Richael's Head Space

I have had some of the most magical days.

Friday was lovely...I spent a few hours at Jane's, just being there...Then walked home, in the crisp and frost evening, to feed the donkeys, walk and feed the dogs and cats, and do a touch of housework, before I left again...Jane picked me up with the kids at about half 8...9ish, and we went back to her's to watch Black Swan, in the sitting room, with a fire down, home made popcorn and marshmallows, all curled up. It was really nice...even if the movie is a tad bit dark...but I was expecting it.

But then

We watched Adventureland, which is a guaranteed crowd pleaser... :)

Saturday, I woke up, moments after Meabh, and went down to the kitchen, to have lovely porridge with a cup of tea..and apple juice, finished off with half a bagel with cream cheese and plum jam...yummy :D

Then, because we had been talking about it a bit, I joined Jane when she did her meditation

And I felt the benefits instantly

So Im going to take that up from now on.

After all housey things were sorted, and kittens bid farewell, we set off on our little adventure, another thing that has been talked about many times over that past few months. But Saturday was the perfect day for it. 

It was just out of this world.

Saturday was clear, the light looked as if it was being filtered with honey stained glass, but it was so cold, you didn't forget it was winter.

Ballaghadereen is in essence 1 town away, its the far side of Swinford, so it takes about 30 mins to get there...give or take. Once past Swinford, the road opens up, the altitude changes, and all that you can see are the Sligo mountains. That journey always reminds me of going to Mantua with Jane, years ago at this stage, Or driving to Dublin with Eoghain.

We talked in the car and came to the conclusion that even if the Meet you Here cafe wasn't open, we wouldn't get discouraged, and we would make a day of it anyhow :)

Luckily for us, it was indeed open, and after we parked the car, we hesitated for just a moment. The time had come...it felt like Christmas morning, when your still young enough to get that thrill out of Christmas...before you start worrying about money, and materialism, and need and want etc etc...

It was a very pure moment.

Greeting us at the door, to the little (would have been someone's house at some point) Irish Yellow cafe, was a cluster of potted trees, with fake flower garlands around the base...an OPEN sign, a sunlight porch, and possibly the most polite and gentlemanly 10/11/12 year old boy that I have ever had the pleasure to meet. 

Instantly, the fire in the stove, warmed our bones, and I began to attempt to take in my surroundings. 

French music danced happily out of an old styled, free standing radio, on top of which was a bird's cage, with a de-perched white owl. Behind the counter, was a wall of shelves, which had glass jars, half filled with spaceships, gobstoppers, jelly beans...beautifully decorated tins with tea, an old wooden spinning wheel, old books, a waist high, comical statue of a goose, fairy lights with flowers, enlarged flowers in every corner for that matter, candles, lanterns and paintings covered every available wall space.

We walked into the 3 rooms off the main one, deciding where we would perch ourselves, and decided that the first table inside the door, felt right.

Seamus, the little boy who was serving us, was so attentive I couldn't get over it...full of chat, and very sweet. We started off with two capuchinos, which were so so yummy, we decided to get two more. I had french toast, which came with an apple salad, and a slice of avocado, and Jane had a ham and brie toastie. To finish off, mostly I think because we didn't want to leave, we got some dessert. I had a lemon tart, which was more like lemon cheesecake, that came with cream and tiny little orbs of frozen cream and raspberry coulis, which was absolutely scrum-diddlie-umptious, while Jane had a raspberry and almond tart, which was also to die for.

It was ever so magical, and everyone who came in to the cafe were friendly. I really felt as if I was in a scene from Harry Potter or Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I couldn't stop looking around at everything, and smiling. It was like perpetual summer in there.