Let's go gardening: Although we're halfway through August, there's still a good month or two left of garden-visiting season. A wander around someone else's patch can be both inspiring (so many ideas to borrow) and restorative (when you break a long and tedious trip across the country). A good guide book, of course, is an essential tool for all would-be garden visitors.
Marianne Heron, whose guides have been a staple in many gardeners' glove compartments and overnight bags for more than 10 years, has teamed up with the guidebook author Georgina Campbell in Georgina Campbell's Ireland for Garden Lovers (€19.95).
The paperback details not only gardens to visit but also places to stay and eat that have gardens attached.
This first edition inexplicably omits the educational Organic Centre, in Co Leitrim, and the rather important Kilmacurragh, in Co Wicklow, which has been under the management of the National Botanic Gardens for the past 10 years.
Nonetheless, this is a book worth packing and consulting when garden-visiting-sized envelopes of time open up while you're travelling around this island. Jane Powers
www.audible.co.uk has an excellent selection of 10,000 audiobooks that you can buy to download to your computer or MP3 player. Nothing beats an audiobook when you're on holiday: they take up no space in your luggage, pass the time on a long journey and are great for sunbathing. Eimear McKeith
NEW CAKE ON THE BLOCK
The latest venture by Michelle Darmody, who ran the cafe at the Hugh Lane gallery and currently runs the Curved Street Cafe, is the Cake Cafe, which specialises in traditional baking, prepared in the open-plan kitchen.
There are also wines, charcuterie and bread on offer, and Darmody is, as always, keen to use local artisanal producers. She will also do private catering for grown-up - and not-so-grown-up - parties. The Cake Cafe, Pleasants Place (off Grantham Street), Dublin 2, 087-9384455. NG
FANCY FASHIONISTAS
Fashion, power and money are the themes of a public talk being given in Dublin on Tuesday, August 29th, at 6.30pm, by Godfrey Deeny, the Paris-based European editor of Fashion Wire Daily, a news service devoted to fashion, style and celebrities. Part of the third Dublin Fashion Week, and one of three public talks sponsored by Dublin City Enterprise Board, it will be a rare chance to get the inside track on the global fashion industry from the Irish-born reporter and commentator.
The other talks are by the designer Helen McAlinden (also on Tuesday, August 29th, at 12.30pm), who has just opened her No6 shop, in Dublin, and Stephen Sealey, buying director for womenswear, accessories and childrenswear for the Brown Thomas group.
Sealey, who will be speaking at 12.30pm on Wednesday, August 30th, is one of the key players in the fashion business in Ireland; he also oversaw the recent refurbishment of the store's designer and shoe rooms.
The 40-minute talks, followed by question-and-answer sessions, take place at the Fitzwilliam Hotel, on St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2. Tickets €5 on the door. For more, see www.dublinfashionweek.com . Deirdre McQuillan
POTTERING WITH TEXTILES
The Shanagarry potter Stephen Pearce, best known for his white-glazed terracotta tableware, is the latest Irish designer to extend his brand name to other products. Next month sees the launch of his range of luxury bed linen for the SuperValu supermarket chain.
In super-fine, off-white satin-finish cotton, each set comprises a duvet cover, fitted sheet, two pillowcases and a cushion cover. They are embroidered with discreet white spirals and, on the reverse, a small SP logo.
In double or king sizes, they come wrapped in tissue paper in a box and cost €39.99 for a double and €44.99 for king size. Customers need to collect 75 tokens for each, one token being offered with every €10 spent.
Pearce is currently at work on a collection of glassware, both drinking glasses and vases, that will be in selected SuperValu outlets for Christmas. "I am losing my fear of what I used to recall as other people's territory," he says. Deirdre McQuillan
THE HERBALISER
The Herb Garden in Naul, Co Dublin, sells more than just parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. More than 140 certified organic herbs are in stock at Denise Dunne's specialist nursery. She sells cut plants to people
making herbal medicines, as well as seeds and plants to people keen to have their own kitchen gardens. She also creates herb gardens for places such as the BrookLodge & Wells Spa, in Co Wicklow.
Dunne takes groups on herbal tours of the garden; she also welcomes individuals, but visits are strictly by appointment only. She is interested in hearing from anyone who would like to learn more about herbs and their uses in an upcoming course. Call 01-8413907 or see www.theherbgarden.ie for details. The Herb Garden, Forde-de-Fyne, Naul, Co Dublin. Nicoline Greer
INSPIRED BY BIRTH
A fine solution for a birthday present, especially when you're stuck for an idea, is Birthday Stories, an unusual collection of short stories, selected by the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, on the theme of (you've guessed it) birthdays. It features an eclectic mix of stories by the likes of Russell Banks, Raymond Carver, Paul Theroux and Murakami himself, as well as two Irish writers, William Trevor and Claire Keegan. Book lovers be warned, however: Murakami notes in his introduction that "the subject of birthdays yields surprisingly few happy stories". Birthday Stories is published by Vintage, €10.99. Eimear McKeith
THE REAL SLIM SHADY
How many times have you lain in the sun, squirming about, squinting at your book as the sun compromises your sight? Joan Bree was lying on the beach in Sardinia with friends a few years ago, trying in vain to get comfortable with the sun in her face. She decided it was time to do something about this holiday problem - and the Cush 'n' Shade was born. The ingenious design incorporates a cushion for your head and an adjustable shade to shield your face from the sun and help to prevent UV rays from damaging your skin.
Bree took four years to bring the Cush 'n' Shade to the market; now, within a few weeks of its launch, this Irish invention has gone global, with offices in Los Angeles and Brussels. Expect to see it on a beach near you; €24.95 (plus €7.95 post and packaging) from www.cushnshade.com or 01-4907885. Pictured model not included - and it won't make you look like her, either. Nicoline Greer
SHEDDING LIGHT ON WAR
A gold-plated lamp in the shape of a Kalashnikov rifle? Surely not. Sally Starbuck, an architect, sent us this snap (below) after gaping in horror when she saw it in the window of the Haus showroom in Temple Bar, Dublin. The shopkeeper said it had raised a few eyebrows all right, but one US customer had come in to admire it with his son, saying they both loved guns. It's designed by Philippe Starck and costs €1,200. Talk about getting bangs for your buck. We think Mr Starck should stick to designing lemon squeezers and groovy hotels.