FOUR OF US WITH THE NIGHT OFF
Since Lorna decided to go to Switzerland to visit some of her children and her 2 grandchildren, I have sort of been put in charge of the cafe'. Being a Monday night and work getting done early, by 8 p.m., the 4 of us decided to go to the beach.
So off we went to Inch Beach, definitely the widest beach I've ever been to or even seen in pictures. This would be my second visit there. My first was on my bike from Rosemont. Down on Inch Beach you are allowed to drive your car on the beach. When we arrived around 9 p.m. and still quite light out we parked the car on the beach and just walked. We brought Ellie the dog whose only desire in life is to either carry around or chase her favorite ball. This is a ball she sleeps with and when any one arrives at the cafe' runs up with ball in mouth and begs for them to kick or throw it so she can chase it and come back for more.
It was a beautiful evening with no wind (apparently very rare) and with the tide out only added to the enormous width of the hard-packed sandy beach.
I don't know how long the beach is but after walking quite a ways, Colleen offered to walk back to her car and drive us down further to maybe see how long the beach really was.
So we're driving and driving (with Ellie and ball) wondering how far this beach really goes before you couldn't drive any further. It actually is a peninsula that curves around so you can't see to the end. Then the sand got soft. And softer. Then we got stuck! Really stuck. With front drive wheel buried in the sand after a few attempts to push it out to NO avail, we all started walking back. Only Kim from Barcelona had a phone. It seemingly only worked to call numbers in Spain. We couldn't call anyone. Just a few days ago, Colleen dropped her phone in the toilet deeming it inoperable. So we were disconnected from the world with a very long walk ahead of us. And it was getting dark. And possibly with the threat of the tide coming in and reaching the car, our once casual walk turned into a frenzy walk, if that is such a thing. We walked very briskly for about 45 minutes. So I'm thinking I can fast walk a mile in 15 minutes. This was probably 3 miles before we came upon a car with someone with a phone who was able to call the Phoenix to hopefully get Billy and plead for help.
Now Billy doesn't usually answer the phone. On this night he picked up after one ring.
A few coincidences follow that will remain unanswered as to HOW this all played out.
Billy has a van. Not 4-wheel drive. But 'coincidentally' his son Sam, who traveled with his mom, Lorna to Switzerland his home, left his 4 wheel drive vehicle at the Phoenix. So Billy was able to use it to pull us out. And 'coincidentally' just the day before, Billy came upon a heavy chain in his yard that he did not know where it came from. He left it there in the yard thinking to move it later. This night it was what we needed to get pulled out.
Where did the chain come from? We'll never know.
We all returned home about 10:45, opened some beer and all had a few shots of Kirsch that Billy brought out to try. Didn't get to bed till after midnight. All in all....A great day!
During the ride back home, Billy shared some amusing stories of the summer months where many, many people (tourists) get stuck on the beach with their cars. Even more amusing is the story of the farmer with a tractor who waits for people to get stuck so he can pull them out. All for 50 Euro. And then there was the man one summer who had a Range Rover who also waited to help people get unstuck. He charged 100 Euro.
Another story we all laughed about was when Billy's brother was here for a visit with a rented car. They both went down to Inch Beach, parked the rental and walked and walked and walked forgetting about the time. Well the tide came in and destroyed the rental can parked on the beach. Hence the mention of not having insurance on Colleen's car.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
The people I live with
WWOOFERS
WWOOF is the organization along with Workaway where I go online to find people and places all over the world who want help in exchange for room and board. No money ever changes hands.
Right now there are 4 WWOOFers here including myself.
LARS (19) is from Germany and has been here, his first assignment, now for 6 weeks and does not know when he will leave and has not decided to look for his next farm to work at.
KIM (25) is from Barcelona. He is always working on his English. I think he speaks very well. He does not think so. He too does not know how long he will stay or if he will go on from here to another assignment.
COLLEEN (45) is originally from Zimbabwe where she lived for 20 years. She then moved to London and lived there for 20+ years. Because the housing market went absolutely crazy after she bought a modest flat in London, she was able to sell it at a much higher cost than what she bought it for. She has now decided to buy a place here in the Ring of Kerry, the next peninsula down from here in Dingle, close to her long-time friend Dan whom she has been best friends with for about 20 years. They met in London. While she is waiting for her purchase of her house to carry on, she's decided to come here and work for a week or so. Colleen bought a car just last week, a Renault Clio (?) so we have wheels. While in London she didn't drive at all and now she's driving, on the left, a 5 speed stick shift on some roads that are just wide enough for 1 car to pass. She's still waiting for the papers to come through so she can get insurance on it. There's a reason I'm saying this (about the insurance). You'll see in the next blog.
BILLY....Lorna's 2nd husband. Together they have 2 sons. Kyle(25) and Kim(19). Now Billy is by far probably the most laid back person in the world. I've never seen him get flustered or upset and even have a harsh word to say about anything. He loves his dog, Rufus who he picked out of a litter of puppies at the market one day. Totally unplanned. Rufus got hit by a car about 2 1/2 years ago and only suffered a broken leg. But with this broken leg there was apparently nerve damage which after the bone healed the leg remains useless. Now every morning I see Billy tenderly caring for Rufus' leg and Rufus just lies there not bothered at all that someone is wrapping his still open-wounded leg. Somehow the wound never healed and it remains open and kind of nasty to look at. Rufus licks it a lot. So does Ellie, Rufus' best friend in the dog world. Now Billy is trying to wrap it in a Himalayan salt soaked cloth to facilitate some healing if possible. Billy has made a sort of cast out of duct tape that can be removed and put on quite easily to help poor Rufus to run and get around in a normal way. There is a large basket full of these casts from previous wraps. So Billy is very much a kind-hearted animal lover and never refuses any of his 3 cats to lay on his lap for some lovin'. Billy, when speaking has a very similar sounding voice of John Lennon. In fact with his full head of hair kind of randomly chopped and with round spectacles would even look like him. That is when John was in his 50's.
LORNA....Lorna of course is my host. After learning of my disappointment in Rosemont, my previous assignment, she graciously asked me to come here and help out for as long as I wish. Lorna is a world traveler, leaving home in England at the age of 18 to find work and experience all she could with an adventurous spirit. She learned belly dancing and gave lessons to make some money along the way. According to her she was very well known in the belly dancing world. She continues her belly dancing now at the age of 58. In fact we discovered she is 11 days older than myself. She was born on Sept. 26th 1955. She worked on many organic farms in exchange for food and lodging where she met Pierre her first husband. Then started having babies at the young age of 19.
Lorna and Billy bought the property here in Castlemaine approx. 20 years ago and have been working on it with its' additions and its' gardens ever since. They lived for 1 year in a travel trailer with their children while working on this then abandoned property of 20 years until it was within living condition. The cafe' opened 18 years ago and has always offered vegetarian menu items and also caters to vegan and gluten-free clients. She wrote a cookbook and proudly displays it throughout the cafe' and sells signed copies for 20 Euro. She has now sold over 2,000 copies.
Having lived in Switzerland for many years, 3 of Lorna's children remain there and Lorna travels to see them all as often as possible. She is there right now (last minute decision) and feels confident in leaving her cafe' in the trusting hands of the WWOOFers.
Lorna has asked me to give up my next assignment with Sally Baker near Dunmanway and stay here. Quite a compliment considering I've only been here one week today. She has a lot of confidence in me to be able to work independently in the cafe as well as contribute to the never ending job with the gardening. Overnight it seems the plants and flowers and trees grow a couple of inches. That includes the weeds though. We have 2 poly tunnels where we grow all types of vegetables and herbs. That work is saved for rainy days of which there have been a few.
I will not be changing my plans to leave here on May 6th. I will be traveling again on the bus to Macroom which is a close bus stop from Sally's place. Sally has a lot of sheep and other animals of which I look forward to help take care of.
WWOOF is the organization along with Workaway where I go online to find people and places all over the world who want help in exchange for room and board. No money ever changes hands.
Right now there are 4 WWOOFers here including myself.
LARS (19) is from Germany and has been here, his first assignment, now for 6 weeks and does not know when he will leave and has not decided to look for his next farm to work at.
KIM (25) is from Barcelona. He is always working on his English. I think he speaks very well. He does not think so. He too does not know how long he will stay or if he will go on from here to another assignment.
COLLEEN (45) is originally from Zimbabwe where she lived for 20 years. She then moved to London and lived there for 20+ years. Because the housing market went absolutely crazy after she bought a modest flat in London, she was able to sell it at a much higher cost than what she bought it for. She has now decided to buy a place here in the Ring of Kerry, the next peninsula down from here in Dingle, close to her long-time friend Dan whom she has been best friends with for about 20 years. They met in London. While she is waiting for her purchase of her house to carry on, she's decided to come here and work for a week or so. Colleen bought a car just last week, a Renault Clio (?) so we have wheels. While in London she didn't drive at all and now she's driving, on the left, a 5 speed stick shift on some roads that are just wide enough for 1 car to pass. She's still waiting for the papers to come through so she can get insurance on it. There's a reason I'm saying this (about the insurance). You'll see in the next blog.
BILLY....Lorna's 2nd husband. Together they have 2 sons. Kyle(25) and Kim(19). Now Billy is by far probably the most laid back person in the world. I've never seen him get flustered or upset and even have a harsh word to say about anything. He loves his dog, Rufus who he picked out of a litter of puppies at the market one day. Totally unplanned. Rufus got hit by a car about 2 1/2 years ago and only suffered a broken leg. But with this broken leg there was apparently nerve damage which after the bone healed the leg remains useless. Now every morning I see Billy tenderly caring for Rufus' leg and Rufus just lies there not bothered at all that someone is wrapping his still open-wounded leg. Somehow the wound never healed and it remains open and kind of nasty to look at. Rufus licks it a lot. So does Ellie, Rufus' best friend in the dog world. Now Billy is trying to wrap it in a Himalayan salt soaked cloth to facilitate some healing if possible. Billy has made a sort of cast out of duct tape that can be removed and put on quite easily to help poor Rufus to run and get around in a normal way. There is a large basket full of these casts from previous wraps. So Billy is very much a kind-hearted animal lover and never refuses any of his 3 cats to lay on his lap for some lovin'. Billy, when speaking has a very similar sounding voice of John Lennon. In fact with his full head of hair kind of randomly chopped and with round spectacles would even look like him. That is when John was in his 50's.
LORNA....Lorna of course is my host. After learning of my disappointment in Rosemont, my previous assignment, she graciously asked me to come here and help out for as long as I wish. Lorna is a world traveler, leaving home in England at the age of 18 to find work and experience all she could with an adventurous spirit. She learned belly dancing and gave lessons to make some money along the way. According to her she was very well known in the belly dancing world. She continues her belly dancing now at the age of 58. In fact we discovered she is 11 days older than myself. She was born on Sept. 26th 1955. She worked on many organic farms in exchange for food and lodging where she met Pierre her first husband. Then started having babies at the young age of 19.
Lorna and Billy bought the property here in Castlemaine approx. 20 years ago and have been working on it with its' additions and its' gardens ever since. They lived for 1 year in a travel trailer with their children while working on this then abandoned property of 20 years until it was within living condition. The cafe' opened 18 years ago and has always offered vegetarian menu items and also caters to vegan and gluten-free clients. She wrote a cookbook and proudly displays it throughout the cafe' and sells signed copies for 20 Euro. She has now sold over 2,000 copies.
Having lived in Switzerland for many years, 3 of Lorna's children remain there and Lorna travels to see them all as often as possible. She is there right now (last minute decision) and feels confident in leaving her cafe' in the trusting hands of the WWOOFers.
Lorna has asked me to give up my next assignment with Sally Baker near Dunmanway and stay here. Quite a compliment considering I've only been here one week today. She has a lot of confidence in me to be able to work independently in the cafe as well as contribute to the never ending job with the gardening. Overnight it seems the plants and flowers and trees grow a couple of inches. That includes the weeds though. We have 2 poly tunnels where we grow all types of vegetables and herbs. That work is saved for rainy days of which there have been a few.
I will not be changing my plans to leave here on May 6th. I will be traveling again on the bus to Macroom which is a close bus stop from Sally's place. Sally has a lot of sheep and other animals of which I look forward to help take care of.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
MY NEW HOME AT THE PHOENIX
Leaving Rosemont
When I first came to the Phoenix cafe, Lorna and I talked about food and what I was doing at Rosemont and Rose. She said she had enough people committed to coming and working for her and that it was too bad I was so unhappy at Rosemont. By the time our visit was over and I had to return to Tralee with the bike, Lorna said I should just leave there and not take Rose's bad treatment. When I got back to Rosemont and joined the party there with about 30 of Rose's family and was completely ignored by everyone except Rose's son, I knew I had to leave...and soon. I knew I would be telling Rose the next morning that I would be leaving. That night Lorna sent me an email saying I should come there and stay and work starting on Tuesday.
So I made the decision to leave Rosemont and go to the Phoenix cafe' as soon as I could speak to Rose. Monday morning came and Rose would not tell me what I needed to clean until 11:30 a.m. Then she told me that 5 rooms needed to be done completely. Then she went over to her side of the house and I didn't see or hear from her all day. Cleaning rooms 'completely' takes a lot of time. Sometimes when guests stay a few nights like the workers and students do, all you have to do is make the bed and change the towels. It's not a 'complete' cleaning. Doing the windows, mirrors and glass shower doors is quite tedious. There must not be a single streak or smudge or hair or piece of lint anywhere. Rose will inspect. So I worked the rest of the day and got everything as clean as I could. Rose finally came out of her apartment, still in her pj's from the morning and told me how 'pissed off' she was at me from the day before. At that point it was very easy to tell her I would be leaving the next day. She said "that's fine" and nothing more. I went upstairs to my room in tears.
I emailed Lorna and said I would be on the 8:30 a.m. bus to Castlemaine and would be arriving there at 9 a.m.. She said that's great and she'd pick me up at the bus stop.
The next morning with 2 suitcases in tow I walked the 2 miles to the bus and felt a huge relief.
When I first came to the Phoenix cafe, Lorna and I talked about food and what I was doing at Rosemont and Rose. She said she had enough people committed to coming and working for her and that it was too bad I was so unhappy at Rosemont. By the time our visit was over and I had to return to Tralee with the bike, Lorna said I should just leave there and not take Rose's bad treatment. When I got back to Rosemont and joined the party there with about 30 of Rose's family and was completely ignored by everyone except Rose's son, I knew I had to leave...and soon. I knew I would be telling Rose the next morning that I would be leaving. That night Lorna sent me an email saying I should come there and stay and work starting on Tuesday.
So I made the decision to leave Rosemont and go to the Phoenix cafe' as soon as I could speak to Rose. Monday morning came and Rose would not tell me what I needed to clean until 11:30 a.m. Then she told me that 5 rooms needed to be done completely. Then she went over to her side of the house and I didn't see or hear from her all day. Cleaning rooms 'completely' takes a lot of time. Sometimes when guests stay a few nights like the workers and students do, all you have to do is make the bed and change the towels. It's not a 'complete' cleaning. Doing the windows, mirrors and glass shower doors is quite tedious. There must not be a single streak or smudge or hair or piece of lint anywhere. Rose will inspect. So I worked the rest of the day and got everything as clean as I could. Rose finally came out of her apartment, still in her pj's from the morning and told me how 'pissed off' she was at me from the day before. At that point it was very easy to tell her I would be leaving the next day. She said "that's fine" and nothing more. I went upstairs to my room in tears.
I emailed Lorna and said I would be on the 8:30 a.m. bus to Castlemaine and would be arriving there at 9 a.m.. She said that's great and she'd pick me up at the bus stop.
The next morning with 2 suitcases in tow I walked the 2 miles to the bus and felt a huge relief.
Monday, April 21, 2014
I got a bike!
April 21, 2014
Scotty finally pulled the bicycle out of the garage and adjusted the seat for my height. I had to wait for him to get it out because I'm not allowed to walk in the back yard because of Gizzy. Although I can take her on walks with the leash, Rose fears that she has the potential to bite me, still a stranger. She bit Scotty once when he got too close to Rose. Gizzy I guess has a protective spirit that can be unpredictable.
It's a fairly new mountain bike with wide tires and has 24 speeds of which I have not changed because I know these bikes can be temperamental and can skip gears deeming them broken and stuck. So it is on the highest (hardest) gear where it shall remain.
The seat is very skinny and hard and I'm dreaming about my gel bike seat at home on my bike. Boy does my butt hurt!
stay left...stay left....stay left
There is a lot of traffic here in front of the house and downtown Tralee, 2 miles away. I am allowed to ride in the street, on the LEFT. My simple brain, without thinking, wants to go right. I wear my bright yellow jacket so drivers can see me but crossing over to the next street or worse yet...the roundabout!
Of which there are many. These can be confusing to the best of drivers.
Tralee doesn't impress me as a place I would ever want to live. It's a place where people go to get things but so far the people are unfriendly (to me) and just want to go about their business. We have to put EVERYTHING away, out of site for fear it will be stollen. Rose told me about a few instances where she went out back for a few minutes and someone came in to her front yard and took some gardening material she was using. So of course the bike is locked away, in the garage out of site and can only be gotten out by Scotty.
But I will be leaving here ahead of schedule. I will tell Rose today that I have found a place better suited for what I came to Ireland for. I think she is going to be hurt and angry. We shall see.
Scotty finally pulled the bicycle out of the garage and adjusted the seat for my height. I had to wait for him to get it out because I'm not allowed to walk in the back yard because of Gizzy. Although I can take her on walks with the leash, Rose fears that she has the potential to bite me, still a stranger. She bit Scotty once when he got too close to Rose. Gizzy I guess has a protective spirit that can be unpredictable.
It's a fairly new mountain bike with wide tires and has 24 speeds of which I have not changed because I know these bikes can be temperamental and can skip gears deeming them broken and stuck. So it is on the highest (hardest) gear where it shall remain.
The seat is very skinny and hard and I'm dreaming about my gel bike seat at home on my bike. Boy does my butt hurt!
stay left...stay left....stay left
There is a lot of traffic here in front of the house and downtown Tralee, 2 miles away. I am allowed to ride in the street, on the LEFT. My simple brain, without thinking, wants to go right. I wear my bright yellow jacket so drivers can see me but crossing over to the next street or worse yet...the roundabout!
Of which there are many. These can be confusing to the best of drivers.
Tralee doesn't impress me as a place I would ever want to live. It's a place where people go to get things but so far the people are unfriendly (to me) and just want to go about their business. We have to put EVERYTHING away, out of site for fear it will be stollen. Rose told me about a few instances where she went out back for a few minutes and someone came in to her front yard and took some gardening material she was using. So of course the bike is locked away, in the garage out of site and can only be gotten out by Scotty.
But I will be leaving here ahead of schedule. I will tell Rose today that I have found a place better suited for what I came to Ireland for. I think she is going to be hurt and angry. We shall see.
Monday, April 14, 2014
MY DAY IN CASTLEMAINE
MY FIRST DAY OFF
Before I came to Ireland, I bought a cookbook titled "The Phoenix Restaurant". It was written and published by Lorna Tyther, a woman with numerous awards for her vegetarian and vegan cooking. I had written to her asking if I could come and work for her in exchange for room and board like I am doing here at Rosemont. I had gotten her write-up from the same organization as Rosemont. She responded "yes" to my request but only after I had committed to coming to Rosemont. But her pictures of her place, which also houses a small B&B (3 rooms) and pictures of her food and recipes for that food looked like just the place I'd like to visit someday. When I saw how close it was located to Rosemont, I knew I'd make the trip as soon as I could manage. That was yesterday.
I asked around if it would be better to ride a bicycle to Castlemaine or walk. Both methods were vehemently discouraged. The road was not only very steep in some areas but also very narrow with no place to step off from on- coming traffic. So I went to the bus station and got their schedule which included a stop at Castlemaine from Tralee. It was a 25 minute bus ride. I was really glad I decided NOT to ride a bike. There were no guard rails or any room on either side to get out of the road.
So I took the 10:35 a.m. bus arriving at the Castlemaine post office at 11:00. I had already done a little homework to see which road would take me to Lorna's place. It was about a 4 mile walk. So with my iPod on playing Fleetwood Mac and Bruce Springstein, I walked. It was a cool day with overcast---just 50deg. If the sun was out, at least I would have felt its' warmth but instead I put my hood up from my sweatshirt and walked briskly to keep warm. The countryside on Route 571 was all farms with mostly sheep, their babies and cows. I saw big black birds what looked like crows standing atop some cows pulling the fluffy hair from them and flying off with it. The cows just stood there not caring. I saw a lot of sheep many with twin babies; like tiny babies very recently born. Beautiful.
When I reached Boolteens Village I knew I had just 1 mile to go. I knew when I was coming up on the restaurant that it was Lorna's because of the huge phoenix bird painted on one side of the building. I had emailed her the day before asking if I could come and if she'd be there. As I approached the door, she opened it and I knew immediately it was her by the strikingly red hair I'd seen her sporting in her book. She opened the door and I said "I walked all the way from the U.S. just to see you."
Her restaurant was lovely. It was just one room with seating for about 30. All the wicker chairs and wall decor were decorated with beautiful embroidered and mirrored cloths from India. She made me a pot of herbal tea and brought me a just baked spelt scone with pumpkin seeds. Very tasty. Then we shared bowls of her watercress, potato and black lentil soup. Wonderful. I met her husband, Billy and the most recent and only workawayer, Lars from Germany. He was 19 and had just come in from planting celeriac seeds one by one with tweezers. All 4 of us shared bowls of rhubarb crumble topped with yogurt. All the food we had was organic The rhubarb was just picked from her garden.
I got to meet Rufus and Ellie their 2 dogs. All they wanted was for me to keep throwing the ball for them to chase and fight over. Cute.
Lorna cooks food and packages it up to sell every Saturday at a farmers market in the next town called Milltown. So I got to take containers of pesto, curried squash, hummus and a bean dish to take back for my next few meals at Rosemont. Her gardens are really beautiful. The need for workawayers to tend to the gardens is crucial both to keep them looking beautiful with all the flowers coming up everywhere and also for the success of the restaurant serving the garden's bounty of vegetables. There are numerous fruit trees also I was told but didn't get to see.
Billy gave me a ride back to Castlemaine post office just 2 minutes before the bus arrived. 25 minutes later after another enjoyable ride back I arrived at the Tralee bus station. I walked the 2 miles back to Rosemont and reflected back on my glorious day.
Next trip: INCH BEACH......Easter weekend
Before I came to Ireland, I bought a cookbook titled "The Phoenix Restaurant". It was written and published by Lorna Tyther, a woman with numerous awards for her vegetarian and vegan cooking. I had written to her asking if I could come and work for her in exchange for room and board like I am doing here at Rosemont. I had gotten her write-up from the same organization as Rosemont. She responded "yes" to my request but only after I had committed to coming to Rosemont. But her pictures of her place, which also houses a small B&B (3 rooms) and pictures of her food and recipes for that food looked like just the place I'd like to visit someday. When I saw how close it was located to Rosemont, I knew I'd make the trip as soon as I could manage. That was yesterday.
I asked around if it would be better to ride a bicycle to Castlemaine or walk. Both methods were vehemently discouraged. The road was not only very steep in some areas but also very narrow with no place to step off from on- coming traffic. So I went to the bus station and got their schedule which included a stop at Castlemaine from Tralee. It was a 25 minute bus ride. I was really glad I decided NOT to ride a bike. There were no guard rails or any room on either side to get out of the road.
So I took the 10:35 a.m. bus arriving at the Castlemaine post office at 11:00. I had already done a little homework to see which road would take me to Lorna's place. It was about a 4 mile walk. So with my iPod on playing Fleetwood Mac and Bruce Springstein, I walked. It was a cool day with overcast---just 50deg. If the sun was out, at least I would have felt its' warmth but instead I put my hood up from my sweatshirt and walked briskly to keep warm. The countryside on Route 571 was all farms with mostly sheep, their babies and cows. I saw big black birds what looked like crows standing atop some cows pulling the fluffy hair from them and flying off with it. The cows just stood there not caring. I saw a lot of sheep many with twin babies; like tiny babies very recently born. Beautiful.
When I reached Boolteens Village I knew I had just 1 mile to go. I knew when I was coming up on the restaurant that it was Lorna's because of the huge phoenix bird painted on one side of the building. I had emailed her the day before asking if I could come and if she'd be there. As I approached the door, she opened it and I knew immediately it was her by the strikingly red hair I'd seen her sporting in her book. She opened the door and I said "I walked all the way from the U.S. just to see you."
Her restaurant was lovely. It was just one room with seating for about 30. All the wicker chairs and wall decor were decorated with beautiful embroidered and mirrored cloths from India. She made me a pot of herbal tea and brought me a just baked spelt scone with pumpkin seeds. Very tasty. Then we shared bowls of her watercress, potato and black lentil soup. Wonderful. I met her husband, Billy and the most recent and only workawayer, Lars from Germany. He was 19 and had just come in from planting celeriac seeds one by one with tweezers. All 4 of us shared bowls of rhubarb crumble topped with yogurt. All the food we had was organic The rhubarb was just picked from her garden.
I got to meet Rufus and Ellie their 2 dogs. All they wanted was for me to keep throwing the ball for them to chase and fight over. Cute.
Lorna cooks food and packages it up to sell every Saturday at a farmers market in the next town called Milltown. So I got to take containers of pesto, curried squash, hummus and a bean dish to take back for my next few meals at Rosemont. Her gardens are really beautiful. The need for workawayers to tend to the gardens is crucial both to keep them looking beautiful with all the flowers coming up everywhere and also for the success of the restaurant serving the garden's bounty of vegetables. There are numerous fruit trees also I was told but didn't get to see.
Billy gave me a ride back to Castlemaine post office just 2 minutes before the bus arrived. 25 minutes later after another enjoyable ride back I arrived at the Tralee bus station. I walked the 2 miles back to Rosemont and reflected back on my glorious day.
Next trip: INCH BEACH......Easter weekend
Saturday, April 12, 2014
The food here....Oh dear
Saturday April 12th 2014
Almost everything food-wise here comes from a package. I found a box mix for cheesecake and one for scones (Leslie). There are probably a hundred packets for making everything. Beef stroganoff, meat sauce, curry, meatloaf etc. etc. Rose doesn't seem to do well with someone offering to do things different. I would love to make her some fresh bread, even homemade cheese. She has individually packaged yellow cheese product. I offered to make Scotty some homemade pancakes when I saw a package containing 3 already-made pancakes. But she said he doesn't like homemade pancakes. He prefers the ones in a bag.
Last night I wanted to tell Rose to not include me in for dinner in case she was making it. I couldn't find her and the next thing I knew she was dishing out instant mashed potatoes, packaged, cubed and cooked turnip/carrot mix and deep fried breakfast sausages. It was too late to renege on dinner or to be rude and say I didn't want it. So I ate it. Two nights ago she peeled a bunch of red potatoes, cut them up like fries and deep fried them. We had those with canned corn and breaded chicken breast. Sort of ok but definitely still not the best choice. So this is going to be quite challenging. I thought the work was going to be physically challenging. And it truly is. But the food is another challenge indeed. I can't see myself going to the store (on foot) every day, buying food and preparing it alongside Rose while she is making her own dinner her way. First of all, food is part of the deal for my work. And if I have to buy all my food.... well that just isn't right. I didn't bring enough money with me for that. She does have rice and free range eggs and real Irish butter. The butter was soooo yellow I was sure it had to be margarine or even butter flavored crisco. But I saw the package. It truly is real butter. I think in the U.S. stores it's sold as Kerry Gold. I found a box of what reads to be healthy fruit and nut fiber cereal. And we always have lo fat milk.
While walking yesterday, I saw a sign for farmers' market in town on Saturdays. I asked Rose but she didn't know anything about it and wasn't interested.
I really wish Rose would let me cook something.
Tomorrow I'm going to Castlemaine on the bus. It's not too far just extremely discouraged to ride the bike there. The road is said to be quite treacherous. I'm going to visit Lorna at another B&B that wants me to come and cook with her. I had to say 'no' because I had already committed to Rosemont. Lorna cooks all healthy, homegrown, organic and vegetarian for her little restaurant. We'll
see. Tomorrow will just be a day visit. For now.......
Almost everything food-wise here comes from a package. I found a box mix for cheesecake and one for scones (Leslie). There are probably a hundred packets for making everything. Beef stroganoff, meat sauce, curry, meatloaf etc. etc. Rose doesn't seem to do well with someone offering to do things different. I would love to make her some fresh bread, even homemade cheese. She has individually packaged yellow cheese product. I offered to make Scotty some homemade pancakes when I saw a package containing 3 already-made pancakes. But she said he doesn't like homemade pancakes. He prefers the ones in a bag.
Last night I wanted to tell Rose to not include me in for dinner in case she was making it. I couldn't find her and the next thing I knew she was dishing out instant mashed potatoes, packaged, cubed and cooked turnip/carrot mix and deep fried breakfast sausages. It was too late to renege on dinner or to be rude and say I didn't want it. So I ate it. Two nights ago she peeled a bunch of red potatoes, cut them up like fries and deep fried them. We had those with canned corn and breaded chicken breast. Sort of ok but definitely still not the best choice. So this is going to be quite challenging. I thought the work was going to be physically challenging. And it truly is. But the food is another challenge indeed. I can't see myself going to the store (on foot) every day, buying food and preparing it alongside Rose while she is making her own dinner her way. First of all, food is part of the deal for my work. And if I have to buy all my food.... well that just isn't right. I didn't bring enough money with me for that. She does have rice and free range eggs and real Irish butter. The butter was soooo yellow I was sure it had to be margarine or even butter flavored crisco. But I saw the package. It truly is real butter. I think in the U.S. stores it's sold as Kerry Gold. I found a box of what reads to be healthy fruit and nut fiber cereal. And we always have lo fat milk.
While walking yesterday, I saw a sign for farmers' market in town on Saturdays. I asked Rose but she didn't know anything about it and wasn't interested.
I really wish Rose would let me cook something.
Tomorrow I'm going to Castlemaine on the bus. It's not too far just extremely discouraged to ride the bike there. The road is said to be quite treacherous. I'm going to visit Lorna at another B&B that wants me to come and cook with her. I had to say 'no' because I had already committed to Rosemont. Lorna cooks all healthy, homegrown, organic and vegetarian for her little restaurant. We'll
see. Tomorrow will just be a day visit. For now.......
Thursday, April 10, 2014
FIRST DAY OF WORK AT ROSEMONT B&B
Thursday April 10th
The Hoover. It's referred to any kind of vacuuming. That was the start of my day. I Hoovered the first front entry way, the second entry way, the first and second dining rooms and the kitchen. Then I mopped them all. Then I watched Rose clean a guest room so I would do it her way. Everyone has their own way of cleaning. So I went up to the 3rd floor to clean the 2 rooms there. Did I hear "chambermaid" from anyone? Do chambermaids do ironing? I ironed and ironed and ironed after the rooms were cleaned and the floors were done. I think I ironed a weeks worth of Rose and Scotty's laundry. Now I know why Rose complains of a back ache at the end of the day. She's been doing all this ironing. And she irons everything. She just finished ironing some expensive duvet covers for the special B&B guests coming tomorrow night. Workmen and students don't fall into that category.
But they don't get the 'breakfast included' in their fare of 30 Euro/night. They do get to help themselves to cold cereal and coffee and a lunch lovingly prepared the night before by Rose. In exchange for not getting the full breakfast, Rose makes it up to them by making sandwiches that they can grab on their way out to work.
Typical Irish Breakfast (for Victor, our only real guest last night)
Black and White Pudding: This is kind of gross. It's not pudding at all. It's dried blood (black)
stuffed inside a sausage casing. The white is equally gross but I'm not
sure what parts of the animal it's made up of. Get back to you later on
this. There is 1 piece of each. Each 2" round x 2" long and each is
fried in the fry-o-later along with 2 breakfast sausages. The fry-o-later
sits on the counter all the time filled with oil and ready to go.
Fried eggs: These are basted in a fry pan in oil
Half broiled tomato
Whole wheat toast with butter
Porridge
2 pieces of ham or maybe uncured bacon
After witnessing this, I went for a long walk before starting work and got 2 apples to eat on the way back.
I've been told that tomorrow will be an extra busy day. We will need to clean each room inch by inch because the workmen and students will be leaving for the weekend and Rose wants the rooms impeccably clean.
I don't think I used the treadmill or stair master enough before coming. I already hurt. It's just my first day.
The Hoover. It's referred to any kind of vacuuming. That was the start of my day. I Hoovered the first front entry way, the second entry way, the first and second dining rooms and the kitchen. Then I mopped them all. Then I watched Rose clean a guest room so I would do it her way. Everyone has their own way of cleaning. So I went up to the 3rd floor to clean the 2 rooms there. Did I hear "chambermaid" from anyone? Do chambermaids do ironing? I ironed and ironed and ironed after the rooms were cleaned and the floors were done. I think I ironed a weeks worth of Rose and Scotty's laundry. Now I know why Rose complains of a back ache at the end of the day. She's been doing all this ironing. And she irons everything. She just finished ironing some expensive duvet covers for the special B&B guests coming tomorrow night. Workmen and students don't fall into that category.
But they don't get the 'breakfast included' in their fare of 30 Euro/night. They do get to help themselves to cold cereal and coffee and a lunch lovingly prepared the night before by Rose. In exchange for not getting the full breakfast, Rose makes it up to them by making sandwiches that they can grab on their way out to work.
Typical Irish Breakfast (for Victor, our only real guest last night)
Black and White Pudding: This is kind of gross. It's not pudding at all. It's dried blood (black)
stuffed inside a sausage casing. The white is equally gross but I'm not
sure what parts of the animal it's made up of. Get back to you later on
this. There is 1 piece of each. Each 2" round x 2" long and each is
fried in the fry-o-later along with 2 breakfast sausages. The fry-o-later
sits on the counter all the time filled with oil and ready to go.
Fried eggs: These are basted in a fry pan in oil
Half broiled tomato
Whole wheat toast with butter
Porridge
2 pieces of ham or maybe uncured bacon
After witnessing this, I went for a long walk before starting work and got 2 apples to eat on the way back.
I've been told that tomorrow will be an extra busy day. We will need to clean each room inch by inch because the workmen and students will be leaving for the weekend and Rose wants the rooms impeccably clean.
I don't think I used the treadmill or stair master enough before coming. I already hurt. It's just my first day.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
ROSE
Wed. April 9th 2014
Rose is my host. I thought she was about my age but she's actually 12 years younger. She lives here at Rosemont with Scotty. He's this little, happy-go-lucky guy who is very pleasant to be around and easy to talk to.
On my first night here, I was not allowed to do anything. Rose said she was making chicken curry for supper for 6 of us. Again, she would not let me do anything. She made it over rice and it was very delicious. We have a student staying here who attends the University down the road. His name is Shamus and he's from Killarney. We have 2 workers who stay during the week from Wexford. They have contracted work for a company dealing with the windmills in the area. Wexford is too far to commute so they sleep and eat here during the week. There are 7 rooms to rent here. I stay in one and am pleased to say I have my own bathroom! Awesome! The other 3 rooms are rented starting tomorrow. I know I will be quite busy when there are regular guests staying. Rose is proud to say she irons EVERYTHING! Not only does she iron the bedsheets on a press but again puts an iron to the sheets once they're on the bed. This should be interesting. This place is immaculately kept.
Rose has one daughter and one son. Her daughter Katherine, has a baby daughter who is coming here the weekend after next for her christening. Party and lots of food to follow---here. The baby daughter's name is Abbey. She was born with a heart problem and has already undergone 3 open-heart surgeries. She is termed by all the family as "The miracle baby". She's doing fabulous. They live on the Isle of Man. Rose calls her (Abbey) on the phone every night to say goodnight. I believe Abbey isn't quite one. It should be quite a party.
Right before Rose picked me up at the train station, she had a 2hr. session with a hypnotherapist to quit smoking. This is actually her first few hours being smoke-free. Scotty still smokes.
Rose has a bicycle! We are already talking about where I'm going first. It will be to Castlemane. But I have to go up and over some mountains to get there. It's probably only about 20 miles but 20 miles of extreme hills. We'll see. I'll have to see what the bus schedule looks like. I'm up for an all day bike ride but Scotty says the road to Castlemane in places is quite treacherous.
Rose has a dog. Her name is Gizzy. She was rescued by Rose after Rose learned she was being abused. Rose is an animal lover and has rescued numerous animals after which she will find appropriate homes for each. She kept Gizzy. I haven't actually been introduced to Gizzy yet. We have to go slow. Taking her for a walk with a leash will be the first step. She kind of looks like a large Scotty dog or Westie or Bichon-mix. I guess she has some Shitzu in her too. She's only 5.
It's dark already. I'm in my room with the window open...no screen. And it's very comfortable.
Tomorrow should be busy learning the ins and outs of what makes this home a lovely place to stay.
Word for today is.....ORANGE
It has come up several times today.
Rose is my host. I thought she was about my age but she's actually 12 years younger. She lives here at Rosemont with Scotty. He's this little, happy-go-lucky guy who is very pleasant to be around and easy to talk to.
On my first night here, I was not allowed to do anything. Rose said she was making chicken curry for supper for 6 of us. Again, she would not let me do anything. She made it over rice and it was very delicious. We have a student staying here who attends the University down the road. His name is Shamus and he's from Killarney. We have 2 workers who stay during the week from Wexford. They have contracted work for a company dealing with the windmills in the area. Wexford is too far to commute so they sleep and eat here during the week. There are 7 rooms to rent here. I stay in one and am pleased to say I have my own bathroom! Awesome! The other 3 rooms are rented starting tomorrow. I know I will be quite busy when there are regular guests staying. Rose is proud to say she irons EVERYTHING! Not only does she iron the bedsheets on a press but again puts an iron to the sheets once they're on the bed. This should be interesting. This place is immaculately kept.
Rose has one daughter and one son. Her daughter Katherine, has a baby daughter who is coming here the weekend after next for her christening. Party and lots of food to follow---here. The baby daughter's name is Abbey. She was born with a heart problem and has already undergone 3 open-heart surgeries. She is termed by all the family as "The miracle baby". She's doing fabulous. They live on the Isle of Man. Rose calls her (Abbey) on the phone every night to say goodnight. I believe Abbey isn't quite one. It should be quite a party.
Right before Rose picked me up at the train station, she had a 2hr. session with a hypnotherapist to quit smoking. This is actually her first few hours being smoke-free. Scotty still smokes.
Rose has a bicycle! We are already talking about where I'm going first. It will be to Castlemane. But I have to go up and over some mountains to get there. It's probably only about 20 miles but 20 miles of extreme hills. We'll see. I'll have to see what the bus schedule looks like. I'm up for an all day bike ride but Scotty says the road to Castlemane in places is quite treacherous.
Rose has a dog. Her name is Gizzy. She was rescued by Rose after Rose learned she was being abused. Rose is an animal lover and has rescued numerous animals after which she will find appropriate homes for each. She kept Gizzy. I haven't actually been introduced to Gizzy yet. We have to go slow. Taking her for a walk with a leash will be the first step. She kind of looks like a large Scotty dog or Westie or Bichon-mix. I guess she has some Shitzu in her too. She's only 5.
It's dark already. I'm in my room with the window open...no screen. And it's very comfortable.
Tomorrow should be busy learning the ins and outs of what makes this home a lovely place to stay.
Word for today is.....ORANGE
It has come up several times today.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
DUBLIN 1st day in Ireland
April 8th 2014
I arrived here in Dublin this morning at 8:30 a.m. local time after a good flight comprised mostly of sleeping. I do like overnight flights. One little glass of wine and it's lights out Irene. The airport is quite nice--small in comparison let's say to Atlanta where you have to take a train to get to baggage claim. I lucked out by following the signs to taxis and busses when a bus pulled up and said Heuston
Station on the front. I knew the hotel I was staying at was very near to Heuston Rail Station. But I didn't have to guess if it was the right bus because one young man asked with a smile if he could help and even offered to put my suitcase on the bus for me. So far everyone has been outstandingly helpful and always with a smile. I had heard that people in Ireland are one of the friendliest of countries in Europe. So far everyone is right. On the way to Temple Bar I saw a place you could rent a Segway to see the sights. That would be so much fun. If it was a little warmer and I could find that place again, I think I'd really like to do that. It would be like renting a moped only maybe a little safer because of the 3 wheels.
I chose to stay in a hotel for one night here in Dublin so I could get to see the city; knowing I may not be back in this area once I start work in the western part of the country. And I chose Temple Bar area here because it is where Trinity College is and it is right on the Liffey River and I read it is the place to be at night for live music. So far almost everyone I see on the streets are college-aged kids. Also there are quite a lot of bicycles ridden my many even in this 40 deg. weather. Yes, it is quite cool today. But with the sun out is quite pleasant. I am very glad I brought my lined rain parka. It is perfect for a day like today.
So I've been walking all day (only got lost once) and like many college towns has restaurants of every ethnicity. I ate lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. Once I saw hummus and tabbouli and felafel, I looked no further. It was excellent. The Lebanese coffee made Italian espresso seem mild.
I met 2 girls from Croatia on vacation. They giggled and showed surprise when I said that in U.S., Croatia was getting to be a great place to vacation with its' beautiful beaches.
So tomorrow I will walk about a mile along the Liffey River to get to the train station by 1 when it leaves for the 4 hr. trip to Tralee. Rose will pick me up at 5 to take me to Rosemont B&B---my new home for 2 months! Looking forward to it.
visit: www.rosemontbnbtralee.com to see where I'll be.
I arrived here in Dublin this morning at 8:30 a.m. local time after a good flight comprised mostly of sleeping. I do like overnight flights. One little glass of wine and it's lights out Irene. The airport is quite nice--small in comparison let's say to Atlanta where you have to take a train to get to baggage claim. I lucked out by following the signs to taxis and busses when a bus pulled up and said Heuston
Station on the front. I knew the hotel I was staying at was very near to Heuston Rail Station. But I didn't have to guess if it was the right bus because one young man asked with a smile if he could help and even offered to put my suitcase on the bus for me. So far everyone has been outstandingly helpful and always with a smile. I had heard that people in Ireland are one of the friendliest of countries in Europe. So far everyone is right. On the way to Temple Bar I saw a place you could rent a Segway to see the sights. That would be so much fun. If it was a little warmer and I could find that place again, I think I'd really like to do that. It would be like renting a moped only maybe a little safer because of the 3 wheels.
I chose to stay in a hotel for one night here in Dublin so I could get to see the city; knowing I may not be back in this area once I start work in the western part of the country. And I chose Temple Bar area here because it is where Trinity College is and it is right on the Liffey River and I read it is the place to be at night for live music. So far almost everyone I see on the streets are college-aged kids. Also there are quite a lot of bicycles ridden my many even in this 40 deg. weather. Yes, it is quite cool today. But with the sun out is quite pleasant. I am very glad I brought my lined rain parka. It is perfect for a day like today.
So I've been walking all day (only got lost once) and like many college towns has restaurants of every ethnicity. I ate lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. Once I saw hummus and tabbouli and felafel, I looked no further. It was excellent. The Lebanese coffee made Italian espresso seem mild.
I met 2 girls from Croatia on vacation. They giggled and showed surprise when I said that in U.S., Croatia was getting to be a great place to vacation with its' beautiful beaches.
So tomorrow I will walk about a mile along the Liffey River to get to the train station by 1 when it leaves for the 4 hr. trip to Tralee. Rose will pick me up at 5 to take me to Rosemont B&B---my new home for 2 months! Looking forward to it.
visit: www.rosemontbnbtralee.com to see where I'll be.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
FILLING MY SUITCASE
April 2, 2014
Today I will drag out my carry-on sized suitcase leaving it open and available to add things as I think of them. Packing last minute on Monday morning is not an option for this trip. Historically I have been able to pack in 5 minutes for most trips. But not this one. I will refer to Rick Steves packing list published online just as a reminder. I see the weather where I am going is almost exactly the same weather we are having here right now. It's cloudy, rainy and cool--in the 50's. So I'll have to dress in layers. One goal I have today is to go to Barnes and Noble book store and get maps of Ireland including a street map. I plan on biking a lot so a street map is a necessity. Getting lost I am sure will be part of my daily activity. Having a map will help me to know just how lost I am. Excited and anxious today.
Today I will drag out my carry-on sized suitcase leaving it open and available to add things as I think of them. Packing last minute on Monday morning is not an option for this trip. Historically I have been able to pack in 5 minutes for most trips. But not this one. I will refer to Rick Steves packing list published online just as a reminder. I see the weather where I am going is almost exactly the same weather we are having here right now. It's cloudy, rainy and cool--in the 50's. So I'll have to dress in layers. One goal I have today is to go to Barnes and Noble book store and get maps of Ireland including a street map. I plan on biking a lot so a street map is a necessity. Getting lost I am sure will be part of my daily activity. Having a map will help me to know just how lost I am. Excited and anxious today.
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