wedding anniversary memento...

i'm so excited! i've never won anything in a contest, but i just found out we won a custom canvas from geezees custom canvas! i entered a contest over at one of my favorite sites, so you're engayged and we won! i'm thinking about what we should do...looking for photos and thinking about what wording...vows, ceremony...

what a wonderful first wedding anniversary memento! thanks so much to so you're engayged and geezees custom canvas!

{photo credit here via so you're engayged}

european sojourn...scotland

after a lovely, rainy week in ireland, we hopped a quick flight to glasgow, scotland, where my friend lesley was waiting to meet us. we made a stop at her mother's house, which was a lovely bed and breakfast, then drove the hour to dumfries where lesley lives. it wouldn't be a trip to scotland if it weren't raining, and sure enough, it *poured* the 2 days we were there. no matter, it was lovely to visit with lesley and her gorgeous home.

there are two houses on lesley's property, which consist of an old converted schoolhouse and the mistress's house. this one is the school mistress's house. it is available for holiday rental here. it would be a great place to spend a holiday. it was rented out already when we were there, so we stayed in a guest room in their main house.

this is the converted schoolhouse, where lesley and her family live. we stayed here in a sweet guest room.

her beautiful garden. i love the prehistoric plants.

and of course, the ducks!

next stop: london, england...

european sojourn...ireland

the first stop we made along our european journey was ireland. we went to clifden, county galway, on the west coast. it was gorgeous. it rained most of our trip...but due to the rain, the flowers were in full bloom. we stayed in ireland for a week touring the countryside and visiting with patty's family.

hydrangeas were everywhere...one of my favorites.

patty feeling naval on the coast...

connemara, the region where clifden is located is known for their ponies. they were everywhere...

this is the old coast guard station, patty's cousin has refurbished it and it is a self-catering accommodation now. we're staying here next time...look at the views!!

the clifden castle...ruins now, but patty's ancestors were tenants so her cousins own some of the land around it...

more ponies near the castle...

patty's cousin's house...where we stayed...

the road to patty's cousin's house...i would walk it to the bay, sometimes running into girls and their horses...but never any cars...

a rainy day...we drove through the country with patty's cousin...this area was called dog's bay.

lovely houses in dog's bay...

patty's cousin has a boat like this one...it's so beautiful...the weather was too rough to go out on the water...i was really disappointed!

dog friends where ever we go...

views from my walk on the sunny days...this is along the sky road, the main road in clifden...breathtaking views...

view of the castle and sheep tenants now from the sky road.

view of the castle from our walk...

the fuschia were everywhere growing wild!

next stop: dumfries, scotland...

new york fashion week...

no, we didn't go to christian siriano's show. but this dress is so gorgeous, i had to post it. in fact, we only went to one show and one party. it was fun to just experience it, truly. so, after a month of traveling and no posting, i have a lot of catching up to do.

i'll start tomorrow. must sleep today.

photo credit here.

back in the country...

but not settled in at home sweet home yet. we were home for a week, barely got over jetlag, then flew to new york for work. it's fashion week, so we are accidentally here for fashion week! since we're working, only going to catch a show and a party or two...but i'm sure i'll have some stories when i return...so lots of blogging to do...oh, didn't bring my computer to nyc...so no blogging until back on west coast...until then...kisses!

photo credit here