Dublin

                                                                       

We’ve had to spend 5 days in Dublin due to a gap in our schedule between farms. When we arrived on Sunday we went to a pub the hostel recommended called The Brazen Head. This ended up being the oldest pub in Dublin. We shared a bowl of Traditional Irish stew and watched the Ireland football playoffs while I experienced Irish coffee for the first time. We learned quickly that any drink that has Irish in front of it means alcoholic.

 

Monday we went to the National Gallery to see Caravaggio’s famous lost painting “The Taking of Christ”. Lucas’ father Jeff is a big fan of Caravaggio and has been educating us about Michelangelo Caravaggio. To see this famous painting in person was remarkable. It’s very dark, busy and confusing to the eye at first glance, however the longer you look at it the brighter it becomes and more detail you see. Although it was in a crowded gallery full of art it stood alone in our eyes.  We look forward to seeing more of his work when we're in Rome. After the National Gallery we went to the Temple bar district where all the classic Irish pubs are. We ended up in Temple bar itself where an Irish band was playing. Seeing a traditional Irish band was top on our list and this particular one was fantastic.
 

 

Since we were spending so much time in Dublin and there isn’t much to see (other than millions of pubs) we decided to book a day tour to the West coast to see the Cliffs of Mohr. This was something I wanted to see but was a bit skeptical that they would just be some cliffs that the Irish hype up to make money off tourists. I couldn’t have been more wrong! There was something very magical about the Cliffs that I find hard to describe in words. We also got to see a farm as part of our tour which was kind of cool. The farm land has been in the family for 300 years, It’s been rightfully owned by them for the past 80. The best part of the farm tour was learning about the traditions they have. They still use farming methods that their ancestors used 300 years ago. With big farming in the modern world today knowledge that was once passed down is being lost. We hope to continue learning about these family traditions on our next farm.



Here we are at the farm we toured on top a mountain like the one behind us. It was very windy!



 

It’s been really hard being in Dublin without my family the O’Connell clan. We’ve made so many happy memories celebrating our heritage together that I wish every one of them were here with me. It’s also been hard not to go crazy buying all my gear for the next St. Patrick’s day.



Blaeneinion

 

 

We’ve had the pleasure of spending the month of August in Wales at a Conservation project in Artists Valley. Our host and The Project Manager Sharon Girardi have been such a pleasure and joy for us to volunteer for. Committing to spend a month at someone’s home who you’ve never met before can be quite a scary thing. It could not have worked out better for us thanks to the love and generosity Sharon has shown us.

 In just a short 3.5 years Sharon (with the help of many volunteers like us) has planted 15,000 native broad leaf, nut bearing and fruiting trees. She has also created a beautiful space around the grounds nearest the buildings with berry hedges and raspberries that are great for making jams. They have planted a 2.5 acre orchard with Apple, Pear, Cherry Plum, Chestnut, Walnut, and many other varieties of trees. Within the orchard there is also has space laid out for camping. There are laying hens in a large enclosure that produce the most beautiful brown eggs.  We can’t forget the two sister beavers that were introduced to the grounds just last fall and are thriving.  I am amazed at the amount of stuff Sharon and her volunteers have accomplished the past few years. And yet there is still so much more to do. Her long term goals are to continue to create the forestry on her 75 acres with native trees while trying to become as self-sustainable as possible using the principles of Permaculture.

 

Above is the gazebo & to the right the chicken enclosure 

 

One of the big projects that I have been working on is to get the Holiday accommodations up and running.  Aside from donations the Holiday flats are the only way to bring in money to fund the overall project. There is a holiday cottage which is a little more posh, The Beaver Lodge that is a bit more rustic, and lastly a family room for B&B customers.  They are all quite nice and very affordable. The views alone are worth the stay!





Above is a picture of what the forest looks like naturally



 

Here is a photo of an area where they felled all the trees then planted Sitka Spruce which is not native to Wales. Nothing can survive around these trees. This would also be called Mono Cropping.

Lucas and Fredrick (Frenchman WWOOFer) have been doing a lot of building this past month. They put a “green” roof on the wood store which will later have live plants living on top, built a beaver hide for visitors to hide in while spying on the beavers, Lucas put together a very neat donation box, and now they are digging the holes for the footings of a poly tunnel. All of which have turned out beautifully!

 

Aside from all the sweat and hard work we’ve put in the last month Sharon has won our hearts to her cause. Trees are being felled all over the world for human use without thinking about the long term affects to the environment. Sharon has a solid plan to re build the forestry on her 75 acres for future generations of humans and wild life to enjoy.

 

If you would like to read more about the project or make a donation to Blaeneinion there is a Donate button on the site.

www.blaeneinion.co.uk



To the left you can see the Beaver Hide that Lucas built, in the center is the dome for growing vegetables & to the right is the house & holiday flats.