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 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.
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 ;
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 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,
 |
| 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
 |
| 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 |
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 ghlacadhNorma xx
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| Swallows and martins lined up........I counted about 140 0f them at one point......... |
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