Is the kitchen the hub of your home? Well in my house, it really is. I am not the best cook or baker for sure but I do spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I like to think it is a country style kitchen with oak details and cream units. The canopy over the hob is french style and the lights are all from IKEA. I love the fisherman's lamp over my dining table. I generally burn Yankee candles in my kitchen after cooking.

Sorry the above photos are  a bit dull, it was difficult to get the light right when I took them.

Here is an image of the dresser in my kitchen  you will spot some Cath Kidston mugs, my Wedgewood teapot and some other accessories. My notice board is to the right of the dresser- you can just see the edge of it here.

So is your kitchen the hub of your home, what does it look like? What style is it? 

January: The start of the year and my wee home was featured in IKEA Live Magazine

February: This was quite on the blogging front but it was our first Valentines as a married couple which was exciting.

March: I had a nice break from work for Easter and was happy that the days were now much longer and I could get out and about on the farm and pick some lovely wild flowers.

April: I spent quite a while in April deciding on fabrics for my guest bedroom but made a good choice in the end.

 

May: The weather was nice in May and we spent a lovely day in the Phoenix Park in Dublin which was enjoyable.

June: More trips, I visited Derry City for the first time with my parents, it really is lovely place with great architecture.

July: How could we forget the wonderful weather we had, we went for a weekend to Avoca, visited Glendalough and Powerscourt House and Gardens in County Wicklow and really enjoyed the beautiful weather.

 

August: Afternoon tea in Castle Leslie  was the highlight of August. This was a gift from my sister in law. Some more interiors were tackled in the house- we eventually did some work on our guest bedroom and just had to wait for the blinds to be finished.

September: More time spent on interiors and getting use to the shorter days drawing in.

October: Autumn time was setting in and I took some lovely walks in the countryside which inspired me to post some lovely autumnal interior posts.

November: The nights were really drawing in and there wasn't as much work on the farm in the evenings so I read a lot and posted some wishlist posts.

December: It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our home. I had friends visit and enjoyed my time off from work with family.

 So here's to 2013 and I'm off to get ready for visitors coming for the New Year Celebrations later tonight!

I have never put a photograph of myself on my blog before, but here goes! I have been blogging long enough now. I am married almost a year, so thought with Valentines coming up soon and my 1st Wedding Anniversary I'd share my photo with you.

I know many of my bloggers are not from Ireland, however you should all know about The Blog Awards Ireland 2012. As you all know Ireland is a small country, divided into counties. Our counties are quite small geographically and therefore we have a strong sense of community spirit and know a lot of people at a local level. But blog land is totally different, it is my connection with the rest of the world. I follow blogs from all over the world, read about the culture and lifestyles from Australia to Alaska and visit online shops from all over the globe. I have over 300 followers on my blog and I have never met one of you but the Blog Awards Ireland is bringing together the Irish online community with a single event to celebrate blogging right here in Ireland. Since I started blogging in 2009, the number of Irish visiting my blog has increased dramatically.

My blog is purely a blog on my life in the countryside, my home and basically all things nice... I do not have an online business and I do not benefit financially from my blog, but I suppose in my own way I do promote Ireland, particularly rural Ireland and all things rural from our heritage, our wildlife and our crafts to our shops, our lifestyle and our traditions. My blog is very basic in style, layout and content but I enjoy blogging and I would much rather blog and read all about other people's lives, their businesses and their culture than watch tv.

I am going off the point here so basically what I want to say is, if you follow any blogs from Ireland and think they are worthy of being nominated for an award, you should visit the Blog Awards Ireland. Nominations close on 16th July.

 

Blog Awards Ireland

Country Cottage Style- I love the colour on the walls here, it's very refreshing and that clock over the cooker area- a nice statement piece. It's a wee bit too cluttered with all the chairs in the centre though.

How pretty is this kitchen, it's almost too perfect for me, it doesn't really look lived in, but I do adore the style of the units.

Now this is my favourite of the kitchens in today's post. I love the warm cream colour against the wood and the detail of the units, it looks lived in too and very cosy :)

AVOCA

Have any of you heard of the Avoca Range??? Avoca is an Irish family-run business and is one of the world's oldest surviving manufacturing companies and Ireland's most exciting stores. They export clothing ranges to boutiques around the world and have their own food label with dozens of delicious products. There are Avoca perfumes, glassware, ceramics, clothing, garden range, to name but a few. The hand weaving mill was established in a rural Irish village over 280 years ago. Avoca remains a family business with a mission to create joy and have fun!

To find out more and check out the AVOCA range, visit their website, it really is worth a visit!

This weekend, my boyfriend and I went for a night away to Kilkenny with wonderful walking trails,  historic Kilkenny Castle, beautiful parks and gardens and lots of fine bars and restaurants. The weather was beautiful yesterday so here are a few nice photographs to share with you. Today is miserable and wet and I'm back home!

The Castle Walls

Pretty Bridge

Kilkenny Castle

Castle Gates

Castle Tower

A view from the Castle Gardens

St. Canice's Cathedral & Round Tower

Rothe House

The Thosel

Sorry for the lack of correspondence lately, I have been very busy with work and with the building of our new home. Good news though, I'm taking Monday off work to relax. So myself and my boyfriend are going away Sunday night. Here are a few lovely interior photographs I came across, they are very unique, hope you enjoy them.. 

(Images from House and Home}

Join me for a tea party by Allthingsnice featuring Monsoon

This is a long post, so perhaps grab a cuppa tea and take the time to read along with me. Here are a few photographs of homes that are similiar to the one myself and my boyfriend are building. Let me know what you think, I understand that they won't be to everyone's taste and I appreciate that. We went for a traditional Irish farmhouse style, storey and a half house. We felt that the typical dormer bungalows are somewhat out of keeping with our traditonal rural dwellings. I also decided not to go for a full two storey house as I felt it would dominate the skyline too much on our site and a lot of space goes to waste in the attic area. As our site is not very large we decided to attach the garage to the left hand side of the house, however it will look like an extra room on the house with two windows and the garge door will be to the rear. I don't like the dominating garage doors to the front facade of the building. We will also have a sun room to the right hand side of the house to make it look more symmetrical and make the most of the little sunshine we get here in Ireland. Here are a few houses which look very similiar to what ours should look like when complete.

This is quite similiar although we will have a stone porch with arch over the door and a single storey extension to each side.

This one is more like it than the last, although we will have a single storey extension to the right hand side also in the form of a sun room.  I am not that keen on the stone cladding in the image above. I am aware natural stone is expensive but I would rather use it than cladding, that is the reason I will have a natural stone porch and the rest of the house will be plastered.  

Again this house is similiar, however we will not have the garage door to the front elevation and the pitch will not be as high on the upstairs windows.

I hope you get an idea of what our home should look like now, I am aiming for a country cottage hall door in a green/blue colour with small pane of glass in the upper half. If you have any nice ideas, let me know!