I have been blogging since November 2009. That's five whole years! Where has the time gone. I have now decided to dip into my blog archive and show you what I have blogged about each November since I started. A lot of things have happened in my life since 2009 including building a new home on the farm, moving to the countryside, getting married, getting a new job, completing an accredited training course and getting older and wiser with age (I hope). I have now been blogging for over 5 years and hope to continue with my blog for as long as I can. It has become a hobby and rather than watch TV at night time I blog. As I work full time I rarely get to blog during the week, only at night. 

I hope you like the blog posts I have taken from my blog archive and today I will feature November 2009. 

November 2009: This year I wrote about the wonderful book "The Goddess Guide" by Irish Author Gisele Scanlon. It is full of beautiful images, illustrations and inspiration for all Goddesses out there! Six Goddesses appear throughout the Guide; The Home Goddess, The Office Goddess, The Earth Goddess, The Luxurious Goddess, The Urban Goddess and The Sex Goddess. Which one are you? I think I might  introduce my own  seventh Goddess- the Countryside Goddess. That's me with a little of The Home Goddess thrown in for good measure. It's 2009 since I blogged about The Goddess Guide and I still love it as much now. It would make a great gift for Christmas too :) 

{Images from The Goddess Guide}

This time last year my home was featured in IKEA Live online Magazine- hope you all liked it! Things are still progressing with the house and there is only one room left to decorate. I promise to post more photographs when the sun begins to shine again. Today we had no rain so perhaps Spring is finally here. Here is a link to my home from IKEA Live last year.

Since last year, IKEA have featured a number of Irish homes including the home of Amy from Dublinia Blog which I follow. Her home is a home of two halves- downstairs it is contemporary with a retro twist and upstairs it is more like my home with a country, shabby chic feel. Visit IKEA Live to see more of Amy's home. 

 

All images via Dublinia

Below is a list of some of my favourite blogs. I regularly visit these blogs and find them really inspiring. What are your favourite blogs? Would love if you shared them with me.

Decor8

This blog has over 147,000 followers on pinterest alone, so you can just imagine the amount of followers Holly has to her blog.  Holly previously lived in the US but has relocated to Germany. Her blog is full of interiors inspiration and she is the author of a number of books. She also runs Bloggin your Way Courses and Bootcamps. Decor8 is the very first blog I read and it inspired me to start blogging, thank you Holly!

 

Yvestown

Yvonne is the author of this blog. Her home is so pretty, you really must take a look, I'm sure most of you have seen it anyway on pinterest- it is everywhere! This is one of the most popular lifestyle and interior blogs out there. She was currently filmed for a documentary on bloggers and is writing her own book. She hosts the fabulous Yvestown Fair in her own home(I have it on my wishlist to visit).

Selina Lake

Selina is an English Interior Stylist and I love her work. She has a number of must have books including Romantic Style, Homespun Style, Bazaar Style and her new Pretty Pastel Style will be launched later this month at a wonderful craft and vintage fair. I love her blog and all her styling, it is so pretty, bright and always makes me smile! If you haven't seen her work before you really have to check out this blog!

There you have it, three of my favourite blogs, in no particular order

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

Still waiting for internet connection at my new home so I haven't been around blogland lately. Very busy organising the wedding. Hope you are all keeping well and hopefully I'll be back in blogland soon :)

I miss catching up on all your blogs : (

Does any of you know much about Blog Lovin' I set my blog up on it and no followers :-( I update my blog reguarly but no one seems to stop by via blog lovin'. Does many of you use it?

I'm not feeling the love...

{My blog lovin' }

Join me for a tea party by Allthingsnice featuring Monsoon

Hello my dear blog friend and followers

I had news this week that my Country Heritage Blog  has been longlisted in the Best Art and Culture Blog(sponsored by Poetry Ireland)  category of the Irish Blog Awards 2010. I don't know who nominated my blog as it is the blog that I update the least. I had never heard of the Irish Blog Awards until about a month ago. I'm very grateful to get longlisted and thanks to all my blog friends which ever of my blogs you visit :-)

I have just received a lovely Circle of Friends Award from Karen (Kazzy) at a Mermaids Purse, her blog is so pretty with lots of adorable stuff from her home and family. She is very creative and make sure you check out her beautiful drawings.

Ok so now I have to list my  'Five fav things i like doing'and then pass it on to five blogging friends so here goes

No. 1 Drinking tea in front of the fire on a cold dark night;
No. 2 Receiving gifts of any sort;
No. 3 Spending time with my wonderful boyfriend;
No. 4 Spotting some wildlife;
No. 5 Exploring the interior of houses be it old or new.

My list could go on and on forever as there are so many things I like to do, so what do you like to do?

I have decided to pass this award onto five of my blog friends, check out their blogs;

Monika from Monichen R who is blogging from Ireland
Gosia from Pick and Post who is from Poland
Gwendolyn from Hydrangea Heaven who is from the United States
Mummy Boo Bear from Stitchery Pokery who is from the United Kingdom
Glenda from Serendipity Cottage who is also from the United States

So there are five bloggers from my circle of friends, why don't you all visit each other :)

And here is my saying for the day;

Friendships are like flowers
That brighten your day
With fragrance and beauty
To share on life's way.

So treat them like flowers
From the gardener above,
Weed them with mercy
And water them with love.

Hello All,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We don't celebrate it here in Ireland but I reflected and gave thanks for all the good things in my life this year.

Just a quick post before I head off to my cosy bed on this cold winter night. I'm off for a short break this weekend so I won't be blogging, I hope you do stop by though and keep an eye on my blog for me :) So an update on my mat making, this is where I was about 2 weeks ago (I had one side started)

And now I'm this far on................

As you can  see I have a small bit to finish on the left hand side and then its all done :) My first mat mapping project. My sweet boyfriend bought me this set at a charity auction.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and let me know what you get up too, I'm sure some of you will be decorating your homes for Christmas(I look forward to seeing your photos when I get back) and others may be visiting Santa with the kids or doing some shopping but whatever your doing make sure you enjoy yourself!

So when I'm away why not visit my other blogs:

 All Things Nice this was my first blog which I started on wordpress back in May

and Country Heritage  which focuses on the built, natural and cultural heritage of rural Ireland.

 Why not visit some of my other followers sites, they are all unique, inspirational and creative with lots of nice things :) You may like to follow them too.

Also if you have time check out the Etsy Ireland blog with over 80 crafters, artists and designers based throughout Ireland. You can link to many of their personal blogs from there.

Sounds like I'm your parent telling you all what to do when I'm away :)

Reach for the moon, beacuse if you don't make it, you'll land among the stars :)

I just received my first ever Blog Award from my friend Tracey at Tracey's Crafty Scraps. It really cheered up my day. Tracey's blog is full of fun and her wonderful handmade crafts. It is a latin award.


The award says .."This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated."

Thanks Tracey :)

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and sings it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

Hi all,

I was just wondering if some of you could give me abit of advice, or some ideas, examples or blogs/websites which may help. And your wondering ok ok, what does she want to know- well I wanted to gather together some examples of easy to make wedding invitations in the form of cards, I have come across some other really nice ideas like those used for Grace's Wedding from Design*Sponge which consisted of different vintage handkerchiefs that had the invite wording printed on the front, they were beautiful and designed by Bird and Banner Check them out they have some wonderful invitations! I also spotted some nice ideas over at Craft u Crazy. Although all these ideas are really innovative and quirky, I'm looking for inspiration/ ideas/ advice/ links/ info on something cheaper which can be handmade/homemade.

Many thanks, all comments on this subject are very welcome,

All things nice...

P.S: I'm not getting married, its my brother and his future wife!! :)