May 23, 2012

Day 3: Ahiohill, Co. Cork, Ireland

This morning I woke up a little after 10am and went downstairs to grab some breakfast. The weather is a bit better today (not raining), but still pretty overcast and very very windy. While Zoe cleaned out the fire place, I washed all of the dishes and tidied up the kitchen a bit. Then we headed outside to collect some sticks for the fireplace. Hopefully the weather starts getting a bit warmer so we don’t go through the kindling like we have been!

We were planning to strim a bit today as well, but there were a few problems with the machine at first. There is also an area in the back that has gravel that John wanted to take care of so that Zoe and I didn’t send any rocks straight into the sunporch windows!

A strimmer, for those of you who are curious, is like an extra-large weed whacker.  I mentioned it in my post confidently yesterday pretending I knew what it was (when really I was envisioning attacking the extra long grass with a machete of sorts), but actually found out this morning when John took it out of the shed.  So John strimmed the grass out front, which we will rake up tomorrow, but we need more petrol for the machine so we were unable to do any more.

The reason we couldn’t go get any is because Tina’s van’s ignition broke this morning! There had been a key stuck in the ignition for some time which had been working fine, but this morning, the tip of the key that had been stuck broke off and the rest of the key came out, thus… no driving for us today!

I had a small cup of soup and some bread & houmous (that’s how they spell it here) for lunch and thoroughly ejoyed it! The rest of the day was spent meandering about.. I went around the grounds for a bit and took some photos, played with the dogs, researched my upcoming trips and started putting together an itinerary that I can share with everyone who needs it/wants to keep an eye on me. 

One of the sheds behind the house.. been here since 1848!

Another shed

One of the gardens; various lettuce, greens, and peas!

The path behind the garden to the wooded area

Apple trees!

A view down the driveway 

Looking out over the neighbor's wall.. usually there's a bunch of cows in this field, but regardless, the view is exceptional!

A bit closer up of the same view

Our room!

Dot!

Cartman!

As the afternoon passed, I had some great conversations with John, Tina, the plumber who came to fix the sink and the mechanic who came to work on the car! For dinner, we had seasoned Whiting, chips and a fresh garden salad, all of which was very yummy! Over coffee, we all chatted about the differences in our schooling systems, personal stories from college and such; a great conversation overall and an awesome way to hear about how things have changed!

We had some great chats in front of the fireplace after that, and since we’re all pretty sleepy, called it a night early! I’m up in my room now and after my first shower (yes… don’t judge. Haven’t showered since Sunday…country livin’), I’m relaxing, reading, and enjoying  cup of tea!

This is a great way to start my trip abroad, I think. I’m not off and running like I will be come June, and I get a chance to just sit back and relax before it’s travel travel travel.

Favorite part of the day: Starting my own fire in the fireplace and curling up in front of it with Callie (pictured below) curled up on my lap J

Calise (aka, Callie!)