Every summer has it's own story...

I'll be honest, 2016 hasn't been one of my favourite years - Brexit, Prince dying, a bad knee wound and a never ending winter, made it feel like I was wading through treacle for any joy. But finally, summer rolled around and this year - as usual - I packed it with adventures to fill the kids' days and also provide me with some much needed change of scenery.

First up I discovered my fav TV show of this year and now the summer seems unthinkable without the wonder and joy of Stranger Things. Little Eleven brought out every maternal bone in my body. A total gem. Miss it at your peril - on Neflix now.

Then came a trip away with a family - they had the villa next door. We walked across lava fields in craters which the sea had once filled - picked up lizards and shells... We swam in crystal waters, ate delicious prawns and sipped beers and rose all day long. It was bliss. 

After a quick pitstop home I headed to my motherland... and had three of my favourite weeks of the year. Yes, I had to write, but in between, I caught up with friends and family, swam in the sea, and enjoyed my nightly (with children catching Pokemon) walks along here (ending with a swift Shortcross gin in Pier 36... would have been rude not to...)

We also did a tonne of rock pooling.....

                                                                             

There were old schoolmate meet ups... (ladies aren't you glad I kept those letters you wrote back in '91??)

And I got amongst the brilliant Open House Festival that is run yearly in Bangor. In only it's second season - it still managed to be packed with foodie, theatre, music and drinks events all through August. Flicking through the programme I decided the quirkier the better so...  First up was Big Telly's wonderful improvised play on The Faerie Thorn... a bewitching yarn with life lessons for all. Hilarious and bizarre, with a Q and A with the author afterwards... Go see when it hits theatres next year... 

The following week I headed over to a gin tasting session at Fealty's bar where I discovered Hoxtons gin (you sip with cranberry to compliment the coconut and grapefruit flavours) and converted to The Botanist - an amazing gin... My gin partner in crime had a train to catch to Dublin the next morning - amazingly she made it. Hats off to you Patricia... 

Unbelievably in Ireland the sun shone and my kids went off each day from 10-4 to play tennis at my old club. They loved it... I wandered around lost in nostalgia, remembering my days there as a glass collector and barmaid... Meanwhile, my mother is moving house so she handed me a huge bag - in it had every letter I'd ever received until I was 21... There were my old vinyl records, photos, wedding dress, school uniform and postcards, stickers, keepsakes from a lifetime ago... Where the hell did 20 plus years go? 

I sneaked my son into his first 15 film - a rite of passage. All went well apart from the Durex advert and a trailer for a creepy horror called 'Lights out.' Thankfully we were both entertained by a super tanned and ripped Blake Lively avoiding being eaten by a great white shark.. and we still managed to get on our wetsuits and get in the sea when we all went off to Donegal...

Yes, that is me doing a handstand...

We stayed at the glorious country house hotel Rathmullan - where there is no better breakfast in Ireland and everything is discreetly put on your room - which feels like you are drinking free dark and stormies, until you get the bill and nearly pass out.

We started a new tradition - Ridge and Rounders. Bring a bottle of fine red wine, plastic cups, a bat and stumps, and race around like a lunatic, stopping for a red wine warmer and then a dip in the freezing sea. Nothing beats it.

Rathmullan is easily one of the highlights of the year. It is one of the few hotels I have stayed at with kids, where when it rains, you almost feel relieved. You can jump in the indoor pool or sink into the sofas by the fire and eat cream tea scones with tea. The kids run feral (all good until the bar rings you asking you to collect them.... eek) and you spend your days salty, sandy and smiling. I'm always devastated to leave - but the waistband of my jeans less so. 

And it wasn't just me who had fun.... the kids had a ball....

There is no greater joy than catching a teensy crab... (special thanks to Ella McClelland for these beautiful photographs - she has an eye that one...) 

And so... after a 5 weeks we are back here.. to sunny England, and a flurry of school uniforms to sort out and a to do list as long as my arm... All ready for that back-to -school feeling. Except, I'm not really ready to let go of summer yet. I cried when I left Ireland... Home is... home. The people, the seafood, the great gin... (I thank you Muriels - the best bar I know)...

Most of all I miss the sea. I forgot how important it is to me, to be near it. To breathe in the sea and air and breathe out all the stresses of life... When my kids are grown, when their schooling ends, I will return for good. No question. 

PS To Katy and Fergus and the Pokemon walks, Team McC in Rathmullan, V and Nat for the dinners, Carly for the coffee (and James for being cute) to Fealty's for the liquor and Patricia for the craic, for the chat after 25 years with my fav teacher Mr Cinnamond, the wonderful week in Lanza with the Porthouse massive, for the best lunch of my year with you Al, and for the gossip the MCB ladies.... Most of all thanks to my Mum for letting us rabble descend on you... Summer 2016 may just be my best yet.