House sitting in Macroom

We have been blessed by fabulous weather here in Macroom in West Cork. It is often overcast first thing but by about 10 am we have had glorious sunshine.

Our lovely house .......well for two weeks

Our plan was never to do very much here, which is just as well as the repairs to the camper van have been a bit of a saga. The mechanics of the van are Chris' domain so these details will be incorrect!! The back brakes were leaking fluid so he bought the parts before we left home. Last Tuesday we took it to a garage able to accommodate the height of the van and he said we also needed the shoes replacing. Two days later the wrong parts arrived from Dublin but Chris tracked down an alternative solution just to re-line them. They were delivered to the garage last Friday. Monday work started but pads that Chris had were the wrong ones!! Suddenly our guy at the garage could get parts and yesterday the correct pads arrived. It turned out to be a nightmare of a job and we finally got the van back today Friday 19th September, one week later than we had hoped. It took 14 hours to repair at 40 euros an hour plus VAT at 13.5% .........the final bill was 896 euros which is £705.

Wilson, the cat and Poppy dog

The lack of van was not a real problem as we have a car for transport and Chris got lots of his other jobs, re-sealing windows etc completed last week in the good weather. It is simply the frustration of driving daily to get an update etc and sourcing parts. Also on occasion you would imagine we are in a foreign land, the locals speak really fast and I struggle to understand everything and "your man" in the garage is one of them!!

Tuesday is market day in Macroom , and it is very small but some organic veggies, fabulous olives and gorgeous cheese and bread make for some quality purchases. Also at 11.15 there is a little indoor market in the hall of a sports club near the castle, it is very much an alternative lifestyle place. They serve cakes tea and coffee and vegan soup!! Got some delicious raw soft goats cheese with garlic and also some alfalfa sprouts. There was also a little cohort of English ex-pats so were not very friendly despite our attempts to say hello. We did have a good craic with a lovely local lady called Mary who loves turquoise and everything she had on was said colour!!

We ventured into one of the local pubs for a pint of the black stuff, a choice of Guinness, Murphy's and Beamish. It was very old and simple and we had a confused conversation with "your man" who had already had several pints when we got there.

Our one day out last week was to Clontakility and the Michael Collins centre as we felt we should learn a bit about Irish history. We spent a fascinating 3 hours, including a talk from his cousin several times removed. He is described as 
" A soldier and politician who was prominent in the struggle for Irish independence in the early 20th century. He agreed to the partition of Ireland and the creation of the Irish Free State, becoming leader of its provisional government." 

He was killed in an ambush not far from here and there was a lot of speculation about what really happened that day and who killed him!!  Apart from the 'Big Fella' ,Clontakility is also famous for black pudding, its a nice place for lunch and the black pudding is delicious. Irish black pudding is quite dense with pinhead oatmeal and full of flavour.

This week we had a trip to Skibbereen for the sole reason that earlier this year I saw a play at the Edinburgh fringe called "The road to Skibbereen" and it is about an hour from here and so we thought we would take the road. It is remembered as a place where thousands died during the great famine of 1845-52 and the heritage centre had a wonderful exhibition, the local records made chilling reading. The song reminds you of the part the English played in this ;

...the landlord and the bailiff came to drive us all away.

They set the roof on fire with their cursed English flame,

And that's another reason why I left old Skibbereen

Sinead O'Connor does a particularly haunting version of the song. HTTP://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VWPzsPqcHQ

B&B in Skibberreen

I'm hoping we might get a trip into Cork city and also to Cobh as it is the other part of the famine story, as well as the numbers who died and equal number emigrated and left for England, the USA and other parts.

Meanwhile I have loads of blackberries foraged and the poly tunnel is ready with tomatoes and cucumbers for making a sweet pickle. 

The poly tunnel

The weather is due to change and so it might be a good time to do a bit in the kitchen. On cue, we have had rain today and the road to Cork has been closed due to a serious car accident so we have stayed put. I got started on the  list of jobs to do inside the van,  to get it ready for the next part of the trip.

On the rugby front I have applied for tickets for the 3 games in Newcastle and for the final. The latter has already gone to ballot so will have to wait and see. I also found out that 20,000 people applied to be volunteers for 6,000 places so I'm quite chuffed to have been offered a try out .




So our time here is almost up and the owners will be back on Monday and we head off Tuesday morning ready for our ferry to Pembroke on 24th September. We plan to have two nights in Bath, a city which I have never seen.

Till next time,

beannacht agus cúram a ghlacadh

Norma xx

Swallows and martins lined up........I counted about 140 0f them at one point.........

Ireland -part two

We left Doolin and headed south stopping off in Ennistymon and Lahinch on the way. We drove along the coast but eventually arrived, in the mizzle, in Carrigaholt. It was the annual festival but it was pouring by the time we found a place to put the van so we decided against joining in. Late afternoon the weather eased a bit and we walked into town and had a lovely Sunday meal at the pub, not only did we know it was local lamb but the blackboard in the pub told you exactly where it came from. Good wholesome food and served with a massive bowl of steaming hot mashed potato!! Our “camp” for the night was near the derelict castle. 

The next day Chris needed the doctor for his painkillers for his knee and we thought we might have to drive to Kilkee about 15 miles away. We went to the Post Office first and the guy there said no problem the Doctor is here today. Interesting postie, playing opera at 9.30 am on loud speakers in the square!! After the trip to the docs I drove , on a single track road, to Kilbaha for coffee and then on to the lighthouse at Loop Head. Good place, fabulous views and a very nice guide, we had lunch in the van and then set off to drive up the other coast and back to Kilkee. Originally we planned to stay in Clare but when we got to Killimer the ferry was due so we travelled the 30 minutes across to Tarbert, Co Kerry.

Next stop New York mate!

We decided Listowel was our limit and found a car park near the river where we could park undisturbed. We walked along the river and into town, past the impressive, but closed, castle. We went into a pub in the town square. I’m not sure about Irish pubs, they are either touristy or the normal ones are not designed for comfort, have racing on TV –all the time-and are frequented mainly, but not exclusively, by men. I am not a prude but I do find the language of the Irish difficult, they clearly only got up to F in the dictionary and seem to punctuate every sentence with it.

Tuesday we headed for Killarney, and had a three day stay  on the edge of the National Park in Fossa. Our campsite was about 8k from town and there was an off road cycle track most of the way. Pitches were fine, free internet and the usual facilities all for 20 Euros a night. However for some reason the majority of Eirean campsites feel the need to charge separately for a shower, in this case 1.3 Euros. Not quite sure why as water is pretty plentiful here. You buy a token and it is timed for about 5 minutes, which is way too long for me as I have got used to showers in places with not much water and can have one is less than half that time. It is also a pain having to make sure you have tokens.

We cycled both days we were there , into town and then on to the Ross Castle area of the park. The weather was fabulous and the cycling pretty easy. However day one Chris got a puncture that we tried in vain to repair and he ended up going into town with my bike to buy a new inner tube. Meanwhile I had a fascinating tour of the castle, enhanced by the fact it was free, 1^st Wednesday of the month . On the second day we had a little tootle on the waterbus on the Lough, it gives a different perspective. Had a delicious lunch, at the Smokehouse, of seafood chowder for me and tuna melt on soda bread for Chris.

We are now at our final destination , which is Macroom west of Cork. I have my new debit card as the ATM swallowed it up on the Friday before we left home, with no chance of getting it replaced before I left. Thanks to Imogen and UPS we are reunited!!

We spent Friday and Saturday with Clare and Cormac and they have now gone off on holiday to Sicily. We have the pleasure of staying in their lovely house, and an acre of land with poly tunnel and veggie garden. It is peaceful, yet easy to get to Macroom or Cork. They have a dog, called Poppy and two cats Wilson and Orkay. Clare loves to cook so it is great to have a lovely organised kitchen for two weeks-the vegetable soup is in the fridge and I am making chutney today. 

We have some jobs to do on the van here, including getting it to a garage and I have some bits to sort inside. We hope to get to see some of the countryside and, of course, to look after the animals ;on our walk with Poppy the hedgerows are full with blackberries. I’m trying to work out whether I can get to Limerick to see a rugby game, Munster play at Thomond park, but not sussed out the logistics yet.

 This housesit is two weeks and then on 24^th September we have a ferry booked for Rosslare to Pembroke . I want to see Bath on route to the south coast where we will catch up with Chris’ family and friends Linda and Alan.

On the edge........

Not for people with vertigo........

Till next time

Take care

Norma xx