White O'Morn Cottage

Introducing ...the kitchen! ....and the Nualas are in the house!

I don't know it you have ever noticed but I have never put up a picture of the cottage kitchen  - and for good reason too!

It was a bit of a mess, storeroom, workroom and unusable as a kitchen or for dining. But this weekend it was the setting for the inaugaral dinner!

My two lovely friends, Ruby and Nuala came to stay for the weekend and this motivated me to sort out the kitchen for once and for all. Here is the table set for our special dinner. I used the lovely Willow Pattern dishes I have collected for years. Ruby and Nuala cooked and I set the table and we had a fabulous meal and finished it off with a bit of line dancing in the living room!

Here's one I accidently collected earlier!

I had just painted and hung a shelf unit and could not decide what to display on it. I decided I should collect old teapots from now on. But of course...when I gathered the ones I already had...it was filled!  Who knew I had a collection around me!

I finally finished my hand knitted tea cosy so what better place to show it off!  It is a replica of White O'Morn. Kimme has some gorgeous tea cosies on Irish Cottage Dreams and she is doing a PIF on there at the moment. You'll find it on my sidebar...Will you have a tea cosy? Ah ye' will go on..go on go on....

Tomorrow Angie and I are going to a huge fete in Celbridge to help sort the donations. We are sure to find lots of goodies for ourselves. We'll be showing and telling on here and Angie's blog  - The Old Schoolhouse..see sidebar for the link.                                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is the original!

A room with a view

I'm back and missed you all. I am busy catching up on all yer' goings on. I am so relaxed that - if I was any more laid back ...I'd be horizontal!

I had spent a very busy morning spring cleaning the cottage (yes, I know it's June but I'm just catching up) After all the building work it was time to wash all the china as it had a thin coat of sawdust,  which - I'm sure is full of fibre and roughage and is good for the digestion but I just don't like it. So, I got knee deep up to the elbows in hot sudsy water and washed all of it in one go!

I was busily drying each piece and placing it on the table when.... I looked up and stopped in my tracks. ...Not for the first time ... I saw it as if for the first time...the view framed in the kitchen window. The peaceful vignette formed by nature in the background and gleaming vintage china in the foreground. I hope the novelty never wears off. I grabbed my camera to try to capture it...Did I get it? Do you get it?

I'll be checking out all your doings and leaving appropriate comments thereon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS. on a more sombre note. Please send your loving, healing thoughts, wishes or prayers (whatever works for you) to Angie's 23 year old nephew, Colm, who fell and broke his back while on holiday last week. Miracle needed. Do what you can. Thanks.

Dare to Dream

I've always wanted a pretty little cottage in the country. Ever since I was a child I dreamed of one but without any real hope of fulfilling it. However that did not stop me from dreaming my dreams and about 18 years ago while on holiday in Carlingford I bought this cushion cover in the local craft shop. 

  As you can see it features a tiny cottage half way up a mountain surrounded by fields with cows, flowers and trees. it is located just to the right - off a winding road.

I kept it all these years and sometimes would look at it and picture my ideal cottage.

I was always watching "The Quiet Man"  which is my favourite film and looking at other peoples cottages with a grá in my heart and wishing for and dreaming of one of my own.

Two years ago we somehow managed to buy White O'Morn. That is the name of the lovely cottage in that film and I named my dream home after it. 

I found the old cushion cover again recently and realised that the cottage I did eventually get is....a tiny cottage half way up a mountain surrounded by fields with cows, flowers and trees and it is located just off the right hand side - off a narrow winding road!

 

 

 

 

 

 

So if you have a dream...whatever it is - dare to dream it, keep dreaming it, visualise it, nurture it and who knows...someday....because sometimes dreams do come true.

 

 

A Weekend of R & R in Lovely Leitrim

I'm back... restored, recharged and re-energised after a great weekend in Lovely Leitrim. Yes, it's officially known as Lovely Leitrim. .....because...well, there is no  other way to describe it... it is simply lovely.

All of our counties are known by their special names...the Fair City is Dublin, the Rebel County is Cork, the Royal County is Meath, the Kingdom is Kerry and the Lovely County is Leitrim. It's true!!! I don't make this up as I go along you know.

Paul couldn't go at the last moment due to work so I celebrated our anniversary anyway. Here is a pic that sums up the weekend in Lovely Leitrim...

Them's my tootsies in my "Mad Cow" slippers relaxing on the deck of The Old Schoolhouse on Friday afternoon. It overlooks the girls' playground, the apple trees, in bloom with appleblossoms, and the view looks out towards the nearest town, Ballinamore.

I was just off the bus from Dublin (three hours) That trip was lovely too. I had my Ipod on all the way (Dixie Chicks and Il Divo) the scenery was wonderful and I dipped into my book now and again and refused to make eye contact with anyone in case they tried to talk to me. "FECK OFF - I'm on me holliers!

Next we tried out the swing that hangs from a very high branch in the girls playground. A fit of the giggles followed...as you can see, because instead of going back and forward, the swing started to go in circles! We decided Angie was either water divining or was having a girl! (you know...hold a threaded needle over a pregnant woman and if it goes in a circle it's a girl or back and forward it's a boy...try it -it works!)

Then a little meditation down at the 'Dry Toilets' for me (a child of the sixties and a card carryin' tree hugger - but if you look carefully you can see a look of pure devilment on my face)

Next it was a case of ..."put on lots of slap (make up) and "you take a nice pic of me and I'll take a nice pic of you 'cos we are Glam Sham-Rock Chicks"

Actually, the wall I am sitting on is the one that divided the boys playground ...behind me, from the girls playground, in earlier pics. Angie is seen here revin' up the BBQ or as she put it..."Ridin' the range"

Fri. evening we were joined for a BBQ by friends who have also bought homes in Lovely Leitrim to get away from it all. This pic was taken specially for you Debby Perry of Sanity -no longer an option...(on sidebar)

....This is... "The Psycho Pats" ...(or)... "Those of us for whom "Sanity - was never an option!"

left to right Zinda, Angie, Katy

Ed and Darrin.

Anyway the next morning at dawn, (well to be honest - it was 11am - it just felt like dawn)

... Zinda, who could represent Ireland in "Shopping" if it was an Olympic event, called to take us (much against our will) shopping in Enniskillen.

Now those of you good at geography will know that that Enniskillen is in another country entirely! Cross border...international shopping if you don't mind! We even had to change currency to Sterling from Euro.

Ballinamore is very near the border with Northern Ireland and everyone here has a sterling purse...(well the women do as men don't care for shopping in any country -right?) They go to watch "The Match" ... in "The Pub" (any match...any pub)

Love u Zinda, but feck off! - if you think you are bringin' this trolly dolly shoppin' in foreign parts again!

Zinda dropped me off at "White O'Morn Cottage" at six on Saturday evening (make a note...NEVER go shopping with her again, - go to pub with men instead...Yes, men know a thing or three)

After Zinda released me from shopping duty I had a lovely evening cleaning the cottage (huh? ...a lovely evening cleaning? Does not compute!!!) Well, you see, any evening in White O'Morn is a lovely evening. Smalltzee wench I am!

I had to clean the cottage as we are having visitors soon! The lovely Kimme of Irish Cottage Dreams and her husband, Patrick, are coming to visit soon from Germany (and so are sister Teeda and her hubby JOB (Joe O'Brien) from Canada.

Kimme does the most amazing computer art from photographs and super mousemats and calendars and stuff...check her out....see my blog list on sidebar and Teeda does handmade jewellery...see sidebar, Beadiva

Anyway I had a peaceful solitudious Sunday morning and when I looked out the window I saw this sight which brings meaning to the saying " the view was breathtaking" ....The creator had painted another masterpiece for me to marvel at...I swear that every time I look at it this view is different. Check out my collection of photos of this view to compare.

Ten minutes later the view had changed again and I zoomed in as far as possible and took this picture of the church in Augahwillan (where Angie's schoolhouse is) right on the horizon of the above picture. Bear in mind that this church spire is at least four miles away from my cottage. ....(the church spire is the tall white thingy just left of the church itself which is the reddish roofed building, just above left of the white house in the centre of the picture.) This is the churchyard where famous Irish author John McGahern is buried. I will post a close up picture soon of this pretty little white washed church....don't you just love these digital cameras? Four miles away and I captured it!

More Irish Cottages in Dublin

Not all the pretty Irish cottages are located in the Irish countryside. Dublin is the capital city and has it's own share.

These photos were taken by me during my 15 minute walk home from work in my local library in Baldoyle. Baldoyle (or in Gaelic -Baile Dubhgall) is on the east coast of Ireland and used to be a fishing village. It is now a suburb of Dublin City.  These lovely cottages date from that time.

As they are in my locality, I am so used to seeing them I hardly notice them. But as you bloggers know - blogging makes you see things as potential blogging material! Enjoy these pretty cottages and cottage gardens.

Hidden in Plain View

These digital cameras are fantastic. I tried the max zoom on mine while photographing the view. When I brought it up on the computer I could see three houses that I can't see at all with the naked eye.  Also it has a lovely look to it - like a painting. Here is the view as I can see it from the cottage and two max zoom ones. Your reference point for comparing is the tree right in the centre of the full view. The houses are to the left of this tree.

Another interesting thing I noticed in the middle photo is that it shows Irish country houses from different eras. The small white cottage is like mine and probably dates from about the 1860's. The house in the centre of picture would be from about the 1960's and the one on the right is very new and quite typical of the kind of house being built at the present.

It would not be unusual if these three belong to the same family, as when people could build a better house, they often did so near to the "home place" and when things got even better they may have built the modern house nearby again.

Countryside Scenery

I got snap happy while away last week. Here are some of them.

This little birdie came for breakfast every day. 

Local graveyard in Ballinamore - It is named "Slí na Firenne" - which I think translates as "The Way of All Men" (I'll check it out or am open to correction if anyone knows for sure! )

Dawn breaks over the view from my cottage 

...and later in the day the sun bathes it in yellow light  I love the way the view changes with the light. (more pics of this ever changing view posted on 1st March 2008 in archives)

Lake Camagh, this is the nearest lake to our cottage - about a mile.  I call it Swan Lake as it has two beautiful swans that live there. I intend to get a picture of them. They were being shy that day!

The Changing View

Seems that every time I look out the window the view has changed. The lighting, time of day, weather. Sometimes you can see for miles and sometimes just to the next field...and sometimes there are cows or sheep grazing in the fields. I have taken so many photos of the same view 'cos it keeps changing. I will add more as I find them.  

White O'Morn Cottage History

White O'Morn Cottage was built in the mid 1800's by the Duignan family. They were weavers and to this day the cottage is referred to as the "Weaver Duignans"  The weaving room is now the kitchen, seen here to the right of the entrance door.

It stayed in the Duignan family until we bought it two years ago. The family called it Curraghnabania and we renamed it White O'Morn Cottage.

The mirror in the picture was altered by me to mark the transition of the house from the Duignan's to the Flynns. I painted it pale blue and then using a fine Tippex pen wrote (It's hard to read in photo) "Flynn's" across the top,"White O'Morn" down the right hand side, "Curraghnabania down the left hand side and "Duignan's " across the bottom. I finished it off with some tiny dried flowers in the bottom right hand corner.

The last Duignan to be born there (now a grown man) knocked on the door one day to introduce himself and we became fast friends with him and his family. We also had the honour of meeting his mother, who was the last "Ban an Tí" (Woman of the House) They are delighted with how their old home is looking and know that they are welcome there anytime.

This photo shows Michael (the last Duignan to be born in the cottage) my lovely husband, Paul and Michael's mother, Anna (the last Duignan to occupy the house) Anna now lives in the nearby town close to her family. The beautiful young girl in the photo behind them is Fiona Duignan, daughter of Michael and Helen Duignan, who sadly passed away a few years ago aged twelve.