the party and the dress...

The party was lovely,

the sun shone and the dress fit

so happy days!

The shoes looked good

but after about 15 minutes

didn't feel so great,

 but I suffered on
as we women always do in the name of fashion (ouch ouch ouch!)

The gardens, food, drink and entertainment were wonderful

and lovely memories were made.

Here are a few photos from our day....

the house...

The marquee and seating area

view from the front of the house
(Dublin mountains in the distance)

daughter amongst the lavender

the walled gardens

the greenhouse

the tree that President Obama planted on his visit to Ireland last year

pretty table arrangements

 dress that almost didn't fit....

and...

 a little secret I have to share -

at the end of the day, 

my tootsies were so tired

that I took the  shoes off

Whew!!!

I'm wearing my flip flops since!!!

****

Wishing you all a healthy, happy week
full of
 sunshine, smiles and lovely things ♥

My, oh my, oh my......

 it's Thursday again,

where has the week gone,

blink and you'd miss it!


Busy busy days here in Raindrops land!


My hydrangea is doing nicely
I drag it into the porch everytime it rains
so the flowers still look fresh
maybe that's the secret of 
a good garden in Ireland....
cover all your plants with a giant umbrella??

I had a lovely surprise yesterday 

I found some sweetpeas 

hidden behind a hedge

I didn't  plant them so they must have drifted in from somewhere else 

and so I put them on the kitchen table

in my favourite jug!

and while the sun shone(for an hour or so)

I took a photo of poppies in the garden

 unfortunately they don't look quite so healthy today after another downpour....

but these cute little guys seem very happy with the weather that we are having....

Sometimes I wonder why my flowers are flattened down and  bashed
I always blame the dreaded rain
but
 today in the flowerbed I discovered
 Mister Charlie in a bid to find a ball!

 

Mum has been here for a  few days so I'm on the go as she likes to be on the move  

(all of the time, every minute of everyday)

we did a lot of looking around the shops, 

yummy coffees,  lunches out
and just enjoying our time together
but

where she gets her energy from I don't know.

She has just gone home and I'm exhausted

she is like a 5 year old skipping and jumping around the place and she is 75!

She must be doing something right as she looks fantastic
- I better start skipping and jumping
watch this space.....

 The lovely creative Emma at http://thebloomingtimes.blogspot.ie/

has awarded me the Liebster award. 

I am so delighted to receive it

and have a big smile on my face 

I have to pass it onto 3 blogs

this is proving to be a very difficult job

so I have decided to award the Liebster

to blogs that have under 30 followers

they defintely should have more

 as they  make lovely reading.
Please check them out!

So in no particular order -

*Babs at Babs just a babblin

*Inge at Chicncheerful
and

* Sizzle & Zoom at Cruisin over Sixty

 finally 

(flippity flippity flippity flip) ....

 we have been invited to a very special party next Sunday

 and so I wanted to get a bag and shoes to go with the dress I intended to wear.

When out  shopping with "on the go" Mum

and "still sad" daughter 

I got the perfect bag and these lovely shoes

they were the only pair in the shop 

and were my size

so obviously I had to have them!

(How I'll walk in them is anyone's guess)

anyway....

I put the bag and shoes with the dress 

 all looked absolutely wonderful and perfect

 happy happy me

I was so delighted with my choice (and taste) yippee 

until....

I tried to get into the dress

and to tell you  it was snug is an understatement

even if I let nothing but water pass my lips

 for the next few days (months)

It won't fit

so

 I have to go shopping again tomorrow

 and am going to buy a pair of those

huge ginormous monstrous pull me in knickers

 suck my breath 

in and in....

 and in and in....

(and very very very deeply)

and hope for the best!

Fingers crossed!!!

Wishing you all a healthy, happy week
full of
 sunshine, smiles and lovely things ♥

Bits and bobs....

Well it has been a quiet week here in Raindrops land,

daughter still broken hearted
(thought it was bruised but think at this stage it hurts a bit more than that)

We had lots of tears, hugs but the good news is that she has perked up a bit...

I did a bit of gardening during the week

(well between the many showers)

and I paid a visit to the local garden centre where I bought

two lovely hydrangeas,
one is lavender and the other a dark pink.

My husband laughed at me earlier today as I took them in out of the rain
in case they got wet!!

my roses were pretty for a day or two

until the dreaded wet got to them!

Raindrops on roses
and lots and lots of them....

 I thought that I would share a photo of me

taken by my son during the week....

oops that's not me

although my feet are almost identical....

this is me

and this is the outfit I have been wearing all Summer, day in day out.....

a spotty rain mac and a yellow brolly....

Saturday we woke to sunshine

and so decided to make the most of it,

 we went for a long walk,

ate al fresco, lit the woodburning stove

and sat outside until late last night,

eating lovely food, sipping wine,

chatting and laughing with the kids,

happy happy days....

Charlie seemed to enjoy it too!

As yesterday was out best day I thought I would share some photos of our walk...

my lovely blogging friends were celebrating the 4th of July and Canada day

and with Britain in the tennis finals

 I thought I would show our own lovely Irish flag too!

two of my two big men

(the other one was working)

just look at that sky!!

H E A V E N

ps. it's raining today

so the sunshine was shortlived!

Any of you experiencing very hot temps

I hope that it cools down soon for you.

I hope that you have all had a good week.

Looking at the beautiful photos from Green Day it seems as though everyone was very busy and the feedback to the link up is great.

Thank you all so much for participating.

pps I tried to change the banner on my blog

and it ended up a disaster,
the name disappeared
did you ever start something
and half way through

wish you hadn't bothered....

Wishing you all a healthy, happy week
full of
 sunshine, smiles and lovely things ♥

today I am linking up with

GREEN DAY

Weekend reflections

Shadow Shot Sunday 2
Sunny Simple Sunday

Fun, Flowers and a fizzy head ❤

{Monday}... 

visited a lovely garden centre in the Irish midlands
bought a few bits and bobs
spotted this colourful fella
and thought he was perfect for "Green Day"

 

{Tuesday}...

 paid a visit to Avoca

one of my favourite places to browse around

but I had to hold on tightly to my wallet

as I was sorely tempted to buy absolutely everything! 

Wonderful throws and shawls

China in all colours of the rainbow

Lovely mosaic delph and scented candles

Jams, chutneys and sauces - aaahh!

Yummy sweets and goodies

 and after buying lots of lovely goodies to take home

 I did order a healthy and delicious lunch!

{Wednesday}...

my one and only peony bud has flowered (eventually)!!

I hope that I don't have to wait another 7 years for a bloom!

I was so proud of it that I had to take two photos

and put them into a collage (what a show-off I am)!!

 the alliums planted last year are looking gorgeous

{Thursday}

Oh dear dopey ditzy me

 was looking for hairspray

went into lovely daughter's room

flippity flippity flip

sprayed hair with false tan instead of hairspray

well the bottles do look the same (sort of) eeeek...

{Friday}

Happy Happy days

 school's out for Summer!!!

Wishing you all a healthy, happy week
full of
 sunshine, smiles and lovely things ♥

linking up toaday with Green Day &

Beverley's Pink Saturday

{a little bit of this and a little bit of that}

My goodness we certainly have some weather changes here in Ireland

you could never say it was boring

blue skies and sunshine one day and  pouring with rain the next!

 Monday's sky

H A P P Y   D A Y S

but later during the week, rain, rain and lots more rain

and what day did the  school pick to go

on their trip to County Wicklow?

Beautiful scenery but viewed through a haze of raindrops!

and later it got worse and we couldn't see the scenery at all!!

The field behind our house is so  PRETTY   at the moment

it is full of beautiful golden yellow buttercups which glisten

in both the sunshine and the rain!

This guy lives there

he isn't the friendliest or the prettiest

but he  is very nosey!

and finally, I have been challenged by the lovely Heidi 

 to tell you five random facts about myself

so here goes -

 *   when I met my husband it was love at first sight

something just clicked inside my heart

and hasn't stopped since

he made me laugh and still does....

*   I am  what style experts describe  as an "apple shape"

wide shoulders, slim hips and store my weight on my tummy

yep I'm a  jelly belly!

*   my favourite drink is  red wine

 and I love the glug glug sound it makes when poured into a glass

I like drinking it too
 oops maybe that is why I'm a jelly belly!!!!

*    I hate that my eyesight is going

once I hit 40 my eyesight started to go downhill

and I needed glasses for reading. 

 It makes me sad that I can't read without them....

plus I am always losing them
- couldn't find them on Friday
but low and behold I opened the dishwasher
and there they were having been through the wash
they were SPARKLING!!!

*  I adore shopping,
I love mooching around shops and picking up pretty things.
I even like food shopping and am a bit like Mister above
 as I look into other people's trolley's to see what they are buying!
blush, blush......

*   I love being a mum

it is what I do best

I met someone yesterday who told me

you are such a "mum"

but sure that's my job

and isn't it a privilege to have that job!

Oops that's 6 things!

another thing is that  I do get carried away at times!!!



I have to challenge 5 others now
but I am going to take the easy way out
and hope that perhaps some of you might take up the challenge
 and divulge some bitsy bits about yourself.
As I said, I'm a bit nosey and so would love to hear about you!

anyone willing?

***

oops and oops again before I go I almost forgot to tell you

that Raindrops and Daisies is now on Facebook

click the badge on the right of the blog to view or here

I would love if you would  visit me as I'm a bit lonely,

 maybe say hi and you could even "like" the page,

so what do you think......

Wishing you all a wonderful week full of happy times