Misadventures of Tutti and Bambi

With so many of our friends gone at work, many of us have forged better and closer friendships. I sit amongst a sea of empty desks and with Sean out on site, I can only really see Tullia since Colin is in shouting distance just not sight. Once we moved to Temple Bar, Rutti Tutti Fresh & Frutti and I have been doing the 3mile walk into work. Takes us about an hour, or more if we stop for our early morning coffee where yer man butters my scones.

She has also been showing us the little hidden jewels of Temple Bar. Recently we did the Temple Bar Revisited Group 91 - this tour was lead by Paul Keogh in conjunction with his wife Rachael who were a part of Group 91 back in the early 90's as up and coming architects who were instrumental in the revitalization of Temple Bar. Some of the more interesting ones were the Wooden Building by DeBlacam and Meagher. The wooden building is an elegant and carefully detailed modern brick-clad apartment tower within the former walled medieval city. The dark red brick and thick creamy pointing is beautifully off-set by the warmth of the hardwood panels.

Temple Bar Gallery and Studios by McCullough Mulvin Architect is an early 20th century industrial building has been adapted as a gallery and artist's studios. Rooftop studios sit as a separate metal-clad element on the square on a rendered base - a metal atelier above the city configured to provide external balconies. The composition in plan and elevation recalls 20th century painting. The two of us archi-tits spent most of the morning with Ben running around checking out all the architecture since this was the one weekend it was all open to the public.

Tullia also introduced me to the Irish Film Institute which is in a great building overlooking the Saturday marketplace where I get my plethora of fresh fruit and veg now. Some of the great romantic French comedies while the French Film Festival was going on at the IFI was 'Un Basier s'il vous plaît' (Shall we kiss) and 'Dialogue avec mon jardinier' (Conversations with my gardener).

We also have taken a beading class together with another friend Cathy where we got to make 2 necklaces and learned how to crochet. After our Thanksgiving celebration the girls came over for leftovers during our break so we could show Ben our creations. For the past few months Tutti and I have been beading like mad, don't be surprised if you end up with one of our fabulous creations for birthday and Christmas gifts! Currently we are trying to get in on the Saturday Markets here to sell our wares.

One of our more interesting conquests was going for a 'jog' in Phoenix Park and finding the deer. When I think of deer, I think of something I could ride, that could possibly kill me and stands 2 meters. These deer are about a meter tall even with the antlers and are all sorts of different colours. Black, brown, spotted, light, dark and nearly white. There are nearly 400 of them protected in the huge park but they do cull the heard from time to time. We also went as they were mating. We saw several fights, broken antlers, some fighting between girls, a few attempted mounts, but only one three second mounting that we did catch on film. We went out two different days and found the groups right in front of the papel cross just lounging about in the sun. We could get pretty close to them as well, within about 3 to 4 meters. Just amazing to have wildlife so close in the city. Just a few mile walk and you forget you are in a city centre.

In keeping up with our phyical fitness and no rugby in sight for a while, we have been doing yoga in the office in the Dome at work during lunch. Within 4 months of starting I went from not even being able to reach my toes to now folding in half with the teached climbing on top of my back to give my muscles a better stretch. Pretty awesome stuff. And headstands all by myself. Some day I will be able to walk on my hands like my dad did when I was a kid.

It is just nice to have some live so close to that you can pop over and watch a movie and drink a bottle of wine just to unwind after a stressful day. And it is nice to have a partner in crime for our little mischievous laughs, giggles, and wacky wig filled ideas. With us living so close we have also be co-hosting dinner events of cakes and tea. For Ruthie's birthday we tried our hand at a new muffin recipe which was a disaster since we just broke up the candy bar instead of having chocolate chips which gave our muffins a solid chocolat bottom. I like to stress bake since it is so easy to follow a recipe when the rest of your world is in chaos.

there once was a girl named Bambi
who was nothing sweet like candi
she befriended Tutti
who was super fruti
and together they are just dandi!