Back in the 80s, when my sister and I were little, we joined the Henri Hippo savers’ club in Ulster Bank. I spent all my pocket money on penny sweets back then, so I have no idea what happened the bank account, but we were both quite attached to our Henri Hippo money boxes. I had a blue one and my sister had a red one. Alas, some years later, a shelf fell down one day and our hippos were smashed to smithereens.

So, I was delighted to hear that Ulster Bank are bringing back Henri Hippo! Even more exciting is that the money boxes are supposed to look the same as they did in the 80s, although only blue ones are available. I was hoping that I could finally replace my moneybox by opening an account with them, but it seems you can only get one when you open a bank account for a child under 12. They won’t even sell me one (yes, I did write and ask!) - I suppose the idea of a bank not wanting more money is novel. I’m not sure what today’s high tech kids will make of him, but they may well be fighting with their parents over who gets the money box anyway! I guess I’ll just have to keep my eye out on Ebay for any mini entrepreneurs who want to cash in on Henri.

Reminiscing about Henri also brought back fond memories of my Trustee Rusty the fox money box from Trustee Savings Bank. I can’t find any evidence that he ever existed on Google, but surely I’m not the only one who remembers him? Since the bank merged to become permanent tsb many years ago, I doubt we will ever see poor old Trusty Rusty again, but I might start a campaign one of these days. He would be much less annoying than that guy from The Sopranos!

At least Cyril the Squirrel is still going strong for An Post. I don’t think that Cyril has ever been immortalised as a money box. Perhaps keeping a lower profile is the secret of his longevity? I see from his website that you can even contact him directly, so maybe I’ll write and ask him.

I wandered around Airfield farm and gardens yesterday. It’s very strange that you can get off the Luas at Balally in the midst of motorways and massive apartment blocks, and feel like you are in the middle of the country a short walk later! The 6 euro admission fee is a bit steep for what you get, but it is worth it every so often for the feeling of getting away from it all. After yesterday’s showers, it was fairly muddy and I was raging at missing an opportunity to finally wear the size 9 pink Hunter wellies I bought years ago in TK Maxx.

Our muddle through the mud was rewarded with getting close to the little lambs. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me, but hopefully the small white blobs in the camera phone pic above still look like lambs! There are better photos on the Airfield Trust website.

Cinderella Shoes have opened a shop in the Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre within the last couple of weeks. This shoe shop only stocks ladies shoes in larger sizes from size 8 to 12. I have blogged before about the lack of Irish shoe shops stocking any big sizes, so this is very big news for me!

The shop is located on the top floor of the shopping centre. It is painted purple and is beside the black Wrestling Mania shop, about half way down the same side as The Laptop Shop (the opposite side to the art gallery and toilets).

Cinderella Shoes opened a concession in Arnotts a few years ago, but whenever I visited, all I found was a couple of small shelves right at the back of their massive shoe department. So, I am thrilled to see a proper shop at long last dedicated solely to ladies with large feet (sorry about the pun there!). I dropped in last weekend to have a look and enjoyed the novelty of just being able to pick up shoes on the shelves and put my foot straight into them. My size 9 foot is extremely wide, and I was even able to even get into a couple of size 8s. They still have some Winter styles on sale, mainly boots, with knee high boots for only 60 euro in some cases. The Spring/Summer stock is arriving daily at the moment, and there were already some colourful sandals in the shop when I visited. They also stock a lot of more formal evening shoes, which is the trickiest type to find in large sizes.

Before you start hyperventilating, you won’t see anything Manolo-esque there and it’s not exactly Faith or Office either. Nevertheless, when you struggle to find even one shoe in your size in most other Dublin shoe shops, you should still feel like me in a sweet shop here. It’s one small step for mankind, but one giant leap forward for Dublin women blessed with big feet. Hopefully the Cinderella Shoes store will get plenty of promotion ensuring that they finally have a shop where they can find shoes to fit them.

This day only comes around every 4 years so maybe the novelty factor has me a bit giddy today, or perhaps it’s just an extra dose of that crunchie Friday feeling.

The Luas smart card machines are feeling a bit peculiar too. It seems that they don’t know about leap years, so they overcharged some people this morning when they tagged off. I heard on the radio that the machines have therefore been turned off for the day and smart card users can travel for free. I may just go wild and head all the way to the ends of the earth, otherwise known as Sandyford. I’m sure that would cure my giddiness in no time!

It’s nice that the shiny new, if rather black, Hosting 365 site is fully aware of the day that is in it though. It’s a bit confusing that register365.com is now the brand for all their standard shared hosting plans, but the clever logo change made me smile:

Finally, it’s Work Life Balance day today. Perhaps they picked today because we don’t normally have the luxury of this day, so if you can’t get a bit of “me time” today there is no hope! Separating life and work, and getting them in proportion, has been my biggest challenge since I started freelancing. When you are self-employed, you have far more flexibility and control over when and how you work than employees, but despite this, it can be extremely tricky to get the work life balance right. That balance is different for everyone, and this is something that I think I will always have to work on, since I have always tended to let work invade my life too much regardless of the job! However, I have been working from home for over a year now and have learned lots along the way. The crazy days of all work and no play are much rarer now. However much you love your work, make sure you don’t let life pass you by.