Music, cake and loom bands

 Hello!

Beautiful petunias in Limerick

 I have recently come back from a lovely trip to Ireland - one of the best things that's happened to me in a long time. It was so nice to see my family, to attend my uncle's beautiful wedding, and simply to have a change of scene.

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 We were based in Limerick, a city I adore and which featured in my list of Top 5 River Cities for the Cuckoo Review. It is especially gorgeous at this time of year, and I enjoyed wandering around eating crêpes and photographing swans on the River Shannon.

Swan

 We also spent a day in Galway, where my father was born, and I liked it a lot - I love being near the sea. We met up with a couple of old friends, which was really nice.

Salthill, Galway

 Much time over the week was spent making bracelets and Despicable Me minions from loom bands! It was a brilliant holiday and, of course, I heard many songs that will now always bring me back there.

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 Firstly, Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl played both on the radio while we were driving somewhere, and at the wedding.

 Every single time I hear the beginning of this, I think it is I Can See Clearly Now, and then I'm surprised when it's not! Fortunately, I prefer Van!

 I am a big Morrison fan - I love his song The Queen of the Slipstream - yet this, perhaps his joint best known song with Moondance, sort of passed me by when I was younger. I heard bits and pieces of it, but never sat down and listened to it properly.

 I really like it now, though, and it will forever remind me of dancing at the wedding. Whenever I hear it I will wish I had someone else to hand to dance with!

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 Another song from the wedding is Neil Diamond's Cracklin' Rosie.

 I first encountered this on Stars in Their Eyes. I liked it. Then I heard the original, which to me sounded like a completely different song! Not singing-wise - the Stars in Their Eyes guy was pretty good if I remember rightly - the melody just seemed different.

 Nevertheless, I do still like it, and will now always associate it with one particular anecdote.

 It was the wedding reception, at a hotel in Limerick, and I was sitting in the bar with various relatives, chatting. I decided to go outside for some air. I hadn't realised it was raining, but I didn't mind.

 Then I discovered that the door was locked from the inside and I couldn't get in again. I could hear Cracklin' Rosie being played inside, which I was pleased about. I didn't mind being out at all; it was quite atmospheric. The night was blue and the rain was light and it was really nice.

 I wasn't there for long before one of the hotel staff found me and let me back in. It was a fun, unique experience - and one I will remember!

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 A third song that I heard a lot as it was on the music channels frequently is Chandelier by Sia.

 I was doing a shift volunteering at the Book-Cycle - like a free library/bookshop - and I heard the first few bars of this and was unimpressed. Then I heard the whole thing and I was impressed. It suits her voice and it is really nice and quite different to other sings in the charts at the moment.

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 I had a wonderful week in Ireland and it gave me some amazing memories - connected, as always, to music. The story of my life.

 And if you are wondering what the "cake" in the title refers to, we had two amazing cakes - the wedding cake, which was delicious and stunningly decorated, and a cake which my Granma bought to celebrate the summer birthdays among my family, of which there are a lot! That was lovely as well.

The wedding cake, designed by Gill Corrigan

The summer birthdays cake!

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

Songs: Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison - 1967
Cracklin' Rosie - Neil Diamond - 1970
Chandelier - Sia - 2014