2nd September 2012 - A reminder of summer

It's unbelievable but we are already approaching Autumn 2012. Today is the 2nd September and it sure still feels like summer.

I went for a walk around Skerries Harbour. Curiously I switched on my mobile phone's 3G to get an update on the weather. I was actually 20°C - in the shade. Walking in the sun, it must have been at least 25°C if not more. There was a soft, cooling breeze at the beach which made the walk a bit more bearable. I started sweating like hell.

It was lovely to watch all the people going for walks with their kids and dogs. People went for swims in the sea (don't want to know how cold that was - and they were not wearing wet suits like they normally do). Everyone just enjoyed the weather.

  

This is/was the colour of the sky, with only a few tiny thin clouds.

And this is the view at the harbour. The water was clear, you could almost see the bottom of the sea.

I went my way and bought a bottle of Lift. The weather made me crave something sweet and fizzy. It sat down on a bench at the beach and watched everyone passing by, while basking in the sunlight. I was so delighted I had my sunglasses with me. You would actually think you wouldn't need them in Ireland (no, it does no rain all the time) but once the sun comes out, it can get really warm.

In one of the many Charity shops we have around here, I managed to by myself a little purse - black with a a flower - something pretty. And it only cost me €2.

My successful purchase; it only needs a little clean. No funny smells coming from the inside which sometimes happen with bags when you by them in these shops. But no, it has been kept very well.

I had a look at the label inside. Was a bit surprise then:

It's atmosphere. For those of you who don't know, Atmosphere is sold by Penny's/Primark. Whoever bough it first hasn't spent much money on it - still I am very delighted that it has moved into my stash of bags - I have to admit, I am a bit of a handbag fetish. I am still looking for a new handbag for college - or a rucksack, but I say I will wait until I know which books I need to purchase. Otherwise the bag/rucksack ends up being too small.

I took another few photos such as this one (I love my phone and I can store another 6,400 pictures on it):

 

Skerries Harbour, Skerries, Co. Dublin

It started to get a bit chilly (or nippy as we say here) at around 3:30pm, so I made my way home to start writing an entry for my blog. As the weather was still nice I decided to get into the garden. My laptop charging cord is long enough to sit on one of the garden chairs while the laptop is plucked in; WiFi is also very strong out here.

I was greeted by those two creatures when I set down (had to change though while working on this post, the cushion on the chair was wet and I didn't notice it at first. So I turned the cushion around and put a towel on it to be save - no more wet bum for me!):

A yawning Snoopy - he is actually a stray and comes into the garden once in a while. We started to feed him which is something you are not supposed to do, but we don't have the heart in this house to let him starve to death. Somebody must have abondoned him at some stage - he is really cuddley and has handed in his résumé to move in (possibly winter), once there is a space in the house. Well, only time will tell ...

And Nellie, the little brat, that only comes home once every three days. She is the complete opposite of Snoopy - doesn't like cuddling unless it's on her terms, only wants her food - preferable cooked chicken breast - and then go out again to find new adventures ... or sleep in the neighbour's house as we found out a few weeks ago. Apparently she is doing that for the last three years.

Uhh, and something very exciting has happened. Since my mum got one, I had to get one, so I went to Harvey Norman's yesterday and bought this (by mistake, of course, had the intention of buying a WiFi booster but I wasn't in the mood to spend €120/€150, will buy one in Germany):
 

I bought myself an eReader (or tablet, it does a good bit more than just an eReader). It was reduced by €22 as part of their "Back to School" ad and I couldn't resist. Wanted to have one for college despite the fact that I have a netbook. This thing will cover the reading part of college, in the hope that a lot of the materials we use is in .pdf - I will convert my notes into pdf and read them on this tablet while on the go. It's much lighter that the netbook (which weights about 1 kg; the laptop about 2.7 kg). So it's ideal. I got a few free books with it so I am reading a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel - "Memoires of Sherlock Holmes". It's good so far.

Tablet runs on Androids Icecream sandwich which also runs on my phone ... and everything is syncronizing perfectly. Didn't have to set up my calendar new or download apps. Appointments were uploaded when I signed in with my Google Account. Makes it so much easier to use.

And the great thing: it already came with a softshell bag. Don't have to by one now. It's a German product, so no need to bring a plug with me to Germany when I go home for Christmas, as the German socket already came with it.

I am going to have a beer now (was just told that we are having a barbeque - just the three of us) and enjoy the rest of my weekend. Drop me a line if you feel like it.

P.S.: My colleague got me the Lidl Silvercrest sewing machine, so I can finally do some more sewing. More next time, I hope.