Monday, 17 January 2011
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Sunshine and 31C
Sitting by the pool with a cooling beverage watching the sun as it disappears behind the hotel tower next door.
10 days of visiting family and friends - driving 1100 miles and 14 restaurant meals later - was great fun but we were both ready for a break by the time we got into the taxi on our way to Heathrow.
Enjoyed being back around the Barbican for a couple of days but the taxi journey reminded me why city life lost its attraction a year or so ago. A lunchtime accident on the A4 had almost closed the road and even at 6.00pm it was still clogged justifying our driver's decision to take the A40. Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea so we crawled along from from White City to Park Royal.
Hour and a half to terminal 3 - thankfully we had checked in online and had plenty of time - and a very smooth passage through security left us with time for a farewell glass of fizz before boarding.
Flight was long and fairly uneventful - amazed at the number of single men of a variety of ages but equally bad dress sense and personal hygiene who were onboard. Assume they were coming here to visit their tailors and indulge in some personal grooming! Although having seen their ilk on our first night here they all seem to have engaged the services of a young(ish) female (mostly) Thai companion to help them cope with cultural differences - I assume.
So the adventure begins - so far we have agreed on 4 nights in Bangkok and then moving on the Kanchanburi and the Death Railway on Tuesday.
10 days of visiting family and friends - driving 1100 miles and 14 restaurant meals later - was great fun but we were both ready for a break by the time we got into the taxi on our way to Heathrow.
Enjoyed being back around the Barbican for a couple of days but the taxi journey reminded me why city life lost its attraction a year or so ago. A lunchtime accident on the A4 had almost closed the road and even at 6.00pm it was still clogged justifying our driver's decision to take the A40. Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea so we crawled along from from White City to Park Royal.
Hour and a half to terminal 3 - thankfully we had checked in online and had plenty of time - and a very smooth passage through security left us with time for a farewell glass of fizz before boarding.
Flight was long and fairly uneventful - amazed at the number of single men of a variety of ages but equally bad dress sense and personal hygiene who were onboard. Assume they were coming here to visit their tailors and indulge in some personal grooming! Although having seen their ilk on our first night here they all seem to have engaged the services of a young(ish) female (mostly) Thai companion to help them cope with cultural differences - I assume.
So the adventure begins - so far we have agreed on 4 nights in Bangkok and then moving on the Kanchanburi and the Death Railway on Tuesday.
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
So what happened to 2010?
Well last time I looked it was around the beginning of October, we were busy fattening our two pigs, there were 23 geese on the paddock along with 5 of Keith's lambs and the hockey girls were settled and producing 28 fresh eggs every week.
Suddenly Christmas and Hogmanay are past and I am sitting opposite Linda on the Stena HSS ferry from Belfast to Stranraer as we begin 10 days of family visits in the UK before we head off for 7 weeks in Thailand and Laos.
Raising the pigs was definitely one of my successes for the year. By the time they went to the butcher at the beginning of November they had grown from 20-25 kg each to 85-90kg. As a result we ended up with nearly 120kg of meat in various forms (including 17kg of sausages) and 18 kg of Black pudding. Too much for our new freezer but thankfully our landlord took nearly 30 kg and paid a generous price for it – fair play to ye, Eugene! The meat has been very tasty with just the right layer of very sweet fat – not good for the cholesterol level but too good to avoid. Not sure if we will have pigs again next year – we will still be eating Billy and Bruce for most of the year – but it would be fun to try again.
The large flock of geese is definitely not to be repeated -too much effort and very little return – by Christmas time they were only selling for about 70% of their cost. They did reach a good weight – around 4.5kg when oven ready – and tasted really good but next time I think I would only raise a couple for ourselves.
The Hockey Girls were a great success for Linda - lost track of the number of eggs over the 6 months but there were never less than 24 per week. They were the only survivors as we packed up to leave – they are on their holidays too staying with Keith in a brand new “Celtic Tiger” henhouse – I may return to this later.
We had a great Christmas with friends visiting from the UK – more on this later too – it was so good to be able to share so much of our own produce with them!
So we packed up everything at Moyhill over the last weekend and are off on our travels again – sorry to all those regular readers who have commented on my indolence – there are lots of stories to tell so I will try to do better!!
Suddenly Christmas and Hogmanay are past and I am sitting opposite Linda on the Stena HSS ferry from Belfast to Stranraer as we begin 10 days of family visits in the UK before we head off for 7 weeks in Thailand and Laos.
Raising the pigs was definitely one of my successes for the year. By the time they went to the butcher at the beginning of November they had grown from 20-25 kg each to 85-90kg. As a result we ended up with nearly 120kg of meat in various forms (including 17kg of sausages) and 18 kg of Black pudding. Too much for our new freezer but thankfully our landlord took nearly 30 kg and paid a generous price for it – fair play to ye, Eugene! The meat has been very tasty with just the right layer of very sweet fat – not good for the cholesterol level but too good to avoid. Not sure if we will have pigs again next year – we will still be eating Billy and Bruce for most of the year – but it would be fun to try again.
The large flock of geese is definitely not to be repeated -too much effort and very little return – by Christmas time they were only selling for about 70% of their cost. They did reach a good weight – around 4.5kg when oven ready – and tasted really good but next time I think I would only raise a couple for ourselves.
The Hockey Girls were a great success for Linda - lost track of the number of eggs over the 6 months but there were never less than 24 per week. They were the only survivors as we packed up to leave – they are on their holidays too staying with Keith in a brand new “Celtic Tiger” henhouse – I may return to this later.
We had a great Christmas with friends visiting from the UK – more on this later too – it was so good to be able to share so much of our own produce with them!
So we packed up everything at Moyhill over the last weekend and are off on our travels again – sorry to all those regular readers who have commented on my indolence – there are lots of stories to tell so I will try to do better!!
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Ten Years On - Another Castle
Is it really ten years since we were watching Steve Redgrave win his 5th Olympic medal in the early hours of the morning at Wedderburn Castle?
Since then there have been a few changes: at the latest count there are 12 children born to our wedding guests (probably it for this generation, Susan?); three weddings; one divorce; I've lost contact with three of the guests while Linda has only lost one.
Happily we have retained contact with most of those who joined us for our wedding and I know that many of you follow the blog - so thanks for all your good wishes.We couldn't manage another party at Wedderburn - although we did consider it - because we couldn't get anyone to look after the pigs for long enough. However Keith agreed to cover so we could have three nights away and we headed off to Kilkenny - which also has a very impressive castle.
We enjoyed the city, ate in one very good restaurant and took advantage of the retail opportunity to buy those essentials that we cannot get in rural Co Clare - Wasabi peanuts, Rice wine vinegar and fish sauce. We also found an excellent bottle shop near our hotel so we could pick up some different wines.
Didn't miss the early morning chores at all - although I was still up early and enjoyed my morning coffee and Telegraph crossword at a great little coffee shop .
Stopped by the slaughterhouse on the way home - just to make sure I could find it when the time comes and met the butcher - TJ Crowe - and his mother who made us very welcome and gave us a tour of the place.
Back home in time for friday evening chores and within 15 minutes it was as if we had never been away!
Since then there have been a few changes: at the latest count there are 12 children born to our wedding guests (probably it for this generation, Susan?); three weddings; one divorce; I've lost contact with three of the guests while Linda has only lost one.
Happily we have retained contact with most of those who joined us for our wedding and I know that many of you follow the blog - so thanks for all your good wishes.We couldn't manage another party at Wedderburn - although we did consider it - because we couldn't get anyone to look after the pigs for long enough. However Keith agreed to cover so we could have three nights away and we headed off to Kilkenny - which also has a very impressive castle.
We enjoyed the city, ate in one very good restaurant and took advantage of the retail opportunity to buy those essentials that we cannot get in rural Co Clare - Wasabi peanuts, Rice wine vinegar and fish sauce. We also found an excellent bottle shop near our hotel so we could pick up some different wines.
Didn't miss the early morning chores at all - although I was still up early and enjoyed my morning coffee and Telegraph crossword at a great little coffee shop .
Stopped by the slaughterhouse on the way home - just to make sure I could find it when the time comes and met the butcher - TJ Crowe - and his mother who made us very welcome and gave us a tour of the place.
Back home in time for friday evening chores and within 15 minutes it was as if we had never been away!
Monday, 20 September 2010
A Day at the Races
After a gap of 34 years, the Ballyvaughan Horse and Pony Races were held on Sunday afternoon on the 'Lawn' in front of Newtown Castle.
The day had started grey and cool with a regular succession of heavy showers, but we drove to Ballyvaughan anyway - held up by the queue of traffic for the match-making festival at Lisdoonvarna (but thats another story).
During lunch at Logues Lodge we could still hear the rain beating on the roof but by the time we had parked the car and don
ned wellies for the walk across the cowfield, the sun was out and we were just in time for the start of the first race - although too late to place a bet with any of the nine bookmakers who were competing for our attention.
ned wellies for the walk across the cowfield, the sun was out and we were just in time for the start of the first race - although too late to place a bet with any of the nine bookmakers who were competing for our attention.Only 2 runners in the second race but Linda managed to pick the winner - €4 back for a €10 stake - but it was downhill from there - we didn't pick another winner for the rest of the afternoon. It did show us just how seriously they take their racing though with regular reminders over the PA about the number of champion jockeys who had started in surroundings like these.
After 6 races we decided to call it a day - Linda spent her winnings on ice creams - and we made it back to the car just as the heavens opened.
Home Produce
In addition to the 28 eggs which the Hockey Girls produce each week, we have also managed to feast on cauliflowers, courgettes, beetroot, courgettes, red cabbage, and courgettes. Thankfully we have a long list of recipes which include courgette as our three plants are very productive.
I think we may have to accept that there is no point in trying to grow tomatoes outdoors in this climate. We planted 3 tomato plants at the end of May - two in the raised beds and one in an upside down container - and we have harvested a total of three ripe tomatoes and have just taken another two green tomatoes to ripen on the windowsill. It's definitely easier - and cheaper - to buy them in the supermarket.
Our neighbours have provided us with sweetcorn and potatoes and helping Keith with his poultry means that in addition to a couple of ducks we have also had all the duck livers and hearts (60 from the last batch) along with the lambs livers and kidneys from the first pair of lambs. Still 5 more lambs to go so plenty more liver and kidneys to come and we will have at least half a lamb for the freezer.
Have just confirmed the pigs appointment with the slaughterhouse for 4th November - all I have to do now is decide how we want the meat butchered. Have been gathering recipes for a variety of types of sausage (am open to any suggestions!) and am tempted to have a go at airdrying a whole ham - Serrano style of course. Should be busy for the second week of November and have plenty of meat to see us through the winter!
I think we may have to accept that there is no point in trying to grow tomatoes outdoors in this climate. We planted 3 tomato plants at the end of May - two in the raised beds and one in an upside down container - and we have harvested a total of three ripe tomatoes and have just taken another two green tomatoes to ripen on the windowsill. It's definitely easier - and cheaper - to buy them in the supermarket.
Our neighbours have provided us with sweetcorn and potatoes and helping Keith with his poultry means that in addition to a couple of ducks we have also had all the duck livers and hearts (60 from the last batch) along with the lambs livers and kidneys from the first pair of lambs. Still 5 more lambs to go so plenty more liver and kidneys to come and we will have at least half a lamb for the freezer.
Have just confirmed the pigs appointment with the slaughterhouse for 4th November - all I have to do now is decide how we want the meat butchered. Have been gathering recipes for a variety of types of sausage (am open to any suggestions!) and am tempted to have a go at airdrying a whole ham - Serrano style of course. Should be busy for the second week of November and have plenty of meat to see us through the winter!
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Autumn arrives
There may be many things which herald the end of summer and onset of autumn, but nothing is clearer than the departure of the swallows.
They arrived at Moyhill in mid-April as we returned from our travels and have been our constant companions over the spring and summer. Initially there were 6 or 8 individual birds who settled in their old nests in three of our sheds, their first broods were fledged surprisingly early and followed by a second and finally over the last couple of weeks we have watched their third broods fledging. On Monday morning there were about 50 swallows on our telephone wire watching the sunrise. I don't imagine that they will all survive their long journey south, but there must be a pretty good chance that we will see some of them back again next spring.
It has been great to see their aerobatics - even if we have both had to duck a few times as we encountered one of them coming out of a shed as we went in!. It was also wonderful to see the faces of the fledglings peeking from the nests and to see their first tentative flights round the roof spaces. We missed them as soon as we woke up this morning and realised that they had gone - although I won't miss the copious piles of droppings in the sheds and on the cars.
You can also tell it is autumn because our local schools all started their new term this week - and of course we have had clear blue skies and sunshine since Sunday afternoon. I thought that only happened in my rose-tinted memories of my schooldays.
We identified another indicator of the arrival of autumn on Monday afternoon. We had enjoyed a walk along the green road above Blackhead and had our picnic lunch at the ringfort on the side of Gleninagh mountain. As we headed home - watching a juvenile Hen Harrier being mobbed by a couple of crows - we promised ourselves coffee and cake at our favourite cafe in Fanore. Unfortunately when we arrived, we discovered that their summer season had ended and they are now only open at weekends.
They arrived at Moyhill in mid-April as we returned from our travels and have been our constant companions over the spring and summer. Initially there were 6 or 8 individual birds who settled in their old nests in three of our sheds, their first broods were fledged surprisingly early and followed by a second and finally over the last couple of weeks we have watched their third broods fledging. On Monday morning there were about 50 swallows on our telephone wire watching the sunrise. I don't imagine that they will all survive their long journey south, but there must be a pretty good chance that we will see some of them back again next spring.
It has been great to see their aerobatics - even if we have both had to duck a few times as we encountered one of them coming out of a shed as we went in!. It was also wonderful to see the faces of the fledglings peeking from the nests and to see their first tentative flights round the roof spaces. We missed them as soon as we woke up this morning and realised that they had gone - although I won't miss the copious piles of droppings in the sheds and on the cars.
You can also tell it is autumn because our local schools all started their new term this week - and of course we have had clear blue skies and sunshine since Sunday afternoon. I thought that only happened in my rose-tinted memories of my schooldays.
We identified another indicator of the arrival of autumn on Monday afternoon. We had enjoyed a walk along the green road above Blackhead and had our picnic lunch at the ringfort on the side of Gleninagh mountain. As we headed home - watching a juvenile Hen Harrier being mobbed by a couple of crows - we promised ourselves coffee and cake at our favourite cafe in Fanore. Unfortunately when we arrived, we discovered that their summer season had ended and they are now only open at weekends.
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