Target Dry, Your One Stop Shop For Your Family's Rainwear.

The lovely folks at TargetDry , a local company with a world wide product, sent Michael and I a raincoat each from their 2015 collection. It was just in time for us heading off to the North Coast of NIreland, a holiday which always requires a rain coat, even in mid summer.

I chose the Elle mac in a pac, which is in the sale at the moment for just £19.99 There a half a dozen prints to choose from and a wide range of sizes. I love bright colours so picked the turquoise with white polka dots, very me!

Also in Navy

It's very lightweight, and dries out really quickly after a downpour. That means you can pack it away in its bag quickly, you aren't left carrying it when the rain goes off. I'm pleased to report that it's easy to get back in it's bag too! The lightweight fabric means it's not horribly sweaty like raincoats used to be. The hood is fold away and it's a great size, I hate getting a hood that doesn't cover your full head and you're left with tell tale fizzy hair at the front. 

Michael was sent the Oscar rocket print jacket. Again it was lightweight, so I just threw it on him to wear most of the time we left the house. Lots of pockets for change or a camera and easy to fold up and stick in my handbag with my raincoat. 

I found it's actually handier to stuff some raincoats in your bag than carry a big, family sized umbrella round all day.

Even in the sun the fabric is breathable

Target Dry has a wide range of designs of coats to choose from. You will find something that suits you, and now is a great time to visit, as the whole site has 20% off, including summer sale items. 

I've my eye on the Layla as I've wanted a good, yellow, classic raincoat for a few years now. 

And boy did we need our Target Dry jackets during last week's stay! This is us during a downpour in Portrush!  

Last Minute Bargain Getaway? Usual Kennels Completely Booked Up? The Cottage Cattery is Your Answer!

Phoning round to book Mrs Meow in to some kennels,  ANY kennels last week was proving tricky. Obviously everyone had been smart enough to book ahead. Now there wasn't even one place left for me to have Mrs Meow stay while we were away in Portstewart for a week.

Luckily I stumbled upon The Cottage Cattery  

http://www.thecottage-cattery.co.uk

At first it was a polite no, they were booked up, BUT they then asked would we be able to use their pet sitting service. Instead of Mrs Meow going to them, they would come to her. 

For £7 a visit, someone will swing by your house, feed your animal, change their litter tray, give them a little bit of the attention they are missing from you, and do other little chores you may have such as putting out the bin, or picking up your post. For cats especially who don't like leaving their territory, it's a super alternative to taking them out of their usual environment. 

They also texted me during the week to reassure me Mrs Meow was getting on alright. I was really happy with the service, and would use it again. This isn't a typical blog review of a service I've received as complimentary, I did pay for the pet sitting, but was just thinking sharing it with my readers might save one of you being stuck some time when you book a holiday last minute and then have nowhere to put the furry member of your family! 

Mrs Meow pleased to have us home and telling me all about it. 

Free Kids' Activites All Summer With Ikea Belfast

Stuck for something to entertain? Ikea Belfast (& most likely your own local Ikea too if you don't hail from Northern Ireland)  are putting on lots of activities to keep young ones busy. Climbing walls, £1 lunches and lots of products designed for playing at home too. 

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/store/belfast/storeInfo

Picnic plates, cups and napkins

bake from the box

really nostalgic, old school kit

I REALLY like this sand box kit. You can pretend to serve up sand ice creams! 

Clambering the Bishop's Trail at Downhill Demesne

This week we are staying on the North Coast. This means trips to Barry's amusements, ice cream for breakfast in Morelli's famous ice cream emporium, and lots of outdoor exploration. 

Michael and I headed out past Castlerock to the National Trust property, Downhill Demesne. As well as the massive ruins, you can visit Mussenden Temple on the cliffs, as seen in Game of Thrones. 

The property has two entrances and car parks. The closest one to Castlerock has beautiful gardens to walk through, and a newly built wood trail for kids to climb and explore. 

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/downhill-demesne-and-hezlett-house/

The further car park entrance is closer to the ruins and Mussenden Temple, if you are short on time you might want to park there to take in the property. If you're on a Game of Thrones locations your this would be a quicker way of seeing the temple.

Cheer Yourself Up Post-Budget With a Splurge in Snixy Swoon's 70% off Summer Sale

I featured Snixy Swoon a fortnight ago, and I've been wearing the samples she kindly sent me for review ever since. There were a couple of other pieces I wanted to buy for myself, so I visited her Etsy today to buy them. Turns out I visited on the right day! The store has just added a 70% & a 50% off, summer sale catagory, with little cat necklaces for just £2. I picked some of them and one of the huge, floral, statement necklaces I was after for £12.50 rather than over £20, which they are definitely worth.

Have a visit yourself and scoop up a bargain  

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SnixySwoons

£2

£2

£2

£2

Loads of tiki pieces starting from £3.50

Summer in Newcastle, County Down

Continuing on our week in The Mournes, here's what you can see & do in Newcastle, the main seaside town at the base of the mountains.

It's always been a fun, family destination with twee, little shops with fancy dress & jokes to buy. There's a new bead shop where you can pick & choose from hundreds of designs and make your own necklace, bracelet or brooch.

Doll's house accessories in Bon Bon's

There are a handful of amusement arcades with video game machines, two penny drop gambling games and a few rides too.

Down in between the buildings we found an outdoor funfair with five rides including small chairaplanes and a waltzer.

These boats are £2 a go.  

For food there's a KFC, Subway, Country Fried Chicken, Mauds Cafe and dozens of ice cream parlours.  There's even a machine that makes candy floss outside Bon Bon's shop.

So whether you're staying at The Mourne Lodge, Dan White's Cottage or Hanna's Close, or just down for the day, Newcastle is a nice little nostalgic seaside stop off.

Expensive, but cool, American import sweets available from Ben & Jerry's icecream shop.

Visit The Fairy Village at the Giant's Lair, Slieve Gullion

Just outside Newry is Slieve Gullion Forest Park. The carpark is free and they've a giant playpark, also all free. There's a cafe and ice cream vans or you can bring your own picnic.  

What we had visited for however is the new sculpture walk, complete with magical fairy village. I would have gone wild for this sort of place as a child. The walk is around a mile through the forest, and again it's totally free. It's definitely work the drive down if you're from near Belfast like us. 

Eddie Rockets, Dundalk Shopping & The Armagh Planetarium

So I shared with you our lovely accommodation at Dan White's, but what did we get up to during our stay? The next few days I'll share with you what you can do down in the Kingdom of Mourne & surrounding area. Of course there are the outdoor pursuits like mountain hikes, biking trails etc. but if you've young children there are plenty of family activities too.  

Here is a good day's worth of fun should you have rainy weather during your stay. Newry is about a half hour drive from Dan White's and the drive comprises the Mourne Coastal Route which is outstandingly beautiful. You pass through picturesque towns like Warrenpoint where you can stop for fish & chips or an icecream.

Reaching Newry & following the signs to Dublin will bring you to The Quays and Buttercrane, the city's main shopping centres which are side by side. Both centres parking is paid, but it's about a pound for an hour, so it's not terribly steep. 

The Quays has Eddie Rockets, the first of the 1950s' themed restaurant chain to open North of the border. We hit it up for breakfast AND dinner. Their milkshakes are famously amazing, and I highly recommend the bacon and cheese fries. 

The Quays has stores like Topshop, Lush, H&M and Debenhams. Crossing over to Buttercrane you'll find Mark & Spencer and an absolutely massive Primark. Buttercrane also has some kids' fun going on during the summer months, plus an igloo where you can get your photo taken with Elsa from Frozen for £6. 

Leaving Newry & following the motorway to Dublin will lead you over the border to Dundalk, about a further half an hour drive. For those who aren't from Northern Ireland and might be planning a visit, crossing the border is simple. There's no passport check or anything, in fact you only know you've crossed over when the road signage changes from miles to kilometres.

Keep an eye on your phone network too. It may be worth switch off data unless your contract allows roaming, as your phone will switch to an Irish carrier even around Newry. 

Our destination in Dundalk was Marshes, their huge shopping mall. I didn't have a sat nav or map, I just winged it, and found it easily enough. Again you pay for parking, €1 an hour or so. The highlight of Marshes for us was Tiger, which I mentioned before. A really cool home ware store. You'll also find a huge Dunnes, a big Primark (called Penney's in the south) and lots more fashion stores. 

We left Dundalk to cross the border again and head toward Armagh. A good tip here is to NOT follow the signs to Armagh you see round Dundalk town. We followed that route and it was a twisty country road that took about an hour. I think you'd be quicker to fly up the motorway to Newry again & through to Armagh that way, on roads where you can do 70 mph rather than twisting through tiny towns doing 45 mph most of the way. Michael got really car sick that route too.

But eventually we got to Armagh & the planetarium. It's free to come in and walk about the displays, but you must be over age six to enter the dome shows. They run on the hour and we arrived in time to catch the 2pm show. Each programme runs for about 35 minutes, so we ended up staying and watching the 3pm & 4pm shows too, making rockets in the crafting room in between.

The shows cost around £5 per person & are well worth catching. We had a lot of fun that afternoon, and have decided we will call back again when we are down again in a few weeks' time.