Ireland - WWOOFing

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After almost 20 hours of travelling and less than an hour’s continuous sleep, I arrived in Bantry, County Cork, South West Ireland. To make matters worse, the moment I stepped off the bus, it started raining. I wasn’t put off - from the wall I sat on I had a good view of a small harbour, which contained a few sailing boats, and the peninsula behind it. To the left of me was the town square and behind that, the colourful buildings of the town itself, including pub that obviously sold a lot of Guinness. When I turned round, I could see the mountains behind me. I decided I had come to the right place.

Annabel discovered me a few minutes later; whilst I was admiring my surroundings, she had been waiting at the other bus stop across the square, slightly anxious when a bus came but no lost-looking girl got off. We hit it off, though, when she bought me a sticky toffee muffin, along with her chocolate brownie, at the cake shop and told me to finish it before we got to the house, leaving no evidence of our naughtiness!

Annabel and Klaus, my WWOOFing hosts, live in a beautiful house in Ahakista, on the middle of the three peninsulas, around the corner from Graham Norton’s summer house. Heron Gallery, as well as their home, is Annabel’s art studio and gallery, a summer café and a part-time B&B. Annabel’s sister, Lili, has recently built a small house in the 1 acre garden. They have rescue dog Molly, a 2-year old with lots of energy, a very friendly pet pig, two cats and a newly adopted kitten, which is the cutest thing but won’t let anyone stroke it. I have been allowed my very own cabin to sleep in, complete with en-suite and log stove, it is perfect! From my bed I can see the beautiful garden and the mountains beyond.

After a delicious dinner of butterbeans and spinach, the four of us had a table-tennis tournament, in their tiny garage, which I enjoyed immensely despite losing most games, which I blamed on not having played for a few years but was probably just because I’m not very good. After that, it was bed at 9 for me – I slept ‘til nearly 8 the next morning!

Yesterday’s job was getting one of the polytunnels ready for winter. The plan was to take extra leaves off the courgettes, squashes and tomatoes, weed the paths, pick ripe vegetables and scrub the plastic clean of algae. It didn’t sound like too much, so I fully expected to finish in less than 5 hours. So when 3pm came, along with Annabel confirming my day’s work was complete, I was taken by surprise as I’d only done the leaves, veg picking and half of the left-hand path! It didn’t look to me like 5 hours work, so I finished off the path. Annabel then showed me her Raku pottery and I watched whilst she removed the glazed clay from a 1075°C furnace, covered it with sawdust and dunked it in water – quite an exciting process! Molly and I went for a walk up the heathland, as far as the boundary fence and looked out over the sea, the peninsula beyond and the mountains surrounding us. There is no better word to describe the place they live than just beautiful – I really could imagine few better places to spend my days! After “posh fish and chips” (Sea Bass and homemade wedges with Greek salad) for dinner, Annabel initiated me into the joys of Upwords, followed by “farming during the war” on TV. Wonderful!

This morning I went to the Bantry Friday market with Annabel and Klaus. I had then planned to finish off work in the polytunnel, but as it turned out only spent the morning in there, weeding the second path and digging out a Kale plant that was covered with aphids. Incredibly, after a stormy night the day turned warm and sunny, which Annabel and I made the most of and weeded one of the flower beds. I was relieved to be out in the open air, where the breeze kept me from overheating. When that was done I made a chocolate courgette cake with one of the surplus courgettes, which thankfully everyone enjoyed, or at least claimed they did! Anyway, I took it as a compliment when they asked whether I'd like to work in their cafe next summer.

Tomorrow, if the weather is good, I plan to visit the seaside!

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Photos

My cabin
Part of the beautiful garden and the cabin I'm living in

Heron Gallery
View from the garden

View from the hill
Molly looking at the house from the heathland

Polytunnel
After my first day's work in the polytunnel

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

I discovered your blog this morning and I am enjoying them
Sounds like you've landed in a beautiful spot and will learn a lot.