Oh what a fabulous day we had here in Ireland, sunshine and blue skies and I have an extra long weekend too. I spent most of the day in the garden-mowing and weeding... can't wait for summer now with lots of flowers... below are a few pretty flower arrangements I photographed at an agricultural show here in Ireland last year... which is your favourite?? I'd have to choose the one with the hydrangeas....

Spring in on its way at last. Today is the last day of January, it went by very quickly this year. I am not keen on the dark mornings and evenings so I am now looking forward to a stretch in the evening and more daylight :) Time to get out and about and enjoy the countryside.... My laptop broke before Christmas and a result I lost a lot of my photographs, some are stored on my google photos thingy (I don't really know how it works). I wanted to take them off google photos to store on my new laptop and use on twitter/instagram, etc. anyone know what I'm doing wrong? 

Spring is here and it is time to brighten up my home with lots of spring inspired accessories-bright colours and cheerful patterns. While browsing online I noticed these pretty home wares from Marks & Spencer. I adore the floral details, cute rabbits and birds. I hope to go shopping soon as I want to pick up a new throw for the sofa and a few other cheerful pieces to splash a bit of colour into my home... Do you change your accessories with the seasons too?

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. We had sunshine here in Ireland so I spent most of my time outdoors. The daffodils in my garden haven't bloomed yet but I picked these ones from the fields and put them in my hallway. The cherry blossom is in bloom too so I have some in the house as well. I love Spring time when everything comes back to life, the days gets longer and it begins to get a little warmer and sunnier. Did you do anything nice this weekend? 

Last weekend we had dry crisp weather which made such a change. I done lots of Spring cleaning on Saturday and went to a birthday party Saturday night. Sunday I spent time with family and went off for a lovely long walk around the farm in the evening. It was really cold but I wrapped up warm and off I went. Below are some of my photos, you can see how the light was changing and the sun began to set over the lake. I love getting out and about with lots of fresh air...

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

Those of you who read my blog will know that I have attended some flower arranging classes and I love them! They are finishing up this week though so I will then have to keep putting all I have learned into practice. The clocks went forward last night which means we have longer evenings. I like getting out and about in the evening time particularly now that spring has really set in. I have some extra days off work this week and the week after for Easter. Below are a few images from around my home this weekend.

From top left; Over my wood burning stove in the snug, the picture is from the Spanish Arch in
Galway and the rest of the photos are my Easter/Spring flower arrangements in my entrance hall

From top left; my dining room table with lilies and greenery and the rest of the photos are my other flower arrangements.

With Saint Patrick's Day tomorrow, I decided to post some photographs of the landscape around me here in rural Ireland. Those of you that read my blog will know that I spend all my time in the Irish countryside. I work in rural Ireland and I am passionate about the future of our rural areas. I am married to a full time farmer and this is rare nowadays as there are fewer full time farmers in this area. In my free time, I love wandering around the farm taking photographs of the beautiful landscape around me. Farmers are custodians of our landscape, they have shaped it over the years and utilised the landscape to make a living. I never lived on a farm until three years ago and I now know first hand how hard farmers work. My husband works up to 12 hours every day, apart from Sunday when he takes a few hours off during the day to spend some time with me (he still works around 7 hours on a Sunday). On top of the 12 hour days, there are hours of time spent up during the night with cows calving. To me, farming is much more than a job, it is a vocation and a lifestyle.

Things have been busy here these past few weeks. I attended my second flower arranging class again on Tuesday night and it was great. We prepared a basket flower arrangement with some beautiful flowers, lovely shades of pale pinks, lilacs and purples with white mixed through. Hope you like it. I went out for a lovely long walk this evening and picked some wild daffodils from the meadow. I generally don't like picking them but I feel they are wasted out in the middle of a field when my husband will more than likely spray slurry all over the field soon. So my home is full of lovely blooms this week, just what we need for Spring! Today the sky was blue; bright blue skies gives you more energy and entices you outside so much more than the dull days of winter. I get an extra long break from work this week as it is Saint Patrick's Day on Tuesday and I am taking Monday off as well. Hope you have nice plans for the weekend...

This morning we woke to a winter wonderland with lots of snow everywhere. There was a chill in the air. I took a stroll around and as the day went on it snowed even more. I picked some daffodils yesterday- how pretty do they look with their little heads popped up against the white backdrop of snow. Did you have snow today? There is still a lot of snow out there now, so fingers crossed that it doesn't freeze too much tonight and I get to work in the morning.

At last January is over, it was such a long month and the weather was dark and depressing here in Ireland. I can't wait for the longer and brighter days of Spring. In the meantime I will look back over my holidays and the beautiful sunny island of Mykonos. It is so bright, pretty and sunny and just looking at these photos instantly make me happy- hope they make you happy too. Roll on the summer sunshine and warmer days of Spring....

All photographs my own {All things nice...}

It is very windy and cold here in Ireland this past week. I haven't had much of an opportunity to get out and about as it is dark when I get home from work and dark when I am leaving in the morning. At this stage I am looking forward to Spring time with the longer days and brighter mornings. I haven't had the chance to use my hunter wellies much but hopefully soon.... Is anyone else longing for Spring time now???

Hello everyone, it's the weekend again, the weeks just seem to be flying by. What horrible weather we have had this week, rain, sleet, snow and high winds. It has been a week for staying indoors. But alas I woke this morning to sunshine, yes sunshine! At last, Spring may be on its way. The bulbs I planted in my garden are popping their heads out. I may do some Spring cleaning today but first I thought I'd share with you some lovely items from Cath Kidston which I have my eye on. I am loving crochet these days and as always anything nature themed like this beautiful bird wallpaper. I love baby blues, pinks and pastel greens. Have you any nice plans for this weekend?

Today I am dreaming of this

 and this...

I am getting fed up of the rain here in Ireland, but good news is I have my holidays booked for 2014! I will give you more detail of where I am going in a later post. Almost the weekend again and the end of January. I am looking forward to the Spring with the days getting longer and brighter and hopefully better weather too. 

The weather is awful here in Ireland, dark, damp, wet and windy. On top of that it is freezing cold too. I need some sunshine badly, so in order to sprinkle some brightness into my day I have been admiring these beautiful pastel shades in clothing. They are fresh and cheerful. Hopefully the weather will improve soon. I have today off work so went to get my hair cut. Have you any nice plans for the weekend?

 

Spring is  almost over now, it only seems like yesterday it was winter. I am now in my new home 4 months and am married 2 months. We have to organise our honeymoon yet. Any nice suggestions of where to go? I want to stay in Europe though. Any ideas are welcomed...

Hope you all had a lovely Easter and enjoyed the time off. I am lucky as I also get today off work :) I had a nice weekend, went to my friends wedding party which was really good and great to see two good friends begin their married life together. I had another friend visit Sunday night and then I went to the city yesterday to catch up with more friends that I went to university with. I also had dinner with my inlaws on Easter Sunday which was lovely. So all in all, I had a lovely Easter with family and friends.

What did you get up to over Easter?

The images above are all from Cath Kidston and I adore them, really bright and cheerful, just the way we like it :)

Happy Easter everyone, hope you have a nice time. I did the little collage above with Cath Kidston patterns.

Don't you just love Spring time with the evenings getting longer and the weather getting milder, time to go for long walks in the countryside and spring clean the home, pick flowers and brighten up the home with bunting and pastel colours :)

I picked these daffodils from the back of the hill and put them along with some flowers that were left over from a wedding floral arrangement I got from my old work colleagues :) Little did I know that daffodils don't last very well in oasis and withered within a few days. Next time I'll keep them in a vase. I may buy some carnations at the weekend to put in this pot.

The week is flying by and it is a long weekend here in Ireland so that is always a bonus. Hope you all have nice plans for your weekend!

Spring time is so nice, brighter days, sunnier weather and nature awakening from the long dark Winter. Baby lambs jumping and playing in the fields with daffodils and bluebells popping up in our fields, gardens and woodlands. These lovely images of pastel interiors remind me of Spring time!

 

All images via shelterness