Visited Lovely Lisbon in the Autumn. It is a wonderful city to explore with such lovely architecture and things to do. The weather was very hot so we just wandered around and took in all the sights of the city.

A few weeks ago we decided to visit Fore in County Westmeath. I had visited a few time before when I was a child and we went years back before we got married. It has a number of heritage features; ruins of the old Abbey, Church, mill race, arches, graveyard, etc. There is a small visitor centre/coffee shop just down the road in the village but we didn't have time to visit. It is a quaint place with little development. The weather was dry but a little dull. It's a lovely place to visit if you are in the area

The snow came and today we have a red weather warning in place. Storm Emma is on the way.. it didn't stop me from getting a few photos early this morning. Life goes on in rural areas for farmers, the animals need looking after, feeding, water, bedding, etc... Some water pipes have frozen so this makes it all the more difficult. So spare a thought for all those farmers working hard to keep things going whatever the weather. Stay warm and cosy wherever you are!

I am not sure if I have shown you some photographs of one of our guest bedrooms which is still a work in progress. We are in our home six years but never had any furniture in this room until before Christmas when we had family staying over. I do have another guest bedroom fully decorated but hadn't bothered with this one until now. It was about time too after six years! I need to add some finishing touches like pictures/wall art, perhaps a radiator cover as it looks awful in these photographs. I would also like some prints for the bedside tables as the current ones with the birds don't match the decor. If you have any suggestions for me, I would love to hear from you as I really don't know what type of pictures/wall art to get that will tie in with other bedclothes I have. To see some more images of my home, take a look at my instagram

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We have been busy this festive season with a family wedding the week before Christmas. We had some guests stay over, then a few nights out followed by Christmas dinner for seven this year. Overall it was really enjoyable but went very fast. I have a few more friends to meet up with and then time to ring in the New Year.

I haven't visited very much of Spain, having concentrated my holidays in France, Italy and along the Adriatic coast over the past few weeks. Two years ago I visited Barcelona and loved it. I hadn't gone abroad this year and was in need of some heat and sunshine so booked a last minute trip to the Costa del Sol. I was pleasantly surprised with this part of Spain. Transport was so easy and inexpensive. We spent a day exploring the beautiful city of Malaga and Muelle Uno with splendid views of the port. The sun shone every day and the heat did me the world of good. I love the heat so this holiday suited me with temperatures ranging from 23-26 degrees compared to 11 degrees here at home in Ireland. We also visited Gibraltar for a day and spent the rest of the time relaxing and exploring the coastline between Benalmadena to Torremolinos. In total we spent 5 nights away and it was just perfect!

Autumn has really set in here in Ireland. The days are getting shorter and there is a real chill to the air in the mornings. Here are a few photos of my recent trip along the Wild Atlantic Way...

This week we explored counties Cork and Kerry along the Wild Atlantic Way. Our first stop was Kinsale in County Cork, it is a really vibrant colourful town with lots of pretty shops and restaurants. I loved the varied colour palette used on all of the buildings and the traditional shop fronts. Here are just a few photos I took. We didn't stay the night here but spent a few hours exploring the town. Watch out for more posts from my travels.