Baby boutique:Looking for something a bit different in baby products? Check out Nature's Nursery, a new shop in Tallaght, Dublin 24, that's full of eco-friendly and inventive goods.
The aim is to offer parents a wider choice, with a broad range of reusable nappies, baby slings and fair-trade wooden toys, according to owner Nicola Whelan. "As well as the more conventional goods, we also stock unusual things that you don't find in the high-street shops," she says. "There are so many great products that are available outside of Ireland, or only through the internet, and we want to bring them to a mainstream shop." Those products include cute Wheely Bug ride-on toys (left, with Whelan), baby hammocks and chewy, dried iris root, to help relieve the pain of sprouting teeth.
Whelan's favourites are the funky reusable nappies, which she has been selling through her website for more than a year, and which she has used on both her children. "We want to show people that reusable nappies can sit alongside any other baby products, and they are a great alternative to disposables."
See www.naturesnursery.ieor call to the shop at Unit 11, Brookfield Enterprise Centre, Rossfield Avenue, Tallaght, Dublin 24. Claire O'Connell
On the trail of fabulous food
Happiness is . . . the first satisfying sip of an attitude-adjuster on a Friday evening. But don't limit your choices - you can expand your cocktail repertoire at a "Concocting Cocktails" evening run by Fabulous Food Trails and taught by award-winning mixologist Paul Lambert on the top floor of Clarendon Cafe and Bar, 32 Clarendon Street, Dublin 2. Twice a month, starting on Wednesday, September 19th, you can learn how to shake, muddle and blend your favourite drinks, while Lambert hones your technique and advises on the correct glasses and the best spirit brands for each cocktail. Fabulous Food Trails has also introduced a Japanese Trail, during which chef Yoshio Miyachi will share his secrets of successful sushi making, as well as cooking a range of traditional Japanese dishes. Artisan sakis and beers are on the menu, too. The venue is Fallon & Byrne Food Emporium, Exchequer Street, Dublin 2. For dates and prices, see www.fabulousfoodtrails.ie. Marie-Claire Digby
Drumming up support for woodpeckers
Patthana in Kiltegan Village, Co Wicklow (which featured in this magazine last Saturday), is that rare thing: a garden that is both sophisticated and wildlife-friendly. Its owners, TJ Maher and Simon Kirby, are opening the gates to this small gem of a place next weekend in support of the Irish Wildlife Trust's project to reintroduce the great spotted woodpecker to Ireland. The erstwhile native woodpecker (which is still an occasional visitor) is a "keystone" species, meaning that it plays an influential part in an ecosystem: in this case by providing homes for countless other species. Its jolly plumage and manic activity are also guaranteed to put our own species into a very good mood, as well as urging us to ponder the compelling question, why don't woodpeckers get headaches?
Patthana garden, Kiltegan Village, Co Wicklow (five miles southeast of Baltinglass on the R747) is open 1pm-7pm on September 1st and 2nd; 086-1944547. Jane Powers
Gastro-unique
Monique McQuaid has been involved in the world of food for more than 20 years, qualifying from Ballymaloe Cookery School and then running her own firm providing cuisine to private clients. Her love of good food was nurtured by these assignments in France, Greece and Italy, where she picked up local recipes and ideas. Recently, she started to give cookery classes from her own very chic kitchen in Greystones, Co Wicklow. The approach is informal - it helps that she's very charming and friendly - and the recipes taught are "practical, fun and easy".
As a qualified and registered classical homeopath, McQuaid is aware of how a good diet can help one's overall wellbeing, so the nutritional aspects of good food and local ingredients are key to her classes. The next round starts on September 12th or 13th and runs until mid-October (see her website for the full-day and evening-class schedules; www.gastromonique.ie) and cost €240 for a course of six lessons that covers a multitude of topics, or €150 for three lessons that focus on food for entertaining and dinner parties.
Classes are limited to 12 people, which allows for requests about techniques or recipes. She also does one-off workshops on Saturday mornings (€75 for three hours) with tricks of the trade regarding fish, Asian food, cocktails and canapes. Eoin Lyons
Upstairs, downstairs
"Don't move, improve" would seem to be the best response to the
current flux in property prices, and a useful guide to how to
extend your home up, down and out has just been published by
Collins Press. It's by Elizabeth Wilhide, who has previously
contributed to Terence Conran's classic home-decorating books, and
this volume has some good ideas in it, too, including ways of
squeezing storage and seating space out of otherwise wasted
stairwells. We'd never seen drawers built into stairs before, as
shown here, so we thought it might inspire some clever klutz out
there. After all, happiness is nothing if not lots and lots of
storage space. Converted by Elizabeth Wilhide is published
this month by Collins, £20 in UK.
Patsey Murphy
A night on the couch
Deirdre McNamara has come up with a very clever and instantly likable idea: a long, narrow, laptop duvet, perfect for snuggling up in the car or on the couch. She made a limited number of them last year, and the response was so positive that she now distributes them all over the country. She calls them and they come in a great range of colours.
Filled with a mix of 70 per cent down and 30 per cent feathers, they're box-stitched in combed cotton so that they stay evenly filled. Best of all, they can be machine washed and come in a nifty colour co-ordinated carrier bag for travel or storage.
At about €50, they make a perfect gift for students off to college next week, for anyone convalescing or for your favourite couch potato. See www.blankie-indulgeyourself.comfor stockists. Patsey Murphy
Gaga for the GAA
If you don't know your buataisí peil from your feisteas, you're not in your Gagababy gear, kid. Gagababy is a new website selling babywear in county colours, with matching boots, hats and even pint-size hurling sticks for dedicated GAA parents.
Gagababy is the brainchild of Mairead O'Sullivan, a mad-for-the-game northside mammy who two years ago tried in vain to find true-blue colours for her newborn son, and so came up with the idea of making babywear herself inspired by the culture and traditions of Gaelic games. So far, she's covered five counties - Derry, Dublin, Louth, Cork and Tyrone - and visitors to her website can select 100 per cent cotton Babygros, hats and little leather football boots with anti-slip soles from €19.50 for the boots to €36.99 for the kit. Her 15cm or 20cm mini hurleys in solid ash, engraved with the child's name (€8.99), make a perfect christening gift. www.gagababy.ie Deirdre McQuillan