Romance is not dead.

Mussenden Temple Northern Ireland.

I am so excited as I am doing the flowers for a wedding next week, to be held in the most romantic building, Mussenden Temple, perched on a clifftop overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, with views of Downhill Strand.
Built in the late 1700's by the Bishop of Derry as a summer library.

In 1996 engineers declared that it was in danger of falling into the sea and being lost forever. The National Trust took on the task of reinforcing it with iron rods to prevent further erosion.Due to damp and salty conditions the interior plaster work has all fallen off, leaving it very plain and simple.

The lovely couple who are to be married have spent many happy times here throughout their courtship, and were determined that this was the place to exchange their vows. It can be very blustery and wild, so I will be keeping my fingers crossed that they get a perfect day.

I shall do my very best to take as many photos as I can before the event, and hope that I will get a few of the bride and groom afterwards.

Hoping you all have a great weekend, love Linda x.

Happy Holiday

Thank you all for your kind messages on my last post, we had a wonderful holiday.Our little dog Sparky, came on holiday with us this year. It was a long drive, but he was really well behaved, and when we reached our destination, he jumped out of the car and trotted off to the cottage, as if to say "this is it, I have arrived!"

Jingle, our guinea pig, came along too, he had a wonderful time eating all the clover he could. I must say it was lovely for us to have our pets with us instead of leaving the dog at kennels (which he hates), and trying to find a volunteer for the guinea pig and goldfish. We now have a new addition to the menagerie, a dwarf rabbit called Chester.

Isn't he lovely. Lois got him for her birthday, and we picked him up when we got back from Kerry.

We stayed here, one of 3 cottages, although it was more like a barn conversion, light and airy. The views were wonderful, and it was so peaceful even though we were only 10 minutes drive from the local town, Kenmare. Check it out here.

We had chickens roaming around and we were able to collect eggs every day. The owners of the cottages, Anne and Patrick, were so friendly and kind, and we really enjoyed watching the daily routine of farm life.
Kenmare was a vibrant, colourful little town, with a great choice in restaurants, shops and bars, and the locals were really friendly. There was a Food Festival , the weekend we arrived, which made the town have a great little buzz, and of course there was a lot of yummy stuff to eat.

 I loved the way the stalls were all the same. In true Irish laid back style, nothing much got going till lunchtime.

 We were so fortunate with the weather, it was fantastic! The last time I was in Kerry it was misty and wet and I didn't see any scenery at all.

 The Boathouse Restaurant, a lovely place to whittle away a few hours.

I understand how people get sentimental about Ireland, it really is a beautiful country.

I couldn't resist putting this one in, the camera went off by accident and caught my mad curly hair.I hope I haven't ranted on too much, but I know a lot of you have a soft spot for Ireland, and I thought you might enjoy the photos.Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, and thank you so much for stopping by, love Linda.x.

Powerscourt County Wicklow

As promised, the rest of our holiday snapshots. We were very lucky with the weather and were able to spend a large part of the day in these wonderful gardens. Those Landscape Gardener's from days of yore had such vision didn't they? They knew how to put a scheme together! These gardens are really lovely and the scenery around is so lush and green and mountainous, truly spectacular. I especially loved the walled garden, with its wonderfully full borders, lilly ponds and gorgeous gates. We took several photos of the gates but my husband spoilt them all with silly poses, so sorry I am not including them.

Lois looks like a little Leprechaun in this! She took the 2 pics above which I think are rather good.

Afterwards we went to 'Johnny Foxes Pub', supposed to be the highest pub in Ireland. It really is geared for the American tourist and was a little O.T.T. in it's Irishness, we were tempted to run away before ordering but had been told on good authority that it was renowned for it's Seafood, so we stayed and it really was very good.

I adore my honeysuckle just outside the kitchen door, it smells so sweet and the standard rose is scented too and there is lavender underneath.

Now I am no Capability Brown and neither is ny husband, we aren't really gardeners at all, but we are triers, and we enjoy trying! I kind of view the garden as another room and so colour plays an important role, and I like the cottage garden style. Thats about as far as the knowledge extends, it's a case of the blind leading the blind, but it's fun, and we do get enormous stisfaction out of seeing things grow.

The Passion flower is new and so I don't expect it will do a lot this year, but hopefully next, if it doesn't get blown to bits!

Crabapples are early this year, I think it's jelly making time!

The first raspberry...yum!

A little cottage garden posy.

Hope you all are having a lovely summer. I hate to tell you this, but Autumn is coming, whilst out walking today I saw Hawthorn and Blackberries. I love Autumn, though, not at the start when the weather is still warmish and you don't know what to wear, but when there is that nip in the air and you have to get your tweed and woollies out of the closet,and you can wear boots . I love the freshness in the air, and I always get the feeling that I can acomplish great things, there is an energy about Autumn. All the seasons are wonderful in their own way and I would miss them if I went to live in a milder climate. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, love Linda x

Travel...'broadens the mind'.

The Walled Garden at Powerscourt, Wicklow.

Even if you travel in your own country! I am so glad we stayed in Ireland this year, if the weather had been awful I may have thought differently! It was so good to see Ireland through the eyes of a tourist, to take in its wild, romantic beauty and really appreciate it. Sometimes I get quite down on my own country, because it's not very sophisticated, because we don't seem to appreciate our history and heritage, and seem to favour new fangled and modern instead of old and worn. ( I am speaking of Northern Ireland here.) With my line of work, painting furniture and interiors, it is frustrating because it is really hard to find vintage and antique items here, and when you do they are generally heavy victorian and dark wood, not the kind of look I  want!  General cost of living is quite expensive here, everything seems to be brought in and so is more expensive than England. We have very little in the way of Farmers Markets, even though we have plenty of farmers. So, you can imagine, when I see the lovely Antique Fairs, Vintage Markets, Farmers Markets, Brocantes etc. on your lovely blogs, I jump up and down and cry with frustration. However, when I travel to Southern Ireland and see places like Avoca, with their wonderful cafes and deli's thriving, Artisan Bakers, French Vans selling local fruit, it gives me hope and I think yes, we will have these things in Nortern Ireland! I need to remember too, that it wasn't that long ago, when we had bombs going off, shootings, we were a country at war, and it takes time to recover from these things. I have forgotten what Belfast city centre used to be like, when no-one went out at night. There were no 'Cocktail Bars' and fancy Hotels, coffee houses and designer shops. We were really starved of culture and beauty! Things really have changed for the better when I think of it. My mind has been broadened, I have come to appreciate my country more and I am glad of it. So here are a few of our holiday snaps, to let you see how beautiful it is!



A wonderful Georgian door in Bray.





A pretty row of houses, in the seaside town of Bray.





 

I would so love one of these Citroen vans.



Entrance to Avoca shop, restaurant, deli and garden centre at Kilmacanagoue.

The photos above where taken at Avoca.



Down at the farm at Kilcoole.



I don't want to bore you with too many photos, so I will keep the one's from Powerscourt and Eniskerry for another day. Have a wonderful week. Thankyou so much to my new followers, welcome aboard! Love Linda x