The summer so far...

So, what have we been doing this summer, during my blog-absence?

We have been baking heaps of soda bread.

Soda bread with homemade blacurrant jam.

Soda bread with tomatoes sliced on top.

It's an addiction =]

We have enjoyed gala week, and the regattas, and the markets

Craft fairs, exhibitions, and watching the Galway Hookers race.

We had a very special third birthday party-

A picnic at a country park, with lots of friends and fun

Plus homemade vegan birthday cake

We've climbed mountains

Spent almost every at-home day down at the beach

Swung on huge rope swings up in the woods

Made use of the new park

Gone to the library or aquarium when it's rainy

( or indulged in some puddle-jumping)

......and yestersday......

We adopted a new member of the family.I was cycling home from a day in the woods with my friend and her children, when suddenly DD yelled "CAT!" Sure enough, sitting by the side of the road was a tiny black kitten.

I knew it was far too young to be out, especially at 5pm on a grey, rainy afternoon. So with some difficulty I removed DD from her seat, dumped the bike, and caught it.

It was either feral or abandoned, because it was skin and bones, and was covered in burrs.

I wrapped it in my jacket, tucked it under my arm, and brought it home.

Meet Murphy (I lobbyed for Chairman Meow, but was laughed out of court)

The number of animals we've found and rescued is getting ridiculous. There's been a good few cats, a couple of dogs, a goose, a heron, a baby seal, innumerable small birds, a baby jackdaw and at eight months pregnant I was to be found kneeling by the stove, trying to spoon water into the mouth of a sick otter cub.

We won't rehome the kitten though...he is very much ours now, though Cat the First isn't impressed. Still, he got over it when Cat the Second made her first, help-me-I'm-starving appearance, not to mention the great Puppy Arrival.