A Weekend at Home in Belfast

Well haaay! Firstly, I'm so sorry I haven't posted much in a while, I've been buried chin-deep from a relentless barrage of uni work and it hasn't been fun but I'm back now, thank goodness, and ready to bombard you with my usual biweekly ramblings! Also, apologies for the poor image quality, I left my camera back at uni this weekend because it was a bit too bulky to fit into my bag so all of these photos were just taken on my iPhone.

So this "weekend" (i.e. Saturday to Tuesday) I took a little trip back home to Northern Ireland for my mum's birthday. I booked it maybe about a month ago, meaning for it to be a surprise and sure enough I did actually manage to keep my sister relatively tight-lipped about the whole affair, though my mum did get a little suspicious at her constantly suggesting that she should stay at home and relax that weekend (Anna isn't known for her skills in deception). In the end I told her I was coming home a couple of days before because I was a little nervous about the ridiculous 12 hour journey ahead. I had to take the ferry from Liverpool so I could bring Buddha home with me which takes a whopping 8 hours back to Belfast, but even though it didn't end up being much of a surprise she was still very happy that I was coming home anyway!

After taking Saturday night out to recover from the journey, my mum and I headed into the city centre on Sunday morning for some brunch. I have been ranting and raving to everyone back in Lancs recently about the wonders of the "Ulster Fry"- it's basically a full English breakfast but with soda bread and potato bread- so making sure I managed to get one was quite high up on my priority list this weekend. After we'd eaten we then headed down to St George's Market, a large indoor variety market in the city centre with some really amazing food and craft stalls by local designers.

I thought these cushions and embroidered felts were stunning, I actually think I'll probably go back and buy one for my uni room once I'm back home again. Unfortunately I forgot to make a note of who the designer was and I've been scouring the internet trying to find out but without a trace. If anyone is particularly interested in these designs, let me know and I can certainly find out who the designer when I'm back in Belfast.

The gorgeous ceramics pictured below are by Gail Gilmore who designs a fab range of decorative pieces, ceramic bowls, and labels for tins and jars.

I also really loved these cards! The designer, Sarah Majury left me her link on my instagram so be sure to check her out on Etsy! She's got some gorgeous paintings and prints as well.

The designs pictured below are by designer Danielle Morgan of Flax Fox Designs. She basically creates gorgeous screen prints of famous Northern Irish buildings and sites which you can buy in prints, or on tea towels and cushions. I had a really lovely chat with her and truly fell in love with her designs when I saw them on her stall (I've since since them in various local outlets since too). Again, I really want some of her work for my university room!

My sister, Anna had been away for the weekend with school so we picked her up on Sunday afternoon and went out for a wee cup of tea. If there's one thing about our little Farrelly clan, we are big tea-drinkers, which may help explain the high concentration of hot drinks I've noticed appearing amongst these pictures.

When we called into Pets at Home to get some food and things for Buddha I just decided I'd take a picture of the snuggling bunnies and regal-looking lizard below, just to explain.

On my mum's actual birthday, which was Monday we took a drive up to a little seaside town called Newcastle where we stopped for lunch and took a little walk around the shops before heading to the Slieve Donard Hotel for hot chocolate, which, I kid you not, was one of the best hot chocolate experiences I have had in my short life thus far. It came with baby marshmallows and a the best fifteen I've ever had, ever. Would recommend.

The remainder of my trip was spent mainly just reading and relaxing but all and all I had a lovely time at home! I'm starting to look forward to heading back at Christmas time.

Do you have any nice plans for the coming weekend?