From Fairy Tale Villages to Fairy Gardens

Hi everyone,

It's hard to believe that September is already here!

Summer always seems to go by way to quickly, and I'm usually a bit sad to see it go!

We did manage to pack alot into the season though.

Camping, swimming, gardening, and even an impromptu trip to Germany and Austria!

Long story, but we'd planned for months to visit Ireland this summer (I was super excited, as I am Irish!).

Well, we fly standby, thanks to hubby's many years of working at the airlines. So that means that if there's a seat open on the plane, we make it on.  If not, no luck!

Anyway, all of the flights and connections were way oversold, and we knew that we'd never make it on.  So we made  a last minute decision (the night before!) to instead go to Germany and Austria!

We'd been there years ago and loved both countries.

It was a bit difficult going spur of the moment with no plans, no guide book, nothing.  Like, where will we go, what will we see??

I did remember recently reading about the "Top 10" quaint villages in Europe,  one of which was Hallstatt, Austria.

We spent one afternoon there, and fell in love with it.

It is truly a magical place, and feels straight out of a fairy tale!

 Postcard perfect Hallstatt!

 Actually, my pictures don't do justice to how beautiful it was here!

 Typical Bavarian style architecture.  Aren't those flowers gorgeous?

I loved the aqua shutters, too!

 Check out this amazing castle on the other side of the lake! Someone actually lives there!

 I would love to visit again some day.  Oh, notice the swans in the photo above?

Thankfully we went later in the day, as I'd read that unfortunately everyone else seems to have discovered this beautiful village, meaning it's over run by tourists and tour busses!

I really feel for the people who live there and have to deal with throngs of crowds!

Let me tell you, this village is literally jaw dropping, it's hard to believe a place like this really exists!

There are no cars allowed in the village, making it even more quaint.

It's very popular to rent small electric boats and view the village from the lake, which is what we did.  What a different perspective you get from the water.  It was just magical!

I'll share more pictures of our trip in upcoming posts.

Also this summer I planted my very first fairy garden!

I'd been wanting to do this forever, and had so much fun with the project!  My handy hubby built me a wood planter box, complete with chunky spindle "feet".  Of course I had to paint it bright aqua and add a French themed stencil!

I just love it, but had a few challenges along the way, including not so cute little chipmunks who liked to dig in the planter!

Miss Molly is doing great, and turned 1 1/2 this summer!

She loves camping  (we took our motor home to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan earlier this summer), and swimming on our lake.  She can hardly stand still long enough for me to put her little doggie life vest on, before she dives in the water!

With cooler days and nights, I think our swimming days are over for the season.  Not too crazy about swimming in cold water!

That's it for today. Sure have missed you all, look forward to catching up with everyone!

Have a great rest of the week!