The Cook's Belly

This country as it is suffers  from many mental health problems  we need to make it better if we can  not worse by burying our heads  in the sand and say "sure it will be grand"

This is my perspective and opinion you may agree or disagree, that is perfectly fine on what stance you take. The one thing I have learned and tried to foster for myself this year is to challenge my own opinion, I have tried to learn from rival opinions to see if there was the smallest modicum of what they are arguing and understand why they have taken such a stance. I have already spoken about this subject in detail on our podcast linked at the bottom of this post. Let me state I am not an SJW, I am not a activist or affiliated to any political party and I am not a white knight, all I am is a normal (enough) guy.
Yesterday sat in traffic down in Limerick I noticed two guys erecting another "No" campaign placard. Just like Dublin everywhere is littered with No posters. In fact today driving bac…

My heads in a mess and I'm stressed
But I guess it's a test In the quest for happiness
And the rest of that mess So I best just acquiesce
Mr Pip.

It isn't getting any easier, it really isn't. I thought it would but it doesn't. For the past 3 weeks I have felt in a mire of a hole, a dark place full of darkness. I have been utterly miserable without knowing why, I couldn't place the reason. I have felt lethargic, angry, snappy and introspective when I walk in my own company. Like a clap of thunder it hit me Friday lunchtime why I have been feeling this sub conscious shit feeling within myself. All it took was for me to walk around with Joanne for a lunchtime to suddenly come to some clarity. Like a lot of things I do, I talk about something, bring it out in to the open and then put it away again. I am however finding this hard to do with IVF. Do I hate talking about it? Yes 100%, do I hate those three little letters? Yes 100%. I thought for the first 4 months of this y…

“You see a mousetrap; I see free cheese and a fucking challenge!”
Scroobius Pip

I cannot place the day or the time but something after turning 30 changed me. I remember a friend telling me once you turn 30 you stop giving a shit about what people think and say. You become more comfortable in your own skin, more willing to take a chance. Now let me state I have not just turned 30, that was 3 years ago but yeah that friend of mine was right, I am slowly coming around to this thought process. Don't get me wrong turning 30 did not just flick a light switch in my head but I am certainly becoming more and more comfortable about who I am , what I like and what I want to do. This year I feel is the first of my thirties that I am taking some chances and challenges for me.
The previous two years of my thirties were busy! busy trying to have babies and getting to grips with what it is like to be an actual adult. Unlike the old days, I don't believe becoming an adult happens anymore at the…

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career.  I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times,  I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.  I've failed over and over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed.

Michael Jordan


That is a long title isn't it but it does what it says on the tin, I hope what I am about to say makes sense. These past 4 weeks like so many others on this fair isle of ours have been glued to the tv show on TV3 by the name of The Babymakers. Since my previous blog posts earlier this year about IVF, people talk to me a lot about IVF these days. People have read my blog, watched Joanne's Snapchats, listened to our podcast episode on IVF, it is no longer a taboo subject for us. The best thing I could have ever done was talk about it all, it has made the transition smoothly in to realising we cannot have kids easier barring a miracle of sort. The Babymakers show these past few weeks has helped immensely in bringing the subject o…

You are always one decision away from a totally different life.


This year is the fourth year since I was on the telly for nearly 8 weeks in a row. Sometimes I think to myself how the hell that even happen, I was on the telly. Yes I say the telly, I could be all uber correct and call it the television but I would rather stick to what I call it. On the 13th of September 2013, my life changed immeasurably because I listened to Joanne for once. She made me apply to be a contestant on the Great Irish Bake Off, she bugged and plagued that absolute life out of me to enter in November 2012. Me listening to her was one of those moments in your life like the quote at the top of the page that changed everything.
I rarely speak about the Great Irish Bake Off or for the purposes of this blog post GIBO. It is like one of those things that you do in life and decide to close the book on or place neatly into your bottom drawer and lock it away for safe keeping but don't go back to it. In work I am …

No matter how you feel…Get up. Dress up. Show up.  And never Give up.
Regina Brett



It has been a few months since I last wrote on here, I let all my time be consumed by other side projects. I don't think I can technically call my brothers wedding a side project but I had best man duties to care of, Summer holidays with Joanne and the big day itself of course my Brother's wedding day.  An insane few months but I loved every second of it especially my best man speech and the months of prep I put in to the video presentation. Although with that like a bolt from the blue my whole year changed as did my family's year. I thought this year was going to be one of those years that would be different to the past two, being an adult is not easy sometimes. I am still only getting used to what it is like to lose someone to illness, I think I have been some what fortunate up until now to have not experienced too many close passings of family and friends. That sounds awfully morbid but it …

Even the biggest failure beats the hell out of never trying.



Hello there,
Jesus I have gotten bad again at the old writing. I know why though, it is because it seems like everything is blooming on these past 2 months. You know that feeling where you would love two weekends back to back of doing sod all, I dream of those at the moment. There is no let up either, don't get me wrong I love being busy it is great, it serves my mind very well. I have two weddings upcoming and our holidays, something of which for the first time in my life I have not been obsessing about, the holidays that is. Generally by now I have the case out on the bed semi packed, yeah I love packing the case well in advance, I am that special person. I digress though,  it is not that I don't want to go on holiday but more so because I have not had a chance to think about it.

As a result of the busyness and the introduction of our podcast "Meet The Dekortes" ( < cheap plug) I have not had a chance …