Armed and dangerous...

Roosters have 2 purposes in life: 1: to make more chickens and 2: to protect their flock. So far our rooster has done both jobs well except yesterday he took the protection part of his contract a little too serious.We usually let the chickens out of their hen yard a few times a day for the free range aspect and because they love to forage the property for bugs and worms and fresh greens (it makes their yolks golden orange). If even one hen has not gone back into the henyard when we herd them in, the rooster will not go in either which is a good thing. What is not a good thing is the fact that he feels threatned by the herder (yesterday it was me) until all the gals are accounted for. So there I am up in the backwoods, trying to get him to come in, since I don't see any other hens around. I am wearing Tom's boots which are 2 sizes too big and I do not have a stick with me, which is usually enough to fend him off should he get nasty. Well when he saw me coming, he went phsyco!! I am talking full on spur combat with the neck feathers all forward and I swear his eyes had little tiny images of Satan himself in them. The more I tried to get away, the more he came after me even when I hid behind a large tree, he came looking for me. I can't imagine what the closest neighbour must have thought hearing me shrieking like a scared schoolgirl and at the same time swearing like an angry sailor on leave. Fortuneatly there is enough bush between us and them so they can't see whats going on.

Giving me the evil eye...

I was finally able to pick up a chunk of a rotten log and threw it at him and he went running towards the hen yard. By this time I thought you F#*#*N so and so, I hope that hawk comes straight down and picks you off so you don't even know what hit you! He wasn't anywhere to be seen so he obviously found a hiding place away from me...I was so shook up and angry and until you've had a rooster come at you with the look of the devil in his eyes, you have no idea how freaky it really is...he must have come at me about 8 or 9 times before I escaped. After Griffin and I got back from our walk, we came up the driveway and look who's way down in the front field but one little hen, non chalantly picking her way through the new garden patch. I don't think she had a clue of the trouble she had caused.

So I got to thinking that I didn't want to get caught off gaurd again, and decided I needed some serious armour.

"hey rooster...look who's the tough one now!"

my new anti-rooster shield.

You better RUN!

By the way...I don't think he knows how ridiculous he looks without tail feathers...we got him as a young guy and he's never had any grow in properly...but we'll keep that our little secret. By the karate like kicks he was sending my way, I think I'll call him Bruce, after Bruce Lee (besides a few other unmentionables!).

site of the day...

So, you know how you log on to your computer to research lets say, a good soup recipe and you end up buying an antique couch from Regina? Yeah? Well that's why I limit my time to the www. Actually I haven't bought any couches lately but I think I'm going to start posting a favorite site of the day and maybe how I got there...this time I was looking at rural farm life blogs and ended up strolling through the digital collection of the New York Public Library. If you love images as I do then this one will keep you busy for hours...here's just a few of my favorites...

Cherry tree...Japan around 1840

Indian dancer

Sunprint...seaweed

Scottish immigrants

Sioux camp

here's the link

Inside...

Its nice and cozy in the studio and I thought I would post a  simple and REALLY inexpensive craft project...my main window faces south and sometimes the sun is glaring in on me, (yes we do get the occaisional sunny day on the wet coast!) I didn't want to block out the light or the view so I dug back into my childhood when we used to put pressed leaves between wax paper and run a hot iron gently and quickly over them....

I used to make pressed botanicals under glass and frame them, so I still have an abundance of flowers and leaves in phone books...these are Queen Anne's Lace flowers...it is a really soft look and they kind of look like snowflakes..

Then I started messing around with some smaller ones for an opening night at the market/deli/cafe that I work part time in (funny enough its called Farmers Daughter!)....

 

These ones are just to put over a small jar with a tea light in them. They're actually an inspiration from my friend Irma Beltgens who makes gorgeous lamps although not with wax paper but a very refined lamination process...

 

Click here for a link where you can see more of her work on her etsy shop...

Anyway so there's a rainy day project for you...

Back to the farm

Well now that my trip to Ireland has finally been documented in its entirety, I will get back to life on the farm..
This was the sky this morning which seems to be staying darker a lot later...

It doesn't take long before the sun starts to peak through the clouds and the world is once again awake and goats and chickens want to be fed..This is Tramp, by the way...he is one of our 2 remaining goats that we rescued from the petting zoo in Victoria..we originally had 6 but the other 4 have gone to that big meadow in the sky...

The chickens LOVE to get out of the hen yard a few times a day but only under supervision since the hawks and ravens like to eat them for lunch..they spend hours scratching around looking for bugs and nibbling on grass...I'm always amazed at how good their eyesight is! They can pick out the tiniest black bug from a patch of black soil...

The Oh so Merry Ploughboy!

Well, as I said, I had left my extra battery and charger in Dingle and wouldn't see it again until back in Canada so our last few days in Dublin are luckily burned in my memory...Stayed a night in Cork at a lovely b&b on the river Lee. It got me to thinking how a lot of these towns are built on waterways and how life revolved around them for centuries before highways and cars came into being....It would be cool to time travel and see how life was 300 years ago in some of these places...We strolled around Cork with its modern Grand Mall and twisted old streets. We found a sleek modern bistro and decided to have some dinner there...really yummy pasta and a few good glasses of wine for me and Guinness for the Da. Luckily the b&b had a big  bathtub for me to soak in after all that driving from Dingle!Took the rental car back safe and sound the next morning and hopped the train for Dublin.Did I mention how much we loved the train travel? So relaxing and a great place to people watch...sat with these really crazy, dreadhead hippies from Poland with their beautiful daughter who was practicing her Irish language skills by reading all the signs aloud.
It was good to be back in Dublin and to see Aja and Robert and spent a few days in the city centre one last time to do some shopping with Aja...our second to last night there they decided to take us out for a farewell dinner up in the hills of Balleycullen at one of Irelands oldest pubs, The Merry Ploughboy.
When I say up in the hills I mean really up there...our taxi took about 20 minutes through twisting, winding, rock walled lined narrow roads to what seemed like the end of the road. And there it was...this pretty old pub/ eatery with the walls and shelves filled with antiques, old posters of the IRA, photos and general old stuff everywhere...We ordered up our pints and food and soon were served up with incredible plates of Wicklow lamb, salmon and fresh local veggies heaped on plates. We sat enjoying our dinner, then dessert then more pints and more pints kept coming...upstairs there was a private show going on for a bus tour where a traditional Irish band was playing so we had a peak in on that and came back down for another pint...before we realized it, the restaraunt had closed and we were the only patrons left...the band had come down to sit at the bar and brought a guitar with them and began to sing a few songs...Aja and I got brave enough to go up and request a song...well the pints kept flowing and Robert and Dad joined in and what can I say except it was the perfect end to the perfect trip....the next morning....Not so Merry...spent the day nursing a BIG Guinness hangover and laughing at the crumpled up bill from OUR share of the night...17 pints...and that was an hour before we left! Anyway much fun was had by all....As for the 29 hour trip home...what can I say..aside from almost missing our connection in Amsterdam, it went pretty smooth with views of Greenland gracing our windows.

It was a lifetime dream come true and it wouldn't have been a fraction of the fun and amazement if it weren't for my most excellent travel companion, my Dad. We were able to see so much and experience so much more than I could have imagined..to be able to dig up our roots and to meet the people who shadow our family history...to hear the beautiful voices of the most friendly people I've met will be imprinted on us forever...

Not kissing the Blarney Stone

This is the lovely Blarney Castle.
On our way back to Cork we saw it on the map and decided it might be worth a look, even though anything 'Blarney' seems to be sort of cliche' and touristy.
When we got there, there were quite a few cars in the carpark and a big touristy gift shop flanked entrance (with a 10 euro admittance fee) but we decided to go anyway.
I'm so glad we did because it is definitely one of the prettiest places in Ireland....The walk to the castle takes you through a creek lined park and looming ahead is this huge stone structure..

Once inside you must walk up the 147 stone spiral staircase steps to get to the top...I was a bit worried about Dad but once again, trooper that he is, we kept going and arrived safely at the top and looked out to a gorgeous view of the property  which has been witness to many battles since1446...

  It had been raining up until we got to the top of the castle when the sun came out to show off all of those magnificent shades of green!   The stone work is incredible and once again a photographers dream with a shot around every corner...                                  

                                          

          Looking over the edge about 150 feet down .

When you're at the top for another added fee you can kiss the famous Blarney Stone which entails lying over an opening in the castle floor, upside down and kissing a big wet rock.

It's supposed to give you the gift of the gab...needless to say Dad nor myself needs it (since we already possess enough of that) and I couldn't really imagine paying the extra euro to give myself and Dad back trouble for the remainder of our trip!

When we climbed back down, we had the chance to meet up with some really friendly rooks who were hanging out in the picnic area...they are the Irish version of our ravens...

Anyway it was back on the road to Cork to return our rental car and hop the train to Dublin...

You say Shaboom, I say Macroom....

After Dingle we headed back to Killarney and stayed another night in a pretty little boutique hotel with views looking out into the village.

It was a rainy day so we thought we would just drive towards Macroom and see where it took us.
Dad kept calling it Shaboom and I just about drove off the road cause it was driving me batty!
On the way into Macroom, we found this lovely old cemetery and church ruins and pulled over for a closer look.

                        The views were really pretty out into the valley...

 

We had passed through Macroom on the way into Kerry and decided to come back and have a closer look. Right in the middle of town, (actually the motorway runs straight through it) is a medieval castle bulit around 1654. Sir William Penn was granted this place by the oh so generous Oliver Cromwell.

   The motorway bridge is another gorgeous marvel of architecture..

             And of course another mossy old cemetery to poke around in...

 I found this tombstone and thought it very interesting and one of these days will try to do some research into the battle it mentions.

 

Well back from my research and found a link on Wikipedia about the battle which happened very close to where we were.Click here to read more Coolavokig Ambush. It was areal hot bed of ambushes in this area, in fact it's where the famous Michael Collins was killed in a similar ambush.

The walk around Macroom was so interesting...deeking in and out of Medieval castles along the river...I even found a pretty broken piece of old pottery as a souvenir

We were in Macroom on a Sunday and at around noon we decided to go for lunch in a hotel on the main drag. Well talk about dining with the locals! It was the big Sunday buffet for many locals after church so we sat and people watched and listened to the men propped up at the bar speaking in Irish while we ate another excellent meal.

A short note: I had left my charger and extra camera battery in our room in Dingle, and didn't realize it until Macroom which is a good 3 hour drive away. So instead of going back for it we had the Oh so sweet Thomas from the Quayside B&B click here for more to put it in the post for me. Therefore there are only a few chosen pictures left and since it was nearing the end of our trip, I figured I would rough it and put the rest of my memories in the old fashioned computer...my brain.

 On the way out of the Macroom area we stopped in another pretty little Irish town called Kenmare where almost right in town is a tiny park with some ancient bronze age standing stones.  The odd thing about these is how they got to this spot since the type of rock is only found in an area many miles away and these stones weigh a few thousand pounds each....