Blessingbourne House (Part 1)

Once again I was asked by Colleen and Nick, owners of Blessingbourne House, near Fivemiletown. N. Ireland, to go down for a few days to do a photo shoot and for the next 2 weeks I will be showing you some of the 547 photographs I took for them.  This estate has so much to offer to both families, singles and couples who wish to stay in one of the cottages for a while and this time I stayed in Laurel Cottage which you will see below.

The cottage was very comfortable and well equipped and this one had 4/5 beds.  I loved the little touches like the freshly ground coffee and the delicious chocolate biscuits.  Yummy.

This was my bedroom.

The day visitor may opt to go on the Mountain Bike trail, or just walk round the beautiful lake or through the forest or is interested in looking at the Carriage Museum.  There is something for everyone, even small children love seeing all the different animals on the farm as I do and playing in their own play area.  

This is my view from my balcony into the courtyard.  There is a laundry room with lots of different sized Wellington boots which you can use if the need them.  There is also a large room where parties can book and on my last morning I gave Colleen a hand at serving about 30 men to tea/coffee, scones and shortbread before they went on the Mountain bike trails.

This view looks down towards the farm building where some of the cattle with their young were kept.

The view to my left was looking over one of the paddocks where 2 of the horses often were and I will be showing you them in posts over the next 2 weeks.

From one of my windows, I could see Blessingbourne House itself.

It was not long before I found I found one of the male Peacocks displaying to this female.  Last year there were only 2 males however Colleen has bought 2 females now to join them.

I think the rear view is different but equally as nice as the front view.

The sun came out (fleetingly) and I left the courtyard with my camera to go exploring.

This was the original house built on the farm before the Manor house and has been occupied for the past 20 years by a couple who work on the farm.

This is their cat called Tiddies.

This is the view of the lake from the front of Blessingbourne House.

This is the family crest on the front of the house.

This is one of 2 old cannons over looking the lake.

At one side of the house are beautiful stone balustrades surrounding a small garden with interesting plants in it.  There are even a couple of chairs to sit and admire them.  Below is one of the blossom trees were in full bloom.

This short video below is of the first Peacock I found displaying in a large partly covered area with picnic tables where people can hire it out for parties and BBQ’s.

CLICK HERE if the video does not appear below.

I hope this post gives you a flavour of lots more to come and tomorrow I will be showing you a bird, the antics of which amused me over the 3 days I was staying there.  I wonder can anyone guess what it is?  

Clue - it is NOT a Peacock.

Many thanks for your visit and  also to all who leave comments.