The rain in spain

...and also in Ireland. Boy, is it raining right now!

Last week, we residents of Dublin were enjoying a real Indian summer. Anyone who had packed away the sandals and shorts for another year had to root them out and there were last barbecues going on in every second garden.

Well, today it's a whole 'nother story. The temperature dropped, it's windy and autumn is really in the air. For me, this is the perfect excuse to buy a proper winter coat; a real wool one. I've been saving my pennies and although some people consider it a tourist trap, following my visit there with my mom last year, I have a sneaking foodness for the Blarney Woolen Mills and will be going there on a fact-finding mission later today. My grandmother always told me, "You can save money on most clothes, but nothing beats a good coat." Well, we come from a place where the winters are serious and in consequence I have the deepest respect for a good coat. I get most of my clothes in flea markets and  hippie stalls around town so my thinking here is that I deserve something warm and snug, and costing a little more than five Euros.

Anyways, on the entertainment front the people of Dublin are doing their usual thing and flocking out in droves no matter what the weather or the international news. There's a festival on in the suburb of Skerries this coming weekend which looks like a lot of fun. I may not be able to go because I'm working hard so's to take some time off when my friend Vicki gets here in October, but it looks like a good one!

I guess that's it from me today, because I'm off to work in the restaurant. I've graduated recently from doing the simplest jobs, including vegetable preparation, to actually making minestrone. Look at me! Last year, about all I could manage was opening a tin of soup; now I'm churning it out and selling it to customers who give every impression of enjoying it. That might not sound like such a big deal, but I'm very proud!