52 Weeks of Memories - Week 17 - Fun

So board games are a huge thing in our house. We love playing them and regularly host board game events amongst friends.

Our latest purchase was Ticket To Ride: Nordic Countries.

I've been wanting this for so long as I think it's so pretty! Ticket to Ride is an amazing game that is really easy to pick up. We have quite a few expansions now...

Travel Tuesday - Ireland - Ardmore

When we went to Ireland, we weren't expecting to go to so many round towers. But after we went to Glendalough we looked up to see what other ones there were around Ireland as we liked it so much.

Ardmore is a small seaside village further South from Waterford. The old monastery sits up on a hill overlooking the village and a beautiful golden sandy beach. It was established by St Declan and has his tomb in the complex (though it got pillaged throughout the ages). It also had some Ogham stones which I was very excited about (one of the oldest alphabets in the world - look it up!).

Ogham stone

Ogham stone

Inside the Cathedral

St Declan's tomb

A random castle further along from the Monastery

Down at the water's edge there are these random fake cottages

St Declan's stone

Random dude who started playing really cool music on the banjo

52 Weeks of Memories - Week 16 - Important

I found this quite hard as I couldn't think of something that was especially important to take a picture of. Then I looked down at my right hand and saw my two rings. They represent each of my Grandmothers. The blue one was my Paternal Nana's engagement ring and the Claddagh ring is a replacement ring of one that was given to me by my Maternal Nana (the original got stolen).
They represent both sides of my family and family is the most important thing to me.

Travel Tuesday - Ireland - Waterford Crystal Factory

OMG, I loved the Waterford Crystal Factory. And it's shop. It was one of the places that I definitely wanted to go to when we were planning our trip. AJ was a bit hesitant but admitted afterwards that he really enjoyed it. I highly recommend making the trip to Waterford and going on a tour of the factory. It is fantastic.

Me next to the largest champagne flute I've ever seen.

One of their oldest pieces. 

What they use to mould the shape of some items.

Shaping the crystal.

Blowing the crystal.

Putting the pattern on the glass.

 A recently cut crystal plate before it got polished.

This guy was awesome. He's cutting a vase here and saw that AJ was taking photos so invited him to stand behind him to get a different perspective.

And then the same guy insisted that I hold onto it. I was so scared I was going drop it (I hate to think how much it was worth). It was also really slippery!

A piece recently finished.

For 9/11

The only thing we could afford from the shop. So I now have one of these :D

The following were a couple of my favourite items in the shop:

My Tea Collection - Teapots and other accessories

This post will just have some pictures of my teapots and tea accessories.



Tea infusers and filters:

My tea duck! It floats on top with the tea soaking underneath :D

A very dusty leaf catcher thing (for use with a teapot)

My first tea soaker thing. It's a bit munched and I only use it in emergencies

This sits in the mug and soaks the tea. The best of the ones that I have.

The Tea-tanic :P

Teapots:

This is an heirloom teapot that was my Great-Grandmothers. It's supposed the be silver but I need to polish it.

This teapot is part of a set that was given to me by my Nana. It's got roses, pink and polka dots on it :D

52 Weeks of Memories - Week 15 - Colour

I got so sick and tired of being cooped up in the house that I decided to go for a drive and came across Duder Regional Park.

The trail marker was colourful...

Empties Three

These are more products that I have used up in the time since the last one. Each time I use up five products I will put up a new Empties post.

Hello Kitty Shampoo and Bath Gel

I used this primarily as a body wash. It smelt amazing with the scent of grapes. It was a jelly like texture that felt amazing on my skin. I suspect it was actually made for kids but I don't care - I loved it. Got it on clearance originally. Should have bought more. Haven't been able to find it again :( Would happily buy it again.

Sunsilk Co-creations Purifying Scalp Care Shampoo and Conditioner

Now, I've struggled with dandruff for years and was looking for something that would help with that and strengthen my hair. Unfortunately these didn't really work. So I'm still on the hunt for my perfect shampoo and conditioner.

Natio Lift Skin Firming Serum

I'm on the hunt for a more budget friendly serum so I tried this out. It didn't really seem to do anything to help my skin. It just stayed the same. Maybe it gave a little bit of extra moisture but other than that - no noticeable difference

Bath and Body Work Pleasures Mango and Mandarin Body Lotion

I loved this stuff. I was given it years and years ago by an American friend. Unfortunately Bath and Body Works products are hard to come by in New Zealand so I can't get a replacement. I'm currently trying to use up all of the moisturiser that I've been given over the years. So I don't need a new one but if I were to go to the States - I would buy this in a heartbeat.

Travel Tuesday - Ireland - Glendalough

This is what started my obsession with round towers. I wanted to find others around Ireland that didn't have so many people. 

I will post pictures of them at some stage (we went to four more after this).

Glendalough is situated in a beautiful, lush, green valley with a river and a lake nearby. It's quite close to Dublin in the Wicklow Mountains so it's quite easy to get to.

This place is seriously so magical...I hope the following pictures do it some justice: