Spring is slowly starting to emerge in our region...and I do mean slowly. Despite the beautiful display of this rhododendron bush most of the countryside is still a bit brown and grey. Still primroses and snowdrops have emerged, more plants are unfurling their leaves, and daylight lingers a bit longer with each passing day. I haven't retired my winter coats and mittens yet as it is still brisk, but I have started to wear more spring colors and some of my more bright coats. When it's grey and bitterly cold I don't always feel drawn to bright clothing, but on a sunny day with the birds singing it feels right to throw on a blush pink dress even if you're still wearing a few thermal layers and wellies underneath! This dress feels like the perfect transition between the seasons with it's faded rose shade and long sleeves; the color hints at spring while the cut and style means I'm not completely freezing on an early March day. It's from a lovely slow fashion dress brand based out of Italy. Bedra Vintage is inspired by timeless, romantic styles and each dress is custom made when you order out of environmentally friendly fabrics. It's really lovely to find a romantic dress brand with a conscious. I'm wearing the Emma dress which has really lovely details; a big flat collar, trios of buttons, removable sash, pockets (!) and great twirl-ability! Another lovely dress from Bedra Vintage that I wouldn't mind for summer is the Aria. It is such a sweet and slightly more modern feeling design with the tie-bodice and delicate ditsy floral. I love that Bedra Vintage's dresses do run the gamut from the more simple with subtle details designs like the linen dress I'm wearing to the more romantic statement designs like the Aria dress. If you also like their romantic designs use my code REBECCA for 10% off whatever catches your fancy at Bedra Vintage. I took these pictures later in the day so my dress is a bit wrinkly as linen is prone to wrinkle (I do iron my dresses I promise!), but don't know, I kind of love that "lived in" look. Sometimes we worry about things looking perfect or saving our nice pieces for nice occasions so they don't get ruined...and yes, when I do wear my dresses all day long I am prone to get some mud on the hems (or higher when my dog jumps on me), at the end of the day I can be a bit wrinkly, but I don't know why we always look at marks of wear as a bad thing. When I see a well worn book with a faded cover, cracked spine, and annotations in the margins, I know I'm seeing a book that has been truly loved and appreciated. It has been read and re-read and shared amongst close friends. That's a book that is being used, that is serving its purpose; a book's purpose is not to sit on a shelf. Dresses similarly are made to be worn. Slow fashion ones are made to be worn for many years, but still they're meant to be worn. When you do wear your pieces often they may show signs of wear, but that's just proof a dress is being enjoyed. We don't need to be reckless with our possessions, but equally we don't need to be so precious with them. I don't want to fill my closet or my home with things that I can't or am too afraid to wear or use.  

Snowdrops have started to peek up in our garden which has made me hopeful for spring being around the corner, but winter doesn't seem quite ready to let go. No sooner had our own wee snowdrops bloomed than we had another day of bitter cold and snow! Thankfully the snowdrops are a very hardy flower despite how delicate they look, as soon as this melts away they'll be blooming again in the half-frozen dirt. I feel as if I have already started to inch my style towards spring as well as I've started wearing bright colors again. In winter I don't crave a lot of bright colors but tend to just want to wear my coziest pieces, but as soon as the sun starts to shine a bit and the days get longer I start pulling out my most cheerful dresses and running outside with optimistically bare legs! It's inevitably too cold for bare legs, but I like to dream of spring temperatures once February starts to come to an end... How cute is this little cottage necklace? It's by Lucy Stopes-Roe who handsculpts all her little charms and this one is especially sweet as she's donating 50% of the proceeds from the sales to charity Shelter which helps with homelessness. Such a good cause and I think the necklace is perfect for all my fellow cottagecore loving folk. I mean what better way to express your love for cottagecore than wearing a literal cottage charm?! It really does look like a sweet little cottage; the charm is detailed on all sides with a clear front and back and even the roof is perfectly tiled. It's exactly the sort of cottage I would love to own in one day; something not too big but slightly larger than my current tiny house and with a beautiful garden. I don't have much of a green thumb but I'd love to learn more about gardening one of these days!  

Did you know there are castles you can stay in when you visit Ireland? There are massive castle hotels and miniature castle B&Bs, but perhaps the most unique and fun experience is to be had by renting your own private castle for a night or two--as you can do at the Black Castle in County Tipperary. The Black Castle is a 500 year old castle tower built by the O'Kennedy clan. When you book a night at the Black Castle you have the entire castle and property to yourself; we had the privilege of staying here back in early December and it was such a memorable experience. Walking through the door and into the tower is like stepping back in time; at night the stars are startling bright and the only noise is that of the nature (birdsong in the morning and wind in the evening). You aren't completely cut off from the modern world in the Black Castle, although most of the castle has been left without electricity to give you a more authentic experience. There is a kitchen and bathroom on one level that boasts electric lights and a cooker so you can prepare your own meals and spend as much time inside the castle as possible. The other main level at the castle is the Great Hall, a large room with towering curved ceiling, little window nooks, a fireplace big enough to stand inside, and hundreds of candles. Between the candles and ample firewood provided you're not left in the dark in the castle even without electricity in the Great Hall. The flickering candlelight and dancing flames add to the magical atmosphere within the Hall. The owners and renovators, Kevin and Sonja (and Tilly), have done a marvelous job of renovating and decorating the castle to maintain an authentic atmosphere. Every furnishing feels thoughtfully collected and adds to the ambiance of the tower; from the mead left in a pitcher on the table to the antique candle holders and wooden benches.Despite visiting in Decemeber during one of the coldest weekends (the wind howled the first night we stayed and the ground was hard with frost the next morning) we had the most enchanting stay at Black Castle. It's the sort of place I have been dreaming of visiting for several years and feel so privileged to have experienced it. We cooked little one pot meals in the kitchen and carried our steaming plates of pasta and sourdough bread upstairs to the Great Hall to dine like kings beside the roaring fire. The evenings were marked by blue light streaming through the stained glass windows, candlelight, and books. On our last morning we were even treated to a blanket of fog. As we drove away Thomas looked for a place to take a distant picture of the castle tower, but the fog was so thick that only a short distance away the castle vanished as if the whole weekend had been a dream rather than a rare but striking memory.

January is usually a stressful month for me. The holidays are over, UK taxes are due, and for me, work has usually dried up. For the past few years January has been a month where I have almost zero income. Blog work and social media work has seasons, so it's not unusual for people to be very busy from September-December and work to be much quieter at the start of the year. But since I moved to Northern Ireland five years ago I went from quiet months to completely dead months and months I was typically busy during previously went quiet as well. It might not have been obvious because I kept shooting photographs and blogging even when it wasn't earning me enough to live off of. Things finally started to turn around last January when I decided to take back some control and launched my Patreon. Instead of waiting for fickle brands to come to me or getting endlessly rejected by agencies and brands that felt I was too niche I decided to create a platform for those who love my work as it is and want to help me to continue to create it without compromise. If I haven't been posting as much here it's because I've been sharing on Patreon; exclusive behind-the-scenes posts on the process of different photographs, tutorials, and even the occasional video into my home. If you're missing frequent posts here, consider becoming a patron where I share at least two new posts every week.

Little Women Atelier dress, vintage boots, old Voriagh mittens

It's been one year since I first launched Patreon and it's been slow growing, but it's already relieved so much stress and brought new joy into my life. I don't have any work lined up for January right now; as it stands in collaborations and brand work this is a zero earning month for me and normally I'd be spiraling in a panic of worry that these early months are a reflection of my whole year. But with Patreon now I'm not so dependent on outside forces, I know I'll earn enough to cover my bills on that platform and maybe one day it will be enough to completely sustain me without ever having to work with brands again. For now it's fueling my creativity and instead of a month of stress January feels like a month of opportunity and creativity. I'm making posts with joy and spending my evenings crafting with my hands. Instead of being consumed with worry, I feel at peace.

I haven't completely abandoned this blog and will continue to update it from time to time with my adventures, but if you miss the "good old days" of blogging when people were creative and posted frequently, then I think you'll really enjoy my Patreon. None of the posts there are advertisements or done in collaborations with brands, so you never have to worry that you're getting a biased review and I have a lot of fun content up my sleeve for the future. I want to dip my toes in more video work and have the courage to create "bad art" (i.e. try new things and experiment!). You can become a patron for as little as $2 and if you sign up now for annual membership you'll also get 10% off whatever tier you choose for the whole year. Click here to become a patron.

Little Women Atelier dress, vintage boots, old Voriagh mittens

We're continuing the annual tradition of Thomas sharing his favorite pictures from the past year. He's more happy as the man behind the scenes helping with some of my photographs and always giving encouragement and support, but once a year it's nice to put him front-and-center on the blog to share some of his thoughts. I always get a kick out of his descriptions (and titles!) and seeing some of this past year through his eyes. So without further ado here are his picks and why he likes them. 1. The difference a yawn can make