This weekend I tried to spend as much time as possible outside when the weather was good. On Saturday myself and my sister in law went for a long walk at the Farnham Estate near to where we live. I had never gone for a walk in the grounds before. We took the long route and afterwards went for a much needed cup of tea and scone.

Views of the hotel which was the former Estate House

This photo looks like it was stretched but it isn't. That is the actual shape and size of the tree. Spot the lanterns hanging from the lower branches too.

What can I say, I love shabby chic interiors, so feminine, pretty and romantic. There are so many gorgeous images on pinterest of shabby chic interiors in homes across the world. Rachel Ashwell is synonymous with Shabby Chic- just take a look at the images below and you will understand why. They are all from Rachel Ashwell who is a designer, author and entrepreneur of all things Shabby chic. She even opened her own shabby chic hotel The Prairie.

My home on the other hand is more country cottage with natural wood and textiles than shabby chic. While I love shabby chic and vintage items, I only have pops of it about the place. Shabby Chic is basically where you choose your furniture and accessories for their appearance of age and signs of wear and tear. Some items can be distressed to look like they are antique and this is a big trend in home furnishings in recent years. The colour tend to be soft muted tones. Feast your eyes on the images below from Rachel Ashwell- aren't they stunning!

Shabby Chic from Rachel Ashwell

Shabby Chic from Rachel Ashwell

Hope everyone is enjoying the summer time. I took a few days off work and went to County Galway with my husband, we stayed in the Five Star Glenlo Abbey Hotel just outside Galway. We had dinner in the Pullman Restaurant which consists of two original carriages from the orient express train. It was delicious- really unique and a step back in time. It is amazing to see the luxurious interior of the carriages and imagine those that traveled on it years ago. These carriages served on the Paris-Instanbul-St. Peterburg route of the Orient Express. I'm sorry I didn't get more photos of the interior of the carriages but it was quiet busy and I was relaxing and taking it all on. Here are a few images from the Hotel and the final image is the entrance to the Pullman Restaurant.

Image of interior of hotel

Abbey building attached to hotel

Flower garland around door of Abbey

Entrance to Pullman Restaurant- original carriage from the Orient Express

So I said I would post some of my photographs from my visit to Castle Leslie for Afternoon tea on Sunday. It is really one of Ireland's treasures- such a wonderful setting and so unique! The architecture and interiors are amazing! It tops all of the historic country homes/castles I have visited in Ireland and I have visited a lot! Those of you who read my blog will be aware that I love visiting heritage sites in the Irish Countryside. So to begin my tour of the Castle, below are a few photos....

Firstly the music room- full of lovely paintings and photos with stunning views over the lake..

The enchanting Blue Room where afternoon tea was served! The wallpaper was so detailed and it was the perfect setting for tea with views out over the gardens...

We visited the library but didn't have time to read any books. I did spot a photograph on the shelf of Uncle Jack Leslie though...

Below are some photographs of the cocktail bar area in the long room and the dining room...

Another image of the library and to the right is a fire place in the toilets! Yes that is the ladies toilets..

 And finally a view of the main entrance...

If you haven't visited yet, make sure to put it on your "To Do List". Glaslough village is really quaint as well so make a day of it! Also if you want to visit the castle for tea or food, make sure you book in advance! To see some more images of the village visit my previous post Glaslough Village, Monaghan, Ireland... Pretty as a Picture or for more information on Castle Leslie visit their website
P.S for anyone that wants a wonderful setting for a wedding, you should visit Castle Leslie, and no I am not getting commission!

Hello all, hope you enjoyed the weekend, weather has been very cold here in Ireland but no rain where I was :) Had a lovely weekend away with my boyfriend. Only problem was that it went too fast. What did you get up to? Here are a few photographs of my weekend away. Our hotel was really nice, very trendy and good value. The photoraph below is a lovely canvas in the hotel, how pretty and very girly.

We went to the seaside on Saturday to Strandhill with its long strand and the seaside village of Rosses Point, it was extremely cold and got very foggy too. Here are a few photos of the beach and views in and around  Strandhill

   

   

   

   

      

   

The further north we travelled it started to get very misty and foggy so the next few photographs aren't very clear, we couldn't even see the sea.

So as you can see the visibility on the West Coast of Ireland wasn't great, so we decided to head back to town and looked around the shops and got some food.

Today we relaxed and visited the seventeenth century Markree Castle on the way home. It is surrounded by mature demesne woodland and the River Unshin runs through the grounds. It is now a hotel and has been home to the Cooper family since Cromwell's time. Here are the charming entrance gates and some more views of the Castle.

Here are two photographs of the entrance, how elegant is that??

Up...

And back down...

Check out the website for some more photographs Markree Castle Hotel

The River Unshin

There are also luxury self catering cottages at Markree Castle Home Farm

This was such a wonderful demesne with its weatlth of built and natural heritage. We then said goodbye to Markree Castle and headed on the road for home.

Along the way we spotted a nice scenic viewing point of Lough Key

This sculptured metal horse with a Gaelic Chieftain marks the site of the Battle of the Curleius, which took place in 1599.

So thats the end of my lovely weekend away and as they say time flies when your having fun. What all did you get up to this weekend?

Hello dear friends, followers, readers & passer bys...

Hope you all had a good week this week. Did you get up to anything nice? The weather here in Ireland was awful apart from today but the forecast is not good for the weekend more rain! I didn't have a very creative week this week, my mat is progressing well and in a few weeks I should be finished. I'm having a nice quiet night in tonight at the fire. I'm taking a weekend break next weeekend- should be nice to get away and relax. We are staying in a lovely hotel called the Glasshouse, here are a few photos of it

Hope its as nice as it looks. I'm really looking forward to that, and I am going to look up some nice places we can visit when we are there. I may also take some photographs. I was going to go to the woods again this evening for a walk but with all the rain we have had I thought it would be very messy so I didn't go. So as you can see I have no plans for this weekend but lots for next weekend. Whats your plans for this weekend? You doing anything nice/exciting/ interesting?? Maybe your going Christmas shopping? Or attending a Christmas Craft Fair? Doing some crafting? Meeting friends? Spending time with family?

Here's a cute photo of my wee cat in the garden this week

"Imagination is everything, It is the preview of life's coming attractions"   ~Albert Einstein