It's all good!

Hello! Hope you are all completely wrapped up in the spirit of Christmas...I know I am! It's all getting very exciting :) Finished wrapping my presents this afternoon...I just have one gift to buy and I'm done..hurrah!! The weather here has been fantastic...temperatures in the -4 to +2 degree range but with no wind and bright blue skies...heavy frost every day so great crispy, crunchy, Christmassy weather!

It's been a while since I've been here...as you will know if you read this little blog on any kind of a regular basis, a lot has been going on in my life what with being made redundant etc...the good news is that I spent the first 3 weeks off from work, trying really hard to find work, attending interviews etc.. and it all paid off...I actually ended up getting TWO JOB OFFERS on the one day!!! It is really shocking at this time in Ireland with so many people losing their jobs everyday...I cannot believe my luck...I landed a great job, in a great company with wonderful perks and I don't have to start until 11th January!!!!! That is my news!! This all happened over two weeks ago, so I have been on a high since then...I feel so fortunate and am thanking all my lucky stars and all my family who were praying hard for me!! I am so looking forward to a wonderful 2010...I believe it's going to be a good year for us all! Yayyy!

I am off down the country for Christmas with my parents, then back up to Dublin for a few days before heading down to the South West Coast of Ireland...to Dingle, Co. Kerry for New Year's Eve! I hope to have some lovely photos from that trip which I will share with you anon!

I would like to wish you all a happy, happy Christmas, full of festive fun and frolics and I hope that 2010 will be a great year for you all! Sending big squeezy hugs your way!!

A few Christmassy shots from our home above!

London's calling...

Am hoping that I if I can bag a job soon, with a view to starting after Christmas, that I might just treat myself to a few days in London. I would usually stay with friends but this time I think I might like to stay in nice hotel. I love this one in Chiswick. Like the fresh white with the zingy greens, reds and yellows - would be a lovely place to stay. You can check out more images on the website here. I have a few more I fancy and will share those with you shortly too!

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 :)

More hols..

Hello! Gosh, I thought it would be much easier to do this on hols but...no, it's not...too busy being out and about, loving our surroundings and soaking up the beauty of it all...can't imagine ever getting tired of this place..every day we do the same 4 mile journey off the island along impossibly narrow, winding laneways and everyday I gasp in delight, really, it's just breathtaking!! I so love it here...want to give up the whole city thing and come down here forever...sigh!!

Some more snaps...have taken soooo many and am being very lazy here, not thinking too hard about which ones to pick..sorry!! For Trudi...we have two doggies, Oscar and Sadie, both Bichon Frise, twins and the only two in the litter - they are 6 years old!! And yes, Mary is a Connemara pony and they are a well known breed...there are so many of them around here...I can't describe how wonderful it is to see a beautiful pony run by your living room window...gasp!! Feel like I am in a movie sometimes!


View from top of Connemara National Park towards the Atlantic Ocean


Local cow taking her time moving out of our way on lane home!


Road sign on the Bog Road..gotta love it!


A very still 5am shot from back of cottage


Old farm buildings/barns on the island


Shot of Sadie sitting at front door..cute!


B with O&S near Gurteen


Sadie with her squeezy ball!




Pretty clouds, evening sky...



And more pretty clouds!!

That's it from me for another few days...sorry I haven't been visiting you much but promise to visit when I get back from hols and of course, and as always, thanks for your lovely comments :)

Connemara...

Hello...here we are - hurray!! It was a pretty dark and misty evening when we arrived but right now the light stretches almost to 11pm - I managed to get a shot of our special friend, Mary the Mare..she is beautiful...so gentle and friendly...this is the back of the cottage...Mary is just over the wall...she came over for a catch-up chat as we hadn't seen each other since Christmas! We are all so excited to be here, especially the woofers...so much space for them to run around.



This is at about 5:30 this morning from our bedroom window...



We went for a walk at Dog's Bay...our favourite beach...





Then through Roundstone (the local village) on our way back to the island..there was a Regatta on and all the traditional Galway Hookers were out on the bay...they are quite strange...look ancient and eery...particularly with the black sails (which I have never seen before). Hookers were introduced to Ireland by the Dutch in the 16th Century and are still used as working boats in Connemara today...







Then back to our little cottage to take in more of the wonderful views and then an introduction...Miss Sadie, meet Miss Mary!











I know this is a lot of photos and hope I am not boring you!! See you again in a few days...the forecast is for RAIN...every day...we'll see, I don't believe it!

Holidays!

Yay...officially on holidays until 3rd August!! As mentioned previously, we are off to Connemara for 2 weeks - am so excited! Have been running around this morning doing chores, one of which was to pick up my new "polaroid" camera from the Post Office - it is so adorable...have just taken one photo so far and I love it!! Will post more about it whilst on hols...my plan is to post briefly, via photos mostly, over the next few weeks. Enjoy your weekend :)

Paris apartment...

I love this Paris Apartment...I saw it last year when it was available for renting for holidays - it's simple and beautiful and I would love to stay here next time I go to Paris. The more I see the photos the more lovely little detail I see...take your time looking at them and enjoy!

Sadly, although I kept all the photos I can't find any of the contact details so can't refer you anywhere...hoping it's ok to post them! (I know it's owned by an Irish architect but that's it!)...



















































Hope you like...isn't the flooring something else??