wonderful rooms andthe soft cushions, the antiques and the bookshelves crammed with books and the polished wood flooring, and the grounds . . . (sorry I slipped back into memory time there) - what I remember is the fact that most places that take paying guests can label themselves a B&B – bed and breakfast – Ballyvolane , at least for me and the BM was very definitely a Bed and Breakfast and Bath.

Our room had en suite facilities – the usual extra room containing the toilet, sink and the bath. No – make that The Bath. What a bath! It was huge – definitely big enough for two to share companionably – maybe even three if you were really friendly. And it was a Bath of State. So big and deep that you had to go up two polished wooden steps to get into it. It had huge brass taps that worked on levers to turn them on and it must definitely date back to the time when the owners of the house had maids or a ‘gentleman’s gentleman’ to help them get ready for the day. This bath was so deep that you needed to turn on (or rather, lever on) the taps and then go away and drink a mug of tea or perhaps some homemade blackcurrant or elderflower cordial (both of which were provided in the room, together with fresh, pure well water to dilute them) while you waited for it to fill up.

And then there was The Bed. And as you might have expected from the size of The Bath, The Bed was pretty substantial too. The Bed was more than big enough to sleep three – even four quite comfortably. Not being into writing books about threesomes , or even foursomes, what my romance writer’s mind kept thinking was of the way that, after an argument or on that so familiar, ‘forced to sleep in the same room and there’s only one bed’ scenario it would be completely possible for the hero and heroine in a story to sleep in this bed and still stay miles apart – they would have to make a real effort to come together and if they wanted to they wouldn’t have to touch each other at all through the night. They might just as well be in separate single beds.

But then, of course, The Bed had wooden cherubs, and a carved love knot fixed on the wall around the headboard so maybe they would help to bring about the required reconciliation and bridge the gap so that The Bed could become a real love nest.

So that’s the Bed and the Bath – what about the Breakfast bit? Well, as you’d expect the Breakfasts at Ballyvolane were substantial – Full Irish Breakfast was provided in the dining room, at whatever time we wanted it. You could have eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms,

tomatoes, black pudding or white pudding . . . Being veggie I passed on most of that but the poached eggs and mushrooms were pretty good. There was fruit and yoghurt, cereals, toast and on the toast you could have Irish butter, honey, homemade raspberry, strawberry or blackcurrant jam . . .tea or coffee . . . And the toast was either home baked white or, one of my most absolute total favourite things in all Irish food – home baked Wholemeal Soda Bread. My mother used to make this for us when my sisters and I were children and I've been addicted ever since.

It was no wonder that we had breakfast - and then didn’t eat for most of the rest of the day. A couple of times we went out to nearby towns and ate in wonderful small restaurants or a local inn

– but even that was late on because Justin and Jenny provided afternoon tea as well – huge trays with great pots of loose leaf tea and cake – home made fruit cake or chocolate brownies – or, my favourite, the lemon cake. All eaten while sitting round the huge log fire while (on one day at least) the rain lashed down outside. Perfect.

As you can see, a lot of Ballyvolane was of large proportions – the rooms, the bath, the meals . . . so were the Grounds and The Cat – but I have a book to write and a Spaniard who’s impatient at being kept waiting for my attention. So I’ll come back to those tomorrow.

But just in case you'd like to try it, I thought I'd include the recipe for that wonderful soda bread - I may even make some for myself later today (if the Spaniard cooperates)

Ballyvolane House Brown Soda Bread(Makes 2 Loaves)
1 1/2 lbs. wholemeal flour1 handful wheat bran2 handfuls wheat germ2 1/4 lbs. pinhead oatmeal (aka chunky-grade)2 tsp. salt2 tsp. sieved baking soda1 liter buttermilk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bread tins with butter. Mix dry ingredients well. Add buttermilk and stir until mixed thoroughly with the dry ingredients. Divide mixture into 2 bread tins and sprinkle with a little additional pinhead oatmeal. Bake for 1 hour on oven upper shelf.

Enjoy!

And then there was Galway

A long long time ago, I met the Babe Magnet for the very first time at University in Wales at Aberystwyth on the Cardigan Bay. Ever since then I've loved small seaside towns, with narrow, winding streets and alleyways, fishing boats, and characterful buildings. I think this is why I fell in love with Galway when I first went there about 15 years ago. The BM felt the same. So this time when we went back we were slightly apprehensive that it might all have changed, moved on and it just wouldn;t be the same.

We needn't have worried. True, the years in between have brought some changes, with new shopping centres, Dunnes stores, high street names that appear almost everywhere, but the essential nature of Galway remains the same. There are still those narrow streets, the little alleyways, the arty shops, the bars and restaurants.

Ah yes - the restaurants - one of the memories of Galway I have this time is the food. It's said that Galway has more restuarants per head of the population than any other city in Ireland and we were certainly spolied for choice. There was the small upstairs French restaurant - L'autre Java's - where we had both dinner on our first evening and lunch the next day. That lunch that included my first experience of Cashel Blue cheese - with pears in a salad - one bite and I was addicted. So how wonderful to find that there is actually a shop that sells it in Lincoln. And what a coincidence to discover that Cashel Blue came into existence in 1984, the year in which my very first book was published - obviously 1984 was a very good year.

Dinner at L'Autre Java's was made extra enjoyable by the friendly welcome and service we were offered - the waitress declaring that she was in the hospitality industry not the hostility industry - and going on to prove it by excellent service and dealing with the BM's determination to learn some phrases in Irish so with each course she offered a new word or saying - from Sláinte (sllahntchuh)meaning good health or cheers to Cead Mille Failte -(Kaid meele fawilche) a hundred thousand welcomes - to other more complicated phrases that I can't remember but I'll just bet he does.

But there wasn't just the food in Galway - there were those streets that I could have wandered around all day - and did, as the weather was wonderfully warm and mild - one of the best secondhand bookshops in the world which held the BM enraptured for ages and brought the risk of excess baggage in the form of all the books he bought. Though this time he was slightly more restrained than on his first visit to Ireland all those years ago when we eventually shipped home 25 books that he had collected in the three weeks we were there. And there were the woollen shops filled with scarves, gloves, capes, wraps . . . I bought the most beautiful deep blue wrap with deep amber and gold pattern threaded through it. And then I found the Saturday market where a lady sat at her stall knitting wonderfully spiders web lacey scarves . . . Needless to say, I won;t be cold for the rest of the winter this year or next.

The Claddagh's distinctive design features two hands clasping a heart, and usually surmounted by a crown. The elements of this symbol are often said to correspond to the qualities of love (the heart), friendship (the hands), and loyalty (the crown).

Galway is also the home of the very special piece of Irish jewellry - the Claddagh ring, named after fishing village of Claddagh, located just outside the old walls of the city of Galway. The ring was first produced in the 17th Century during the reign of Mary II, though elements of the design are much older. I bought the Babe Magnet a silver Claddagh ring on our very first visit there and he still wears it today. The only problem is that he does tend to wear it in the way that announces to those in the know that he is uncommitted and looking for a relationship!

You see, the way that a Claddagh ring is worn on the hand is usually intended to convey the wearer's romantic availability, or lack thereof. Traditionally, if the ring is on the right hand with the heart facing outward and away from the body, this indicates that the person wearing the ring is not in any serious relationship, and may in fact be single and looking for a relationship: "their heart is open." When worn on the right hand but with the heart facing inward toward the body, this indicates the person wearing the ring is interested in someone, or that "someone has captured their heart". A Claddagh worn on the left hand ring finger facing outward away from the body generally indicates that the wearer is engaged. When the ring is on the left hand ring finger and facing inward toward the body, it generally means that the person wearing the ring is married.

Galway city also boasts what is perhaps one of the smallest museums ever in the tiny two roomed house - livingroom/kitchen downstairs and one communal bedroom upstairs - that was home to Nora Barnacle, wife of the famous Irish writer James Joyce. There are other, fascinating little houses for sale in and around the city. We even saw one that was offered on its own island - with four rooms, half an acre of land - and a rowing boat! That sort of isolationwould make sure I got plenty of writing done - but it would be really infuriating if yuo went grocery shopping and got home to realise you'd forgotten the milk.

Last time I went to Galway I spent a day there and knew it was not long enough. So this time I stayed twice as long - and still wanted to see more, stay longer yet again. So I've no doubt I'll be back. I just hope it won't be another 15 years before I do.