Mount Usher Gardens and Finnstown Castle Hotel

Last Thursday and Friday we took ourselves down to Dublin for a wee break. We got a very good deal at the hotel using a scheme run by one of our local supermarkets. Before going to check-in to the hotel we paid a visit to Mount Usher Gardens where we had a nice walk round.

 

We had to cross this bridge over the river. You can see the warning notices that were at both ends of the bridge; no jumping allowed on the bridge! Just walking across the bridge made it bounce so I didn't spend too long on it.

I didn't photograph everything; just a few of the trees and plants that I thought looked unusual.

This cherry tree was blossoming in early December.

We came across this little pet cemetery.

There were quite a few plants flowering. This one was very striking.

After our walk we just had to visit the Avoca Garden Cafe for some refreshments. The carrot cake and coffee were delicious.

We did a bit of shopping though mainly just looking round some lovely shops such as the Avoca shop at Kilmacanogue. Then we headed to our hotel, the Finnstown Castle Hotel, just outside the picturesque village of Lucan, to the west of Dublin. We were very impressed with this place!

There were several peacocks and peahens strutting around the grounds. Sorry it's not a very good picture.

While we were there I took the opportunity to start knitting my Aran coat. The wool is from New Lanark Mill shop; actually 90% wool and 10% silk; the colour is Forest. It's the same yarn I used for my bag (see here and here). My still-hasn't-been-lined-or-got-handles-attached bag! Anyway, back to the coat. I knit the first six rows in garter stitch and then I was supposed to change from 5mm to 5.5mm needles. Arrrghhhh!! I hadn't brought any 5.5mm needles with me. Fortunately I had brought some of the King Cole tinsel yarn and owl pattern with me. So I started an owl. To be honest though, I was totally loaded with the cold and didn't feel much like knitting anything. By the way, since coming home, I accidentally pulled the needle out of what I'd managed to knit of the owl and had to rip it all out. There's no way you can pick up stitches with the tinsel yarn! On the bright side though, I've managed to knit quite a bit of my coat.

On the Friday we drove to the Dundrum Centre where we parked and took the Luas light rail/tram to St. Stephen's Green in Dublin. We wandered round the shops and really enjoyed looking in Brown Thomas especially. Gorgeous but extremely pricey! We ended up in the lovely Powerscourt Centre to have coffee. Oh look. We must have had some biscuit cake as well. You won't believe it, but we were seated right outside a yarn shop for our coffee!! They had needles too, so I bought a pair of 5.5mm wooden ones.

We then returned to Dundrum on the Luas and browsed some of the shops there. Hamleys is a favourite of the husband's. Just a very relaxed day. That evening we had a fantastic four course dinner in the hotel. Free! It was part of the deal we had. The food was really, really good.

So that was our wee pre-Christmas treat. Thoroughly enjoyable. I hope you enjoyed it too. It's great to see I have another few followers and I'm still delighted to read your comments. I've also found some our your lovely blogs to follow too! All the best for now.

Yorkshire

On the second Monday of our holiday we left Peebles (after me being able to buy shoes) and made our way to our next destination; Finghall in Yorkshire. Again we had hired a small self-catering house on a lovely farm, to stay for the next four days. The house is called The Smithy and is a really well thought out refurbishment of an old barn. More about that shortly though. Coffee first. The first place we went while staying in Finghall was to Chesters by the River. Just to have some of their coffee and delicious scones. Quite a long way to go for said refreshments but worth the trip. Chesters is at Skelwith Bridge, a few miles outside of Ambleside in the Lake District. This is the river that is overlooked by the outdoor seating area. It's the river Brathay.

 

The weather was nice enough for us to take a table outside.

These quaint cottages are on the other side, away from the river.

Coffee and scones with jam and cream. Yummy!

And we also, very indulgently, shared this piece of coffee and hazelnut cake. They must have run out of walnuts!

Back to The Smithy. This is it ... didn't realise it was such a blurry photo but I've only got this one.

There were a few small caravans also staying at the farm. Everything was really clean and well appointed. I loved this clock on the outside wall.

The flowers were still in bloom and looking very colourful.

This friendly old collie just wanted to play constantly. He brought his ball for us to throw so he could catch it. Sounds pretty normal, doesn't it? Not when you discover that his preferred ball is of the golf variety! Every time he caught the ball you could hear it rattling his teeth. I'm surprised the poor thing has any teeth left!

While staying in Finghall we took the opportunity to visit the Bowes Museum.

The artifacts are housed in this magnificent building. It looks like someone's residence but it was actually built specially as a museum.

We really enjoyed our time at the museum. It was very interesting and the guide knew a lot about it. The highlight was seeing the Silver Swan, a magnificent musical automaton, being wound up and going through its motions.

The husband took the opportunity to go for a few cycle rides while we stayed at Finghall. So I took the opportunity to crochet some more of my cotton blanket!



I sat outside in the enclosed patio area and discovered this sign above the back door.

The blanket was really coming on well - part of it is draped behind the bench.

Another place we visited was the National Railway Museum in York. The husband thought it would be a good place to visit not least because the entrance is free. What we didn't realise was that it would cost £9 to park the car! We didn't mind as the museum is well worth visiting. Here's a few photos of trains just to let you see what it was like.

This is the Chinese engine, one of the largest single-unit locomotives ever built in the UK. It was presented to the museum by the Chinese Government in 1981. It's hard to tell from a photo but this thing is huge.

There's a separate hall for the royal trains.

I was amazed to find this special van for transporting bananas.

The next day we decided to just take a drive and admire the beautiful scenery. First of all along the side of a lovely river.

We stopped here to take some photos as it was so peaceful.

Not another car in sight!

We climbed up, getting pretty high, crossing the bleak looking moor.

The scenery was just spectacular. On the way down again we spotted this viaduct and wondered why there were so many cars parked at the side of the road. Then we realised a train was about to cross over so we very quickly parked, jumped out and took some photos.

We headed on into a lovely village called Ingleton where we had tea and a bit of a wander round.

 

I love the names of some of the wee villages in this area. Names like Constable Burton, Patrick Brompton and Newton-le-Willows.

 

At the end of our four days staying at The Smithy we only had another couple of days left before going home. We were intending to visit Yarndale on the Saturday so we spent the Friday night in a nearby hotel. I've already told you about our time at Yarndale in my first holiday post here - thought I'd better do Yarndale first!

 

There's very little left to tell you now but I'll leave it until another time. It's great to get your lovely comments and I can't believe I have some more very welcome followers.

 

I'll leave you with a tiny posy I cut in the garden today. Roses, crab apples, crocosmia (just the seed heads left), fuchsia and something with berries that will have to remain nameless because my mind has gone blank.

 

 

Bye for now!