Back in July I was full of good intentions to write my Styling The Seasons blog post early in the month, before preparations got underway for Number One’s birthday, our camping weekend and our hoiday to Ireland.

Needless to say, it came to nothing. Every spare minute was caught up in baking, packing, planning and making arrangements to have the chickens looked after. Styling the seasons, or anything else for that matter, had to be put on hold.

Now it is already mid August and if I don’t write this post now, the month will be over and I’ll have missed out on another goal. If I am honest, I am ever so slightly cheating this month. OK, so I am cheating completely, but I couldn’t resist taking this month’s photos.

My godmother, a woman on many talents, has done a magnificent job on the kitchen and breakfast room of her home in Dublin, knocking down the wall between them and re-styling the rooms into one open plan living area.

The walls are painted a light sage green, against which the black iron fireplace shows up brilliantly. On the mantelpiece she has placed a small ceramic vase of almost the same shade of green and filled it with lavender and montbretia, two of my favourite summer flowers, from her garden.

In our own garden, lavender and sage grow side by side, which may be why I like the combination of these colours so well. Montbretia is a flower I always associate with summer holidays in Ireland since it springs up in hedgerows around the country, bringing a lively splash of colour to even the dullest of days.

Viewed alone, this end of the mantelpiece has a look of a still life painting. I was captivated by it as we sat at my godmother’s dining table for brunch a few days ago. I had to photograph it.

The opposite end of the mantelpiece has been styled entirely differently with a pair of tall candles, again green on green, and a small painted bowl.

Something about the presentation caught my eye. I find it more appealing than the usual arrangement that is made with the same components – flowers in the centre and a candlestick on either side.

In other news, I have been shortlisted in the Diaspora Category of the Blog Awards Ireland. If you like what I write, then I would be delighted if you took a moment to pop over and vote for me [click here]. It only takes a moment. You can log in with Facebook, LinkedIn or G+. Voting closes at midnight on Tueday 23rd August, so hurry!