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 

                                                                  

Last week we went on our holidays. The weather was lovely and warm. We visited four countries- Italy, Croatia, Greece and Turkey. We flew into Venice which we visited two years ago. It is such a unique place, below are some photos of our two days there...

I got totally fed up with the Irish weather this week so I went and booked a holiday... Both myself and my husband feel we both need a nice break and some sunshine so we're heading back to the beautiful city of Venice again, then on to Croatia, Greece and Turkey... I love exploring new places and while I have been to Venice before we will have two days there now and then on to lots of new locations.... Below are a selection of my photographs from my trip to Venice two years ago.. #exciting #holidays

One week into February already... where does the time go. Do you follow me on Instagram? If not, do pop over to my Instagram account allthingsnice_4life where I post almost every day and you can follow my happening here at home and of my adventures...
Below are just some of my Instagram posts from the last few weeks.
From top left, 1. A quaint Irish village centre with this house that I adore, each time I visit, I like it more and more, 2. Throwback to my visit to Cinque Terre in Italy- one of the most beautiful places I have visited, 3. My parents having fun in the desert on their holidays, 4. Some flowers to brighten up the hallway in my house, 5. Umbrella display from a shopping centre in Dubai which my mum sent to me from her holidays, 6. Sunday, myself and my husband went out for dinner, it was really cold and this wee fire was just what we wanted to warm us up, 7. Almost Spring and the cute lambs are appearing, bouncing around the fields, 8. Planning a trip back to Florence Court House and Gardens soon, this was a photo I took of the Gardener's Cottage- isn't it pretty?, 9. An elegant swan I captured who was great at posing for me.

So there you have it, a round up of my happening in the past few weeks, to see more, do visit me on Instagram and follow along if you wish

So here they are the top liked images on my Instagram in 2015.
In first place is this beautiful photo I took of the coastline at Cinque Terre in Italy. We visited in late September and had a great time.

I am delighted that my second most liked image from Instagram last year was from Ireland and it is Glencar in County Leitrim. This is a lovely tranquil setting in County Leitrim beside the famous Glencar Waterfall, claimed to be one of the most romantic places in Ireland. 

This year myself and my husband didn't go away for any weekend breaks, we saved our money and set off on our holidays in September visiting three countries and the island of Mallorca. Below are some photographs of our holidays... we really enjoyed it and have some memories which will last a lifetime....

From top left: Rome (Italy), Naples (Italy), Marseille (France), Naples, Cinque Terre (Italy), Cinque Terre, Palma de Mallorca, Rome and Barcelona (Spain)...

More photographs from my travels, sorry if you are getting bored with all the travel posts but I really wanted to share these places with you. These villages below are known as Cinque Terre - meaning the five lands in Italian which include the villages of Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manorola and Riomaggiore. They form the Italian Riviera and are designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. They are located to the west of La Spezia where we got the train to the villages. You can also access the villages by boat but due to stormy seas the boats weren't running the day we visited. Walking paths connect the five villages but again due to the stormy weather the walking paths were closed. There is no vehicles in the villages and tourists arrive via the train or boats. It is such a breathtaking place and I would love to go back there again and walk between the villages. The areas are very busy with tourists so it is best not to visit in peak season as I am sure they are crowded with tourists particularly if the paths are closed. Just this week when I arrived home, I have seen online that the locals in the villages have an online petition to call for the numbers of tourists to be managed as the villages cannot cope as they are being overrun with mass tourism. I do hope that the numbers of tourists can be managed to ensure that the integrity of the villages are protected and also that a balance can be struck to allow the villages to thrive on tourism but that the unique architecture, landscape and heritage of these villages remain intact. It is one of the most beautiful places I have visited and the photographs below really do not do it justice- it is 100% nicer in reality.  

Next stop on our holidays and the third country we visited was Italy. We stopped off in Rome- the Eternal City. It is absolutely beautiful, no matter where you look the architecture and heritage is amazing. We decided to take the red bus tour to see as much as possible in a short space of time. Hope you enjoy my photographs and if you have time do check out my previous posts from Palma De Mallorca in Spain and Marseille in France.