We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and season of celebration. Ours was very quiet but lovely. After nearly a year of being on the move, five months of that being overseas, we have dropped anchor for a while. We're in Ireland, staying with Rob & Mairead near Sligo, where we've been WWOOFing (working for our keep) since mid-November.
Our hosts are away down south enjoying the Christmas break with their respective families, so we are here on our own for a week. Oliver was concerned about how Santa Claus was going to get down the chimney and out the wood stove, so on Christmas Eve we left the doors on the stove open for him and, sure enough, the next morning there was ash on the floor and he had eaten the biscuits we had left, and he'd taken the carrot we chopped up for the reindeer. More importantly, there were presents under the tree...
We spent Christmas Day snug around a fire, watching DVDs and then eating roast goose and all the trimmings, including potatoes, silverbeet and brussel sprouts harvested from the garden. The goose was a present from a neighbour - delivered still warm and intact. Pat dealt with it as though it was a giant chicken but the fine down proved to be a challenge until Rob told us about lighting some rolled up newspaper and singeing it off.
The days are short but interesting: we wake at around 9am, when the sun peeks over the hills to the south and throws an orange glow into our room. For the last few mornings we have looked out the window to see fields of frost, neatly segmented by white capped stone walls. After the sun has travelled its 90 degree arc to the west and set at around 3:30pm, we stoke the fire and start heating the water and making preparations for dinner.
Oliver loves the two dogs and the pony. Brownie, the smaller but smarter dog, joins him on the couch for a cuddle when he's allowed inside. Salem, the dopey dalmatian, rarely gets an invitation to come inside but when he does, he's in like a shot and generally creates a bit of havoc. I'm learning about using the Rayburn stove and Pat is learning to manage the micro-hydro system that gives us all the electricity we need as long as we don't run too many things at once.
To earn our keep, Pat's been chopping wood and has built a mezzanine floor and shelving in Rob & Mairead's huge shed. Oliver and I have spent hours in the balmy warmth of the poly tunnel, getting it ready for the winter, and have also dug potatoes and harvested other vegetables outside. We have been surprised by the amount of biomass and fertility above ground, compared to sub-tropical gardens and pasture, and despite the cold temperatures. I imagine the explosion of activity in springtime would be a sight to see here.
The rhythm of life is so different - most activities don't start until at least 10am (some shops in nearby Manorhamilton don't open until 11am!), shops shut for an hour for lunch and then stay open until after 6pm. Socialising happens until late into the night: pub music doesn't start until 10pm or later, and it's not unusual for the phone to ring after 10pm. At Crystal Waters we would be shocked if anyone rang after 8:30am!
Oliver and I have been battling head colds (mine morphed into a chest infection that threatened to turn into pneumonia, so I'm on antibiotics: no alcohol for NYE!) and we haven't ventured out much since Christmas Eve. Pat says it's blinky freezing out there today; it's 12:30pm and there's still a heavy frost on the northern side of the house.
We've decided to stay for most of January and will make plans over the next few weeks for our return, or perhaps not, depending on what opportunities come up in that time. I'm finding such flexibility both liberating and scary. We are so grateful for this comfortable, warm and relaxing home while we work out what to do with the rest of our lives.
We wish you a new year that meets all your expectations, fulfils your dreams and realises your desires, and look forward to catching up somewhere along the way.
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