Open Salon on 31st Jan, 1st, 2nd February and 7th, 8th & 9th February 2012

Hairdressing 9:30am – 3:30pm

Wash/BlowDry 8 euro
Wash/cut/Blow Dry 15 euro
Conditioning Treatment/Blow Dry 14 euro
GHD Curls 15 euro
Up Style 15 euro
Colour & Blow Dry 20 euro
Colour/Cut/Blowdry 25 euro
Colour Floodlights/Blow dry 30 euro
Colour Floodlights/Cut/Blow Dry 35 euro
T Bar Mesh & blow dry 30 euro
T Bar Mesh Cut & blow dry 35 euro
Full Head Mesh & Blow dry 40 euro
Full Head Mesh Cut & Blow dry 45 euro

Complimentary Massage Therapy 9:30am – 8:00pm

Hopi Ear Candling 10 euro
Full Body Massage 25 euro
Back,Face & Scalp Massage 15 euro
Reflexology 25 euro
Deluxe Manicure 15 euro
Deluxe Pedicure 20 euro
Eyelash Tint 6 euro
Eyebrow shape 5 euro
Eyebrow tint 4 euro
Eye combi 10 euro
Full Facial (1hr 20mins) 25 euro
Mini Facial 10 euro

All monies raised go to a local Charity.

Note All treatments are carried out by Trainee Therapists and Hair Stylists under supervision.

To Book an appointment contact the school on 087 9419776

Sligo College of Further Education is at Ballinode Community College. (Apologies about the photo…I didn’t have a pampering photo to use).

I fed the ducks…the seagulls joined in as well. I wasn’t the only one with the idea of feeding the ducks.

It was lovely and peaceful. I caught sight of a cormorant. I tried to get closer to him to get a better photo but he flew away so below is the best shot I got.

Come Dine with Me Ireland are coming to Sligo/Leitrim in February and are looking for foodies to take part!!

If you or anyone you know would like to take part then please email cdwmtv3@itv.com, or visit www.tv3.ie/dine ASAP for an application form (& all T&Cs) or call and leave your name, age and contact details:
1530 999 499

In November I won a competition on twitter for a riding lesson at Markree riding stables. It’s almost 30 years since I was on a horse so although I used to go on a weekly basis I’m more than a little rusty.

So I was a bit apprehensive today when I set off for my lesson. Lucy came along with me too as she used to go riding when she was younger. Caroline was there to greet us and Niamh showed us around the stables and introduced us to some of the beautiful horses.

The stables were a hive of activity, there was a great atmosphere about the place and everyone was really friendly.

This is Silver which was the horse I was riding, he was very big. I thought I was going to need a crane to lift me up but there was a step so it wasn’t too bad. I felt really sorry for him having to lug me around.

We were given hats, boots and crops to borrow and we went to join the other people having a lesson.

Caroline is a brilliant teacher, she was able to tell us where we were going wrong and how to correct things. There is so much to learn and to take in.

We really enjoyed the lesson. I managed to remember how to do the rising trot and I also managed to stand up for a few seconds. I’m not very good at ‘steering’ the horse though and I’m dreadful at the sitting trot, my backside doesn’t want to stay in the saddle…maybe next time I should bring super glue.

When Silver started to canter this is what I looked like! Or what I imagine I looked like. This is a drawing by Thelwell. I did the wrong thing and let out a little scream which Silver thought meant carry on so he did. Luckily I managed not to slide off although it was close!

After the lesson Caroline let us go outside with the horses to get some photos so that was good.

It was then time to dismount, which was fine until we tried to walk. I was like John  Wayne! My legs were like lead, goodness knows if I’ll be able to walk tomorrow.

All in all we had a really brilliant time. I felt slightly motion sick after the lesson. I’ve no idea if that’s normal! Mind you I can’t even play computer games because of it, next time I’ll have to take a kwell I would recommend Markree Riding Stables to everyone. It’s really well run, the people are great and the horses are lovely.

On Thursday I decided to climb Knocknarea mountain in Sligo. I’ve done it twice before and it’s more of a walk than a climb so I thought I’d go for it again.

It started out as a lovely day, the sun was shining and it wasn’t too cold. It turned out not to be the best idea I ever had though. The minute I got to Queen Maeves cairn the heavens opened with not only rain but hailstones.

So the few photos I got, I took on the way up. The only company I had were sheep. It’s great because part of the walk is actually through open farmland and the sheep are just roaming around. The did look at me like I was mad and I can understand why.

Converse are not suitable shoes for this walk, which is on rock, stones and mud. With the rain I more or less slid back down the mountain. It took me about an hour and ten minutes to walk up and back. By the time I got back to the car I was completely soaked to the skin. I had to put a freezer bag on my car seat because I didn’t want to soak the car. I drove to Dunnes and luckily they had a sale on so I bought some new clothes and had to get changed. A lesson has been learned!

I will walk it again on a better day.

I had a walk around Doorly Park during the week.  I love how the place looks when we actually get to see a bit of sun….which is a rare occurrence in Ireland.

It’s a popular place for people to walk and now as well as the walk there is also the outdoor gym. Before Christmas some new machines were added along the walkway so there is plenty for people to do.

When I was there the other day I decided to turn right instead of doing the looped walk on the left. There is a lot of digging and construction going on opposite the sports centre and I wanted to see if I could get out that way and walk back down. I couldn’t because it’s blocked off due to the construction but it looks like it’s going to be great when it’s finished and will add more onto the Doorly Park walk. It also looks like there is going to be a sports field or maybe a race track. Anyway I carried on going and walked up a really steep slope.

I ended up on the ‘Holy Well’ road. The view was lovely although next time I do it hopefully the weather might be better.

I turned right at the top of the slope and headed back to the race course and along to Doorly Park. Of course the heavens decided to open and I ended up running most of the way back. My legs are still recovering.

I had a fantastic competition running on my blog in December. It was a gift box from Funky Goddess. The winner was picked at random and was Fionnuala. I emailed her on December 30th to give her the good news but I didn’t hear anything back. So Fionnuala if you are out there please get in touch. I have a lovely ‘Welcome to womanhood’ gift box for you.

Thursday was the wrap party for Moone Boy in Boyle. I had a really rotten day, my mums dog took ill so I had to bring him to the vet. He needed surgery and I had to pick him up again in the evening. So although I had planned to bring the kids to Boyle I more or less decided not to go as I was really tired. I saw a friend of mine on twitter was going and had posted she was hoping to meet me. So I didn’t want to let her down and we went to Boyle.

I’m delighted we went because I got to meet my new friend and her family. It was lovely to meet her in real life as I’ve known her through twitter for quite a while now. The wrap party was held in Daly’s Bar and it was packed! There was a great atmosphere and there were pictures of Chris O’Dowd around the pub including one of him in the Boyle football team when he was a young lad.

The Rivulets were providing the music for the night. They were excellent. My camera was acting up on the night, hence the pretty rubbish photos.

Jono and Lucy were really pleased to meet Chris. Johnny Vegas also turned up but I think we left before he arrived.

It’s been a fantastic week for Boyle. There has been a lot of talk about Moone Boy and it’s great to see it being mentioned on so many radio stations and in the national and local papers. The Boyle people are really friendly and are delighted to think their town will be on TV soon. I can’t wait to see the show.

My friend took a video of Chris O’Dowds speech from the night:

First of all I got to meet Steve Coogan who is also in the sitcom. He was very nice. During a short break Chris came over to say hello to the few onlookers that were there. He is such a nice man, no airs and graces on him at all. I have to say the people in Boyle are such a friendly bunch of people. I had a good chat with a few of them and especially with Sean who is Chris’s dad. He is a great photographer and takes some brilliant shots.

I thought it was really interesting seeing the show being filmed. I just saw a short scene filmed and they had to keep repeating it over again a few times. There are 6 big trucks full of equipment in the car park of the Royal Hotel including a catering truck.

Boyle is a lovely town and it’s nice to see the spotlight on the place and hopefully it will encourage tourists to come and visit.

I did a short bit of filming, you can’t really see too much because I didn’t want to get in the way.

People who are considering their college options are being asked to submit photographs of themselves with the IT Sligo Prospectus, in the Imagine IT Sligo Photo Competition. The more wonderful or weird the location, the better!

The competition is an interactive approach to encourage prospective students to get more familiar with the 50-odd CAO options we offer.

All the details for this great prize are on here. Good luck