Beautiful Ballyconneely

Hello from Ireland! We've been here for two weeks today and so far it's amazing. We're staying in Ballyconneely, a coastal village just outside of Clifden, a larger town which is the heart of Connemara. Connemara is a beautiful and rugged area on the West Coast of Ireland - it was one of the last areas to be conquered by outside forces. All of this is in County Galway and north of Shannon, where our plane landed.

When we arrived in Shannon, the customs agent almost didn't allow us to enter the country. We didn't bring any documentation showing that we were going to be WWOOFing and he didn't believe that we had enough money to support ourselves for three months without getting a job and therefore taking one from an Irish person. After talking to us for a few minutes, he made us sit in a waiting area while he processed the rest of the passengers from our plane and then went to talk to his boss. After a nerve-racking 10 minutes, the two agents came back and asked me what kind of music I played on my mandolin (traditional Irish, of course!) and then told us we were lucky that we had caught them in a good mood and we could go on. Phew!

Leaving from New York City and arriving to Ballyconneely, a town with streets wide enough for 1.5 cars (although the drivers somehow squeeze two) was definitely a shock. Also, falling asleep at 11PM even though the sun is still up is something we're still getting used to.

Meet Terri and Lol - our hosts! Terri's family is from Ballyconneely and we can see all of their houses from our front door. Lol is from London and moved to Ireland in the 90s. Terri works at a health shop in Clifden where she sells all sorts of vitamins, health foods, medicines, etc. Lol is an artist and paints a lot of the store signs around Connemara. He also does a lot of work for national monuments - painting pictures of what historians think castles, etc. used to look like. They're both very friendly, knowledgeable about gardening, great cooks and believe in a lot of conspiracy theories, making conversations very interesting!

Terri and Lol on their way to a Clifden pub last Sunday. Lol and a few friends play music every week at the pub.

We've been sleeping in a caravan right outside of Terri and Lol's house for the past two weeks. Her name is "Abbey Somerset" and she's pretty tiny - but has a gas stove, a table, a closet and a bed. There have been a few days of heavy rain and winds, so having a caravan to sleep in has been much nicer than having a tent. And the gas stove is perfect for making a cup of tea!

This is Abbey Somerset, our beautiful home. Notice the ropes and rocks that are used to hold her down. With all of wind, we're pretty grateful for these because there were a few nights where Abbey might have blown away.

Terri and Lol's house sits on 1/4 acre - almost all of which is being put to use. There are raised plant beds, fruit trees, a polytunnel and plans for a chicken coop, composting toilet and outside shower. A lot of the houses around us have pastures with cows and Connemara Ponies. Zach tries to talk to the cows as much as he can and sometimes they talk back. The house is a five minute walk from the Atlantic Ocean and on a good day, you can see at least two islands (that used to have residents but are now abandoned) from the back yard.

Terri and Lol's house from the road.

Terri and Lol's house from the back.

A typical lunch cooked by Molly in the caravan. Grilled cheese, beans in tomoato sauce (basically the worst version of baked beans you've ever had), an apple and of course, Herb, our dino! We didn't eat Herb. We're all vegetarians (him too).

The garden out back has strawberries, onions, herbs, peas, lettuces, radishes and more! 

The road from Terri and Lol's up to the heart of Ballyconneely (just a pub, a small store and a Post Office). We're about 15 km away from the center of Clifden.

The view from the back yard is spectacular. We can see the Twelve Bens, a major mountain range in the southern part of Connemara. We can see a few other hills (smaller than mountains) and pastures and houses for miles.

You can see the Twelve Bens near the middle of this photo. Since the Twelve Bens are so high (2000+ feet and right on the coast) the tops of them are covered in clouds a lot. We're planning on hiking six of them in one hike next week, so hopefully there aren't many clouds that day!

The potato patch (of course!) in the backyard. We didn't get to eat any while we were here, but Zach did a great job taking care of them.

The polytunnel (greenhouse!) in the backyard. Lol is currently building a stone pathway, as you can see in the bottom right corner.

The inside of the polytunnel - full of tomoatoes, a fig tree, cucumbers, lettuces, garlic and more!

 Chief (possibly short for Chieftan) is the family dog. He's 15 years old, deaf, can't always walk straight and loves to lay right where you want to roll the wheelbarrow and he's great to have around. Almost as good as having Ranger.

Chief!

 

 

 

Our typical work day starts at 10AM and ends around 6PM. We get a break for lunch in the middle of the day and on good days, Terri makes scones and we get a break for tea in the afternoon - but that's not very often. Almost every day we do something different. Zach seems to be given the jobs involving more heavy lifting and I tend to be given jobs like weeding and tilling. My attempt to get Michelle Obama's toned arms while farming is not coming to fruition, but Zach is well on his way.

We've gone to the bog three times so far. Working on the bog is almost as Irish as you can get. People cut turf from the bog and use it to heat their homes - a practice that has been going on for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. It takes multiple years to get turf into a state that is sustable for burning. Each summer, every family goes out to their section of the bog (if you live in an area with bog, the Irish government used to allot your family a portion of the bog - but this practice has been stopped) and cuts the turf into long strips. This is allowed to sit until the next summer, so the tops and sides of the bog can dry. During the next summer, the family (and WWOOFers if you have them) come our and turn the cut pieces of turf over, so that the other side can dry. Then, a few weeks later, the turf is stacked into teepee looking things called foots so the wind can dry the turf even further. At the end of that year, if it's been dry and windy enough, the turf is ready to take home and burn in the fire place.

Zach and Terri turning the turf on the bog. It's backbreaking work and not the most fun in the rain.

This is what the turf looks like before it's turned.

The same turf, a week later, when we had turned it!

These are the "footings" that the turf is put into so that it can dry.

A picture of Terri, packing up the turf from last year to bring home to burn in the fire place!

Zach and Lol built part of a stone wall one day. I was inside peeling potatoes for dinner and saw them building this crazy ramp and decided it needed documentation.

The rock that Zach and Lol built the ramp for is finally in place! An hour later....

Even though we worked a lot, we got two days off a week. On one of our days off, we attempted to climb a hill we could see from Terri and Lol's house. The hill is right behind a run down castle (that's on private property) and has a few stone monuments on top, so it seemed interesting. In the end, we couldn't find a way to get to the top of the hill without crossing private property, but we did find a great beach and take some good pictures.

A picture of the rocks at the end of the beach. This beach actually has white sand on it too - but we didn't take any pictures.

Another picture from the beach with more of Ballyconneely on the horizon.

A picture of us on the beach!

On another one of our days off, we walked from Clifden South to a hertiage center and Ballnahinch, a castle that is now a hotel for people much richer than us, but has beautiful gardens you can walk around in for free!
Here are some pictures from our walk and that day.

It's pretty terrifying to walk on a road with signs telling people which side to drive on.

Zach on a bridge! Or me? Our rain jackets are the same color.

This picture is mostly for Grey and Sinan. Or anyone else who likes biking. The biking symbol in Ireland is much more intricate. NOT. FAIR.

Zach in the rain! (I took most of the pictures this day....)

Dan O'Shea's Cottage. This cottage was at the heritage center we visited. The heritage center was great and had a lot of information about the history of Ireland and Connemara, including details on the Famine and more.

The view from Dan O'Shea's front yard.

A window in the cottage.

Ballnahinch - the castle that we visited. If you're ever in need of a pay phone in Ireland, don't go here.

Another view of the Twelve Bens from Terri and Lol's backyard.

We're in Roundstone, a town just south of Ballyconneely, today. Tomorrow we leave Terri and Lol's and head on a 20 day tour of the north west coast and Northern Ireland. We'll be at our next farm in County Wicklow by the beginning of July. We'll update the blog as much as possible, but it's hard to find internet - and there's generally more exciting things to be doing than sitting in an internet cafe.

We're off to watch the Euro Cup in the local pub! We miss everyone!!