Friday flowers

My rose bush is in bloom...
This is dedicated to lovely Aunty Gertie, my fathers aunty, who went to Heaven on Wednesday.

Life is like a rose
We begin as buds
We grow
We bloom
There are thorns but there is beauty
We make people happy
We fade
We return to the Earth.

Have a lovely Friday everyone xx

Spot the difference

Hello!
Off work for a couple of days and there's a hint of sunshine, although yesterday I was fooled, lovely when I got up and fed the chickens, hung the washing out on the line and by the afternoon, lashing it down! It's nice to be off work for a couple of days, I've still a bit of decorating to finish off, my list....sand and paint the loo and upstairs hall floor, touch up bits we missed on the last paint job, a complete stairs makeover and I'd really like to paint the kitchen but I'll save that for another long weekend. I LOVE interiors, I LOVE seeing and reading about homes on blogs, I could literally spend hours looking at other peoples houses, you can get so inspired. Here's a peek at our finished rooms....
The spare room BEFORE

Our room, we painted it all white and had a furniture move around, such a difference just moving furniture can make.

And the living room BEFORE....

During our decorating, we tried so hard not to cover the floor in paint, our attempts were in vain the place was covered!

And the finished room, not a huge difference, a fresh lick of white on the ceiling and a new colour on the walls, Perfectly Taupe and 1 wall behind the sofa Overtly Olive. I'm happy with the finished colour, sometimes it's hard to visualise a colour on the whole room, but I wanted a cosy feel and it definitely feels warmer.

Thanks for stopping by for a nosey round our gaff!

This week I've been mostly thrifting....

FOR BUSINESS NOT PLEASURE (ALTHOUGH IT WAS FUN)
Hello Thriftying friends!
Thrifting has taken a new direction, I'm planning to have a little stall at a That Vintage Vibe pop up fair on the 4th of August in Belfast. My stall will be a delight of  handmade cushions from vintage fabrics and vintage  home ware items.Having this stall, means I will have more space....emmm?? More space?? Basically an excuse to go thrifting again!! I just can't get enough of it!!!! Deal is...(I came up with this one) What doesn't sell at the fair, I get to keep! GREAT DEAL!! Defeating the point....YES. Here's what I found this week....

Then I laid everything out on the dining room table and realised I have enough!

Looking forward to checking out all your lovely flea market finds from this week, join in with the lovely Sophie over at Her Library Adventures and share what you found this week!
Have a wonderful Sunday everyone xx

Friday flowers from the canal

Loved this persons clever use of an old pair of boots on top of their barge on the canals in Manchester.

And this canal boat, with it's own veg patch on top, shows you don't even need to have a garden to grow your own.
Have a FABULOUS Friday everyone! xxx

The Legend

My very talented sister Kathryn's made these big heads of Finn McCool and his wife Oona with the The Beat Initiative bringing them to life for the opening of the new Giants Causeway Tourist Centre Did you know finn McCool had a magic thumb? No? Neither did I!

Finn and his nemisis on the Giants Causeway

Another GIANT reason to visit Northern Ireland, the stunning Causeway coast!

This is the one

We had brilliant weekend in Manchester, what definitely made it sweeter was staying in a 5star hotel, I could get used to that kind of lifestyle! I missed the girls though and it's taken Mary a couple of days to come round and be our friend again, she's all out of sorts when we leave her home alone (My sister was looking after her and the chickens)
We arrived Thursday lunch time, ditched our bags in the hotel and then went for an adventure around the city. We got ourselves a map and walked for hours and hours! Then on Friday night it was what the big lad has been waiting for since 1996, The Stone Roses homecoming! 250 days after booking the tickets the time had finally come! Excited much? There could be tears!
We decided to walk to and from Heaton park and we arrived 4 hours before they were on stage! Early birds! Had time to get some very unhealthy dinner and push our way through a horrendous queue (mud and getting crushing BAD) for a couple of drinks. Then we found our spot...... When they came on stage the smile on the big lads face said it all! So happy!! LOVED IT!! (No tears however) Lots of finger pointing at the sky, some brilliant actions to some of the songs by die hard Roses fans, and the crowd shouting out the anthems! Brilliant craic! And we get to do it all again in August when they play Belfast at Tennants Vital!

Set In Stone Exhibition by Ian Tilton in the Northern Quarter

TICKETS!!

Wellies are a must!

And as if it were a dream it was all over! The big lad cheacked ebay and someone was already selling their ticket stub and offical programme and it sold for 50 quid?? Fools Gold (Excuse the pun) CRAZY!

Second installment of our Manchester adventure to come soon.
Hope you're all having a fun week, can't believe it hump day tomorrow already!

This week I've been mostly thrifting.....

YELLOW STUFF! 
Hello! We're back home after a really fun weekend in Manchester! And the all girls are glad to see us! Loved Manchester! It's a really cool city but more on that later...onto more pressing issues! Some lovely thrifty finds this week, even though we were decorating there's always time for a little bit of thrifting! Everything I found this week seemed to be yellow, maybe subconciously it's because I'm longing for some sunshine! Here's what I found....

A sunny set of Salter scales, the new home for my tomatoes

A cute yellow lamp, perfect for our hallway table

A lovely yellow and gold jug

And four poppy table mats, I couldn't believe it when I found these, they are the match to my Poppy tray, the range seems to be from good old M and S! Vintage table mats are so small compared to modern day ones!

 And that's all folks! For another dose of fabulous thrifty finds pop over to the lovely Sophie at Her Library Adventures
Back to porridge tomorrow, (literally, fry ups for breakfast in the hotel and a weekend diet of stodge)  Could do with another week off to recover from this week off! 
Must remember Photo challenge starts today! Day one, self portrait (Oh dear!)
And in other news! Hey Home Wrecker is heading to the fair! That Vintage Vibe a small vintage fair in Belfasts Red Barn gallery. I'm going to have a stall on the 4th of August! Can't wait!! An excuse for lots more thrifting in the mean time!!
Have a lovely Sunday everyone!