Languages play a big role in our family life. It is largely due to circumstance – we’re an Irish-German marriage – but partly due to interest. I was brought up by parents who adore France and all things French. When I was small my mother would often say “Oui mon ange” instead of a plain… Continue reading Adding A Little Je Ne Sais Quoi To Your Home
Chair – a word that sends a shudder down the spine of my long-suffering husband, The Bavarian. With my renovation habit focusing heavily on chairs, he has more of less become conditioned to shouting “No. We are not taking it” whenever I look in the direction of a chair at a flea market, second hand shop or… Continue reading Re-upholstering A Dining Room Chair – A Tutorial
Recently I found a loom in perfectly good condition on the side of the road. It was out for the bin. Judging by everything else they’d set out on the path, they were clearing out the attic or the bedroom of a now-grown child. When I was 8 or 9 I had a loom just… Continue reading Christmas Crafts: Make Your Own Wall Hanging
If I read this title somewhere I would probably think “How frugal would you have to be to sew your own pillow cases?” or possibly “How much time would you have to have on your hands before you would even think of sewing your own pillow cases?”. If you thought something along those lines a… Continue reading Home Sewn Pillow Cases
I am a lucky lady. Over the past couple of years I have made friends with four women who are competent, friendly, creative, genuine, honest, helpful, supportive and fun. Together we are a bunch of five mothers with 12 children between us. Out time is mostly taken up with our children, our jobs, our homes… Continue reading The Perfect Holiday Home for The Perfect Group Getaway
We’ve gone away for the weekend to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary. Foolish people that we are, we decided to make it a family affair. The children and the dog are what we have spent most of the last ten years on, so why not celebrate with them? I suggested. I am a fool. At… Continue reading Badhaus 1897 Cafe
Last week I wrote about the accessories I bought this summer for our upstairs bathroom. They gave me the kick I needed to get going on making some changes to the bathroom I was beginning to hate. Just a few short weeks after beginning the makeover, I love my bathroom. Several small changes were all… Continue reading Our Budget Bathroom Makeover
Our upstairs bathroom. Sigh. It is one of those rooms which, no matter what you do to it, seems to be a permanent source of frustration. Inially I thought it was fine. To be perfectly honest, when we viewed the house and the estate agent opened the door to the upstairs bathroom I thought to… Continue reading Decoration Frustration Solved
Back home in Ireland this summer, with lots of car travel and visits to people, I realised how much I miss great radio. Listening to the news, the chat, the fantastic music – even the ads! – whether in the car or in the background in someone’s kitchen is something I really enjoyed during this… Continue reading Digital Radio – Spoilt For Choice
“Muck, bow, kuneen, shunnuk. OK?” says Number One, jabbing at his placemat. “Now can I have some cake?” he asks. I’ve introduced Irish (Gaelic) by buying new placemats. At school I wasn’t much fussed about Irish but my secondary school teacher was. She was very encouoraging and I ended up doing surprisingly well in my… Continue reading Learning Irish At The Table
