10 Activities for a Rainy Day

You would think in the height of the Summer Solstice we would be frolicking in meadows until the late evening, unable to choose from an abundant amount of activities available to us during our weekends. Alas, we live in Ireland and the summer is fleeting and usually very wet so we have to be creative with our summer plans i.e. be very flexible or very close to indoors! If you're ever feeling at a loss of what to do as you wake up to yet another grey Saturday, I've thought of a few wee ideas to give you a bit of inspiration to get you out the door. If that fails I've also got a few ideas to keep you busy if you're dead set on not leaving the house! Either way, having nothing to do should not be an option! Visit Your Local Museum The Ulster Museum in Belfast is right beside the Botanic Gardens but on a rainy day you might want to make a bolt straight inside. The museum always has a good exhibition on; right now it's 'Remembering 1916: Your Stories'. The exhibition celebrates the centenary of the Easter Rising and draws on the experiences of those involved in the Easter Rising including lots of local stories. The museum also has dinosaurs to keep the kiddos happy, artefacts from Ancient Egypt and a fantastic collection of modern art. Definitely plenty to keep you occupied for a few hours!

St. George's Market, Belfast

I love this market with all my heart. I go in to a bit of a consumer frenzy because there's nothing better than buying local products and meeting the people who have grown/caught/made them. The atmosphere is always great; usually there's a bluegrass band singing in the centre where you can find a spot to chow down your Cuban pulled pork sandwich (note: this is amazing and even more amazing if you've been out the night before!). Go along, buy some fresh flowers to brighten your damp day and restrain yourself from buying a crate of homemade fudge.

Flow Yoga Studio, Belfast

I hate feeling like I've wasted a weekend when the weather has been bad and I've nothing to show for it come Monday. One way to feel like you're doing something worthwhile is to think ahead and join a class to teach you something new. James Street South have a range of cookery classes teaching the amateur chefs amongst us how to bake bread or how to cook the perfect steak. If you feel like you cook enough during the week (I hear ya) maybe you could try a pottery class, yoga or even sewing. I have enjoyed a few sewing classes with Shanti at the Magpie and loved it! Explore Your Local Bookshops This is one of my favourite things to do on a rainy day. I can spend hours upon hours wandering around the aisles, flicking through all the pages and, if they're second hand, imagining who owned them before they graced these shelves. In Belfast I would recommend visiting No Alibis, Belfast Books and The Bookstore then bringing your new purchase to a coffee shop for a read while you watch everyone outside getting soaked - mwah ha ha! Tour Your Local Brewery Hilden Brewery in Lisburn is the oldest independent brewery on the island of Ireland and can be explored by us laymen who get thirsty on the weekends. You can learn about the local craft from the master brewer and taste the whole collection if you have the stomach for it. Molly's Chocolate Stout sounds amazing! Make sure to book ahead on their website. Create Your Own Indoor Herb Garden I have a windowsill which gets all the afternoon light and is the perfect spot for growing some herbs that don't require an awful lot of TLC. The herbs I have had great success with so far are thyme, coriander and basil - all low maintenance which is an absolute must for me. I'm thinking of branching out to mint and or maybe going completely mad and getting my own little chilli plant. On a rainy day it's a brilliant chance to pick up a few from the local discount shop (Home Bargains is a great place to start), get some pretty pots while you're there and get to potting. If you're feeling extra creative, get some clay pots and chalk paint to make your herbs extra chic.

Homemade Coconut Oil Scrub - Recipe Here

We all talk about how we will get those chairs painted/cushion covers sewed/candles made but we never make the time. A rainy day is the perfect opportunity to get a start on these and make a whole day out of it. On my next rainy weekend I am hell bent on getting shelves up in our dining area - the brackets we bought in a sale have been sitting in the corner gathering dust for the last 3 months! Making something for your home is a great way to add your personality, especially if you're renting like me, so feel free to release your inner Picasso! Create A Den Now I know full well that I'm 27 and that making a den in the living room may no longer be socially acceptable but when it's raining and all you want to do is watch movies and eat salty popcorn and maltesers (the world winning combo) then why not? Get all the cushions in the house on the floor, make a tent from a sheet and snuggle up with your duvet and download all your favourite childhood classics. My personal favourites are The Goonies, The Father of the Bride and Cool Runnings - they will never get old! Bake Up A Storm Maybe there's someone's birthday coming up, you've a mate that's got the flu or you just feel like making 5 different kinds of bread. This is the day to make a complete mess in the kitchen, cover yourself in flour and eat batter from the bowl. Andrew has recently taken up baking which is a bit strange because he's not known for his cooking skills (I once had to help him make a Caesar salad for which he'd forgotten to buy Caesar dressing) but it turns out he's a great baker! I think it's the scientific side of things that he enjoys, measuring everything out to the exact gram. Anyway, if it's raining today, watch an episode of Great British Bake Off and go get your Mary Berry on. Make A Scrapbook Last year I made a commitment to start printing off photos and keeping them in albums and scrapbooks rather than losing them to the social network stratosphere where they are forgotten about. I realised that if Facebook ever randomly crashed I would lose so many memories because I have gone through so many computers and hard drives over the years. Bearing this in mind I printed off all my photos from Cuba and bought a scrapbook in preparation for a rainy day when I could glue in all my photos along with bits and bobs that I had kept from the trip. I enjoyed this so much that I decided to print off my favourite photos from 2015 to make another scrapbook! Good luck with whatever you decide to do this rainy weekend - fingers crossed our summer will come back!