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Home Made: Natural, Organic Body Butter
I’ve always had a little interest in essential oils, each one can make you feel a certain way and has a particular purpose. Whether it’s to sterilise a cut or treat a rash, an anti fungal, to calm the nerves or to help you sleep, there’s an essential oil that can benefit almost anything. Fragrance can also trigger strong memories, taking you back to a certain time or place in your mind. This week, I got to meet Benoit Nicol of The Nature of Things Essential Oils. With over two decades of distilling experience and now based at The Chocolate Factory in Dublin, Benoit has produced the most exquisite array…
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Green Angel: 30 Day Seaweed Skincare Challenge.
I was recently asked to collaborate with Green Angel seaweed skincare products & The Kilkenny Shop and take part in a 30 day challenge. The mission was to commit to a skincare regime with four gifted products that I would use every day and document the change in my skin. I suffer with sensitive skin, most of us Irish ladies do, our fair skin and our climate mean that we’re always stuck under a heater somewhere and we don’t drink enough water- ok, I speak for myself on that one. I’ve tried putting a jug of water in front of me in the evenings and using a ‘Plant Nanny’ app…
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Beyond The Border: Two Days in Belfast
Belfast, the second largest city on our beautiful green island and home to much conflict over the centuries. I took a couple of days away to this fabulous city where you’re guaranteed to have some fun! Situated 165km from Dublin, it’s just a two hour train ride on the Enterprise train which leaves you at Lanyon Station (formerly Belfast Central). The city centre is walking distance but if you show your train ticket to the driver, the bus into the heart of the city is free. I went with my Mum as we haven’t been away together in six years. We stayed at the Belfast Hampton by Hilton hotel on…
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And So It Begins..
It was a disgusting morning, the wind was howling, and the rain was coming down in sheets. My shoes got wet and my clothes were soaked through on the way to work, wading through the flash floods. In addition there was no heat on, on the DART (the Irish answer to the Metro, but along the coast) and when you start a morning like that, it seems to snowball throughout the day. You just feel rubbish for the rest of the day! Sitting down for my lunch, my phone lights up with a message from my Husband, it’s a photo of a set of keys, THE SALE HAD CLOSED ON…
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House Update: One step forward and well…?
Everyone is asking with the best of intentions, how the house is coming along. I appreciate all your kind comments and encouraging words, you’re all so sweet. We were absolutely promised July/August when we bought the house, September at the very-very latest, if Summer weather was bad-indeed it wasn’t, anything but! We were rushed into signing the contract for the house and knew there was something fishy when the builders refused to sign the contract unless we reapplied for our mortgage, for a sanction expiring at a later date- they obviously knew it wouldn’t be ready. Why were we rushed into it so quickly? We moved in with an elderly…
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Bloggies 2018 Finalists Announced: I MADE THE LIST!!
Warning:Flashing images/gif below I was having a rather tough day at work yesterday, you know the kind where nothing goes right, a sort of Murphy’s Law day? Packing up to head home at the end of the day, I decided to check my emails. Almost dropping my phone with excitement, there was an email to say that this little blog had made it through three rounds of judging to make it as a finalist at the Blog Awards Ireland 2018!! I had THE BIGGEST grin on my face during the train ride home that I’m sure my fellow passengers thought I was tapped or something. I 100% don’t expect to…
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Recipe: Courgette Chorizo Savoury Traybake
I have this horrendous battle with diets and food, yes Ketogenic diets like Dukan work for me but I’m allergic to fish and I’m not a lover of meat. We’re still staying with my Husband’s Grandfather whilst waiting to move into the house, it’s finished, we just need to snag. As all my kitchen belongings are in storage, I can’t do my usual dishes, the kitchen supply of a 99 year old Gentleman is pretty limited. The last two days, I’ve been feeling so unhealthy, we’ve been eating more convenient foods instead of cooking and it’s killing me! I am starting to feel my tummy getting bigger and I HATE…
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Wool Blankets: How To Wash Wool At Home
While we’re discussing Autumn, BLANKETS! Can I we please discuss these little wonders? They shroud us when we’ve a broken heart, sick & cozy on those cold winter nights. We even clutch them as children during times of insecurity, hence the phrase ‘Security Blanket’. But what happens when you wash them the standard way in your washing machine or dryer? I know of people who’ve invested in beautiful handwoven blankets and have put them in the washing machine, only for them to be destroyed. My Mum made sure I knew how to do this and understand treating different textiles, so I learned from her. There are Foxford blankets at home…
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Autumn: These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things
Autumn, oh Autumn, I do love you! I am lamenting that glorious Summer as much as the rest of the country but I do look forward to Fall and the coziness it brings, most of all layering! Isn’t it a gorgeous feeling when you’ve been resisting the ever so slighter crisp mornings and suddenly you resist and yield to cozy cardigans? You feel almost cocooned! All one needs now is a Pumpkin Spiced Latte… right, let’s not get carried away, shall we? Whilst we’re still staying with my Husbands Grandfather, patiently awaiting the builders completion notice for the house, I’m still living out of a suitcase. Having been assured our…
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The First Walk Through Of Our House!
Well now I feel it’s really happening, we got inside our new house this week. The company that installed our ‘air to heat’ system invited us to come along for a demo in one of the complete and occupied houses. Air to heat is like a big fridge in my utility room 😂. Basically, you don’t need gas or oil to heat your home, it’s an Eco friendly way of heating your house and works like a refrigerator only in reverse, pulling heat out of the air outside down to -22ºC. In the extremely unlikely event of Ireland going into a cold snap, below these temperatures, a back up boiler…
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Recipe: Chicken & Chorizo Paella – a sure crowd pleaser.
Whenever I visit my Mum, I rarely get to see her these days, she lives in Galway. We always plan to go out for dinner, big plans, get all dressed up and head out- it never happens. When I say it never happens, I mean my Mother likes her home comforts and her favourites, without fail, she always gives me that look and says “Can you make some Paella and I’ll buy you some wine?” How can you refuse such an offer? In fairness, Mum loves anything with rice, give her risotto or creamed rice and she’s happy -and it’s important to keep your Mother happy.. The thing about Paella…
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Interiors Update: Downstairs
Whilst we’re still waiting for our snag notice to come through from the builders of our new house, I’m doing all the fun bits and picking necessary pieces of furniture like sofa’s and dining tables. Okay, it’s fun to shop but not good for your blood pressure when you see your account balance getting lower and lower, it’s sort of like seeing your favourite expensive bottle of perfume fall and smash on the floor whilst the precious contents seeps down through the floor, once it’s gone it’s gone and you can’t pick it up. I’ve designed the kitchen, ordered it, got a great deal on floor tiles, bought them and…
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Shaping Up To Ship Out: Asian Style Red cabbage salad
In my mission to make more salads for lunches, eat more whole grain, natural plant proteins and fruit, I wanted to try my hand at getting more adventurous, I literally went shopping and bought all the fresh ingredients with the aim of using larder foods up before the move. The first night was a red cabbage Asian salad, normally I HATE cabbage, I can tolerate coleslaw so I was planning on making something similar. I sat with a mandoline, watching a movie as I planed the cabbage away into nothing, my hands turning regal purple from the cabbage, not sure if it was the hard work planing or just the…
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Shaping Up to Ship Out
We find ourselves surrounded by boxes and packing tape as we prepare to leave the apartment, in one of my last posts, I mentioned that our landlord had served us notice at the start of the year, he’s intending to sell the apartment. I never thought moving home was as stressful until now. We’re moving in with my husband’s 99 year old WW2 Veteran Grandfather until August, he’s a widower bless him and I adore him, so that’s ok. However, I never was one to be able to live out of a suitcase for a while, I like to be able to spread out and be comfortable. In the meantime,…
A lifestyle blog by Sarah Cooke-O'Neill
