Like a secret garden...

... this lovely bookshop, in a pretty courtyard in Carrickfergus. I think Richard has found his way to every good bookshop in Northern Ireland, in the course of visits to the family here.
This has to be one of the best. A mix of new and secondhand stock, with a good range of work by Irish authors, and on Irish history and politics. An excellent children's room, with space for story-telling and other events, as well as room to browse and to sit and read. By the door, one hanging basket with cherry tomatoes ripening, and another with strawberries. What a pleasure - we could happily have stayed for hours, I think.
R came away with several secondhand books about music; I found some good cards for friends' birthdays and a promising short story collection.
I think we have both settled into holiday mode.