Long weekend....

Hello! Gosh, these last few months my posts have been fairly thin on the ground! My life has been kind of hectic since, well, pretty much the end of August and now that I have started back on the second and final year towards getting my Masters it’s going to be even more hectic! I really want to keep blogging but realise that I will only have time to post once/twice a week and now that I have made a decision on this I feel a bit better as it was verging on becoming a chore for me which is not the idea at all, at all!!

So, what have I been up to…..well, we had a long weekend here in Ireland last weekend and money being tight these days we finally took up my brother-in-law's offer for us to stay in his holiday home in Wexford (on the South East coast and known as the “sunny south east”). It’s kind of a “holiday village” and I had a lot of preconceptions about this and thought I would not like it BUT I was wrong and must now eat a rather large slice of humble pie. It is not at all what I had envisioned (heaps and heaps of holiday homes strewn together without much thought or planning, not well kept, over run with people renting for weekends not caring about the environment etc) so I was very pleasantly surprised to find a well-planned, well laid out green park land type scenario with lovely little cottages strategically placed so that all have a nice view and privacy…backing on to a beautiful links golf course with a lovely winding path through it for the residents to access the Clubhouse and also to reach the most gorgeous mile long beach…all two minutes from your door! The little “estate” is really well kept and there are tennis courts and a nice play area for kids…lots of nice green space everywhere. Also, it seems that most of the people visiting own the properties so they are really well cared for.

We had such a lovely weekend! We went for lots of walks on the beach which, as mentioned was just a stroll away. We took a few jaunts out in the car to some of the other beaches in the area and we were blessed with stunning weather….cannot believe we are having this weather at end of October (it's 18 degrees today)! We still lit a fire every evening tho…atmosphere you know!

Some pictures of the beach below…the woofers loved it!






Hope you had a lovely weekend and are enjoying your week :)

Printed tea-cosies ....

Hello...came across Maxine Sutton's little online shop via Elle Decoration's November issue. Maxine makes these really cute and sweet hand printed tea-cosies and lavender-filled spoons and hearts. If you fancy making your own, you can purchase one of her little crafty kits...

Aunt Kitty...

My poor Aunt Kitty, 81 years old and quite a lady is very ill and in hospital. She has lost two husbands (the first died when he was just 41 and the second a few years ago). She does not have any children so we, all her nieces and nephews, are visiting her regularly at hospital to keep her company and ensure she is not alone for too long. Things are not good and she is not expected to last much longer. She loves Oscar and Sadie and so I made her a little card which I will bring with me when I visit her today...I think it will make her smile :)

Saturday morning...

I made some brown soda bread for breakfast this morning...and what a morning...the weather here in Dublin is just beautiful - hurrah!! My parents are coming to visit and are taking us out for birthday lunch then we'll most likely go for a nice walk with the woofers :)





Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

My journey home from work...

So, it is a beautiful Friday evening here in Dublin, and as always I'm thrilled skinny to be out of work and heading into the weekend! I had my little digital camera sitting beside me in the car so thought I would shoot my journey home from Baggot Street to Kimmage on Dublin's leafy southside...of course, I was careful and a lot of the shots I didn't even know what I was taking so excuse the very bad pictures and the blurryness - you'll get the general vibe tho (hopefully)!!

Starting off on Lower Mount Street...



Piebald horse with cart and tourists!



Up Merrion Street...



Both corners of Merrion and Baggot Streets...





Corner of Leeson St and Fitzwilliam Street Upper..



Adelaide Road...are you bored??



Approaching Portobello Bridge (over the Grand Canal) towards Rathmines...



Rathmines Village..





Leinster Road...



Kenilworth Park...almost there!



Getting closer...more modest housing you might note!!



Ooops quick detour to Donnybrook Fair for my bottle of Provo Reggio (a delicious Portuguese Sauv Blanc)...it's Friday afterall!



The little park beside my house...



My little street...



The front door...



My welcome home...two very excited and newly groomed woofers...awww...



Some gorgeous evening light..



And my glass of wine....ah..bliss..



Hope you enjoyed the trip - it's a nice drive (tho I should be on my bike...only a few more weeks before I don't have a choice on that one!)...just so you know, it is 3 miles (about 5k I think) and takes me about 20minutes - hope you have a wonderful weekend :)

A happy find...

I came across this lovely online store at the weekend...Isak...I really like their small collection of homewares...here is a little sample (love the little bags that come with their trays). I am especially fond of the blankets and well... that wallpaper is too cute!! Hope you had a lovely weekend :)

Pink Thursday...

The lovely Christina's idea for Breast Awareness month :)

Nice images...

From Atlanta Bartlett's site - she is an interiors stylist....not everything to my taste but I quite liked these images...











...like the curtains in the second image but not that chair and how it is "trussed"!! My favourite is the first...the little punch of green with the pink is sweet :)

Pickings from the woods...

Some bits and bobs picked up in the woods yesterday....loving Autumn :)

Windy wonderful...

A lovely relaxing weekend at last...a walk along the pier...the most gorgeous day...really windy, fresh and sunny. Into town later to buy the last book in the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson "The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest" ..light reading but enjoyable and just what I need right now!

Choppy waters..



Ruffled feathers..



Sea rescuers on practice run...



Then today, a walk in the woods near our house...









Hope you are enjoying your weekend :)

Banksy in Bristol...

I meant to post about this some time ago...the famous/infamous Graffiti artist Banksy has had this exhibition running at the Bristol Museum since June. He has 100 works installed, replacing many of the museum's regular artefacts. Soooo good!













Intelligent, witty, cheeky...I think he is great. Hope you are having a good week!