Month: December 2022

FOTD – Greater Periwinkle

Happy Friday everyone and welcome to my last flower of the day for this year. I can’t believe it’s the 30th of December 2022, however, I will be glad to have this year behind me and focus on 2023. It’s been a tough few months to say the least but I feel like this image below signifies it perfectly. This beautiful lavender periwinkle flower was covered in snow and now it’s slowly thawing out, ready to shine once again.

I want to wish you all a very happy new year and take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you very, very much for all your support with my blog. I honestly appreciate it so much, every like, every comment, every emoji and ALL the positivity shown here in this extraordinary space known as the blogosphere.

Greater periwinkle (fabulous name) – spotted at one of my new favourite places, Hillsborough Castle.

Take care everyone and I hope to see you all back here in 2023! I will be participating in this year’s Bloganuary as I loved it so much last year. Will anyone else be participating?

Wayne ✌🏽

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Ballymascanlan Hotel

I was catching up with a good friend from Sydney at the weekend past and wanted to meet in a place that suited us both for travelling. My friend was coming from Dublin and I would be travelling from Belfast. We settled on the Ballymascanlan Hotel, just outside Dundalk. This was a one hour drive away for both us, making it a perfect spot for a lunch date.

This hotel was very easy to find from Belfast. Straight down the motorway, onto the dual carriageway towards Dundalk and then just off the roundabout towards Carlingford. I was aided with google maps but just be mindful that the mobile data may switch off, as did in my case, due to travelling from Northern Ireland to Ireland.

The hotel is very quaint, an old Victorian house in the middle of a stunning parkland. Inside was beautifully decorated, ready for Christmas. We had a three course Christmas lunch that was very tasty and really made us feel those Christmas vibes. We loved it and I will definitely be keen to return in the future. Be sure to check this place out.

Have you a favourite spot for a Christmas lunch? What do you do to feel Christmassy? Tis’ the season!

Wayne 🎅🏽

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12 months and 12 photos (2022)

I love choosing 12 photos to highlight what I have experienced throughout the year and it’s a great little recap. This has been a big year with lots of changes, some good and some bad, however, I am grateful to have had a good year overall and ending 2022 on a positive note. Please feel free to have a look at my 2022 highlights below and feel free to share your highlights from the past 12 months.

JANUARY – starting the year off with a little trip to Mudgee, NSW. We had always wanted to visit here and this was the perfect place for us to celebrate 15 years together.

FEBRUARY – This was one of our most epic destinations and a huge bucket list ticked off. Our trip to Uluru was one that we will cherish for years to come.

MARCH – Rain, rain, rain. Two years of rain in Sydney thanks to La Niña. We had many days out in the rain, we wouldn’t let it deter us, it was certainly better than having bush fires.

APRIL – a lovely little trip seeing the bestie in Melbourne. So good to catch-up after so long apart and seeing these Brighton boxes was another item ticked off the bucket list.

MAY – Seeing Dermot Kennedy in concert was pretty special, especially with my Irish friends.

JUNE – BBQ with the boys. Some of my favourite people, fantastic Lebanese food and this was the beginning of my many leaving parties as I leave Sydney for the time being.

JULY – the beginning of our travels. Queenstown in New Zealand was an absolute highlight. We loved it here.

AUGUST – Next on our travels was Bali, Indonesia. Stunning place to visit and we welcomed the sunshine after being in NZ at winter time.

SEPTEMBER – a big reason for me coming home was to see my sisters become married. A beautiful day and I love this photos with my sisters. I’m a lucky guy to have not one but three amazing sisters 🤍

OCTOBER – the main reason for me to come home, my family. Precious time with my niece and nephew, priceless!

NOVEMBER – my baby sister has her wedding. A lovely day and feeling very proud here 🤍

DECEMBER – Home with my number one person. Grateful to be here together and look forward to 2023, side by side ❤️

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Sunday Sunset – suburbia

Happy Sunday everyone, one week until Christmas! We were walking around Banbridge recently (the town where we have been staying mostly since arriving home) and stopped to appreciate this amazing sunset. I love the houses with their chimneys, the trees and the frosty suburban streets, with the sun just setting behind. Enjoy your day everyone and enjoy the lead up to Christmas.

Wayne ✌🏽

9

FOTD – Red Bistort

Happy Friday everyone and welcome to the weekend. This little gem was spotted on our trip to Hillsborough Gardens last weekend. Thankfully it wasn’t covered in snow and we were able to spot this. It’s bright colour certainly does catch your eye.

Red Bistort, originally from the Himalaya Mountains, can be seen all over the UK. They can be found in meadows, pastures and along the roadsides. Traditionally they would have been used in deserts at Easter time, more so in England, I have never heard of this but fascinating all the same. These flowers can also be boiled, roasted and even used for making bread (The Wildlife Trusts, 2022).

Have a great day everyone,

Wayne ✌🏽

12

Doors of WordPress V31 – Best of 2022

Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to another week of doors, the last one before Christmas. This week’s Thursday Doors challenge is to show your favourite doors of the year, thanks for that Dan, not an easy thing to do! I have chosen my top 8 doors of 2022, from Australia and NZ, all the way to here in Northern Ireland. I have ranked them in my order of preference, some have been shown already and some are newly featured. Please take a look and enjoy these magnificent doors and hats off to their owners for doing such a fantastic job.

1 – Woollahra

2 – Bronte

3 – Woollahra

4 – Hobbiton

5 – Auckland

6 – Banbridge

7 – Hillsborough

8 – Paddington

Wayne ✌🏽

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10 things I have learned/remembered since being home in Northern Ireland

1 – People in Northern Ireland are EXTREMELY friendly.

2 – The cost of EVERYTHING has increased drastically since I lived here five years ago, from food, to rent, to energy bills (this one is worldwide at the moment). Everything has increased, except for wages, shocking really.

3 – It is BALTIC here in the winter. I had forgotten how cold it can be here. It is minus five degrees this morning!

4 – The pubs and restaurants here are very cosy and quaint. I have missed this. Pints of Guinness by a warm fire.

5 – Everything is so festive here at Christmas. I know it’s what you’re used to but I have really missed the cold, dark evenings, the smell of warm spices, mulled wine, hearing Christmas songs etc etc. For me it was never the same wearing shorts and T-shirts.

6 – The importance of family.

7 – The quality of television shows is pretty high here and I love the Christmas shows/movies that are available in the lead up to Christmas.

8 – We walk a lot less here. I miss doing my 15,000 steps a day in Sydney. My step count has dropped significantly since being home and that’s sad. I guess it’s the cold weather and lack of somewhere good to walk nearby.

9 – It’s dark for most of the day. I love the dark evenings but I forgot how much daylight you miss. You travel to work in the dark and drive home from work in the dark. That can be hard and we have this for the next few months.

10 – People in Northern Ireland say ‘Wee’ ALL THE TIME! Everything can be described as ‘wee’. A ‘wee’ cup of tea, put your ‘wee’ card in the ‘wee’ machine, would you like a ‘wee’ bag? I had totally forgotten how often we use that word and it’s not simply used for small items! It’s actually insane how much we use that word but lovely at the same time. You instantly know you’re home when your hear ‘wee’ being used.

15

Sunday Strolls : Hillsborough Castle and Gardens

Many of you here will have heard of Hillsborough from my doors posts, as there are many fantastic doors found in this quaint little village.

Hillsborough is well renowned for its character and charm but more so for its historic castle and gardens. This is the place of residence for when members of the Royal family come to stay in Northern Ireland and only very recently has Hillsborough been renamed Royal Hillsborough for that reason.

This was the first time I had visited the gardens and I was extremely excited as I had always heard how amazing they are and I have always wanted to visit here. We didn’t visit the castle today but that will be for another time. We just wanted to have a good stroll today and get some fresh air. It was made even more special as there was snow on the ground and gave the gardens a really festive and Christmassy feel.

The admission fee is £11 which is expensive enough (in my opinion) to go for a walk, however, the gardens are absolutely stunning and the castle is a true spectacle. There is also a light show featuring in the gardens at present that can be seen at night time, running until the beginning of January. It’s pretty pricey at £22 a visit so we’ll have to wait and see if we decide to return for that or not. From what I witnessed during the day today, it would be quite the display.

If you would like to read more about this wonderful place, you can take a look at the official website here. Thanks for taking a look and I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday.

Wayne ✌🏽

10

Doors of WordPress V30 🎄

Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to my 30th edition of Doors of WordPress!!! This week we’re showcasing some festive inspired doors, mine are all red as that’s the colour I think of when I envisage the Christmas season. I haven’t seen too many festive doors this week but I suppose it’s still early days. I love seeing all the Christmas wreaths on the doors too, a tradition that still makes me smile when I see it, so if I see any wreaths over the next couple of weeks, I will be sure to share them.

1 – Love & Death, a cool bar in Belfast city centre.

2 – St Malachy’s Parish Church, Hillsborough

3 – Hillsborough, I love this door, the frame and transom window, very regal in appearance and just beside Hillsborough Castle.

4 – Avonmore House, Banbridge. This house was built around 1791 and was the home of Francis Crozier, the Banbridge born polar explorer.

5 – Hillsborough, a great door and I love the Christmas wreath.

I hope you’re all enjoying the festive season thus far. I’m just working away and enjoying the build up, the Christmas songs and mince pies. I haven’t even started Christmas shopping yet, what about you?

Wayne ✌🏽

21

FOTD – Poinsettia V✌🏽

Happy Friday everyone. So, I have showcased this flower before but recently I have seen a different variety and it looks so much different in another season and another country. You can see my previous poinsettia here from March when I was living in Sydney. This flower is always grown as a potted plant and is often used as a Christmas decoration due to its bright red leaves. This flower definitely feels Christmassy, more so as it is now the Christmas season and it’s cold here in this side of the world, unlike when I had previously seen this flower in summer in Sydney.

Have you ever given or received this flower at Christmas? It certainly blends in with our Christmas decorations.

Enjoy your weekend guys,

Wayne ✌🏽

16

Doors of WordPress V29

Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to another week of doors. I have another handful from around Northern Ireland so please take a look and let me know if you have a favourite. I’m looking forward to seeing if there are any festive doors in the lead up to Christmas, seeing as today is the first of December. If you celebrate Christmas, do you have your tree up yet?

1 – Cathedral Quarter, Belfast

2 – Banbridge

3 – South Belfast

4 – Banbridge

5 – Banbridge

Have a great end to your week everyone and enjoy the beginning of December.

Wayne ✌🏽

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