If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
For me, it would have to be Northern Ireland, close to family and friends, surrounded by stunning scenery, and just a hop away from Europe. More specifically I would say a little town called Hillsborough. We absolutely loved living here in 2023 for almost a year. It has the most beautiful forest park, cosy pubs and close to the capital city of Belfast, however, it is super unaffordable to buy property here, for me at least.
That being said, to live in Northern Ireland, a few things would need to change…higher wages, a lower cost of living, and maybe a little more sunshine wouldn’t go astray!
The most magical place, Hillsborough Forest Park. Also posted as part of Becky’s November Shadows Challenge! Look at those autumnal colours!!!
It’s a little nod to Wayne’s World, but instead of ‘party time, excellent’ (if you are aware of the cult nineties classic) I will be diving into one WORD each day. It could be something I learned, something bizarre that happened, a favourite word that I have rediscovered or just a thought that won’t leave me alone.
If you’re joining in on today’s word, feel free to use this tag to connect your post to the series: #WaynesWord
Today’s word is AUTUMNAL 🍂
Autumnal (adjective) means relating to or characteristic of autumn, the season. I’ve always known Autumn to be the season after summer and it was only when I lived in America that I learned it was known as ‘Fall’ there. I’m not sure why, maybe someone can enlighten me. I’m guessing it is because the leaves fall from the trees. It’s funny that we’re in Autumn here in Sydney in April / May and luckily we still experience the same colours.
Autumnal can describe physical things, like autumnal colors (reds, oranges, browns), weather (crisp, cool air) or moods (reflective, mellow, even a little melancholic). Personally I use it to describe anything with Autumn colours, “that looks very autumnal” and they are some of my absolute favourite colours.
I love these colours. Taken in one of my favourite places, Hillsborough Forest Park, Northern Ireland
Happy Friday everyone. I am a day late with my doors as I was really hoping to find some festive doors yesterday when I was out and about. Sadly I didn’t find any and decided to go to the beach instead.
My festive door is part of Dan’s holiday doors theme and it was taken from two years ago when we lived in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland. It’s a fantastic door and the little decorations certainly give it that Christmassy feel. I absolutely love the brick work of this building and the design of the panel windows and transom window, almost looks like a spider’s web.
I look forward to seeing all your holiday doors over the weekend.
Hi everyone and a very happy Thursday to you all. This week’s doors are from Hillsborough, a little village in Northern Ireland. Some of you may remember that we lived here for nearly a year when we temporarily moved back to Northern Ireland last year. During our trip home last month we just had to return and spend a couple of days here as we had loved living there so much.
Please let me know if you have a favourite door this week.
12 – this little house was on the main street and we actually stayed here for 3 days. If I could buy this place, I absolutely would!!. It was so big inside which is quite misleading from the front. 3 – one of my favourite pubs in the village, The Plough. There are 3 pubs in this village, all very good actually. 45
Ok so number 5 technically has a few doors here but I’m thinking more of the black door behind the mini. To be honest this has to be my favourite, not only for the fantastic door, surrounding arch and transom window but I also love the brickwork of the building. It’s also one of my favourite images and really gives you a feel for the village of Hillsborough. The flowers, the bunting and even the mini parked outside all add to the visual.
Anyway, thanks for taking a look at my doors this week and have a fantastic weekend everyone.
Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to another week of doors. As I am running low on new doors I thought I would show a few of my favourite cars (I figured they have doors too right?!). These are classic cars that were pictured in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland, just before we left for Australia.
There are a lot of wealthy people living in Hillsborough, therefore, classic cars is a big thing there. They are a real pride and joy for some folk and they really love to show them off in the village.
Let me know if you have a favourite this week. I apologise that I know nothing about cars and can’t even tell you what type of cars they are. However, I absolutely love seeing these classic cars and can really appreciate the time and effort it takes to keep these on the roads.
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I love all of these cars but I especially love number two. It’s the unusual and cheerful colour that really appeals to me and there’s something very “James Bond” like about its appearance. I could imagine driving this in the English countryside or the other extreme, driving along Route 66!
I love showcasing just one photo per month to look back on the year we just had. It’s good to reflect, see how far we have come and look back with fondness on the memories we have made.
JANUARY – this was one of the many reasons I wanted to be home in Northern Ireland, to celebrate with my Dad on his 60th birthday ☺️ FEBRUARY – this was the first time I became covid positive. Not bad considering covid had been around for nearly 3 years by then. Luckily I only had a sniffle for a day. MARCH – we moved to our favourite little village, Hillsborough. An amazing place to live and we must have visited the forest park here at least once a day. Very therapeutic.APRIL – a beautiful wedding of my friend right in the centre of Ireland. We stayed in Athlone, a beautiful Irish town with lots of charm. MAY – we had a visit from our friend all the way from Texas. We were delighted to show him around Hillsborough and glad to say he really enjoyed seeing the sights (including the local pub). JUNE – we took a visit to Cambridgeshire to visit my sister and her kids. She booked an experience for us to try punting on the river which we absolutely loved. JULY – we tried to do lots of day trips while being home. Here we were at Mussenden Temple, one of our favourite spots to visit along the north coast of Ireland. AUGUST – we headed to Dijon, France to celebrate my 40th birthday and had a truly magical time. A beautiful place to visit with fantastic food and wines. SEPTEMBER – as always in this country, we received a couple of days of summer in September as the kids go back to school. We had to get out and about to make use of the limited sunshine, as it never lasts too long in Northern Ireland. OCTOBER – Another trip over to England to visit my sister. This was the best thing about being home, that you can spend a lot of time with your family and loved ones. This photo was from a stately home in Buckden that we visited. November – Our final visit to England to spend time with my niece and nephew. We took the kids to Wimpole Estate for the annual Christmas lights event. Lots of memories made ☺️DECEMBER – After a lot of thought, we made the hard decision to return to Australia. We had a bumpy ride at home so we thought we would return to Oz for a while and see where the wind takes us. I hope to share more from our lives here in Sydney and hopefully we will have the opportunity to travel more around the country.
I would just like to say thank you for all your encouragement throughout the year and I am very grateful for the connections we have all built in the blogging world. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas if you celebrate and a Happy New Year.
Good morning everyone and happy Sunday. When I woke up and saw this morning’s daily prompt, I just had to answer as I love where I currently live. Most of you know I am living in Hillsborough, a small village in Northern Ireland, close to Belfast, the capital of the country. I have only been living here for about six months and although I had heard of this village and visited once or twice before, I have a whole new love and appreciation for this place now. I have ten bullet points below to show you all why I love where I live.
1 – Its location and proximity to Belfast / other towns of interest for shopping, travelling etc. Yet Hillsborough is a small village and pretty quiet, almost like its own bubble, it is located right beside the motorway, making it easily accessible to travel around Northern Ireland.
2 – The quaintness. This village has a real old school charm with some great stone architecture, lots of flowers, quirky shops and a homely feel.
3 – The doors. There are some really amazing and colourful doors here which is a great for me with my passion for doors.
4 – The bars and restaurants. Not only does Hillsborough have one fantastic bar but it has three! This is amazing for a village to have three excellent bars / restaurants, all within walking distance. A fourth one has also opened this month and we will be trying there today for lunch.
5 – Coffee shops. We have soooooo many coffee shops in this village and we have still to try some. If you love the coffee culture, then this village is the place to be. No Starbucks or chain coffee places but lots of local independent cafes with fantastic coffee.
6 – The forest park. We have our own forest park to walk around and get lost in nature. We walk this park pretty much every day and I feel super lucky to have this on our doorstep.
7 – Hillsborough Castle. This village has its own castle, steeped in history and used as the Royal residence for when when the royal family come to stay in Northern Ireland. You can have a tour or walk around its beautiful gardens.
8 – The cars. You will see some really fantastic old classic cars or some newer and expensive models driving through the village or parked on the streets. This may not impress many but I am always in awe when I see a cool car (I am not car savvy by any means).
9 – There is an abundance of wildlife with ducks, geese and swans. These can be seen in the forest park or the castle gardens. I am used to being wakened in the mornings by birds, especially when I lived in Sydney but it’s so refreshing to be wakened by the sound of ducks quacking in the morning.
10 – The people. They are extremely friendly here, much like most people in Northern Ireland to be honest.
Hillsborough
I may be biased but I love this place and am very happy and thankful to live here at present. It’s definitely a place you would want to visit.
Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to another week of fabulous doors. This week is from my current place of residence again and my favourite town, drum roll please…can we guess where it is haha…Hillsborough!
I initially took the photograph because of the really cool and unique car that was parked on the street. I have never seen a car so small and surprisingly the driver was able to fit in a large amount of groceries. It was only when I had taken the snap that I realised all the fantastic doors in the background. I’m pretty sure I have photographed a couple of them individually but I love them all collectively on this street.
How many doors can you see in this photograph? Do you have a favourite? Have you ever seen a car so small?? Please share your thoughts 😊
Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to another week of spectacular doors. This week features doors from my local neighbourhood in Hillsborough and although this village has been featured many, many times, Hillsborough still manages to provide more doors that have not yet been displayed. I feel very fortunate to have so many amazing doors to see on my doorstep.
As always, please let me know if you have a favourite of the week.
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This is a really tough one for me this week but I am going to be brutal and choose number four. Although not the clearest of photos, in reality this door is absolutely stunning. I love the colour, the transom window, the sidelights and the stone archway. The architecture of the whole building is just fabulous and I couldn’t help but dream of living in a place like this (except that it would be far too big for me!).
Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to my FIFTIETH edition of doors!!! I can’t believe I have had fifty posts showcasing doors, never mind finding so many doors to display. Thank you all so much for taking an interest, for your continued support, likes and comments. My doors posts are my favourite to compose and I really enjoy everyones thoughts when picking a favourite for the week, allowing us to connect and also enabling us to see things from different perspectives.
This week I have picked a few of my favourite doors over the last year that have not yet been featured. As always, please let me know if you have a favourite.
I love all these doors but I have saved my favourite for last. I love the stained glass windows and double doors. I also love the little cart and would love to have had a peep inside. I could imagine having holidays in this little mobile home, towed along by my car all over the country. Ah to dream!
Thank you all again and have a fantastic weekend everyone.
Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you all had a lovely weekend and enjoyed the coronation if you watched it. Tonight’s sunset was taken a few evenings ago at Hillsborough Lake. I am obsessed with this place and walk around this lake almost every day. The sunsets here are just fantastic.
Happy Friday everyone and it’s Good Friday today for those celebrating Easter this weekend. Today we took a walk around Hillsborough Castle as they currently have their Spring Spectacular event on display. Here they show case many new spring flowers in bloom, with particular emphasis on rare Northern Ireland daffodils.
Therefore, my flower of the day has to be the daffodil today. I never tire of seeing these brightly coloured flowers as they are a reminder that winter is over and spring is finally here. I always associate daffodils with Easter too, as I’m sure many people do.
I hope they manage to brighten your day as they did mine today. Happy Easter to you all and I hope you enjoy some time to unwind and spend time with those nearest and dearest. Best wishes.
Happy Sunday to you all, I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend. This sunset was taken a couple of evenings ago from our new home in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland. You will probably have seen from my previous posts that I have been frequenting this town for some time now and have really grown fond of the area. Thankfully, we are able to live here for a while and are looking forward to enjoying all Hillsborough has to offer in the coming weeks.
Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to 2023. These are the first doors to be shown here on my blog this year and I thought I would showcase some doors all found in one street! It’s not often that you find a street where you appreciate every single door. I had seen this once in Sydney in Darlinghurst and now once here in Northern Ireland. As many of you will know by now, there is a quaint little town here in Northern Ireland that I absolutely adore, known as Royal Hillsborough. I thought I had seen most of the doors here, however, after having walked off the beaten track, I stumbled across a tiny street with the quaintest doors I have seen for some time. Please let me know what you think of these or if you have ever discovered a street where all the doors are as fantastic as each other.
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).
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.
My Friday flower of the day seen this week at Hillsborough Castle. How amazing are these? I love how they look like mini sunflowers and I also love the name, black eyed susan. Also can you see the little wasp on one of the flowers? These are super easy to look after and have even been known to be good for gardeners with brown thumbs (I love that saying!).
Happy Thursday everyone and welcome to another week of Doors of WordPress. I have been in Northern Ireland for just over one week now and have managed to spot a copious amount of doors. To be honest, I was nervous leaving Sydney and not seeing any more amazing doors, however, I am pleased to say, Northern Ireland has a fantastic array of doors that I am very much looking forward to showcasing. Have a look below and let me know if you have a favourite door or if you have been to any of the locations.
1 – Banbridge2 – Hillsborough 3 – Belfast City Centre4 – Banbridge5 – Belfast City Centre
Thanks for checking out my doors again this week. Have a great day everyone.
WrookieSchU 