Christmas Holidays, Shopping, Cake and more!

Can you  believe the Christmas Holidays are only a couple of days away?  Has there been a time-warp or something strange going on?

There's lots of dashing about here in Ireland, picking up last minute presents, then panicking a bit more and picking up some more totally unnecessary gifts.  This happens every year without fail.

A few photos from my own Christmas Countdown Craziness over the past week:

We did a quick run up to Dublin, stopping at Avoca Handweavers and were met by these cakes.  Oh, so good... we had the cheese cake with salted caramel topping.  I'm recreating it for our own holiday dinner for sure.

There were ditzy frames and baubles..

And Christmas tins of all shapes and colours

Having had enough of that, we adjourned for drinks, I ,for one, had a really amazing Mocha Coffee:

The next day we met friends at Wexford Opera House for lunch which was super nice.

And they have Purple Carpet in the Opera House!!

  Imagine my surprise coming down the stairs after lunch to see wall hangings based on the Irish artist Mainie Jellett:

I was very proud to see these as we are in fact related, sharing a great grandmother I think.  I like to feel the artist gene is somewhere floating around my brain, I just need to tap into it!!

And this is a dress I will be wearing for a birthday party we are going to this Saturday night.

Friends,  this dress has BATS on it!!  BATS! I will definitely get my darling hubby to take a proper photo and I will post in my next offering:

And on that note, a final photo of our little altar in our sitting room where we attempt meditation and quiet-time at least once a day.  I do believe it's good for the soul, good for balance, basically good for what ails you:

Wishing all my special Blog visitors and friends the most peaceful of Christmases, with much love and laughter and good times.

Thank you so much for dropping by this year and I will see you soon in 2015!!

Love and Hugs, Siobhan

The Halloween Countdown has begun!

One week, tonight, until it is that darkly wonderful holiday that is Halloween...

We, in Ireland, take Halloween, aka Samhain, very seriously indeed.

The Irish have adopted the American way of dressing up and trick-or-treating, but there is an air of cautiousness and nervousness that goes along with this tradition.

Frequent looking-over-ones-shoulder.  Bats flitting around your crinkly tall witches hat.  Unknown beings rustling in the hedges as you run down the road in the dark to the next house to 'trick or treat', dropping your candle in fear.

For in Ireland, there are many magical beings and fairies that are truly around and not just some silly superstition or tale.

First example, and a rather scary one at that, the Banshee.  

One of the Most Terrifying Irish creatures a person could meet.  Her wail, her scream is never to be forgotten and she loves nothing better than to be out and about on the night of October 31st scaring trick or treaters to death,  Her sound I've heard myself (shiver).  It forewarns of an imminent death...of someone. Her appearance changes but the constants are long ghostly hair, shredded wispy garments and fiery red eyes

Second example, the Wild Hunt.

These crazed lunatics ride the night sky and will scoop up unsuspecting folk, especially at Samhain.   A ragged, motley assortment of Dark Witches, Fairies, the newly deceased and non-human spirits make up the Hunt along with red-eyed dogs and horses, often having missing or extra limbs and heads.  An alarming sight.

And finally, the Phooka.  Also known as the Puca, or Pooka, or plain mishievous little Pook. 

Shape shifting comes easily to the Phooka and it is known for appearing as a large black goat with wicked horns and evil claws, bull, horse, donkey and eagle. Sneakily, it has the power of speech and can call out in a quite normal voice to unsuspecting people, luring them to a terrifying adventure they will never forget. Those who dare to travel the back roads at night risk being carried away on the back of this creature, galloping madly through the night. It is said the human is never the same afterwards….November 1st is quite sacred to this creature and a day when it will actually behave in a civilized manner.

So I for one will not be venturing out this most wonderful Halloween night.  I will continue the tradition in our home of lighting candles in all the windows to scare away the Dark Things that lurk outside as well as placing a plate of cake, chocolate and wine outside in the garden (before sunset) to appease the Fairies, Goblins and Phookas that will surely be flying around.

Wishing you and yours a most fabulous Halloween next week!

Siobhan xox

July so far...

It's difficult to believe that there's only a couple of more weeks left in July.  The heat here in Ireland is incredible and we had the most epic thunderstorm last night at 4 am.  Dogs, cats, husband and myself were all up and looking out at the mid-summer forked lightening - shivers!

Anyway, a few pictures from July so far.

Buttercups and blue sky - the epitome of July!

Road trip! Well, a little drive to another county!  :)

We saw a Victorian post box.  These are getting so rare here in Ireland.

We had to stop for Sticky Toffee Pudding on the way home. It was super-yummy.

Our lane, early in the morning.  I love it.

Look at those little faces! Its baby swallow time here.  Since I took this they've left the nest, but come back at night time.  So adorable.

Birthday DVDs.  Enchanted April is one of my favourite films.  I hadn't seen The Conjuring.  It scared the living daylights out of me!

Oatmeal caramel squares.  I'm making these every week.  I think I have a problem.

This had me tearing up in our local bookshop.  Layka. Total Hero Dog.

Read the behind-the-photo story here.

I love the name of this coffee! It was made for me!!

Wishing you magical summer days and nights, wherever you are.

~Siobhan xox

Goodbye Moonslipper...

The doors are closing on my website, Moonslipper.com

After nine exciting, fantastic, worrying and wonderful years on the Web I've decided to hand it over to a new owner and take a bit of time to pursue some other interests of mine.  

My birthday is coming up next week and it seemed like a fitting time to make a grand gesture, a big change and go boldly into the future!

The creaky Moonslipper doors will re-open under new ownership on July 7th.

Sláinte Moonslipper...

Hello Irish Summer!

Just a tiny little bit of time has passed since my last post!! Everyday life and its ups and downs waylaid me a bit, but I'm back on track on now. A few photos from this part of Ireland.  May has been a typical Irish-weather month with moments of blazing sun, then torrential downpours and dark clouds.

This place has become my sanctuary, I love our forestry. After 12 years, it has really become a proper 'grown-up' forestry, filled with moss, ferns and birds. I can think and breathe here. 

The moss is green, soft and luscious.

Early morning cobweb. So intricate.

I always find feathers on my walks. I'm a bit of a feather-fanatic.

I bought myself a couple of treats last month.  This compact is awesome. And so much better than my grubby, broken, 20 year old Clinique one.  I got it on Etsy.

I also saved up for a package from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. Oh the delight! This beautiful card was inside. I love it.

My boy, Charlie Parker. He could give Grumpy Cat a run for his money.

Listening to my MP3 while waiting in the car.  I love the Brain Sync downloads. They do actually work!

A Gothic companion for lunch, at work, on Friday. He was super cool.

I hope you're having a lovely early summer wherever you are.

~Siobhan x

Sparkling New Year!

Happy New Year to all my friends!  I wish you all things magical and wonderful for 2014!

Just a few pictures to start off for 2014.  Apologies for wonky widths and weird lines - I'm battling with Blogger, hopefully I'll tidy this up shortly!

I love the beginning of a new year.  It puts a bit of a pep-in-your-step for fresh ideas, grand plans and dreams that I love!  I'll be working on new projects for Moonslipper, writing more, painting more and making time for doing things that I love.  What will you be focussed on for 2014? I'd love to hear!

I love crunchy leaves! Even though it's January, it's so mild, there's a real Autumnal feel to everything!

Out for a wintery walk.  I love Kaiser's head.  He's also known as 'Fluffy'.  He's not happy with that nickname. :)

Our barometer (which is spookily accurate) has been stuck in this position for weeks, frequently straying to 'Stormy'

One of my treasured possessions -  Lady Wilde's book, 1917 edition.

It has all kinds of essential information in it, such as how to become invisible. Excellent reading material for stormy Irish nights!

This chair.  Oh my word, I want to cover everything in my house with purple velvet right now!

A bag of Dolly Mix at work.  I ate the whole bag! It was gooood.

Coffee after work.  Sketching and jotting, thinking and planning about 2014.  A cappuccino helps with the process. 

Wishing you much love and happiness for this New Year.  Thank you so much for visiting and leaving lovely comments.

~Siobhan xox