July: Some good weather came our way so I made the most of it...

August: Holiday time... had an amazing holiday visiting Venice and Greece again and also Croatia and Turkey. I experienced some of the most beautiful sunsets ever...

September: Keeping it country at the National Ploughing Championships- what a great day out and no rain either

October: Another holiday, this time to France, I never took two holidays abroad in the one year but this year I really enjoyed my mini break for 5 days to the beautiful island of Ile de Re in France. I have visited France four times before but I had never heard of Ile de Re and once I saw it, I had to go. It is up there with my favourite places of Mykonos and Santorini... I will post a separate post on Ile de Re with more photographs soon...

November: Towards the end of October we found a little kitten abandoned at the entrance piers to the farm. The poor thing was very distressed and weak. How cruel some people can be just to abandon an innocent little animal. So we took her in, throughout November she was settling in with the other farm cats. Meet Millie if you haven't already seen my previous post.

December: It's Christmas time and time to reflect on a lovely year. Thankfully 2016 was good to us- good health and good times. The first six months were very quiet with most of my weekends spent at home. Life was busy on the farm... then once August came it was time to get out and about and make the most of the year. I visited five countries on holidays this year and had the most amazing time with those that mean the most to me (My husband and my parents). Many memories were made both on holidays and in the simple every day things which I will never forget. 2016 you have been good, so here's to 2017 and remember in the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years~Abraham Lincoln 

                                                                  

Snow and ice in January

February-lots of farm walks

March-more farm walks

April evenings getting longer

May: A trip to Dublin to visit family

June: A break along the Wild Atlantic Way via Cavan and Fermanagh

Today I am putting the finishing touches to my decorations. It is a beautiful day here in Ireland so I will out picking some holly, ivy and pine cones. Below are just a few images from around my house this evening. I have keep my Christmas decorations traditional in my everyday living room with reds.

In my good living room, I am keeping it very white and calming with only silver and white on the Christmas tree and a few decorations placed around the room. 

I needed a new ceiling light shade and couldn't make up my mind what style I wanted. For the moment I settled on buying this cheap one, The photo isn't very clear but it is grey and casts lovely shadows on the ceiling which you can just about see in this photo. 

And finally in my entrance hallway I always create a Christmas vignette so when you enter the door your eye is drawn to it. I light the candles and have some fairy lights too. Once I add some holly and ivy it should look more natural looking. 

I'll post some photographs when I am finished, Hope you have a lovely weekend. 

It's beginning to feel like Christmas already..The year has gone so quickly. I don't decorate the house for Christmas until later in December. Below are a few images from last year around my home. I have most of my Christmas shopping done. A lot of you will be out Christmas shopping this weekend. I look forward to spending time with family and friends over the Christmas break. I have over 2 weeks off work around Christmas as I save my holidays for a nice long break. What are your plans for Christmas?

We are experiencing a cold spell here in Ireland these days so everyone needs to wrap up warm. Earlier this month I went shopping and picked up a few casual tops for over the winter to layer with cardigans, scarfs and jackets. What are you wearing this winter?

Wearing for the Winter months ahead...

Here is a throwback to my travels to Greece which I never got around to posting. I visited Greece in August, this is my second time to visit Greece having visited Athens and the Greek Islands of Corfu, Mykonos and Kefalonia two years ago. I was so surprised at how beautiful Greece is, the islands are amazing! The photos below are from the small town of Katakolon on the mainland. It is known as the gateway to Olympia. I really enjoyed my visit here, the people were so friendly and welcoming to their town. The shops were really quaint and overall it had a lovely small town feel.

Hope you had a lovely weekend. It's a long weekend here and the weather is lovely and mild so it makes it even better. Last weekend I found a little kitten abandoned at the entrance to the farm. While there are several farm cats, they are all wild and the kittens can never be caught as they are so wild but this wee kitten was a little pet. Only that it was crying loudly I wouldn't have seen it. I don't know how anyone can be so cruel as to dump a wee kitten out at the side of the road. It appeared to have some blood around its mouth. Anyways, the story is pretty obvious- I took the kitten up to the farm as I couldn't leave it. I didn't think my husband would want another kitten but he didn't want to get her a new home yet as she is probably too young. I have named the kitten Millie- if it's a girl short for Mildred and if it is a boy short for Milford....
Welcome to the Farm Millie

Along with the Cinque Terre region of Italy, La Flotte in Ile de Re is one of the prettiest small towns I have visited in Europe. On Ile de Re every house has a strict colour palette which includes a choice of 18 shades of paint for the shutters and windows (blue/green/grey). All buildings are simple plan with red terracotta roofs. All houses are either white or cream and are adorned with beautiful flowers including hollyhocks. We visited in October so a lot of the flowers were no longer in bloom but you get an idea from my photographs. The old port area is so quaint and charming. It is really laid back with lovely residential areas. If you are looking for a really charming place to visit, check out La Flotte.