7km to Cloyne

Last weekend we were all just arriving at this time, it is crazy to think how quickly the group of us has already become a little family, in each of the cottages, as well as an entire group. Yesterday was a good day, went into Midelton to see the farmers market there and buy a few things for our dinner tonight – my favourite, roast chicken, roast veg, mashed spuds and romanesco. Then I (guiltily) had a 3 hour nap, had dinner and headed over to The Coach House for a fun filled evening of Beer Pong (I didn’t actually play!), and Kings. I turned in relatively early, because I didn’t want to waste the day in bed.

I got my order of work and filling over with this morning, and then we ventured out for a walk – which really ended up being quite the adventure. Shanagarry Strand is about 2.5 km from here, so off we went. About half way there we could see the sea, and there was what looked like a field that we thought we could cross, wrong, terribly wrong. It was more of a marsh than a field, and we’d walk a bit and then there would be a small creek, on we’d go and it would get swampier and swampier, so we’d have to recalculate the route. After about 20 minutes of this, we decided to head up to the fence where it looked like there was a grassy boarder, wrong again, we finally just climbed over the barbwire fence. As we were walking down someone’s drive their dog came running up to us and showed us the way to the beach, it seemed like this was a regular thing for him to do! The sea smells so lovely here, but holy the wind could nearly knock you down. It was beautiful and felt so great to get some air. The adventure continued as we walked back, which ended in probably walking about 6km more than we needed to, but we saw lots of the beautiful country side. At one point we reached a sign that read, “7km to Cloyne,” which is not at all where we wanted to be going. We were gone for nearly three hours, so we will all sleep well tonight after the sea air I’m sure.

A few people have asked what the weather is like, most of the time it is quite grey and dreary, with either a mist of rain, or it’s pouring. It is nearly always windy (from the sea!), and it is so cold. I know it’s damn cold at home right now, but I’m not staying in a Birkholz house here in Shanagarry (not that I’m complaining!), so the houses are quite drafty. Today it was 7 above, but the wind makes it feel so much cooler than that, I wore an undershirt, a thermal top, a wool sweater, a fleece, a shell, a big wool scarf and a toque and I wasn’t too warm at all. It’s a different cold than at home, that’s for sure. When the sun is shining, it is generally still windy, so it’s quite cold still. The weather should improve though over the 12 weeks, and I almost feel like I could tell a difference with the daylight in the evenings this week, perhaps just wishful thinking though. Peaking through the ground, there are already daffodils, which is nice to see.

Tomorrow I am cooking tomato fondue, which is more of a condiment than what the name implies. I am also cooking an apple and mincemeat crumble tart (shortcut pastry round two!), and sweet chilli chicken wings.

I rewrote my tabs for my filing system tonight, they have a suggested way of doing it, but already after week one, I can tell that it isn’t going to work for me. So I will just continue to add to it and change it as I need. I can see why students would struggle towards the end with their filing if they haven’t done it from the beginning, I really hope I can this up and stay on top of it all. After week one I am already wondering how much it is going to cost to ship all of that paper home, but it is what it is, I’m not leaving it behind.

I really can’t believe how well set up these cottages are, they have everything you need to cook and serve a roast dinner, which in my opinion is everything you need to be able to cook pretty much anything. The thought and effort that goes into all of the small things here, how things are served, how tables are set etc. is truly incredible, maybe I notice it more because it’s something that is important to me too, but it really makes a huge difference.

No quotes today, but since my chicken is in the oven with butter, and I made a roux for the gravy...

“If you’re afraid of butter, use cream.” Julia Child

Hannah and me down at the beach!	Furball smiles!	Daffodils!
		It's only week one....
Outside the front gate.	Our friend!	Hannah and I with our furball friend walking towards the sea - it's cold!
Stunning!	Hannah in the marsh!	Shanagarry Strand
I wish these photos did the green justice. It is SO green here.	The home stretch back to Ballymaloe today!	Shanagarry Strand
Ayane, Hannah and me down at the beach, thanks for the photo Ayane!