White O'Morn Cottage

Holiday Post...photos added ...and Award Winners Listed.

I have now posted most of the photos I promised. So what have I got for you? well...

We made great progress with the kitchen and here are some photos to prove it!  

We were invaded by a few stray bats...yes, I said bats! ...and I have the pics to prove it. It is now sorted and we can all relax a bit. BE WARNED...I will be posting a photo of said BATS. So if you are squirly/squally about these things then...close your eyes and scroll to next bit.

*How to remove stray bats from the bathroom (now called the Batroom)

Step one..get up at 6 o'clock in the morning for a tinkle. Walk into bathroom and go "AAAGGGHHH!!!"

If you should find that this does not wake up DH say to yourself "Ah, sufferin' heart...I'm on me own here".

 Now get your camera and take a blurry pic of Drac so you can prove how brave you really are.... 6 am? who can focus?

 Drac is hanging from your tab top curtains and measures about 2 inches. Get a bucket and use end of a toothbrush to nudge Drac into said bucket. (Use your husband's toothbrush 'cos he did not come to your aid and if he had, he would have used the end of your's ...right? )

Drac will squeel like a pig - which is unexpected- and will frighten the **** out of you. Don't get psyched out by this - just say to yourself..."Self ..this has to be done for all our sakes"

Once Drac the Invader is in bucket run like a hare to release it into The Wild (which is is located just outside the front door)

Now, ...and this is important...run around in circles going... "Ahh,,oohhh,,ah sufferin' heart - I can't believe I did that..ahh,,,hoo, haa, hoohaaa, oh Gawd. ha hoo" 

Go back to bed with a smug smile on yer' face! You are hereforwith to be known as Buffy...Oh, the joys of country living!

 

Brialliante Blog 2008...BLOG AWARDS!

On a lighter note: I got an award from Sharie at View to the Hill...Thanks so much Sharie!!! I LOVE it....and also from Kimme at Irish Cottage Dreams.Thanks so much...love it!  More details of this lovely award to follow. Sharie's and Kimme's fab blogs are to be found on my list to the right.

So what goes with the award are some rules...Put the award on ones blog...done. Link to the person giving the award...done. Link to he people getting the award from you. ...done. So the wonderful blogs I am passing it on to are..in no particular order...they are all fabulous..

Beadiva Hand-crafted Jewellery

Sweet Repose

Sanity -no longer an option

Ideally Me

Country Cottage Chic

Main Street Memories

The Old Schoolhouse

All are linked in my blog list to the right. Visit and enjoy!

 

 

I took a series of photos while strolling down Main Street, Ballinamore. Just of little things that took my fancy, shop signs, quirky items etc..even litter bins and post boxes which are quite lovely! Come on ...join me for a stroll around beautiful Ballinamore...

When the Light Is Right

Another set of pictures I took I call... "When the Light is Right" These are mostly of items in the deep window sills with the sun streaming over them.

This is one of the free range duck eggs with the farmyard muck still on!

 

 

The one below is a garland that says... Failte which is Irish for Welcome

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a couple of the wildflowers that grow in the ditches around here. The bell shaped one is a foxglove and I don't yet know the name of the other one.

A cute pic of Chewy who decided that my gorgeous vintage tray with pristine tray cloth was a good place for a nap!  "Your Dog Is Served" is the title of this one.

I will be adding all the promised photos over this weekend. Cheers for now...

 

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!

More Sheet Music Paper Ideas for you...

                                                                   

I was lucky enough to be offered this lovely old sheet music on our recycle site jumbletown.ie. I have lots of great craft and repurposing ideas for it. So far I have used it as giftwrap for a gift for a friend. I also used it to line some drawers in the bedroom. Add a few drops of lavendar oil to give it a lovely scent and deter insects.

I also used it to decorate the deep windowsill of the bathroom in the cottage. These walls are 18 inches thick and they make for a real feature in each of the rooms. I will paste it down and clear varnish it as it is in a bathroom. Isn't it  pretty?

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!

Creative Cottage Corner

This is where I get creative and produce unique cottage-ee items. First thing I made here is the cushion on the chair. It was a cotton teatowel that has a fabulous vintage print that is perfect for a country cottage.

To the left of the sewing machine is the tiny, dog couch that I bought for my smallest dog, Pretty. She weighs about six pounds. But of course, she wont have anything to do with it noooo noo no..but my biggest dog, Chewbacca, loves it, even though she looks so uncomfortable on it as it is just too small!

Bathroom Colour problem...solved!

Being a tutor I always get wonderful little prezzies from the students at Christmas. Candles (love 'em) choccies ( luv 'em too), wine (hoohoo!) and beautiful multicoloured bath goodies.

So how to display these without a mishmash of clashing colours?  I have discovered that most of them fall into shades of one of these colours. So I put up three shelves and grouped them together. Blue and green can be displayed together if you put turquoise between.

I love to light the candles, open the chocs and wine and then the only problem is...which colour will I trinkle into my bath?  Trinkle??? (trinkle is my special word for sprinkle and throw)

Bell Book & Candle

I kept going back to this photo of a pretty little vignette I have on the cottage mantlepiece and thinking..."something's missing....." Then it clicked!  A bell of course.

I will add a little Wedgewood bone china bell that I have tucked away somewhere and then I can call it "Bell, Book and Candle"

Update: I found the little bell. The design is called Runnymeade. It was missing its clanger so I threaded a pink satin ribbon and hung a tiny gilt ballerina pin and it makes a lovely musical tinkle as she dances now!

The Quiet Man Film 1952

The Quiet Man starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. This has long been my favourite film. I know the dialogue off by haert  and quote it often! I dreamed for many years of owning a little house just like the one in this film. When I did finally get one I had to call it "White O'Morn"

It has the very same layout as the one in the film and I have set about decorating it as closely as possible and added an emerald green half door.

I have an original book called Green Rushes by Maurice Walsh and this is the book that the screenplay was adapted from. Also in my collection is the Guide to the Quiet Man that examines the film in detail. My sister bought me a tin advertisement poster and of course, I have a copy of it on dvd.

I visited Cong, in County Galway (or is it Mayo?) to visit the locations. Some of these have not changed in all these years. Pat Cohan's is now a pub just like in the film and Rev. Playfair's gingerbread house is still the same.

If you want a good night in with a great old film I can recommend this one. Treat yourself for St Patrick's Day!

Grandma's Chandy

I was browsing Jayne's blog Country Cottage Chic when to my surprise I came across a post that had the same vintage chandelier that I have. Mine used to belong to my granny in the fifties and then my mam used it for years and she passed it on to me.  I just love it. It is in the living room of the cottage. Mine does not have the lovely little pink flowers but otherwise I'd say they were identical.  I will post a comment on her blog...Great minds think alike!

Now if I could just figure out how to create a link to it...

Before and After Cottage Photos

White O'Morn Cottage living room before...                                     ...and after -

I just love before and after pictures so I made sure to document all the rooms before any work was carried out.

This was both a labour of love and an exercise in recycling, lifecycling and re-purposing. Only new item in the room is the paint on the walls!

I love to sit here in the evenings watching my favourite film The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. Their cottage in the film lends its name to ours...White O'Morn. It was filmed nearby in Cong county Mayo, Ireland and many of the original settings are still to be found there. Alas the actual White O'Morn cottage is gone but there is an exact replica in the town of Cong. Well worth a visit for any fan of this wonderful film.