♥♥♥ Le Creuset ♥♥♥

Today I just thought I'd share some new additions to my Le Creuset collection. This cast iron cookware is a dream to cook with and comes with a lifetime guarantee, so I always snap it up if I see a piece I like on special or vintage pieces at bargain prices.

The new collection in Rosemary green is so pretty, such a gorgeous colour and this 24cm casserole is perfect for soups :-)

This 22cm casserole in the Dune/Almond colour is perfect for mashed potatoes cooked in chicken stock and mixed with chives.

This limited edition 22cm shallow casserole comes in really handy for my cheesy rice bake, yum!

This wok is MASSIVE!!! I love Thai green curries and chicken chow mein.

Ever since finding my first vintage Le Creuset saucepans designed by Enzo Mari I have never looked back. I much prefer these to cooking with stainless steel or non-stick pots now, the enamelled finish on Le Creuset pots is a dream to clean up and when looked after properly lasts a lifetime. I was delighted to snap up this set of 3 pots for a steal, the wooden handles are awesome too, no worry about burning your hands on the handles!

Speaking of Enzo Mari designed pieces I am thrilled to have finally added one of his casseroles to my collection. He designed these for Le Creueset in 1972 and this one is in lovely condition. I also have a lime green baker designed by him.

These stoneware bean pots are in the really pretty Satin Blue colour, they are perfect for single serves of comfort food like Chilli Con Carne or Cottage Pie, perfect to eat on the sofa with a fork :-) Try Sophie Dahl's Shepherd's Pie or Nigella Lawson's Chicken, Mushroom and Bacon Pie :-)

And finally, a utensil holder also in Satin Blue, I now have these in 3 different colours and they look lovely together :-)

If you're a Le Creuset fan too and would like to see the rest of my collection I shared it here :-)

Oh Deer

Only of my absolute favourite spots in Dublin is the Phoenix Park. In the centre of Dublin, it is one of the largest parks in Europe. It houses Dublin Zoo, cafés, playing fields and huge open spaces for little ones to run free. But the biggest attraction of the park by far is the large herd of wild deer who live there. They are just stunning and I was very excited to bring our boys to see them when we moved back to Ireland.

The boys just loved them, especially my middle little man who is mad about animals. I'm dying to get back to see them while the stunning multi-coloured Autumn leaves are still on the trees and then again later in Winter, when maybe there will be snow, it would all be just too Christmassy and beautiful :-)

Partner in Crime

I definitely get my shopping genes from my Mum. As kids Mum loved bringing us along to jumble sales looking for bric-a-brac and books (our favourite was always the cake stall) and she still loves shopping for us all to this day :-)

Here are a few of my favourite things Mum has found for me...

A really pretty embroidered top and leather designer handbag new with tags!

A gorgeous set of tea cups, saucers and plates, I love the pretty retro flower pattern :-)

I LOVE this retro Sadler coffee set, it goes really well with a set of mugs I have and I love using it.

Thanks Mum!

Rest

We're having a lazy Sunday at ours. In our PJs until midday, a nice roast chicken for lunch followed by cartoons :-)

Hope you're all having a nice day of rest too :-)

Wooooooohhhhh

We're all ready to go for Hallowe'en here. Huge excitement as this will be the boys' first time trick or treating in the dark as opposed to the blazing Australian sun :-)

My Le Creuset pumpkin comes in handy this time of year...

...for gruesome ghoulish jelly!

The table is set for our party later on. Hats off to anyone who hand-crafts their own decorations and table pieces, Aldi did the job for me :-)

Thankfully my boys are more crafty than me and their spooky artwork is being displayed proudly :-)

Now all we need to do is "Zombie Up" and go begging for sweets from strangers (Hallowe'en can be so confusing for kids!!!)   :-)

Have fun everyone!

The Beach

My parents live by the coast in County Meath. Their house is a 15 minute walk from the beach and we really love staying there. During the Summer it is fab to bring the boys down to the beach with their buckets and spades, collecting shells and pebbles and discovering jelly fish and other sea life. Our Summer beach trips always involve ice-cream from the van on the beach followed by a trip to the amusements and some funfair rides.

We love visiting all year round though and just spent a few days there this week as it is mid-term break here in Ireland. Being die-hard beach fans we rugged up and went for a lovely brisk morning walk. The tide was out leaving lots of treasures like seaweed and drift wood for the boys to explore. 

At this time of year ice-cream is replaced by gorgeous hot chocolate at the beach café. Plenty of marshmallows and shaved chocolate on top, yum!

My sister and her family also live in County Meath and the cousins all love getting together especially at the local indoor funfair :-)

County Meath is full of historical sights and we usually visit one on each of our trips. It is also very close to County Louth and this time we went to see this beautiful Church in Drogheda (pardon the fuzzy phone pic) which houses the preserved head of Saint Oliver Plunkett (sounds a bit gruesome but my eldest thought it was pretty cool).

We always come back from our trips nice and relaxed yet refreshed at the same time and of course my boys love getting spoilt by their Nana and Grandad and aunties! Can't wait for our next visit :-)

Sydney

You may remember a while back I wrote this post about my decision not to feature photos of my kids on the blog anymore. I decided to delete any posts with photos of my boys and still feel that was the right decision. However, looking back on my blog, now that we have left Sydney, I do feel a bit sad that my blog doesn't really contain any images of our life in the beautiful city we called home for so many years. So I thought a little pictorial tribute to the wonderful time we had in Sydney was in order. Here are some of my favourite snaps (cleverly selected to still not show my boys' faces)...

Looking back on these photos makes me feel happy. We had such a wonderful time there and now we are back in Ireland with our boys having an equally lovely time. I am feeling a new energy for this blog and hope to start blogging more regularly again. Just give me a mo to finish getting through all the boxes that arrived on the ship from Sydney a couple of weeks ago. When I saw box after box marked "kitchenware" coming in the door and piling up I really started to wish I collected stamps instead ;-)