My three year old son, Ricky, is desparately in need of new sandals, and with finances being as they are at present, I am trying to save some money by buying them on Ebay.

I found some gorgeous little Timberland ones which are made out of wetsuit material, so they dry off very fast if he goes in the sea or even a puddle with them on! I wasted no time in making a bid.

Big mistake.

Ricky is regrettably the kind of child who must authorise all clothing purchases before you can proceed. Otherwise, he is as likely to decide he doesn’t like the article of clothing and will get quite annoyed! He is something of a Prima Donna. That’s just who he is, and normally I can get round the hissy fits easily enough by simply involving him when I am shopping for him. It’s actually fun to go clothes shopping with him because he takes such an interest. As I am never going to have a daughter, it’s good that he cares in a way, ha ha!

HOWEVER- he doesn’t like the sandals. At all. He wants pink. Every time we have the conversation, it results in a meltdown when he is told he will most likely be getting blue sandals. He even went to my Ebay page and pointed out a reddy pink pair of sandals further down the page! Unfortunately they weren’t the right size!

I am now torn between hysterical laughter and irritation at the situation. He kind of needs to learn that he can’t always get his way in life. I am certainly not one of those mothers who gives in to their little darling’s every last whim! He is not a spoiled child by any means- just has very clear ideas on what he likes and what he doesn’t!

If I get outbid on those shoes, I will have to rethink. I found a pair of red spiderman sandals on Amazon which might meet with more approval. Sigh.

Is pink still considered acceptable for men to wear? I know it was fashionable fairly recently. Those of you who know me in the outside world will confirm that fashion is not very high on my list of priorities in life!

It’s been more years than I care to think about since I last saw my friend Leigh- we were school friends but I haven’t seen her since then, but we’ve been chatting via Facebook and decided to meet up with our kids! She has a gorgeous daughter called Sophie who is almost exactly the same age as Ricky- only a few days between them- and we arranged to visit the butterfly house at Seaforde.

Of course, neither of us had thought to check that the place opened on a Sunday, so when we got there at about 12.30pm to find the gates shut and locked, it’s safe to say we were pretty disappointed! We wondered however if it was just too early, so decided to have some lunch before heading back.

We had lunch in the nearby village of Clough, in a place called Frenchie’s. Luckily the kids were on their best behaviour and we were able to have a lovely, relaxed lunch. Robbie I think ate more than Ricky and Soph put together- no wonder he has a fat wee tum on him!

Luckily by the time we were finished with lunch, the butterfly place was open, to the children’s delight! Ricky and Sophie got on like a house on fire!

It was a very warm day- the first few weeks of May are normally about all the summer we get here- so we let the kids play outside in the playground for a while before going into the butterfly house. The house itself was SOO hot- and humid too, I think all of us wilted a bit!

The butterflies themselves are stunning but I have to say I felt a little bit dosconcerted by them flapping around the place- there were these massive black ones and it nearly felt like they were bats or something, ha ha!

They also have turtles, which roam about the place, a selection of birds, some of which are loose within the building, and a reptile section. The kids really enjoyed looking around.

After we had looked at the various creatures in the butterfly house, we investigated the gardens and maze, both of which are renowned locally. I was surprised by the numbers of tourists there- tourism is still only starting to pick up in Northern Ireland but it’s nice to see that people are finally realising that not only is it a fairly safe place to visit (especially compared to a lot of other parts of the world!) but it’s also amazingly beautiful.

Ricky initially did not want to have anything to do with the maze. I think he maybe got some claustrophobia, but soon got over it and the kids had a blast finding their way to the middle, where they shared a bit of a smooch!!

Robbie, in the meantime, had recovered from the massive lunch he’d eaten and decided that he would in fact be needing the ice cream I had bought for myself. Here are before and after pics!

It was such a treat to get out for the day with Leigh and Sophie. I hope we can do it again soon! The Belfast Children’s Festival is coming up, so I think we may plan something around that. Thanks for a lovely day, Leigh!

Not sure I really get the premise of wordless Wednesday, but lots of my friends do it, so I just want to take a few minutes out of my working day to look at these pics and think, ahhhhhhhhhhh… These are from Donegal’s north coast, Mourne Mountains in Co. Down and the Antrim coast.

I reported a while ago that I bought a gorgeous long cardigan on ebay which I then discovered stank of mothballs/smoke and I was incredibly disappointed because it was something I’d been trying to get hold of for ages! Here’s the link, I can never seem to work out hyperlinking on here, even though Sara tried to tell me how before- sorry for being so thick Sara!

http://suzy2110.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/smoke-damage/

ANYHOW!!! When staying at my Aunt’s house last weekend, she had her great friends Desmond and Liz in for drinks, and the subject came up. Liz suggested dousing the garment in handwash cleaner and fabric softener overnight, weighted down in very little water and lots of cleaner. So, I put it in my pressure cooker overnight as described, then put it in a main wash, and to my delight, I do believe we’ve cracked it!

This was a very expensive cardigan (OK, so I got it at a knockdown rate on ebay, but still) so I will be utterly delighted if it turns out that I can wear it without my colleagues calling me “Stinky Suzy”. Well, no more than usual anyhow. Bearing in mind that I spent today being told by one of the engineers, “I can see your bra”. When I asked why it was that he was looking, he replied, very INSULTINGLY, “Any port in a storm”- so Gareth Thompson, if you are reading this, you’re going to be sent to Derry and Dublin EVERY time a call comes in for the next three months or so, and let that be a lesson to you!!!

Thanks to Liz for pointing out what should have been an obvious solution! You ROCK!!!

Whilst staying with my Aunt last Saturday, she took me out for lunch to Yoko’s Bistro in Coleraine. We had lunch there before around Christmas time and it was lovely, so I was delighted to be going back!

Set somewhat incongruously well away from the town centre, in the middle of an industrial estate, and sandwiched between a McDonald’s and a Pizza Hut, you could be forgiven for giving it a wide berth! However as soon as you cross the door, you realise that this is a lovely, modern restaurant, well fitted and attractive on the inside. There is a strong Japanese flavour to the decor, with a lot of dark wood and lighted panels giving a cool, modern feel.

Having been seated, we had to spend a while going through the massive menu! The choices are very broad, mostly with strong asian themes but with some European dishes. There are plenty of noodle options- this is becoming so fashionable these days, my aunt had a noodle bowl the last time we were there and it looked lovely!

I opted for the thai prawn cakes for my starter, whilst my Aunt had sesame prawn toast. We shared these and they were both lovely. The prawn cakes came with a delicious sweet chili sauce and were really special.

For my main course I chose sizzling king prawn with lemon grass and chilli. My aunt opted for duck with a cherry and plum brandy sauce. Both were delicious- my Aunt isn’t a big eater so I think I probably had more of hers than she did- for shaaame! My Aunt had ordered a side dish of garlic chips and these were rather undercooked, which is the only criticism I can level at the food! Everything was very plentiful and delicious, and delivered in a timely manner.

Service was good, very unobtrusive. The place was pretty busy for a Saturday lunchtime in such an out of the way location, and I understand that it’s jumping in the evenings! The people of Coleraine have been without this kind of place for too long- for a university town there are amazingly few decent places to eat- and it looks like they are all enjoying it a lot!

One funny thing- they had a sign pinned to the front door saying that they were training up a new chef and to complain if the food wasn’t good- bloody hell, guys, give the new person a chance!!! I’d be feeling pretty offended if I was the new chef! Who appears from my experience to be pretty good!

So, since what has now become known amongst my friends as “the Drennan’s review debacle”, I’ve realised how ridiculously naive I was about blogging before I started.

I never had any idea that anyone except for a few of my friends would ever read that review, and can’t believe the amount of interest and reads per day it generates, even now. I think to date about 3000 people have read that particular post of mine, and obviously not everyone liked what I had to say.

OK- so lesson learned- don’t write anything in the public domain unless you have a thick skin! Which, I have discovered, is not me- mine is apparently painfully thin. Two people got very personal for reasons that I still don’t understand, and don’t think I ever will. Water under the bridge- they are complete losers and not worthy of my thought. I certainly shouldn’t let them upset me (even though I can’t help it!!)

However since then, I have noticed that a LOT of people are finding my blog by using the search “suzy2110″. I am very uncomfortable with this because I feel like I am being stalked. I’ve actually come to very much regret using this ID when I started my blog- once again with the major naivete- as I was using that ID in a couple of other internet facilities and have had to shut these down. I have also tightened security on other areas of my online life because I don’t feel safe with it any more.

LESSON LEARNED.

However- I wonder if I am overreacting. Maybe it’s just friends of mine who use this search. Can anyone own up please? It would give me peace of mind.

And if you are searching on my user ID because of the Drennan’s review- WHY???

A  lot of my friends who read this blog have recently departed for greener (or less green, not sure!) pastures, or moved a long time ago. Some of them just aren’t from NI, lol! So, for those of you who don’t get to see my kids on a regular basis, here are some recent pics.

For those of you who DO see my kids on a regular basis, tough.

Consider yourselves spammed!!!!!

According to my three year old son, that is.

Ricky has recently become obsessed with being the winner, insofar as he perceives it! This includes all aspects of life as well- eating, walking to the car, everything! Yesterday I got him a couple of pieces of buttered bread for a snack and made the same for myself. I then made the gross tactical error of finishing eating before he did. This, to my utter amazement, resulted in him having a complete meltdown because he hadn’t won! In the end I got myself another slice of bread and ate it slowly while he finished so he could win- how ridiculous is that?!

Oh and going to the car yesterday- he ran on ahead and got there first, and then said “I am the winner! Yay!!” which made me smile, except that he followed that up with “and you are a BIG loser, Mummy!”

Reminds me of the time when I was out with my friend Keith somewhere and he jokingly accused me of being a loser. I had had a few drinks, and was hysterically laughing, and then tried to do the loser sign on my forehead- except being left handed I got it round the wrong way, resulting in all those around me collapsing with laughter and me confirming Keith’s point quite well!

Maybe he’s right!

Either way, this ultra competitiveness had better be a phase or affirmative action will have to be taken!! Can anyone tell me if they all go through this?

I get sent brochures by Property News and got this one which majorly tickled my funny bone!

http://www.propertynews.com/brochure.php?p=PNC146657

One can only wonder what kind of Freudian slip the estate agent has made, and what kind of eejits the vendors are for not noticing their mistake!

“There are not enough expletives to describe this house”

There’s a slim possibility- just a chance- that they mean superlatives.

And they wonder why the housing market is in such a mess!!!