June 1^st, 2012

Day 12: Cape Clear, Co. Cork, Ireland

Happy June! The weather down here in Cape is certainly celebrating the new month with GORGEOUS weather (check out the view from Ed's driveway below)! It’s also the first day that Ed’s craft shop will be open- exciting things all around!

This morning started with the usual routine of breakfast and then heading out to milk the goats. Zoe headed down to the shop to open up in time for the first ferry that would be arriving. Gayelan and I took care of milking, cleaning the milking parlor and playing with the goats for a while.  I also indulged Izzy in her obsession with fetch for a bit this morning, and as promised, here’s a photo of the girl herself!

Around noon, Ed hopped on a ferry to the mainland to take care of some telephone issues, so it was just us around the house for the day.  We herded all of the goats to the South pasture to graze for the day and soon met an English tourist who wanted to try some ice cream. We sent him off with a cup of ice cream and soon met two more ladies who were from Galway, visiting for the weekend.

We chatted with them for a while about what WWOOFing was, where we were from, what we studied in school, etc. They seemed genuinely interested in both us and the goats, and after showing them around the milking parlor we recommended they come back and visit Ed when he was around so they could meet him.

After that, Gayelan and I ate lunch, and then she went down to switch off at the store and I started strimming (finally!). I’ve been talking about strimming since I got here and yesterday was the perfect day to start it for the first time (Dad, this doesn’t mean I’ll take over the yardwork.). We had to take care of the overgrown grass near the gate entrance that leads to the back door/shop, as well as the grass in the front of the house. Zoe arrived shortly thereafter, and we switched off. We had a few other to-dos on our agenda for the rest of the afternoon, but at around 4p, I trekked down the hill to the shop to take over for Gayelan.

Here’s a glimpse at our cute little craft shop!

From behind the counter

The counter/coolers for ice cream and cheese!

Throughout the afternoon, I sold 13 ice creams to tourists- I’d say that’s a pretty successful first day with the shop open. Mind you, there’s only about 100 people who live on this island permanently (give or take 15ish), and the summer season is just beginning (so not too many tourists) so I was pleasantly surprised with our success.

After I closed up the shop at 6, Gayelan and Zoe met me down here so we could go on a walk to some places we hadn’t yet visited on the island. We also ran into Hanna, a WWOOFer who we met on our first day here. After hanging out on the shore of the South Harbor (our dreams of taking a dip on this beautiful day dashed by the rocky beach & seaweedy water) and looking at some beached sea creatures (barnacels, urchins, jellyfish and crab-bugs), we kept on walking to the lake on the western side of the island.

The view of South Harbor

From the beach!

The girls on the rocks

Sandy and I had walked by the lake on our previous tour-de-Cape-Clear, but this time we hopped a fence and made our way along the lake to the point where the end of the lake was separated by about 30 feet of land until it met the ocean. And let me tell you, this was literally one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been.

We were there around 8pmish and the sun was still in the sky, slowly sinking down (sunset is about 9:30ish here). I can’t put into words the serenity that I felt standing on the rocks along the edge of this island. It was an incredible sight to see that immediately relaxed me and made me feel like I hadn’t a care in the world. It reminded me exactly why I’m doing what I’m doing after graduating college. Taking time to explore, to see and learn new things, to be a part of a culture so rich in history, stories and traditions, and to learn to appreciate the simple things in life.

The lake from the cliff bordering the ocean

The cliffs!

Looking down from the cliffs

Zoe

:)

Gayelan

I wish a picture could do justice to the 60 degree slope of this hill. Gayelan's face might suffice, though.

Absolutely gorgeous

A misty sky- the sun was bright and shining one minute and misted over the next. That's Irish weather for ya!

After our walk, we all trekked home to have dinner. Zoe and Gayelan made a delicious curry sauce that we ate over rice. I definitely need to write down the recipe!

We chatted with Ed for a bit about the goats and about how each of them has such a unique personality. By the time we looked at the clock, it was 11:30, so we put the goats to bed (which was a debacle in and of itself). We planned on heading down to the pub to hear some trad music and drink some wine, but by the time we were finished with everything, it was after midnight and we were all absolutely exhausted.

Maybe next time!

Favorite part of the day: Sitting on the rocks overlooking the Atlantic as the sun was setting. Even though I was in pants and a jumper- it was my own kind of paradise.