The first month of the year is over!  January usually feels a long month but this year it seemed to fly by!  We have painted and freshened up the B&B ready for a busy 2023!

Dark, cold days always want to make me bake and keep the cupboards stocked with home baking.

Nothing better on a snowy day than to be cosy in the house with a cuppa and a bit of knitting. 
The snow didn't last long and the weather got much more pleasant to get out and about.

Tullyhogue Fort on a sunny, January, Saturday morning.

The beauty of nature. Snowdrops.  I love to see the first snowdrops popping up.  It is a sign that Spring is on it's way.
The very last day of January brought the most perfect rainbow.

We ended January on a high.  So proud to have achieved a 9.7 in the Traveller Review Awards from Booking.com.
Makes it worth all the hard work.

And just like that we have arrived at the last month of the year!  This year really seems to have flown by.
I love Christmas and the run up to Christmas but it does get very hectic.  Every year I tell myself that I will take time out, to be able to sit and relax and enjoy the twinkling of the Christmas lights and every year it works for the first wee while, then the pace picks up and before you know it life is as hectic as ever! But, sure, it's worth a try.

Taking time out to enjoy a little bit of Christmas shortbread.  I am not very good at keeping plants alive but I do buy a Christmas Cactus every year and I am very proud of the fact that they are still alive and that they flowered in December!!

I do like to make the B&B look festive and I do think there is something nice about the twinkle of coloured lights and that they brighten a dark, cold, winter morning.

I may be biased, but I think Cookstown is the nicest town at Christmas.  Other towns have the white lights on trees but none of them have as long a main street.  It really does look stunning to see so many lit trees all in a line.

A wee trip to Belfast and to the Christmas Markets got us into the Christmas spirit.

Finally, a couple of winter morning sunrises!!
Happy New Year from Manorview B&B.
​Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2023 x