Farming in Ireland.... An Earl, a German man and a lot of eh's and aboout's.

My brilliant family and friends,

*Pre-posting note: I am working on my Ireland slang. You are now warned if words such as brilliant, lovely, crack (slang for fun), lift (elevator), Q'ed and many more terms fill up my blog. ;) Also, this is a very long one simply because it is an introduction. My plan is to turn this  more into a picture blog as time goes on. :)

Well I arrived. Not much else to say about about the trek over here other than, everyone has to have a nightmare travel day, right? It isn't worth you wasting your time reading so... lets just say 48 hours of no sleep, 2+ hours of turbulence on the plane ride to Dublin, and a 9 hour hang out at the Dublin airport were the highlights. But I am here now and that is all that matters! 

The first picture is me with some crazy women from little rock, AZ who I met on the plane. We had cocktail hour over Chicago and swapped stories. :) The second picture is a smoke area at the Dublin airport. I just loved the hodgepodge of people in this picture. The third picture is a undercover shot at my table in the Dublin airport... this is what every Irish flight attendant wore!

Slane, Ireland

The best words to describe Slane, Ireland are quaint and charming. I wish I could travel with you all here. The small town has a main street adorned with pubs, B&B's, one stop light, friendly towns people driving on the left side of the road and other small stores. The real magic of this town is the castle and surrounding area. Out of all the places we could of chosen to farm, we really lucked out. Slane castle is legit. There is so much history on these lands. Not to mention the owner is an actual Earl. (yes, there are still Earls in the world). His ancestors actually lived in the castle and ruled this town. He is referred to as a local celebrity. However, he and his family live in the gate house now (the castle is only open for tours and as a venue for weddings). So for all you people considering getting married in the next few years... I have the in with a castle venue... :)

Lady at the well fair

The day we arrived was the towns biggest celebration all year, the lady at the well fair. A long time ago a young man saw an image of Mary at a well that is on Slane castle grounds. Every year since there has been a celebration to honor the sighting. Today it has become more of an excuse to eat lots of sausage, partake in a rubber duckie race in the river and spend time with the community of Slane. What an experience. Olivia and I walked around, talked to some locals, and soaked up such a raw Irish event. We were having a crack.

 By the way U2 lived in this castle for a year while they wrote one of their albums, then had a premier tour on the castle grounds. There are pictures of Bono in the main lobby of the castle. Awesome. Not to mention this castle has been a venue to many others such as the red hot chili peppers, guns and roses, and oasis.

Farming... 

Apparently wwoofing can also mean manual labor. We've been spending most of the time doing random work for the family, and then some farming. I've actually really enjoyed it. In between the random bench painting and hauling chairs and tables around, we've worked in the gardens. I've been tending to the tomatoes, harvesting, weeding and using sustainable methods to keep the produce coming. We also get to partake in the fresh veggies for our communal lunches. This might be my favorite part of the day. For an hour everyone (the wwoofers, the family, and the au pair) takes a break to have a freshly prepared meal together. There is always a platter of unique cheeses and biscuits (cookie), colorful veggies ( purple cabbage to bright orange carrots), lots of meat and a timely tea/coffee dessert. FYI the coffee in Ireland is FANTASTIC. I am becoming a coffee fanatic (even more than before).


Now I am brought to my next topic, the fellow wwoofers. Who else would volunteer to farm on a farm in Ireland other than a straight faced, young German man and a friendly couple from Canada? Pictures to come later :) Marcus, the young man from Germany, is quite a character to work with. He is learning English, so naturally he tends to be quieter. With a full man beard and a hard workers attitude, he can take on any farm duty. Thus, the family gives him the toughest work. There are so many cultural gaps that somethings he says/does I can't help but nicely snicker. Like all the times he runs off without warning into the woods to relieve himself or runs down the road to see if the speed catcher will read his running pace, we are always intrigued! The couple from Canada are very down to earth people. I've loved the combination of listening to the Irish accent as well as getting used to the eh's and aboouts. But tonight is there last night... so to the pubs to celebrate!

We all stay in a farm house that was built in the 1800's. We live in the only livable part of the entire building. It is crazy to think all the people who have lived here, walked here, or even road a horse back in the day here. The farm house is 200 yards from the castle. We leave the farmhouse every morning and walk right by a castle. There are lush forests around and rolling hills surrounding the outskirts of the land. I feel as if I am in a Pride and Prejudice movie (shout out to carly, rachel, bre, and anyone else). I often stop and soak it all in. :)

That is all for today, lets see what farming adventures occur the rest of the week. Adios amigos.