Sitting at Galway Airport with a pint of the blackstuff awaiting boarding call for our flight to Edinburgh. This is my kind of international travel -picked up from home at 5.15 by our local taxi man; easy 65 minute drive to the airport; 7 mins from arriving at airport to sitting in departure lounge with a pint (4mins for Guinness to pour)- Linda held up at security removing shoes, belt, jewelry,underwired bra etc...
Off to the UK 10 days - new car to buy, Mother's 80th birthday party to attend and various friends to catch up with - luckily neighbour Keith is looking after the goslings till we are back.
Forgot to mention that congratulations are due to Linda who got a sterling 3rd prize in the knitting section of the Ennistymon show at the weekend and 10 euros in prize money - paid for the beer at the show!
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
Which little piggies???
Linda has a new dilemma today after we called into see the piglets which were born about 10 days ago. She has to choose which two from the litter of nine will be ours by the end of July.
Of course they are very cute at this age - even the other ones we saw at 16 weeks were hard to resist. The piglets are crossbreed Saddleback / Duroc and should reach more than 100kg at 6 months. In addition to choosing our two, we still have a couple of other steps before we can bring them home. Most importantly, I am still waiting for my Pig Herd Number from the Dept of Agriculture -while the Irish may try to avoid many aspects of their British history, they could probably give the Civil Sevice in the UK lessons in bureaucracy.
Of course they are very cute at this age - even the other ones we saw at 16 weeks were hard to resist. The piglets are crossbreed Saddleback / Duroc and should reach more than 100kg at 6 months. In addition to choosing our two, we still have a couple of other steps before we can bring them home. Most importantly, I am still waiting for my Pig Herd Number from the Dept of Agriculture -while the Irish may try to avoid many aspects of their British history, they could probably give the Civil Sevice in the UK lessons in bureaucracy.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Christmas dinner arrived today
Not looking their best at the moment as they lose their down and develop feathers but I am sure they will be plump and juicy by the time December comes! Of course these are only our three - they were accompanied by a further 18 which we are going to raise for Keith.
After two days, we are still having to watch them when they are on the paddock because some are still small enough to get through the fence mesh. Hopefully they will grow sufficiently in the next few days to overcome this problem.
Wish I had a video camera this afternoon to record Linda's attempts to drive them back into the shed
Customer of the Month
Stopped in at the builder's merchants again this week to find that I was their Customer of the Month for May - mostly timber, cement and hardware but the mains power unit for the electric fencing helped. Linda is still waiting for me to explain how I will use the power unit when we get back to the Barbican!
Glad that most of the joinery and building work is now finished - only 40 metres of fencing to erect - hoping to find someone with a post driver on their tractor to make life easier! In addition to the pen for the geese, I have built 5 gates, 2 doors, a couple of window frames, a sawhorse and a garden table. More carpentry & DIY in the last 5 weeks than I did in the previous 20 years!
Glad that most of the joinery and building work is now finished - only 40 metres of fencing to erect - hoping to find someone with a post driver on their tractor to make life easier! In addition to the pen for the geese, I have built 5 gates, 2 doors, a couple of window frames, a sawhorse and a garden table. More carpentry & DIY in the last 5 weeks than I did in the previous 20 years!
Despite the efforts of 5 cows and their calves which followed the sheep onto the paddock, I still had to get the strimmer out to prepare for the arrival of the geese - too much dock, crowfoot, and nettles. Think we may have to resort to spraying them to keep them under control. Would prefer a non-chemical solution but havent found anything that will eat them yet.
In amongst all this work, we have managed a couple of trips around the Burren - had a great walk today along the clifftop from Hag's head to the Cliffs of Moher. Bright and sunny but a strong breeze which kept it cool. Hordes of Spotted Orchids, Sea Campion, Thrift and Bog Cotton along the paths and on the fields. There were also flocks of sea birds including the puffin colony and the auks and guillemots nearby.
With everyone gearing up for the Whitsun holiday, most of the visitors appear to be from northern Europe - including a pack of Dutch Harley riders in leathers and a gay german couple who had matching leathers but no Harley.
Our local agricultural show - the North Clare Show at Ennistymon - this weekend. Linda is busy finalising her entries for the craft competitions so expect news of her successes in my next blog! I chickened out because I didn't think my soda bread could compete with the local ladies.
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Local Radio
I know I have mentioned it before, but I am a great fan of our local radio statio - Clare FM. In a county with a population of less than 150,000 they regularly manage to attract 70,000 listeners in industry surveys. They must be doing something right!
Of course the local adverts - often made by the owners or staff of the business concerned - are a great source of amusement. We are currently being entertained by the ad for a local ferry operator offering tickets on "legendary" cruises on board their "majestic" vessel beneath the Cliffs of Moher (which are majestic) where passengers will be able to see "thousands of rare birds" including the "world famous Puffin".
Guess there is no broadcasting or advertising standards oversight!
Of course the local adverts - often made by the owners or staff of the business concerned - are a great source of amusement. We are currently being entertained by the ad for a local ferry operator offering tickets on "legendary" cruises on board their "majestic" vessel beneath the Cliffs of Moher (which are majestic) where passengers will be able to see "thousands of rare birds" including the "world famous Puffin".
Guess there is no broadcasting or advertising standards oversight!
Our first wet day!
Stuck inside for a lot of the day as we had our first significant rain since we got back three weeks ago - we've spent most of that time outside getting things ready for vegetables, geese, pigs and hens.
The raised beds are finished and hopefully there will be no more ground frost so we can start planting out next week. Keith offered me topsoil for free - only problem was moving it 500 yds from his land to ours. After I finished moving 15 barrowloads, I was ready for a soak in a hot bath!
Had to concrete part of the shed floor for the geese pen and patch the inside of the walls before I could start on the woodwork. Have almost completed the front of the pen and planning to pick up the wire mesh for the top panels tomorrow. The goslings are already in Keith's barn under heating lamps and should be ready to move over here in the next week or so. Meanwhile, our landlord has got his electrician rewiring the shed and the joiner will be fitting new doors tomorrow.
We found the old stone chicken house hidden under the scrub and brambles and have managed to clean it out and get it sealed and vermin proof. Just need to replace the woodwork and it should be ready for hens next month.
Linda found time to replant the flower borders and the front of the house is looking very attractive. By the time the new doors on the shed are fitted and painted it will be time for a new picture!
We have also been on a couple of walks on the Burren to see the spring flowers but everything is much later this year because it has been so cold. Last year the farmers were complaining that they had to keep the cows inside because it was too wet - this year they are complaining because it's too dry and the grass hasn't grown enough.
The sheep did a good job on the paddock - just need to cut down some of the reeds and the docks and we will be ready for the geese. Unfortunately we lost one of the ewes - not sure what happened - she just lay down one afternoon and didn't get up again - she died before the Vet could get to her. Keeping the lambs inside the fence provided us with regular exercise as they crawled under, pushed through or jumped over the electric wires. Strange that it always seemed to be the little black lamb which was the ringleader!
So we are now waiting to see whether our flock of geese will arrive before Molly the donkey has her foal which is also due very soon.
The raised beds are finished and hopefully there will be no more ground frost so we can start planting out next week. Keith offered me topsoil for free - only problem was moving it 500 yds from his land to ours. After I finished moving 15 barrowloads, I was ready for a soak in a hot bath!
Had to concrete part of the shed floor for the geese pen and patch the inside of the walls before I could start on the woodwork. Have almost completed the front of the pen and planning to pick up the wire mesh for the top panels tomorrow. The goslings are already in Keith's barn under heating lamps and should be ready to move over here in the next week or so. Meanwhile, our landlord has got his electrician rewiring the shed and the joiner will be fitting new doors tomorrow.
We found the old stone chicken house hidden under the scrub and brambles and have managed to clean it out and get it sealed and vermin proof. Just need to replace the woodwork and it should be ready for hens next month.
Linda found time to replant the flower borders and the front of the house is looking very attractive. By the time the new doors on the shed are fitted and painted it will be time for a new picture!
We have also been on a couple of walks on the Burren to see the spring flowers but everything is much later this year because it has been so cold. Last year the farmers were complaining that they had to keep the cows inside because it was too wet - this year they are complaining because it's too dry and the grass hasn't grown enough.
The sheep did a good job on the paddock - just need to cut down some of the reeds and the docks and we will be ready for the geese. Unfortunately we lost one of the ewes - not sure what happened - she just lay down one afternoon and didn't get up again - she died before the Vet could get to her. Keeping the lambs inside the fence provided us with regular exercise as they crawled under, pushed through or jumped over the electric wires. Strange that it always seemed to be the little black lamb which was the ringleader!
So we are now waiting to see whether our flock of geese will arrive before Molly the donkey has her foal which is also due very soon.
Sunday, 2 May 2010
A busy week
Sunday morning sitting listening to Eoin O'Neill on Clare FM - seems like we never left.
We have 6 sheep and 7 lambs on the paddock getting the grass and weeds under control - they managed to escape on the first afternoon into a neighbouring field and we had to run some additional electric fencing to keep them in - Linda still counts them everytime she goes out - just to check!
Veg patch is coming along well - have cleared about 16 sqm of weeds and nettles and built one of the raised beds - hope to finish the second one tomorrow and get the top soil delivered this week. Keith provided me with a load of matured manure for this year and - after I helped with the mucking out yesterday -brought up two loads of fresh stuff so I am ready for next year. Luckily we have plenty of space away from the house!
Even managed to plant up a couple of trays of seeds so that we will have something to put in the beds. Told one of the neighbours that I was planning to grow some beetroot - he said he prefers it out of the jar!
Celebrations on Thursday when the Irish car passed its NCT test - legal on the road for another 2 years. Got knocked back first time because one of the seatbelts was jammed, but luckily it was only a toffee jammed in the catch.
We even managed time for a couple of concerts at Glor in Ennis: saw the Kilfenora Ceili Band again - a year on from their centenary concert; and then caught Martin Hayes, Peadar O Riada and Caoimin O Raghallaigh launching their new album "Triur sa Draghean" - a great evening.
In addition to the cuckoos and swallows, we have been joined by all the wee birds which appreciate the feeders being serviced again. The Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Great Tits were the first to arrive but they are being joined by others each day.
Off for a walk around Black Head this afternoon -we went to Eagle Rock last week and found that many of the spring flowers have started to bloom - hope to see more today.
We have 6 sheep and 7 lambs on the paddock getting the grass and weeds under control - they managed to escape on the first afternoon into a neighbouring field and we had to run some additional electric fencing to keep them in - Linda still counts them everytime she goes out - just to check!
Veg patch is coming along well - have cleared about 16 sqm of weeds and nettles and built one of the raised beds - hope to finish the second one tomorrow and get the top soil delivered this week. Keith provided me with a load of matured manure for this year and - after I helped with the mucking out yesterday -brought up two loads of fresh stuff so I am ready for next year. Luckily we have plenty of space away from the house!
Even managed to plant up a couple of trays of seeds so that we will have something to put in the beds. Told one of the neighbours that I was planning to grow some beetroot - he said he prefers it out of the jar!
Celebrations on Thursday when the Irish car passed its NCT test - legal on the road for another 2 years. Got knocked back first time because one of the seatbelts was jammed, but luckily it was only a toffee jammed in the catch.
We even managed time for a couple of concerts at Glor in Ennis: saw the Kilfenora Ceili Band again - a year on from their centenary concert; and then caught Martin Hayes, Peadar O Riada and Caoimin O Raghallaigh launching their new album "Triur sa Draghean" - a great evening.
In addition to the cuckoos and swallows, we have been joined by all the wee birds which appreciate the feeders being serviced again. The Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Great Tits were the first to arrive but they are being joined by others each day.
Off for a walk around Black Head this afternoon -we went to Eagle Rock last week and found that many of the spring flowers have started to bloom - hope to see more today.
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