Lower Lough Bray

I was listening to the podcasts on Newstalk today when I stumbled upon this - Michael Fewer - Walking in Wicklow. I use Newstalk to stay in touch with what's going on in Ireland since I crossed the sea.

It's a beautiful description of the lakes and surroundings of Lower Lough Bray. The Lough or lake is situated in the Wicklow mountains and is only 30mins drive from Dublin city centre. I may have been brought there as a child with my brother, father and mother but for the life of me can't remember. After listening to this podcast I have every intention of bringing my own family there. Its wild and unspoilt, and to me places like this are the soul of Wicklow.

All credit for the photos of the stunning lakes goes to Michelle Kenna.

Isle of Wight Christmas

Thats it, it's all booked - we are all off to the Isle of Wight this Christmas. Clarah, me, the three kids and parents are all off for a holiday on the island. We are going to a holiday resort called Gurnard Pines. Gurnard is just outside Cowes and only about 10mins away by car from the ferry port. We'll be staying in a 3 bedroom bungalow but there are lots of different types of accommodation. The facilites look great and there's lots to do and to keep the kids entertained.

• Play areas for the kids


• A creche


• Indoor swimming pool


• Outdoor swimming pool


• Tennis courts


• A bar (Very important, especially when you have two Irish men around)


• Woodland all around the resort

It's going to be the first time Clarah's been able to bring Ben away on a holiday. Tiernan won't really know whats going on, but by then he should be crawling. I wouldn't be suprised if he can say a few word by then, like "More turkey" lol. Its going to be such a special Christmas with our baby, the kids and my parents flying over from Ireland.

Heres a google map of the are showing the resort of Gurnard Pines (circled in red), the large ferry port to the right and the beach above.

Here's a You Tube video of Gurnard Pines. We are all really looking forward to it.

Back Blogging

I'm back again after another spell away from blogging. I'm now working for an ever expanding company called Web on High. They are based in Newbury and specialise in creating web sites that make money. We create sites that rank well in Google and thus bring in revenue. I've been working there for over a year now, and have got to work on some pretty big sites.

The even bigger news is, I am now a father. Tiernan Joseph Patrick Carton was born on the 14th of July and weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces. Yes he has my surname, as Clarah wanted it that way, seeing as we plan to marry one of these days.

Tiernan has changed our lives big time, it's been stressful at times but mostly it's been great. Clarah and I have become so strong as a couple and I feel like there's nothing we couldn't handle together. Tiernan's been sleeping well most nights and we both get enough sleep, me more than Clarah I must add. He'll be 16 weeks old on Tuesday and he's full of babble. I could swear at times I can hear him say "hello" or "thank you".

Ben and Beth just love him, and entertain him any way they can. Ben reads him stories from his Ben 10 books. Tiernan loves been spoken too and Beth even makes an attempt at singing.

He's getting big now and able to hold his head up. We've got him one of those Bumbos. They are great and when he's not too tired he sits up in it. I was a bit worried that it wouldn't support him properly, but its great, it has a back to it and the whole seat is moulded perfectly to hold him. We managed to pick ours up from Mothercare.

We had a look at the Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo while we were there and were impressed. We tried Tiernan out in it and thought it was great. He'll be able to bounce in it and play with lots of different interactive toys all around the swivelling seat. I think that's got to be his Christmas present from us as he's so active and we know he'll love it.