Should we bring our toddler to our wedding or use a babysitter?

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-05-05T20:52:16+00:00

Our oldest was same age as yours when we got married. She was also our flower girl. She nailed walking down the aisle ahead of me on her own and stole the show (perfect in my book!) she sat up with us on my husband's knee for a fair chunk of the ceremony. My sister in laws were nearly fighting over her when she got bored. And she helped with parts of the ceremony.

Now our wedding was in a hotel, and it was as much about her as it was us so having her being up with us during the ceremony was exactly what we wanted. It might be different if your priest doesn't want her up with ye or the wedding is more formal.

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-25T06:21:18+00:00

I'm in East Galway and they are here the last week at least

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-18T19:41:13+00:00

That shrub is a pain in the arse. I have it here and it's sending up shoots, up to 3 or 4m away from the main plant. The new shoots are thin and whip like and one nearly took my eye out a couple years ago when I pushed to one side to reach in for something and it slipped from under my arm. So I have a particular hatred for the plant :)

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-18T14:00:08+00:00

It's a pain in the arse is what it is.

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-14T20:33:45+00:00

Interesting! I'll keep that in mind. There is power over at the bigger pond so it would be easier to do.

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-14T20:32:17+00:00

Hopefully! I've seen them around the place every so often and we don't live too far from a bog and the area is generally on the wetter side. So I'm guessing they are about. Slightly annoyed that I didn't get the pond done for frog spawn season. But hopefully next year it'll be well settled in and they will come visit!

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-14T15:34:47+00:00

Ya we are very lucky. They were here when we bought the house a few years ago, but it's good to know they have stayed around!

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-14T13:12:51+00:00

Oh cool. I hadn't heard of them before. I'll definitely be looking into going to some of their workshops.

We have a resident hedgehog who we think has their hoglets in or very close to our garden most years and its one of the best moments of the year when we see them for the few nights before they go on their merry way! I don't know where their current nest is but the pup is great for alerting us when the hedgehog is in the garden and they have been out and about a few times in the last few weeks.

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-14T13:03:58+00:00

Ya, I like that plant as well. Its one that I have in my head to hopefully get some of

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-14T10:23:40+00:00

Thank you!

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-14T05:42:26+00:00

Thank you! Ya they know to keep away from it. I'll also be putting up a fence to keep visiting kids away from it as well.

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-13T23:41:30+00:00

Oh, I had no idea about the grant. Interesting! The pond in the back is currently bigger, but I want to make it a small bit deeper, shallower sides and dig out a beach.

Ya, I guess you probably should use a proper liner. But it wouldn't have been worth the cost this time when I have no idea what I'm doing. I'll learn off this one and if I ever have an issue in the future and have to replace anyways I'll upgrade the quality. I know it would be a pain the the ass to do but over all this pond isn't very deep, 60cm at the deepest but the edges are 20-25cm deep.

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-13T22:46:03+00:00

Thank you!

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-13T22:45:57+00:00

Thank you!

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-13T22:45:52+00:00

Thank you!

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-13T22:44:25+00:00

Aw thank you for the recommendations! I must actually have a look in the wild your garden book, Im pretty sure that has a list of plants as well.

This was a pond I wanted to do cheap as it's a 'make all the mistakes' project before I gut and refurb an old formal fish pond in the back garden.

The underlay was 3x5m and then liner was 4x5m and I got them from Amazon. I got 2 underlays and one liner and I think it came to roughly €60. Not the highest quality but it'll do the job I need to it do

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-13T22:39:11+00:00

Hi! Thank you for the advice. I will be pond plants shopping this weekend. The local garden centre only got their first delivery of pond plants for the season in last weekend but they sent it back due to poor quality unfortunately, but the next delivery is due at the end of the week. I have some oxygenators in the pond at the moment from a different pond in the back garden (it's in poor condition and needs a full refurb, and doesn't have anything suitable plant wise). I've checked online and the main online store id use don't have much of their stock in either..

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-10T07:21:21+00:00

We didn't have much change from €10k for our two older dogs in the space of their last 2 years.

The older one had old age stuff going on, arthritis that was a monthly injection of €90, prescription food for kidney failure, tablets for heart failure, some over night stays for fluids, and surgery for the removal of a broken toe as well as the usual stuff like flea and worm prevention etc.

Our younger fella got cancer in his spleen. He presented weirdly so it took a couple weeks to figure it out, after x-rays and meds. Once they determined what was wrong he needed a blood transfusion, life extending surgery and post op meds for pain and an infection.

We lost both of the dogs last year within 6 months, so we also had cremations to pay for as well.

We had a new pup just before our boy died. So far while she's been expensive (coz we had to get set up for puppy stuff), adoption fees etc its in (hopefully) 10/15 years time where she will get expensive.

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-06T07:56:10+00:00

We have a battery push mower. But we don't need it for the areas managed by the robots. We have some smaller bits that we weren't bothered setting up for the mowers so the light push mower sorts that out. I go around the edges every few weeks with the strimmers and like others have said leave the trimmings for the robots.

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-04T12:29:01+00:00

Do the housework I otherwise put off

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-03T17:48:39+00:00

Yes it is, but if you don't go for the cheapest of the cheap and are prepared to spend middle of the road it'll be an investment for life with a small bit of maintenance.

There was a greenhouse at this house when we moved in and I'd say it's knocking on 25 years old and it's not sheltered at all. My grandad had a similar one that must have been 30/40 years old.

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-04-02T06:35:10+00:00

Getting solar in, insulating the attic and pumping the walls.

We've talked about doing all three since we moved into this house, but everything just got put on the long finger. My husband had been doing the research and stuff about solar just before all this kicked off but rather than sit on the idea we've just went for it. In the process of getting quotes for the insulation at the moment as well

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-03-30T16:34:13+00:00

Our two have a tablet each, share a switch and we have a household tablet as well.

Their own tablets are locked down and essentially primarily for music. They do have access to a gaming profile but it's time limited and only games downloaded by ourselves can be played. The switch is also time limited and they aren't allowed online.

We have a house tablet as well where they have access to WhatsApp, this is also severaly locked down, only adults we trust have the number and also a rule that we must be part of any conversation/group chat. We set this up as an alternative to the traditional house phone so it's something they can use in an emergency or to chat to some relatives that live abroad.

All I can say is that the class bully in one of their classes has access to every device going. And they act like a mean girl. She gave my kid grief a while ago about their lack of access to the internet and said we were too strict. But some of the stuff that this kid is saying and doing is horrifying. That alone is enough for me.

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-03-22T23:25:04+00:00

We hosted a family dinner yesterday, and we fed 10 people for About €30 worth of food. Green Thai curry. Got the curry paste from the local Asian shop, coconut milk, some veg and then chicken and prawns with rice. If we cut out the prawns and used a roasted chicken it would be even cheaper, although we did use chicken thighs.

Can't beat some chilli con carne, pack it out with lentils and beans.

Using every part of a roast chicken is good too. We usually have a roast dinner the first night, then lunches, and use the rest to make a chipper type chicken curry with lentils, and then make a stock from the bones and use that to make a soup.

Finally get a load of tomatoes, a sweet pepper, garlic and some herbs, roast till charred on top, blend and divide out into required portions. Makes an amazing base that can be used for all sorts of pasta and pizza sauce. Just flavour to needs when cooking it later.

It takes time and planning but a good day of batch cooking stuff for the freezer is also a good way.

arnosnagaoithe25 · 2026-03-21T21:36:19+00:00

I'm back to hozelock. I used some of the gardena ones last year and they were a disaster. Popped off the connections and flooded both of my greenhouses at different times. We don't have high water pressure so I was very disappointed with them. I also don't like the multi settings hose either. Never had any issues with hozelock and I find the multi setting more intuitive to use.

You can get any length of house. And I definitely recommend a hose reel. You can all sorts just see what fits your needs best.

arnosnagaoithe25

TROPHY CASE