Thursday Doors – Strandfield House and Farm

I had a really good time capturing shots for this Thursday Doors post from Strandfield House, Ballymascanlon, County Louth. On a working farm we found a beautiful barn converted to an all-organic vegetarian restaurant. After a fabulous lunch that included the best sourdough bread I have ever tasted, we browsed around the adjoining bakery, florist and homewares shop. For this week’s post let’s explore the inside of the shop, where we bought some of that lovely bread we had for lunch.

Next week, I’ll post some images of the restaurant, it deserves a post all to itself.

The restaurant is through those blue doors on the right. You can see from the goods on display why I spent so much time in here. I’m really grateful to my youngest sister for bringing me there, it was so relaxing and in a beautiful setting. I had never been before but it’s the first place I’ll be making to for lunch on my next trip.

Of course, as this was a Thursday ‘Doorscursion’, I made sure I captured as many doors as possible.

There were hats everywhere, with a mirror provided to see how well (or not) they suited you. That’s my colourful summer maxi skirt you can see reflected.

There were as many surprises outside as there were inside. Let’s go out and have a look.

We used to have one of these back in the nineties. Ours was blue, with a few characterful patches of rust here and there.

What else is an old cast iron bath for, if not a planter? An animal trough, maybe?

This cute little donkey might not agree – he seemed happy enough drinking out of his ceramic sink.

These lovely ladies came over to find out what I was doing but toddled off when they realized I wasn’t the paparazzi.

I loved the look of this wee shed next to the shop but it took three attempts to get a photo without any people in it. Every time I took aim, someone inside opened the door and looked surprised when they saw me. I was beginning to feel like the paparazzi. The joys of Thursday Doors hunting.

This beautiful scenery surrounds Strandfield House and Farm. Now you can see why it was such a relaxing place to spend an afternoon. The vintage van was a bonus and I know the landscape will have changed by the time I revisit but the food will still be as tasty, I’m sure. Thanks for coming along, I wish I could have shared some of my delicious lunch with you, but if you’re in the area, it’s worth a visit. Find out what kind of Thursday Doors Norm has posted on his blog this week.