Beautiful Landscapes From My Trip To Ireland

The Prettiest Niece in the World

A Visit to Blarney Castle in Ireland

I had a chance to visit to Blarney Castle in Ireland last Easter. Home of the famous Blarney Stone, the legendary Stone of Eloquence, found at the top of our Tower. They claim that if you kiss it you’ll never again be lost for words.

http://www.blarneycastle.ie/ is the official webpage, and yes I did indeed kiss the stone, though considering I never shut up before it is hard to gauge the results.

It was a freezing yet sunny day and the grounds of the castle were gorgeous. There were daffodils blooming under the trees and banks of flowers surrounding the castle.

Pretty, Pink and Vintage - I'll Take Them

Meet the newest additions to my kitchen some pretty pink vintage style tea, coffee and sugar containers.

I found them on the discount shelf in Target reduced to half price, so only $15.

Now Target Australia doesn't usually have cute shabby chic kind of inventory so I was very pleasantly surprised.

Another thrifty bargain.

Best Thrift Shop Buy Ever! Shabby Chic Vanity Table

$7 BARGAIN

It isn't a typo $7 is all I paid for this fabulous shabby chic vanity. I have been hunting around on ebay for one of these vanity tables but they have all been in the $100 mark. I decided to pop over to my favorite Secondhand Shop in the Whole World in Red Hill, Brisbane.

This table was just sitting in a corner, surrounded by some old bed heads and stained mattresses. I couldn't believe my luck when the Thrift Shop lady told me the price. It was clear we were a match made in heaven when it actually fit (once the legs were unscrewed in the backseat of my 30 year old Corolla).

I brought it home and gave it a very good scrubdown and have to say it is looking pretty good. I now have to decide whether to leave it as is very Shabby Chic style or sand it down and paint it white as it is more of a ivory/cream colour right now and there are plenty of rough edges.

Of course I am now going to be hunting for a mirror and a cute stool to go with it - what fun.

Create Your Own Flower Food at Home

Flower food packets provide both sugar that the roses can use and an anti-bacterial agent but you can make your own (cheap) version at home.

Stuff you will need
1 litre distilled or rainwater water

1 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice or vinegar

How to do it
1. Dissolve 1 tbs. of sugar in a litre of slightly warm water (which helps it dissolve).
2. Add 1 tsp. of either lemon juice or vinegar to the water and mix well.

Key to Long Lasting Roses

I got these lovely shabby pink roses at the market this morning (closing half price special of $3.25).

While I often find there isn't much fragrance in the roses you buy in the shops but these have that evocative rose garden smell.

I follow a few easy steps to make my roses last as long as possible.

Step One - Start with a clean vase and clean water
Step Two - Change the water every 3 days
Step Three - Recut 1 inch from stems each time you change the water
Step Four - Add flower food each time you change the water
Step Five - Keep the roses in a cool place

Other Tips
- Ideally clean the vase with anti-bacterial soap or bleach
- Use the cleanest possible water you have available (distilled or rain water is the best)
- Remove any leaves that will be under the water

Why Clean and Change
Roses have tiny tubes to suck up the water and they will plug. This is why the vase and
water should be sterile to start with and the roses should be recut each time to reopen the tubes.

A little flower shop display in Pau, France

There's just something about fresh cut colorful roses.

I stumbled across this display outside a colorful little flower shop in Pau, France last May. The adorable miniature boxes of roses looked amazing set alot plain wooden crates and tables. The rose petals scattered on the pavement were also charming.

This lovely flower is from my mother's garden. It only shows it's beauty for a short while.

More Sad News Natasha Richardson Passes Away

Natasha Richardson, who stars in one of my all-time favourite movies The Parent Trap, has died after suffering a head injury from a fall on a ski holiday. She was 45, a wife and mother of two.

It is just too tragic. I have been reading the stories on the gossips site that were quoting 'insiders' and 'sources close to the family' but was hoping they had it all wrong and she wasn't as critically injured as they were stating. Unfortunately it appears it was all true and her family released the following statement today:

"Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha. They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.

My prayers are with their family.

Sad News for Rachel Ashwell and her Shabby Chic company

Rachel Ashwell, the creator of the style Shabby Chic and the founder of Shabby Chic stores announced in her blog that Shabby Chic filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

This is such awful news. She sounds so devastated. They are not closing all the stores but unfortunately for them they have been seriously expanding in the last two or three years and in this financial climate they could not support that kind of growth.

You can check out her blog yourself at http://rachelashwellshabbychic.blogspot.com

Some Shabby Chic Features in My Bedroom

My bedside table decor. I used a delicate vintage milk jug (thrift shop find) for my (fake) roses (ebay $12), a vintage style Tiffany lamp (Target $39.95) and a picture frame that you can find in nearly any Shabby Chic decorating shop for under $10.

Another gorgeous little vase (thrift shop $1) and more of the ebay flowers.

My shabby cane chair (Ikea $29 ) and white wicker basket (Target $12).

I used one of the Hydrangea pattern Simply Shabby Chic Shower Curtains but made it into a lining for the dirty clothes basket. The only thing with the Ikea chair is that it has nice detailing on the back rest and normal 45" inch pillows overwhelm the chair. So I am searching for a smaller style cushion to work with it, I am thinking a round one.

Morning Tea with mini-quiches

I had my good friend Hannah over for a late morning tea and tried making mini-quiches. They were delicious and very fast and easy to make.

Recipe (makes 8 - 10 mini-muffin size quiches)
Ingredients
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup grated tasty cheese
1/2 chopped tomato
1 Tbsp diced white onion
Salt and Pepper
2 Sheets puff pastry
Muffin pan

Instructions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius
Lightly oil the muffin holders
Use a large size cup or cutter on the pastry and take the circles of dough and lightly press them into the muffin holes.
Cook for 7 minutes then take out of the oven and use a spoon to press the raised bottom and sides of the pastry down to make room for the mix (you can even create these the night before and just put in the mixture 15 minutes before you serve them if you want to have them warm)

Beat the egg and milk together then add the rest of the ingredients.
Use a spoon to scoop the mixture into the pastry holders.
Cook for 10minutes or until moist yet firm to touch.

High Tea

My sister took me out for High Tea in Mackay. It was so lovely. We got all dressed up in some pretty dresses and wore flowers in our hair and dined on the most melt-in-your-mouth scones and treats.

My Shabby Chic Bedding Set

My bed. I love it. I have also mixed in a few pillows from one of the other Simply Shabby Chic ranges.








This pic is the stock one of the Simply Shabby Chic™ Belle Bedding Collection I got in Queen size.

Shabalicous

I moved into a new place last weekend and I have a lovely huge room with hardwood floors, two large windows and a neutral tone colour scheme. Check out my pics as I use the Simply Shabby Chic range from Target (USA) by Rachel Ashwell (the founder of Shabby Chic style).

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