At the weekend , whilst enjoying a day out at Ballintoy, I was able to pick up some mackerel directly from the fisherman, thus cutting out the middleman (I have nothing against middlemen per se,  everyone is entitled to a living I suppose) but it was a much nicer feeling to buy direct from source. What has this got to do with open source free software or even the idea of open source everything? Maybe nothing at all, but I liked it.

For now I couldn’t resist cross posting from flickr and choose this photo taken in “Central de Abastos” on the last day of ur holiday. We were dandering around the city buying some last minute chocolate, mezcal and other goodies before our flight. We also took the opportunity to to do some photography, some of wich can be found in my flickr.

These likely lads had scoped me snapping away and in a way it seems only they copuld, indicated that theywould like me to take a photo of their stall. Global marketing?? I think not. Anyway I’m sure they never thought their mugshots would end up online. Say cheese boys!

We really did enjoy our mexican holiday (whoa an intersite link, way to go Dave) and are often found trying to relive some memories of our short time there. Another trip is in the planning but only on the proviso that we can both speak enough Spanish to get by. By that I mean more than saying hello and thank-you, I mean being able to converse at a basic level without resorting to my most used phrase on the trip “Hablas usted Ingles” which as we all know has nothing to do with the greasy, medallion wearing singer, and simply means, “Do you speak English” and in my mind translates as ” Hi I don’t respect you or your country and am just another tourist who can’t be bothered to try and learn a little of your language so we can converse in a friendly manner in your native tongue” ( of course to be pedantic I could argue that I would need to learn native south American Indian languages, but most of them speak Spanish too)

Anyone else out there enjoying themed nights or weekends, in terms of food, drink and activities? Do share. Now is the perfect opportunity to leave a comment.

Z and I had a great valentine weekend culminating in a delicious meal at the Blackstone Restaurant, Ballymena. In my opinion one of the finest eating establishments in the borough. What did we have? Thai spiced fish cakes with home made sweet chilli sauce and Wild mushroom and garden pea risotto with smoked maple cured bacon & parmesan (outstanding) Followed by Roast Barbary duck breast with a cabernet sauvignon and agen prune sauce with celeriac mash and Pan fried rib eye steak with provencal tomatoes, dauphinoise potatoes and parsley and shallot butter. Then despite begining to feel bloated we tucked into Sticky toffee pudding with caramel sauce and Vanila ice-cream and Fresh Fruit pavlova. All washed down with a bottle of Pedro Negro, a good Chilean Red. Reminded me of my Chilean Cave Diving Guide in Mexico..his name was Piedro.

The weekend was spent in Mourne, staying in a very pleasant settlement of cottages called Hanna’s Close in Killkeel, Co Down. very comfortable and I would recommend to anyone. Some pictures amongst this lot. The dogs and us had a great time hiking through the mountains ascending both “the Windy Gap” and “Hare’s Gap”. For those of you who know the area, we also hiked along the ‘Brandy Pad’ which was an old smuggling route for moving stuff up country. Last time I walked the trail I was about 11 years old and no I wasn’t moving dodgy gear.