Katy-Ruth Halpin 4/7/15 Katy-Ruth Halpin 4/7/15

Wilderness Wonders at Woodstock

This past weekend I visited Woodstock Gardens in Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny. It's such an amazing place and If you have the chance I would highly recommend it. Woodstock Gardens are situated at the top of Inistioge itself. The village sits on the bank of the River Nore, with a picturesque setting and it's small town charm, it's a lovely place for a day trip.

The gardens were developed mainly during the Victorian Period, under Lady Louisa Tighe. The variety of exotic plants and tree are impressive, with two beautiful avenues, one of Noble Fir and also Monkey Puzzle Trees.

Woodstock House was built for Sir William Fownes by his Architect Francis Bindon between 1845-47. After a series of additions by former occupants the House eventually burnt down after it had been occupied by Black and Tan troops.

The last time I was at Woodstock was over 10 years ago. At that time you had to make your way through much of the over grown wilderness. It was lovely to be reminded of those days but also to see the work and love that has obviously gone into the restoration work of the grounds.

Tea Rooms, me and lovely random dog. Photo credit: Carl Hall

They have also built the cutest Tea Rooms I've seen, that along with the playground and vast greenery it seems like a great location for friends and families to spend the afternoon.

Katy-Ruth Halpin 7/15/14 Katy-Ruth Halpin 7/15/14

Noms - Bunsen

As you will learn about me I have a few food weirdnesses that effect me from eating all the lovely foods that I otherwise would. Unfortunately it prohibits me from eating any wheat, dairy, eggs, cashews or shellfish :( Cashews and shellfish are fairly easily avoided for me it's the first three that prove a tad more difficult. Thankfully I'm only intolerant to these and not allergic, which allows me to sometimes be a little bit bold.

Eating in or at work is usually pretty easy going but once I venture into town it turns a bit more difficult. Lately though my eating social life has gotten much much better! With places around town popping up with allergy/intolerance friendly menus it's great!

Recently I ate in Bunsen on Wexford st. I love it! They have a simple menu with Gluten Free and Paleo options. he staff are friendly and the service is pretty good, it's has a nice relaxed feeling about the place with just the right amount of hipster fixtures, making it accessible to everyone.

The burgers are cooked to order and are super tasty! You have two options, hamburgers or cheeseburgers and you can have doubles of either too, and most importantly - chips. You have three types to choose from which puts them in my good books for life :) I recommend getting a milkshake if you can have that sort of thing! :)

Check out their site - they have a couple of cute videos on how they make their food.

Katy-Ruth Halpin 7/14/14 Katy-Ruth Halpin 7/14/14

My Happy Place

Good morning all! This is my first post on my brand new blog it's all terribly exciting :)

The intention is that this will be a collection of things I love, things I make and things I see. From design projects, random photo's, books that take my fancy and food I've recently made or consumed and hopefully much much more!

Firstly to those who don't know this website, this is a library of pretty, tasty and exciting design & food goodness. Design Sponge is one of my go to happy places for design online. It is run by the adorable Brooklyn-based writer Grace Bonny. I started following the site in my first design internship and I've been addicted to it's Sneak Peeks, Before & Afters and Entertaining posts.

This is a great site for some inspiration or just some design porn :)

Take a peek you won't regret it - designsponge.com