Cooking With Daisy

Have a look at my guest post on Style Treaty today on the cookbook I just bought, Cooking With Daisy.

Some Interiors

There's something really appealing about this kitchen, usually I love everything to be organised, neat and tidy, but I love a busy kitchen. This looks like the kind of kitchen where you would find kids covered in flour as they help with the baking, or a great place to sit down to a big family breakfast on a Saturday morning!



I also like the bookshelves in this room. I'm not too keen on anything else in the room but I love the open bookshelves.



Here's a really imaginative idea for a bath-tub, I love that bluey colour at the moment, and I love the tiles but I think this bath-tub is a bit too "bachelor-pad" for my liking!



I really love the colour combination in this bedroom... wonder where she got that wallpaper, I really like it!



All pictures from Orna O'Reilly, a talented designer working in the West of Ireland.

Myths in Life

In my opinion, there are three great myths in life. Three items that everyone thinks exist, but in actual fact they don't, a bit like the Loch Ness Monster. These three items are:

1. A good can opener
2. A good iron
3. A good garlic crush / chopper

Well, I have a feeling that I may have unearthed a solution to the third one on the list above! I have a collection of garlic crushers at home that have all been used once before being discarded into the ""useless" drawer (it hasn't ocurred to me that the problem might be the person using these implements...). However, I just stumbled on this Garlic-Pro E-Zee Dice through Sur La Table and I think it may be the answer!




Twenty stainless steel blades perfectly dice garlic in seconds. Changes from coarse chop to fine dice with just a twist of its plastic top, all that for $19.95.

Rock Cottage

I love a house with character, with nooks and crannies and a little quirkiness about it. If that's what you are looking for in a house then this one definitely tops the poll!

Rock Cottage has just gone up for auction in Wolverley, Worcestershire, England. The cottage which was hewn out of a sandstone cliff and was last occupied in the 1940s has a guide price of £25000.





The interior could do with a little work! Imagine the challenge of taking this on as a project and turning it into a beautiful holiday home, the house comes with 5 acres of woodland. I would LOVE to do something like this in my lifetime!

Click here to read the full story.

pictures from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ , http://www.ananova.com/ and http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Travel in Style

Have a look on Style Treaty for my post on my new purchase...

Eastern Exoticism

I've just come across some beauiful silk products imported by Roisin Cross, a silk importer based in Dublin. Silk is just so luxurious, it can hardly be compared to any other fabric on the market. It adds an Eastern exoticism to any room when used for curtains or cushions.

Silk has a long history and gives the impression that it has travelled the world to be in your home. As Roisin days on her website... Silk is the centrepiece of countless myth’s and legends as well as real history, including lending it’s name to the most important overland trading route in human history, the Silk Road that linked the Far East with Europe for hundreds of years.

Here are some beautiful fabrics from Roisin Cross









Click here to read about how silk is made.

Have a Good Weekend!

The ad speaks for itself! My plan for the weekend is to get up early in the morning and head to the farmer's market, then on to Carraig Donn to pick up a few bargains (ok in reality I can't actually buy anything as I'm strictly saving for my trip, but I can look!) Then I'm going to rest up in preparation for the Munster Hurling Final on Sunday, good luck Limerick! Have a great weekend whatever you get up to!

All American Floors

In Honour of Independence Day (...a day late...) I thought I'd put up a quick post about All American Floors, a great company based in Nenagh Co. Tipperary.

They have some beautiful pieces...







The website gives you details on the appearance, grain, availability and workability of each wood. The man behind the company, Howard Morrissey started up the company following years of experience in the industry in the U.S.A. Having trained in New York City he worked on projects in buildings such as the Twin Towers and Bloomingdales.

If you happen to be in the Nenagh area, you can find All American Floors on 53 Kenyon St.

Post of the Month - June!

My favourite post from the month just gone has to be... the elephants. Click on the link at the side to read it again, or if you have any alternative suggestions for the post of the month, let me know!

We're All Going on Our Summer Holidays!

My Better half and I are off to the South of France in 16 days (and counting!) for a short 3-day trip. The reason we are going is because my friend Marion is getting married. Marion (not to be confused with Marian from Style Treaty!) was my flat-mate in the first apartment I moved into when I lived in Brussels, she met her soon to be husband in true fairytale style and I couldn't be happier that the two are finally getting hitched!

We've booked accomodation for the wedding in a small hotel in a little village near Aix-en Provence called Venelles. The hotel, Le Mas du Luberon looks really charming and traditional and we're really looking forward to staying there and soaking up la vie francais! Here are a few pictures of the rooms...













And not forgetting the garden... I think we can safely assume that the weather will be a bit better there so we might actually get to enjoy this garden!



I'm hoping that it all looks as good in real life, I'll keep you posted!

In the few days before we head off to France we're taking my better half's daughter to Kinsale for a few days where we'll be staying in one of these cottages overlooking the sea. I'll take a few pictures of the interior when I get there.



I've always loved Kinsale, Co. Cork. I think it is one of the most picturesque little towns in Ireland with the colourful streets...



...beautiful harbour...



...and breathtaking scenery...



So all in all I think July is going to be a good month holiday-wise!