29th December
Being back in the Barbican – but not in our own home – feels very odd. However we have been busy with unpacking, sorting, packing, shopping, meeting up with friends etc, so no time to worry too much.
Big thank you to Bank of Ireland in Ennistymon - still time for helpful personal service - so that I could get the cash to pay for the replacement car. Driving 900 miles through some very bad winter weather was a challenge and probably as well that I didn’t have to do it in the MG. The Focus has been fine – after the initial panic when it leaked most of its engine oil due to mistake by the mechanic doing the service. Luckily I noticed before I had gone to far and managed to limp back to the garage to get it sorted.
Think we are almost there now – last shopping trip this afternoon and then off to my folks for Hogmanay. Then back to London for final packing over the weekend. Don’t know how I will fit all this stuff into the backpacks but that will be Sunday’s problem. Luckily we have opted to fly to Costa Rica via Madrid rather than the USA so should avoid the new security measures – not sure how I would cope with Rosa Kleb searching my keks for high explosives!
Wednesday 30 December 2009
The best laid plans….
19th December
As we finish in Ireland – for the time being – we were counting on the MG getting us back to London – via Airdrie - and had organised our schedule accordingly. As luck would have it, the good old MG died on Friday evening as we were on our way to the Doctor’s surgery for our final inoculation.
It appears that this may be a life-threatening – if not terminal - problem and certainly not one that can be resolved in the week before Christmas. After 12 hours of discussion, telephone calls – still no internet access – and helpful friends, we decided that the only viable solution was to try to buy a replacement vehicle which would allow us to keep to our original plan.
Unfortunately – unlike our Canadian Banker friend – we couldn’t stretch to a new BMW right now but have had to settle for a second hand Ford Focus. I traded a couple of hours pouring concrete with a neighbour this morning in return for his help and guidance on choosing the replacement car from a good friend of his.
One advantage is the additional space which will make the packing and journey home slightly more comfortable. All I have to do now is persuade my local bank manager to cash a sterling cheque for a substantial amount on Monday morning – watch this space!
While we carry on – more or less – as planned, the MG will spend the next 4 months under cover on a neighbour’s farm until I can return to sort it out.
As we finish in Ireland – for the time being – we were counting on the MG getting us back to London – via Airdrie - and had organised our schedule accordingly. As luck would have it, the good old MG died on Friday evening as we were on our way to the Doctor’s surgery for our final inoculation.
It appears that this may be a life-threatening – if not terminal - problem and certainly not one that can be resolved in the week before Christmas. After 12 hours of discussion, telephone calls – still no internet access – and helpful friends, we decided that the only viable solution was to try to buy a replacement vehicle which would allow us to keep to our original plan.
Unfortunately – unlike our Canadian Banker friend – we couldn’t stretch to a new BMW right now but have had to settle for a second hand Ford Focus. I traded a couple of hours pouring concrete with a neighbour this morning in return for his help and guidance on choosing the replacement car from a good friend of his.
One advantage is the additional space which will make the packing and journey home slightly more comfortable. All I have to do now is persuade my local bank manager to cash a sterling cheque for a substantial amount on Monday morning – watch this space!
While we carry on – more or less – as planned, the MG will spend the next 4 months under cover on a neighbour’s farm until I can return to sort it out.
Friday 18 December 2009
Time to leave
It will seem strange to leave Moyhill – no more animal chores twice a day – substantially less sh*t to shovel and no more Burren – for a while. Despite a very wet period in July/August and of course the flooding in November, we have had a lot of great days. None more so than the last week or so with icy temperatures (-5C this morning) and clear skies – it feels as if winter has really arrived. According to a local writer - PJ Curtis, the author of ‘The Music of Ghosts‘ and ‘The Lightning Tree’:
"Christmas in the Burren –regardless of the weather - is serene, beautiful and strangely mysterious. The grey mantle of winter has long since been cast over the land and in this silent world of stone, the pale, low-lying sun, when it peeps through the shroud of leaden cloud, highlights a rich tapestry of deep-winter colours. There are deep carpets of fallen leaves and also of furze, hazel-bush and of bracken, in every possible hue of russet and dark-brown. So too are the varied mosses, and other winter shrubs. The trees of Christmas, the Rowan, the Holly and Ivy, are in their full regalia of blossom. You will experience no green so startling as that of a lone holly-bush pushing up from a craggy limestone fissure. Startling too is the sight of red holly-berries on a bush which was previously barren. Peer a little closer and you may be rewarded with a glimpse of a tiny robin perched among the prickly holly-leaves glistening with silver droplets of rain; its red breast competing madly with a profusion of red berries."
Hard to follow – except to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2010.
"Christmas in the Burren –regardless of the weather - is serene, beautiful and strangely mysterious. The grey mantle of winter has long since been cast over the land and in this silent world of stone, the pale, low-lying sun, when it peeps through the shroud of leaden cloud, highlights a rich tapestry of deep-winter colours. There are deep carpets of fallen leaves and also of furze, hazel-bush and of bracken, in every possible hue of russet and dark-brown. So too are the varied mosses, and other winter shrubs. The trees of Christmas, the Rowan, the Holly and Ivy, are in their full regalia of blossom. You will experience no green so startling as that of a lone holly-bush pushing up from a craggy limestone fissure. Startling too is the sight of red holly-berries on a bush which was previously barren. Peer a little closer and you may be rewarded with a glimpse of a tiny robin perched among the prickly holly-leaves glistening with silver droplets of rain; its red breast competing madly with a profusion of red berries."
Hard to follow – except to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2010.
Getting ready for the rainforest
Having finally managed to identify the 9 or 10 varieties of birds which feed regularly around the cottage, we are now studying the 30 or so species of birds which we will be expected to identify when we get to Tortuguero. The Herons, Egrets and Kingfishers should be straightforward but the jacana and the purple gallinule may be a challenge.
We have 5 days in London after Christmas to get ready for our trip and do a bit of shopping before packing up and heading for Heathrow on Jan 5th. Not sure if there will be time for blog entries before then but will try to keep in touch from Costa Rica when we have internet access.
We have 5 days in London after Christmas to get ready for our trip and do a bit of shopping before packing up and heading for Heathrow on Jan 5th. Not sure if there will be time for blog entries before then but will try to keep in touch from Costa Rica when we have internet access.
It must be Christmas
The dulcet tones of Shane McGowan singing Fairytale of New York with Kirsty McColl; a poinsettia on the window sill; a distinct aroma of cloves and cinnamon wherever you go; and houses lit up as if they had never heard of climate change; it must be Christmas – I even heard a story of a Canadian banker who bought himself a new BMW!
As everyone knows, Christmas is a time for families and nowhere more so than here in Ireland. We were chatting with a young couple who live nearby and learned that between them they have 17 siblings – all of whom are married and living within a 5 mile radius. Assuming an average of two children per couple (low for this part of the country) this means that the immediate family group including a grandparent or two would need a whole flock of turkeys and a couple of geese in reserve…
As everyone knows, Christmas is a time for families and nowhere more so than here in Ireland. We were chatting with a young couple who live nearby and learned that between them they have 17 siblings – all of whom are married and living within a 5 mile radius. Assuming an average of two children per couple (low for this part of the country) this means that the immediate family group including a grandparent or two would need a whole flock of turkeys and a couple of geese in reserve…
Monday 14 December 2009
Running out of time
Since we only have a week left at Moyhill, there are a number of to-do lists on the go and a lengthy discussion about when we should start packing. I think there will be plenty of time next weekend but Linda wants to start a bit sooner.
5 days without rain has been a real bonus even if the temperature is down around -4 in the mornings. The log supply has lasted the course - with a little bit of turf bought in - and we may even finish all the lamb in the freezer.
Internet continues to be the only frustration - one laptop has died completely and the other refuses to hold the dial-up connection - so we are at the library regularly as we finalise arrangements for our departure and for the CA trip.
5 days without rain has been a real bonus even if the temperature is down around -4 in the mornings. The log supply has lasted the course - with a little bit of turf bought in - and we may even finish all the lamb in the freezer.
Internet continues to be the only frustration - one laptop has died completely and the other refuses to hold the dial-up connection - so we are at the library regularly as we finalise arrangements for our departure and for the CA trip.
Thursday 3 December 2009
Chorizo
We disposed of the first batch of mice in the loft with poisoned bait which had the unfortunate consequence of a very bad smell in the office when they crawled into a dark corner to die. Had to find them and remove them to get rid of the smell.
Decided to rely on traps thereafter and have been trying a variety of things from the fridge to tempt mice to the traps which I set each morning. Without doubt, Chorizo is the best solution. have managed to catch at least one a day for the last week or so.
My strike rate has dropped off a bit over the last couple of days and I am hoping that's because we are running out of mice.
Decided to rely on traps thereafter and have been trying a variety of things from the fridge to tempt mice to the traps which I set each morning. Without doubt, Chorizo is the best solution. have managed to catch at least one a day for the last week or so.
My strike rate has dropped off a bit over the last couple of days and I am hoping that's because we are running out of mice.
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