The unexpected and EPIC trip to Dublin

Sometimes I sit down to write this blog and I find I’m struggling to find anything interesting to say. Not so this week – I think I’ve got too much to write. It was looking like a fairly normal week when my friend Jon Moore, a specialist make up expert in films, tv and theatre, contacted me to ask if I’d like to meet him in Dublin. He was working on the Brian Butterfield tour and offered to add me to the guest list. I’d never been to Dublin and Jacqui would have to stay behind to look after the dogs – holding the fort we call it. Worried I would bottle out if I hesitated I found trains, somewhere to stay that left a bit in my bank account and accepted. I was off to Dublin!

Our nearest station is Nenagh and they do run trains to Dublin but only one a day, at an ungodly hour, is direct. All the others go into Limerick, change for Limerick Junction then change again for Dublin. As Nenagh’s station is, to be frank, a total wasteland I had to scurry around Limerick Colbert Station to print off my ticket. Thanks to a very helpful conductor I managed it and got the connection to Limerick Junction. This is one of the coldest and bleakest stations I’ve ever experienced. There’s no shelter bar the roof and mean little squalls blow across the platforms as passengers huddle behind the pillars. Swifts were flying through it shouting loudly, presumably mocking our travel choices.

The Dublin train was a welcome sight. The last leg was much more comfortable with a reserved seat and – the height of luxury – a trolley service. Though this had 27 types of fizzy drink, many sorts of crisps and mountains of chocolate but no sandwiches to speak of. On Jacqui’s suggestion I’d made my own so I curled up in my corner and munched happily. There was even a trickle of heat from the vents at the side of the carriage.

After more than three years in the rural midlands, Dublin was a bit of a shock at first. One crucial difference to the UK is there is nothing resembling an A to Z of the city. It has many buses, a tram network and they are almost unusable for a stranger as all stops refer to unknown streets. I knew the address of my B&B so hailed one of the many, many taxis hovering around. The B&B was very nice – a bit old and worn, like me now, but welcoming and beautifully clean. David, at the desk, was typically welcoming and they had a tourist map available for all guests. I hoped this, combined with Google maps, would help me find my way around. How wrong I was.

RTE1 had just run three programmes on O’Connell Street, which was very close to my B&B, so I had a vague idea of where to go. In the centre of the street is the Spire – 120 metres high, shiny steel and visible from a long way away. It became my lifeline as I struggled to navigate the city. I made it to the Forbidden Planet bookshop fairly easily. I’d arranged to meet Jon there as Peter Serafinowicz, the star of the “Brian Butterfield” show, was signing books. Although it is 30 years since we last met we recognized one another at once and it was as if we’d never had such a gap. I got my book signed and the selfie taken. Peter Serafinowicz was lovely and I can heartily recommend the book, “There’s no business like…business”.

Cities – and especially Dublin – are for younger, fitter people than I am now. I went back to my B&B for a little rest, then wandered down the side streets to get some dinner. The side streets were a mistake, I was immediately horribly lost and I resorted to Google to guide me to the venue. This was an even bigger mistake as the stupid AI sent me to the wrong place – almost 3 km down the quayside and into another maze-like district that was not on my map. After a futile search I limped to a taxi stand where a driver took me along the quay to the area I needed – then wove through another maze and dropped me off back at the wrong theatre again.

I was almost in tears – I’d missed the start of the show, I was so stiff from the endless cobbles and hills I could hardly walk and I didn’t dare risk another taxi. Some lovely people outside a pub directed me to a bus that would take me back and after a short ride I finally arrived at the venue. Here the theatre staff were all kindness itself, taking me up to the bar, seating me on a sofa and getting me a drink. I chose a large orange squash with ice – I know how to party.

I caught the second half of the show, which was wonderful. Jon, despite being so busy, came out to see me again and we said our good-byes, promising to get together sooner next time. I am lucky to have had such clever, talented and thoughtful students over my years at the Art College. I hope some of them read this and know I think of them often, generally in a positive way.

The next day I was horribly stiff and sore but I had really wanted to go to EPIC, the Irish Emigration museum. Voted one of the top 5 museums in the world, it certainly lives up to its reputation. Despite struggling to walk without staggering I went in and – well, this has already been quite a long episode so I will save the EPIC for next time. Watch this space – it won’t disappoint.
Neither did Dublin.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you back in two weeks.

Jennie.

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by on June 9, 2024  •  Permalink
Posted in A big Adventure, Exploring and visiting
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Posted by Jennie Finch on June 9, 2024

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/the-unexpected-and-epic-trip-to-dublin/

Very little has happened and it’s very tiring

This last few weeks have been very tiring though it seems very little has happened. We had a few lovely sunny days when the countryside was glorious and the birds shouted their appreciation. The dogs demanded the back door be kept open so they could wander in and out at will. Jacqui had a good run at the new area for the greenhouse polytunnel and the raised bed. I managed two good mowings, the first of which was by hand on the top in the orchard. The grass was only sown in March but is already strong and flourishing. One more cut with the lighter mower and I hope to be able to use the sit on machine. Much easier on the shoulders.

Half cut orchard
Tiny little Victoria plums

Everything is bedding in nicely and I was amazed to see tiny plums emerging on the Victoria Plum tree. We didn’t expect anything but a smattering of blossom this first year but several other trees and the raspberry canes are looking good too. It was so hot for a couple of days we had to water the trees in the wood and orchard. As the wood trees are in deep holes cut through the stony layers they are especially vulnerable before they get properly rooted. I am being vigilant and watching for any sign of wilting out there.

The rain came back with a vengeance last week so work outside was suspended. Jacqui had ordered the untreated timber for the raised bed and it was delivered just as the heavens opened again. We are very grateful for the new lean-to as the timber came in 16-foot lengths. We have been able to keep it under cover ready for cutting and setting in the next weeks. This should give us a bed of decent height for – ooh, asparagus! We had an allotment in Bridgwater about 35 years ago and were almost ready to harvest our first asparagus when we had to move. We’ve been waiting a long, long time for another try. The base of the bed is now ready with layers of cardboard and a thick bed of straw, which was abandoned and scattered around us. No gifts refused!

Cynthia being nursed

Much of the last 10 days have been taken up with nursing one of our dogs. Cynthia, the middle dog – daughter and mother – had a very nasty tummy on and off for some time. Tests showed no cause, nor did an ultrasound. Then Jacqui woke early one morning to find her frozen, staring and almost catatonic. A trip to the emergency vet (our own practice but on 24 hr call) helped her a little. Then we had another ultrasound later in the week. Louise, our regular vet, diagnosed a bad neck/back strain and we came away with 3 types of painkillers, antibiotics for the stomach and Valium to keep her calm if necessary.

The poisoned dinner

She refused to even touch the powdered pills in her food, preferring to starve rather than be poisoned. She actually picked through the bowl, lifting out bits of scrambled egg and dropping them on the floor neatly. We resorted to a syringe of mixed liquid painkiller and pills whilst wrapping her neck in a towel to limit mobility that could make her neck worse. She’s recovering now and shows much more of her old self. The bad stomach remains a mystery however. As the land is still waterlogged but a huge amount of slurry spreading is still going on, we were worried about water pollution. The samples came back negative for e-coli but I’m exploring more testing options. We didn’t need the Valium for her though I was tempted to have a couple myself on occasions. Jacqui says I’d have to fight her for them but I know where they are!

We were very lucky to get our plumber back after such a busy season for him. The rain has caused a lot of problems and he’s been overloaded with work but found a couple of days for us. Now we have an updated bathroom with a toilet that doesn’t wobble around and a new heated towel rail that’s not hanging off the wall. We also have a new kitchen tap that runs at a constant temperature and doesn’t turn off at a whim. Luxury.

All excited – last year

This has been the season for the Tour of Italy – the Giro. I love the cycling and it is a good space to crack on and get a lot of the ironing done as I watch on the TV. This year however I’ve almost lost interest. There’s been little real competition for the win as one rider has mopped up almost a third of the stages. It comes to something when the sprint stages are the most interesting. I hope the Tour de France is better but as this “unbelievable” (quoted from the commentators) superman will be riding I rather doubt it.

Even the snails hide from the rain

Well, looking back, I guess quite a lot has happened so it’s not surprising we are so tired. I thought retirement was supposed to be a chance to rest and enjoy different things. We are certainly doing different things and learning new things. There’s always something that needs our attention or is ready for the next stage. I guess that’s really just life and we are lucky to spend it here. The trees, the land, the birds and wildlife are a daily delight.

Hoping for fine weather for all and a happy bank holiday for my UK readers.
Thank you for reading. See you in a couple of weeks.

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by on May 26, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jennie Finch on May 26, 2024

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/very-little-has-happened-and-its-very-tiring/

And the rain it rains every day

Yes, it’s still raining, every day, here in Ireland. I see from the news it’s raining every day in the UK too. I’ve seen some bad years for inclement weather over the years (quite a lot of years – it astounds me just how many) but nothing like this. Some people have blamed El Nino which is a regular occurrence, but much more pronounced over the past year. There are worrying signs of climate change as the Earth’s temperature continues to rise. And a good friend reported a comment by a local farmer in England. According to him, there were two full moons in July 2023. Whenever this happens it will rain for the next twelve months. Well, we are almost there now.

Apart from being really rather gloomy this has had quite an impact on everyday life in our little corner of Ireland. Our house is at the top of a hill but just below the brow. This is good as we have some shelter from the worst of the storm winds. Generally they come in from the south west, off the Atlantic and whistle down the road but go over the top of the house. It is not so good however when there is very heavy rain. The field out to the south drops down to our boundary and there can be a lot of run-off. This flows over our land and works its way into the Majestic.

When Donal cleared the land for the small orchard he made an earth barrier along the boundary and this has reduced the amount of water considerably. Thank you Donal! And thank you for the wonderful work you’ve done on what was overgrown wasteland. One good thing about the rain, especially as there are now some brighter spells, is that the trees are already growing. They all have leaves or buds and a couple have a dusting of blossom, despite the high winds. The newly sown grass has sprung up in the last week and the whole area is transformed. It makes us smile every time we look at it and neighbours walking or driving past have also commented favourably.

One of the best ways to help dry out waterlogged land is by tree planting. It’s rather long term but more of a permanent solution so we are already planning the next round for the wood. Just like the orchard, the new trees are already starting to grow and one of the flowering cherries has some sparse but lovely blossom. Next year we hope there will be a real show of colour to herald the coming of spring.

Much to our surprise, the road menders arrived a few weeks ago and did a very decent job of repairing the four major holes on the road. We can now actually drive along there without risking our tyres, though the downside is they dumped the damaged tarmac in the pond opposite and threw some over our side boundary. There has been a massive increase in road damage over the winter – the local paper led with the headline “Thousands of potholes on our roads”,and it’s not much of an exaggeration. Sometimes it’s like being in a particularly difficult video game, with one of us driving and the other acting as a spotter. A trip to the shops now sounds like, “Hole left…bad bit right…mind the middle…holes left, about four…” It makes journeys interesting if a bit tiring.

Not content with all the progress with the trees, we have a mini-mini digger coming next week. This is only one ton but is small enough to drive (very carefully) round the side to get at the patch next to the back wall. Some time ago we bought a polytunnel greenhouse and we hope to clear the brambles and bushes from this area, set it up and use some of the remaining blocks to build a raised bed just outside the door. We will probably be reliant on raised beds for a lot of plants as the ground is extremely stony. We were shocked when Donal, digging in the wood area, reported hitting rock just a spade depth down. In the end he used a digger, made deep, wide holes filled with earth and planted the trees that way.

The lack of any soil deeper than about eight inches would explain why so many young trees were dying when we arrived. Yes, there’s considerable ash die back but the poor things didn’t stand much of a chance with no space to put down roots. We puzzled over the size and depth of the rock, which comprises tightly packed stones of various sizes. Then we had a chat with a neighbour from just up the hill. She is also having problems finding anywhere to plant as the stones and rocks are only six inches below her soil line. Apparently a lot of this hill was used as a quarry a long time ago and much of this could be abandoned spoil. Well, we have wonderful soil in the top area as years of leaf mould, scrub die back and the fallen trees have rotted down to form rich, deep earth for planting.

The rain has played havoc with our wood store as the high winds brought the tarps down months ago and we have been trying to pull them over and weigh them down ever since. It’s not all bad however. Quite a lot of the wlogs have shed their bark which will make a wonderful mulch. Maybe in a few years we will have lovely rich soil in the wood too. We are hoping Bill, the excellent fence man, will come to repair it and construct a lean-to shelter ready for next winter, when once more, the rain will rain every day.

Thank you for reading. Here’s to a decent spring and – let us whisper it – even some summer this year.

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by on April 14, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jennie Finch on April 14, 2024

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/and-the-rain-it-rains-every-day/

Is it spring yet? Oh, I hope so!

Like most of you, we’ve found this last winter a bit wearing. It’s not been too cold here – nothing like last year when the whole water system froze solid for a week. But it has been stormy, costing us five trees damaged or down in the wood. This is apart from the one damaged by a neighbour whilst taking a heavy hand to his own trees. And it has been wet! Rain, followed by more rain. Then fog and fine drizzle (“mizzle” in north-east parlance), with some heavy rain interspersed with showers. As a result we are surrounded by a sea of mud. Except for the overflowing pond of course. How we are longing for spring!

We’ve been watching this anxiously for several reasons. Firstly the damage to local infrastructure, especially the roads, is considerable. Most roads, small rural winding ones and supposedly main highways, are pitted with holes. The ground is saturated and the water runs off the surrounding land with nowhere to go except across the surface. Our little road, nicely resurfaced just over a year ago, is virtually impassable at one end now.

The loss of trees and undergrowth allowed water to sweep away a lot of the top layer and the heavy farm machinery has ripped large and deep holes in places. There are several areas where only a tractor can pass safely as the damage stretches over most of the road. Apparently it took over twenty years to get this half of the road repaired (the other half was not done but is in better shape now). I have little hope we will get any help with this given the desperate state of many other areas. We have one way in and out and drive very, very carefully at the moment.

Our other concern was getting some more trees planted in time. Apparently its okay to plant up to the end of March but once spring comes new saplings will struggle. With everything waterlogged we were not sure we’d be able to benefit from the clearing done in a dry few days last month. Still, you have to take a leap of faith sometimes so when Fergus our lovely tree man introduced us to Donal, a nurseryman, we decided to forge ahead. It took a bit of driving around to find the nursery but it was certainly worth it and we selected seven trees and some raspberry canes to start our new orchard. We were not willing to spray weed killer over the land, standard practise it seems. Instead Donal will return and rotavate round the trees before sowing “domestic” grass. Then it’s down to us to keep it trimmed.

March 1st is the official start of spring and the weather decided to celebrate this fact by giving us our first snow for a year. We were a bit worried about the baby trees but they’ve been raised outside and are just fine. We celebrated the arrival of spring by lighting the fire in the snug and staying in. I had a beautiful jigsaw for Christmas, the “Rainbow of Birds”, which kept me happily amused for several weeks.

I had some great news last week. The Northern Tibetan Spaniel Club are running a stand at Crufts this year and Scot Lemon asked if he could sell my book, “Puppy Brain”. Of course I said “Yes please!” I can’t sign them, obviously, but each copy comes with a signed picture (two of the dogs, not me) and a bookmark. If you are around on Thursday do drop in. There are some great items on sale and Scot is a fountain of knowledge for this lovely if tricky breed.

Finally I have a request to make. For a number of years I have worked with the remarkable Alex Lewczuk on a number of broadcasts both in Teesside and for Siren FM in Lincoln. The university hold the FM license and have decided to cancel it, effectively closing a valued educational resource and a popular community radio station. If you can would you add your name to the petition to save Siren Radio? It costs nothing and would be very much appreciated.

https://chng.it/6LtJPtXTtc

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you all again in a couple of weeks.
Keep warm, drive safely and here’s to spring!

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by on March 3, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jennie Finch on March 3, 2024

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/is-it-spring-yet-oh-i-hope-so/

To the wood, to the wood!

Despite the continuing atrocious weather a lot of these last few weeks have been spent outdoors. Firstly, we needed to do something about the wood pile. It’s a blessing in these cold winter months but it needs careful handling. Originally almost ten feet high and about six feet deep, we’ve burrowed into it for the past few years. Finally the big blue tarp slid off and the rain – oh so much rain – got in. A lot of the wood was soaked and a surprising amount began to sprout a range of fungi. As our stove is in urgent need of a service, this made lighting the fire increasingly difficult.

After several failed experiments we finally managed to haul the cover back up onto a large area and fastened it over the side wall. Not perfect but an improvement. We are hoping to get a proper lean-to built in the spring ready for the fresh wood from the fallen trees. In the meantime we play “wood Jenga” several times a week, using a rake to dislodge logs without bringing the whole lot down on us. Well, it adds some excitement to the winter days.

I’ve come to the conclusion woodmen are like buses. You wait a year for one and then three come along all at once. The redoubtable Fergus arrived last month to make the road margins and back of the wood safe, producing a huge pile of timber to be split and stored in the autumn. He also gave some good advice about tree nurseries and the planting we have in mind, but this depends on clearing more of the land. As usual, finding someone to do the job has been difficult, especially as a lot of it is close to being waterlogged. Well, let’s be honest, much of it is waterlogged. There’s also the problem of access to the bit at the rear with no easy way to get a digger up there.

I decided to try John, the man who cleared some of the wood for us in the first year. He also set up the impressive stone “monument” in the wood. Well, he’s down there now, clearing the centre ready for a new planting of colourful trees in the next few weeks. He also carved out and gravelled a ramp to the back so now a mini (1.5 ton!) digger and the mower can travel up safely. He’s coming back in the summer to work on our pond, something that is now much more urgent following all the rain.

After the brutal “trimming” of the land over the road there was nothing to stop the opposite pond overflowing and it has flooded across the road. A lot of excess water is now trapped and turning stagnant on our border and our little pond is flowing back over part of our wood. This has serious consequences for the infrastructure as, much to our surprise, the cable layers for the broadband network turned up to lay the fibre connections. This is a national roll-out and we were told it would be soon – in 2025.

Alas, it is not possible to lay the cables due to the water and so they left again. The very helpful Alan Mead suggested they would maybe put up poles in the future. We are still without a landline and rely on our patchy mobile signals which is not very reassuring in the case of emergencies. We must wait and see.

Fergus also managed to put us in touch with Donal who will clear the back and plant a small orchard of mixed fruit trees for us. We will be going to the nursery later this week to talk to an expert and select our trees, which Donal will collect for us. There was apparently an orchard there before but it was gone by the time we moved in. Now the land has lain fallow for some years and should be ready for replanting. There has been some water ingress in the Majestic again, flowing down the slope from the neighbouring fields. Donal will use the excess soil to build a ramp across the back which should reduce, if not remove, this problem.

We are not expecting to get much of the fruit from our trees, especially in the early years. I expect the birds will have quite a lot, though we are putting in a crab apple just for them. The trees will also encourage and feed bees and if we add a nut tree we may even get some squirrels.

So the wood is much lighter now and when we add the new trees will look a lot less bare. Happily there’s some expert advice on hand to make sure we raise happy, healthy trees with space to grow and flourish. I know we will probably not be around to see it all in its glory but others will enjoy them. And the wildlife in the wood will always have a good amount of food, undergrowth and shelter through the years as we will leave a fair proportion of it semi-wild. It’s a very small area but every tree matters and we are determined to make it a vibrant and living space.

Thank you for reading. Here’s to the end of winter and a brighter spring for us all.

I hope to see you in two weeks time.

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by on February 18, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jennie Finch on February 18, 2024

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/to-the-wood-to-the-wood/

Memories are made of fish (and other things)

This last week we passed four years since the UK officially exited the EU and like many people our lives were never going to be the same again. Unlike a lot of people, we took a rather more drastic turn, leaving our home of almost forty years behind us. There have been a lot of changes in our lives. The seemingly endless struggle with the infrastructure, for example. The weather, which is generally milder but certainly wetter than England. Many things are more expensive in Ireland though lots, especially the food, are of a better quality than in the UK. On the plus side we have space, off-road parking and an abundance of birds plants and wildlife.

So where does the fish come in? We were surprised to find the fish over here is simply stupendous. We have a “local” fishmonger who can produce a full side of salmon caught only a few days ago. All his produce is excellent and caught off the West Coast. It also comes with a generous handful of samphire grass, added gratis by Mr Daly who also has (amongst others) excellent cod, mussels and mackerel and makes very good fish cakes. Last week we indulged in some sea bass, a fish we know well from our travels in the past, and it brought back memories of the last time we were in Greece. As we don’t fly, the journey was part of the holiday and we set off on the tiny local train from Saltburn, heading for the Ionian Islands, at stupid-o’clock in the morning. The excellent rail service got us to Lausanne for the night and then on to Ancona where we were catching the ferry to Patras.

Italian trains are very fast and very comfortable – if you travel first class. This is not something we do normally but earlier experiences led us to this extravagance. Second class carriages are crowded and even reserving (and paying for) a seat means nothing to many passengers. I swear the corridors are awash with nuns, all dragging babies and children with them – orphan “bambinis” – and the refusal to give up your place leads to much pushing and angry muttering from those around. The nuns try but rarely succeed in their attempts to infiltrate first class and it is possible to sit quietly and admire the scenery. Every hour or so a steward comes round and places something on the table – a bottle of water, some biscuits, a newspaper, in Italian of course.

We caught our ferry the next day after a riotous evening in Ancona that would fill another blog on its own. We finally arrived on Kefalonia, at the wrong end of the island for our accommodation. There were no taxis. We were saved from a very long and hot walk by the fabulous Batistatou Sisters. I know they sound like a dodgy singing group but they have a car rental business on the dock and dug up a Fiat 650 convertible for us. We called her Penelope and despite her size she coped admirably with the roads and hills of the island. She even took us to Zakynthos on the local ferry so we could visit old friends there.

There was a lot about parts of Kefalonia we didn’t like, especially our first room in Skala. I cannot recommend Skala in any way at all. It was overhyped, dirty, crowded and noisy yet managed to have nothing to do. On returning from Zakynthos we moved up the coast to the Green Bay Bungalows (not bungalows but much nicer then Skala!) and explored the top end of the island. Here we had lunch one day, seated on a walkway across the water. Shoals of fish flitted through the water below us including sea bass. The freshest, most beautiful sea bass I’ve ever tasted.

Our sea bass came from a company in Galway, discovered by Jacqui and now a mainstay in our shopping. Every Tuesday their web site, “Eat more Fish” lists what’s available for delivery on Thursday or Friday. Along with sea bass and bream we’ve had monkfish, cod, line-caught squid, oysters, smoked roe, kippers and even lobsters for a special occasion. Everything is packed in ice and driven to the door, still frozen. There are some problems with deliveries up here but this is one company that has never let us down. We always have a selection of fish in the freezer and it is always stunningly good.

The sea bass evoked happy memories of our Greek trip and also visits to Bern in Switzerland. Here we sat by the Aare river at the “Schwellenmatteli” and watched them pull our lunch out – fresh perch from the glacial waters. We have done some epic journeys over the years and are fortunate to have those memories to share. We’re probably not up to the 1,000 kilometre drives any more, nor the rigours of some of the places we’ve stayed (Mme Cockroach anyone? The beds that tried to eat us at the Golden Lion?) Despite this the knowledge and the images stay with us, and the food still evokes many smiles.

This year we plan to explore a bit more of our new home, starting with the area of Cork where my Irish ancestors came from. Jacqui has found a place by the sea that will accept our three dogs and we are really looking forward to it. It’s a chance to see something new, maybe meet new people and rest a bit too. So here’s to fish – and happy memories.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you back in a couple of weeks.

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by on February 4, 2024  •  Permalink
Posted in A big Adventure, Remembering travels
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Posted by Jennie Finch on February 4, 2024

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/memories-are-made-of-fish-and-other-things/

Well, some upgrades are good, if annoying

In this networked and computer driven society one of the most annoying thing is the compulsory upgrade. After years of using IT, way back to the dial-up days, I have always been of the opinion that if something needs constant upgrading it doesn’t work properly anyway. This rather rough rule of thumb applies to many things in life, I’ve found. Upgrade your car to something bigger and more flashy! Get a new phone too. It’s a new season so don’t wear old clothes, upgrade your whole wardrobe. Well, new and upgraded often doesn’t mean better, just more complicated (and expensive). Especially where computers are concerned.

I’ve been nursing several older desktop PCs that run Windows 7 for a number of years. Now the last one is finally about to die, hence the lack of a blog last week. Part of my problem is software. As I am dyslexic and dyspraxic it takes me a long time to master a program. I am still using Word 97 for my books (I can hear you laughing from here) and newer Windows systems run much newer versions. I find them so confusing I can barely string a sentence together. They have too many menus, everything is muddled up and the functions I rely on are hidden away – or “improved” to the point they are not of any use any more. I was wondering if I’d be able to write anything ever again. Then help came from an unexpected quarter.

After several weeks of delays I finally went back to the opticians to collect my new glasses. A friendly assistant recognized me (“You’re the writer lady!”) and we had a chat about computers. I am still wary of the many “repair and refurbish” shops around town after the total destruction of Jacqui’s desktop and the wiping of my hard drives by another “expert”. James offered a personal recommendation and on Saturday we set off to find Vassilly’s shop. He was everything we’d been promised – helpful, attentive and, with a minimum of mansplaining, I left the shop with a refurbished laptop. It has the dreaded Windows 10, of course, but I have disabled the worst features (Cortana, I’m talking about you). I also have a book coming that will help me wrestle it into submission. I shall keep you posted.

Clean water at last!
One upgrade that is not at all bad in the water system. We finally were booked in and a technician arrived a couple of weeks ago to install and make good the whole lot. We now have a new softener, UV light filter, a carbon trap, two particle filters and a reverse osmosis system. The shed now looks a bit like the bridge of the starship “Enterprise” at night with the array of lights, all water or solar based. The reverse osmosis system is annoying but vital as it removes the excess nitrates. It fits – just – under the sink and dispenses drinking water from a tiny new tap. It also takes up the whole of the cupboard so we are now looking for more storage space. Not a bad upgrade but definitely annoying, especially as it cost a great deal.

Enter the Wildlife
As winter approaches the rampant undergrowth is dying back again and we are getting more sightings on the trail cameras. Mabel, the little tuxedo cat, is convinced she owns the wood and the garden though I notice she is absent when possible rivals appear. A second cat, a tabby this time, has been enjoying the facilities too. We have no objections to this as it will keep away any rats. We did have a rat caught on camera last week so, hey, the more cats the better I think. After the reckless destruction of the trees and habitat across the road we were very worried for our pine marten. It was a happy moment when I saw him in the wood again looking healthy and suitably predatory.

There’s a lot of wildlife around at present, some a bit closer to home than we’d like. I was woken by some loud scrabbling in the skirting boards a few weeks ago, a rather alarming event. Investigation tracked the source to the boiler cupboard where some field mice obviously hoped to make a warm home for the winter. I will not use poisons in the house or grounds as they are a danger to all animals and birds so I have several highly effective traps. So far we’ve caught one live mouse I released without injury onto the verges outside. Since then we’ve had at least one dead mouse a day too. As they’re not poisoned I put them into the wood for larger animals. I don’t like killing anything but we can’t have mice running round the house and at least they help feed others. We are checking around the back for mice-sized holes to make sure there’s not a second wave.

Annoying Cynthia
Our soakaway continues to be a good upgrade if still rather annoying. It’s messy around the edges and we will probably get bricks or tiles in the spring to neaten it up. One of the dogs, Cynthia, objects to the gravel, picking her way across it like a duchess in a cesspit. This is despite the nice, smooth paving slabs laid across it to make a bridge for her sensitive little paws. The other two don’t care and trot over it happily to reach the grass. And it does do its job with no more flooding now Robbie has fixed the gutters so well.

Well, I will be spending the next week or so taming my new tech and working in the wood to get it smoothed out and more ordered. It has been very wet and quite stormy here though it’s not as cold as the North East coast. We are sheltered from the worst of the winds a lot of the time too and there’s been little flooding near us. I think we’ve been rather lucky, looking at the damage done in other parts of the country and the UK.

So, thank you for your patience and I will be back in a couple of weeks when we should be mouse free.
By the way, if anyone’s looking for a little Christmas present, let me just say “Puppy Brain” is currently on sale at Amazon, half price. And with my new, hopefully reliable, upgraded tech I will be venturing into second book territory very soon.

Thank you for reading and keep safe.

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by on October 30, 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in A big Adventure, I.T. Woes
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Posted by Jennie Finch on October 30, 2023

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/well-some-upgrades-are-good-if-annoying/

It’s a bit slow going at the moment

Well, it looks as if autumn is here despite the almost total lack of summer this year.  We had some fine days though these seemed to coincide with doctor or other unmovable appointments, of course.  Still, we are making some progress though it seems a bit slow going at the moment.  Some of this is the weather – can’t do much outside in the pouring rain.  Some is down to lack of workmen.  There are a number of specialist jobs still outstanding and we can’t always find anyone able or willing to do them.  Sometimes it’s just the system – and people not listening when we say just get on with it!

Our big problem at the moment is the well water.  The excesses of the “summer” mean the water table is high – only 6 feet deep according to professional measurements.  The same day I was merrily writing the last episode there was a lavish application of what smelt like pig slurry in the nearby fields.  Two hours later the heavens opened and it poured for several days.  The next morning our water was yellow.  We took samples and rushed them to the lab and began to use only bottled water for drinking and cooking.  The first results confirmed our cautious approach showing a high level of e-coli. 

We are still waiting for the chemical analysis but are trying to get a full system installed.  Like everything else, it’s a bit slow going at present.  Regardless of the recent analysis we want every possible precaution in place.  After all, we have already had high nitrates in the water and the limescale is off the charts.  Living in a rural area, readings change from one day to the next.  We want to safeguard our water, and do it now.  This however is proving difficult. 

The company we want to use won’t come out or discuss options until all the analysis is in.  It’s a bit like trying to get past our previous doctor’s receptionist.  She won’t (or can’t) answer the questions we have and won’t put us through to someone who can.  First we have to jump through her particular hoops.  We don’t care what the report says, we want everything so this never happens again.  Not so much a bit slow going, more a total impasse.  Meanwhile we are struggling on with bottled water. 

The strange weather patterns seem to have disrupted some of the wildlife.  The geese, for example, are either totally absent or arriving in much larger numbers.  We had a plague of flies in the hot spell and then nothing for several weeks.  Clearing off a windowsill out the back I discovered a strange insect dead in one of the jugs.  It was a fair size, about 3 centimetres, with wings, a hard casing and serrated underside.  Anyone know what it might be?

Jacqui has been working on the Majestic, to make it a usable workshop and also to make room for the new water system when it finally arrives.  It’s been a lot slower than we hoped, for health reasons as well as problems finding reliable workmen for the heavy stuff.  This week she finished the first movable workbench and we can start clearing the centre.  There will be a lot of space with the shelves she’s put up using the roof battens as recycled material and it will be ready for wiring soon. Exciting times!

She also unpacked the metal shelf unit she’d ordered – but this isn’t what she ordered at all.  Alas, it arrived months ago so we are stuck with it.  The frame is flimsy aluminium and it falls apart when stood up so she’s bending the fittings to lock them in.  The instructions are just pictures and so badly illustrated they make little sense.  I hate the picture leaflets – I can’t understand them at all, probably as I’m dyspraxic.  These are so useless they don’t even list the number of parts and the only written section is about using cut-proof gloves.  This, I feel, demonstrates their manufacturing values – rough edges included in the price.

We have a sort of routine now.  Even if we are working in different places we meet for coffee in the middle of the day.  We’ve taken to choosing a TV series and having one episode a day and have gone through a number of favourites, old and new.  Just recently the ever helpful sky box suggested “Schitts Creek” so we tried one episode out of curiosity.  It is a delight!  For once the sky box got it right and we are enjoying it more as the series goes on.  I saw the adverts when it was first broadcast and thought, “Ugh, you’re joking!”  Well, I was totally wrong.

One trip into town this week was to the optician for me.  My glasses get a hard time and I knew I probably needed a new prescription.  I was right and now I should wear glasses when driving, which I was expecting and do anyway.  The visit was very enjoyable, much to my surprise, and my eyes are healthy.  I did the hearing test too whilst waiting for all the forms to be filled in.  It seems my hearing is also very good, especially considering my age.  I can hear almost up to bats squeaking and I put that down to rarely going to live music unless it features an orchestra.  After once trying a rock concert I had to leave after half an hour.  I was a wimp when young but I’m feeling the benefit now.

One of the assistants recognised me as “the writer lady” and asked about some books.  Several others joined in and I handed out bookmarks and talked a bit about the books, both Alex Hastings and Puppy Brain.  It was nice to talk about writing and to find people were still interested in the books.  We also got a message from a friend from the UK.  She sent a screenshot of “The Moth Man” on holiday.  She wanted to know if there were any more and immediately went on line to get a copy of “Smoke and Adders”.  That was a lovely moment.

So, it’s a bit slow going at the moment but we are still moving on.  It rains a lot but the spectacular skies are wonderful this time of year.  And just occasionally there’s a rainbow.

Thank you for reading, take care and I hope to see you again in a few weeks.

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by on September 24, 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in A big Adventure, Books
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Posted by Jennie Finch on September 24, 2023

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/its-a-bit-slow-going-at-the-moment/

Love our home but hate the infrastructure

Pondering over the last month or so over last night’s dinner we both agreed we love our home.  When we were first considering the move we had a short list of what we would like.  A very short list actually.  We wanted off road parking, one of the growing problems in Saltburn.  In fact it had become a bit of a nightmare with the flood of visitors, not just at weekends but every day.  The other thing we really wanted was a bit of garden, mainly for the dogs.  We had a little yard, less than 12 feet square, so whatever the weather we were out with them, several times a day.  Combine the parking problem with the rising crowds and it was not always a nice place to be, for us or the dogs.  So, a very short list, and we got both our wishes.

Being a good distance from the nearest town we have no problem with other cars (though there are occasional tractors driving very fast).  The front is gravelled and big enough for several cars, work vans and even, on one memorable occasion, a road stripping machine.  We have a decent sized garden too though it’s been dug up and churned over a bit recently.  Jacqui has it in hand however and is already planning how to make it a comfortable and restful space.  We also have rather more land than we bargained for, with the back area and, of course, the wood.  Both are somewhat challenging as they’ve been fallow (read overgrown) for some years.  Still with the help of friends and occasional mechanical intervention we are moving on.  A lot of work is needed to consolidate what’s been achieved but the more we do the easier it becomes.

One aspect of our almost-idyllic rural life is, however, the almost complete lack of infrastructure.  A sizable chunk of the back garden is taken up by the gas tank (no mains here) and solar panels.  We will hopefully be adding more later on as the mains is still extremely unreliable.  We got the wiring fixed so the fuses didn’t blow several times a day after a mere 8 months.  Then earlier this year we were granted our own transponder box so the lights no longer dim if you put on the kettle.  Alas, there are still sudden power cuts, sometimes for several minutes, sometimes for almost a day. 

The latest set of outages is the reason this blog is late (for which I apologise).  On Tuesday the power went on and off every few seconds for at least a minute.  We’ve taken to unplugging the computers, having already lost 3 to sudden cuts, but this lot toasted the wifi extenders and seems to have removed all settings from the router.  I’m not sure about the dongles either.  We are now waiting for over 120 euros worth of replacement equipment, paid for by us of course.  We’ve also invested in a lorry load of surge protectors, both plug boards and single plugs.  We are just grateful the new fridge/freezer wasn’t damaged this time!

To finish this moan about the infrastructure, we are still struggling with the soak-away systems.  One seems to be blocked completely and when it rains the water from the gutter bubbles over onto the path.  It also sets up a loud burping sound in the bathroom sink and other drains, which is a bit alarming.  We have several things we can try but otherwise it is back to John Gleeson to set it right before winter.

Despite this we do love our home.  It is quiet, private and we’re getting it the way we want now.  We’ve room to work, room to sit around the table and eat and a lovely snug for relaxing.  The dogs are very settled here too.  As one visitor said, “You seem much more chilled now.  Even the dogs seem more relaxed”. We are, I hope, putting the worst of the last few years behind us and looking more to the future.  Jacqui is developing new skills, seemingly every week.  Whether building the Majestic into a workshop or crocheting a wide range of objects, she’s going for it. 

And I’m writing again after the awful year just gone.  The collapse of Impress, my publishers, was a real blow.  It was made worse by the fight over copyright and the imminent threats to pulp the books.  Thanks to support from the other Impress writers we wrested our rights back.  Thanks to wonderful friends Helen and Noel my books were saved.  And thanks to Jacqui’s quiet but persistent support I finished my first new story last week.  I’ve returned to the Levels, to look at some of the characters in more detail.  First up is Iris, wife of Derek Johns and mother to Newt.  How did such a smart, capable woman come to marry the despicable Derek?  Well, “Iris’s Story” has the answer.  I intend it to be followed shortly by similar tales for the redoubtable Ada Mallory and the slightly mysterious Tom Monarch.

I’m looking at e-books for these at first, maybe all 3 in one as they are short (8,000 word) stories.  What do you think?

So, provided we can stop our infrastructure exploding in the future we will keep on doing, making and loving our little Irish home.

Thank you for your patience, thank you for reading and I hope to be back on time next fortnight!

I’m just up and plodding again, if not running but cannot add pictures this time.

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by on September 11, 2023  •  Permalink
Posted in A big Adventure, I.T. Woes, Writing
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Posted by Jennie Finch on September 11, 2023

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/love-our-home-but-hate-the-infrastructure/

It’s been one heck of an August

Firstly I offer you my deep and profound apologies for the late posting.  It’s just that we’ve had one heck of an August so far.  August has always been a bit of a problematic month for us in Ireland.  Regular readers may recall the plague of flies, repeated each year.  The heat and dust from building triggered Jacqui’s two heart attacks the first year we were here.  The weather is decidedly odd also, either blazingly hot or almost unrelenting rain.  This year it’s the latter.  Workmen either vanish without a word or turn up suddenly and unexpectedly.  We’re always glad to see them but may have problems fitting them around existing arrangements.  The one thing you don’t want to do is send them away – they may never come back!

Well, this year we had flies, workmen and visitors as well as the dreary weather.  Apart from the flies we were delighted to see them all, I have to say.  The first arrival was Noel, our friend from the north-east of England who runs the tiny charity “Lighthouse Family Matters”.  Do look it up – it is a wonderful example of micro-charity.  He’s off to Kenya again soon but wanted to see us and a bit more of his native land before he went.  He went travelling in his camper van for a few days in the middle, then came back and did a magnificent stint in the back garden.  In one day he cleared a path around the land so we can get at the weeds and tree branches.  He also brought over the first boxes of my books so ably rescued by Helen in the spring.  Thank you Helen!  And thank you Noel – you are a star!   

John, our drain man, arranged for Jim and his son Dan to do our soak-away two days after Noel left.  This meant the garden, that we’ve put a lot of work into, would have to be dug up and the grass was all crushed.  We’re not wildly house-proud but we were expecting my sister for her first visit and it didn’t make the best initial impression, alas. As an added bonus Cynthia, one of the dogs, decided she hates the gravel.  She refuses to walk on it to get to the remaining grass and it is beneath her dignity to wee on the concrete. My sister Rosemary and Jacqui put some flat paving stones down for her but she now refuses to use them either.  Difficult dogs!  Lovely, clever but very difficult sometimes.

Jim has finished the job we began on the path into the wood and it is now flat and clear.  When the grass grows back I can use the mower to keep it clear.  With all the rain and odd sunny intervals, the ground is already recovering and green shoots are reappearing.  We are planning the next stage of our land recovery, hopefully hiring a mini-mini digger for the back.  Jim’s machine came from a local man and I recognised him from just after our arrival.  I’d locked the digger in our garden for safety and challenged him when he came to collect it.  He was quite baffled by this until I pointed out I’d never met him and he could just be a chancer.  After rummaging around in his cab he produced a crumpled business card, I rang our builder to check the name and everyone was happy.

My sister’s visit was a delight.  It’s been at least three years since we’ve seen each other and I know she’s not much of a country girl so it was quite brave of her to make the journey.  She flew into Shannon Airport and we drove down to pick her up.  I’m not a fan of flying.  In fact I’ve not flown since 1985, when I was on a plane and all the engines stalled.  Shannon seems to be quite a nice airport however.  Small, efficient and not too expensive either.  It even has a WH Smith – my, they go where water wouldn’t.  

We had a leisurely few days together with trips into our nearest town and an excellent lunch on the shores of Lough Derg.  She was captivated by the decorated windows, most of them in pharmacies. It’s the middle of August – let’s do “Back to School!” Rosemary sent me some bee-bombs for my birthday and Jim had banked the earth up from the soak-away at the side of the wood.  An energetic morning of raking and stone removal left the top step ready for planting and we set the first seeds away together.  When it flowers it should be a beautiful sight and good for bees and butterflies.

On the way back from delivering Rosemary for her return flight we decided to have a very rare treat.  Maybe twice a year we have a burger and the nearest place is halfway down the motorway to Limerick.  I leapt to my feet clutching the money in my hot little hand as Jacqui went to park the car .  The service station was strangely empty with most franchises shuttered.  When I reached the counter ready for my order I was greeted by nervous looking child server who informed me they had “no beef”.  No beef at all – not a burger in the place.  What??  How the heck did that ever happen?  Like all the other people standing around looking very glum, I settled for chicken.  It was okay but nothing more.  Damn this heck of an August!

This year August has been less fly-ridden, possibly as the trees close to the house have gone.  Those insects left have, however, been more vicious than previously.  Whilst Jacqui is thankfully less attractive to them, they have had a good go at me.  I’ve over a dozen new bites by the end of each day and they are long lasting and very itchy.  Strangely, this morning I ventured out into the back room where they hide and nest overnight to find it empty.  They’ve gone, hopefully for another year, and good riddance too. 

The weather has been grim, we are very tired now and it has been a heck of an August.  On the plus side we’ve seen some of the most beautiful skies from the house.  Noel said our kitchen window was like the best TV in the world.  He loved the light around the house and wood, and we do too.  Here are a couple of “screen shots” from our kitchen to show what we mean.

I will be back in two weeks, hopefully after a calmer end to a heck of an August.  Hoping you are all well and the autumn is gentler for us all.

Thank you for reading.

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by on August 27, 2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jennie Finch on August 27, 2023

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/its-been-one-heck-of-an-august/

Spring arrives as we make some decent progress

Well, another busy few weeks with some decent progress here in Tipperary. March has excelled itself in its contrasting weather. Always unpredictable it has already given us nighttime frost and freezing temperatures, cool evenings and several most unseasonably warm days. All this has left the plants and trees rather confused and I think had driven the birds crazy. The songbirds are all over the wood and the orchard now and they are a delight. They are also eating from the (hopefully) rat-proof feeder and seem quite unconcerned when the dogs go out into the garden. One morning last week I woke very early and heard the dawn chorus for the first time in years. Walking in the woods they sing along and often hop into the trees next to us.

Fluff Feeder Before
Fluff Feeder After

For several years we have been collecting the hair Jacqui brushes out of the dogs and putting it into one of the bird feeders in the spring and summer. There are a lot of birds nesting in the hedge, the trees and even in the lean-to and we hoped it would make a warm and secure lining for their nests. When we did it the first time nothing happened for several weeks and then suddenly it was half-empty. I suspected a rat (I always suspect a rat!) but put out some more anyway. We never saw the birds (or rat) taking any fur so didn’t know if the experiment was successful until Fergus, our tree man, felled a damaged tree and commented he found a nest lined with hair. He and Tom, his assistant, were debating what sort of animal it had come from. Well, now you know.

The biggest bit of decent progress is the erection of the polytunnel behind the house. Donal cleared the space last year and we tried to assemble it several times but my useless shoulder and Jacqui’s dodgy knees made it impossible. And we had managed to lose the instructions, which didn’t help. With the growing season upon us we were despairing of ever getting it ready. Enter the indomitable Andy who has been such a wonderful help and support over the past year. He arrived with Lorraine and together they put the whole jumble of bits together, clearing the weeds and setting it up ready for use – in half a day. To say we were impressed would be an understatement. Some very decent progress indeed.

Jacqui is now sorting out the interior, fixing tables and putting tubs of gravel and compost around the sides. These will weigh it down but also serve as planting areas for mint. Lots of mint. It is a greedy plant and needs to be enclosed as otherwise it spreads faster than malicious gossip but apart from its herbal properties in has one very beneficial quality. Rats hate it. Hopefully it will act as a natural deterrent as well as attracting bees and butterflies. Inside we will have all the seedlings and cuttings and, of course, tomatoes. Both of us had fathers who grew tomatoes in home greenhouses and the smell and taste of these always bring back family memories.

In the recent warm spell I ventured out to see if the mower would start after a long winter and much to my surprise it did. We had ventured down the wood to the fallen tree that blocked one of the paths earlier in the week but the ground was a bit rough and uneven. It was the work of a few minutes to zip along, cutting the grass and weeds and smoothing out the path again. We can now get down much more easily and as a bonus the mower has a small flat front to carry tools, logs and anything else we need for the job. Getting the path to the pond cleared would be very decent progress so here’s to some warm, dry days.

Betsy’s Corner
Golden Evening Light

The signs of spring are all around us now with buds threatening to turn to blossom on every tree in the orchard. Despite the horrendous Storm Eowyn last month every new tree has survived and the wood and orchard are flourishing. It is a testament to Donal who prepared the ground and planted them 12 short months ago. The quality of light has changed too with lovely golden sunsets that light up the willows and surrounding land. Our friend Noel once said our kitchen window is the best TV in Ireland and it is hard to disagree some evenings.

Next week I should see the physiotherapist who will assess the damage to my raggedy shoulder. I’m hoping there are some exercises that might strengthen what is left of the ligaments, (which isn’t a lot) and maybe help develop some new muscle. I’ve had to do this once before and I expect it will be slow and probably painful at times but I made decent progress then and I’m determined to do it again. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Tomorrow is a public holiday here in Ireland as it is St Patrick’s Day, of course. We’ve had some quiet ones in previous years and one rather noisy day featuring a digger and a shotgun but here’s to everyone having a happy and peaceful time.

Cheers to you all, thank you for reading and I hope to see you again in a couple of weeks.

Jennie.

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by on March 16, 2025  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jennie Finch on March 16, 2025

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/spring-arrives-as-we-make-some-decent-progress/

Seeing the world through different eyes

The last month has been busy (when has it not) with medical appointments, dealing with lingering storm damage and all the daily tasks that lead to a comfortable life. It still feels a bit strange and new sometimes though we are settling in to things more at last. We are very aware that Ireland is truly a different country, not just “England with a funny accent” and often when we drive around it is if we are seeing the world through different eyes. Familiarity may not necessarily breed contempt but it doesn’t always breed attention. Looking from the outside, many things Irish people may not notice are objects of interest to us still.

One of the really nice things about Ireland was the absence of litter, something we noticed when we first arrived. There was – probably still is – a big litter problem in the UK. I once got into a shouting match with a visitor who was parked up on the promenade to eat his supper. As I walked past with the dogs he opened the car window and shoved the wrappings, plastic fork and remaining chips out onto the road. Struggling to keep the dogs from gobbling the batter I picked up the rubbish and pushed it back inside. He was not happy. I had two Tibetan Terriers with me, medium to large dogs, so he hesitated and shouted at me without getting out of the car. The dogs did much of the shouting back and he drove off, calling me several rather rude names. I’m still proud of that.

Ireland has a lot less litter, though it is beginning to get worse. Around our home we are surrounded by farm land and virtually all the litter and debris comes from farming. We are still relatively unfamiliar with the landscape and looking with our different eyes we see how messy things are starting to get. The worst type of litter is plastic. This can be abandoned feed or fertilizer sacks that blow across the fields and often end up on our property. The road up to the top field and hay storage is narrow and now covered in thick mud again. The wagons carrying the bales often catch on the sides leaving torn ribbons of dirty black plastic behind. On several occasions they have left a whole bale behind on the road, bursting and scattering across the area. We clear up around our margins regularly even though we still have no bin collection. Still, the straw can come in handy.

I’ve been writing again and a new book is now almost 75% finished. I’ve set it in Ireland for the first time and so have done some heavy research. A lot of it is based on things we see travelling around, looking with our different eyes. Why, we wondered, are almost all the cottage doors painted red? Even the door to the Majestic is red, like most sheds. Well there are a lot of reasons, some more fanciful than others. It is said the colour keeps away the fairies who are a more malevolent lot than those in the UK. More Brothers Grimm than Hans Christian Anderson I think. One story is that Queen Victoria once ordered all doors to be painted black. In a suitably defiant mood the Irish painted them all red instead. I like that idea though it is hard to know what might be the truth.


Another thing we have noticed is the total lack of abandoned structures from the last war. England in particular is littered with old fortifications and Pill Boxes. In Ireland there are several thousand stone Tower Houses, much older than the WWII fortifications. Some were part of larger castles, some stood alone. Generally they had one room on each floor and could be defended by a small garrison – or determined household. Most of them are crumbling away and the stones have been taken to build and repair other structures. They are now mapped and labelled preserved buildings which offers some protection but actually makes any restoration very difficult and expensive. Surrounding by prohibitive planning rules (you can’t even paint the inside walls without a report) some lovely buildings are left to rot. We often point out derelict or abandoned houses and cottages (“There’s a fixer-upper”) as we roll down the road but a lot of them are “preserved” and no one will touch them. A perfect example is the lovely Kyle Park National Agricultural School. Built in 1843, it operated until 1875 when staff shortages forced its closure. Now it sits, unloved and forlorn, with such potential but a dismal future.

Another thing we noticed is the lack of war memorials, a feature so prevalent in Britain. There are memorials but they are overwhelmingly for incidents and ambushes during the fight for independence. In the UK the memorials stand in villages and towns far from the graves of the lost soldiers. In Ireland they tend to be placed at the site of the incident. They don’t have as many names as most UK memorials but many do list those killed on both sides, with equal respect. One fine example is the Modreeny monument, set at the side of the road near Cloughjordan, which was erected by the local historical society.

As we continue to look around our new home we still find new things to admire and occasionally puzzle over. When we first moved in to our permanent home the lovely Patrick from the cottages at Puckane came for a visit. We walked through the wood (then totally overgrown) and pointed out the tiny frogs and newts travelling through the grass and some of the insects. He shook his head and smiled saying “Who would have thought two ladies from across the water could show me new things here in Ireland”. That’s the power of different eyes and long may it last.

For those wondering about the MRI results, I’ve read the report and deciphered some of the medical terms. It doesn’t look brilliant to be honest but I’m hoping to see my doctor this week and we will plan a way forward. I promise to keep you posted.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you again in two weeks.

Jennie.

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by on March 2, 2025  •  Permalink
Posted in A big Adventure, Exploring and visiting, new book, Writing
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Posted by Jennie Finch on March 2, 2025

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/seeing-the-world-through-different-eyes/

Some bright spots on a dirty day

Well, it’s February and today is what the Irish call a dirty day. After the snow and the awful storms we are back to rain. Not just any old rain either. This is slow but relentless, soaking into everything and seeping through the smallest of gaps. We first heard the expression “a dirty day” whilst staying in the cottages soon after our arrival and it sums up exactly how the day feels. Everything seems covered in mud, paths and roads are slippery and the damp and cold creep into the house and wrap themselves lovingly around you. It can be rather depressing especially when faced with an almost empty log box. Going out to collect the wood in February is always an exercise in necessity over reluctance. It is doubly so on a dirty day.

The stove in the snug is a daily bright spot through the winter. Fuelled by the dead ash trees from the wood and an excess of kindling following the storms even the sight of the fire seems to warm the house. We have relied on it for comfort and warmth through the worst weather and even heated soup on the top during the longer power cuts. Now however it needs some TLC from us. It is quite old and we have searched in vain for the manufacturers as it is in need of some spare parts and a good service. The firebricks are cracked and tend to topple out despite the application of special fire cement and the centre of the grate is buckled. It has certainly seen better days.

Last week we did one of our longer run around trips, visiting two supermarkets, the vet, a hardware store, the camping shop and then out into the countryside to visit Ryan’s Stoves. Here we met a lovely, helpful and knowledgeable woman called Madeleine who offered us some hope for our old Horseflame fire. Although the manufacturer’s parts are rarer than hen’s teeth many other stoves are made to the same specifications. We hurried home and I spent a busy morning photographing and measuring inside and out of the fire (which was off and cleaned out of course). We sent the results off and are crossing our fingers she can help. Otherwise we are probably looking at a new model – expensive but an essential bright spot in our lives.

After such a busy day we had a nice dinner and opened a bottle of Cava as it was exactly four years since we moved in to this house. So much has changed since that day, inside and out. It has its problems of course but we are very settled here, the dogs love it and we have room and a warm welcome for our friends who venture across the sea and our local friends who are always welcome for tea and a chat. There were many good memories and bright spots to recall and celebrate and even the weather (it was another dirty day) didn’t matter.

Although it is still February – how does the shortest month last so long? – there are signs of spring already around us. Winter brings some fabulous colour, especially at dawn and at sunset when the evening light is golden and lights up the willows in the wood. The magnolia tree is the first to show signs of new growth with a sudden spurt of soft white buds emerging and spreading. We are choosing a number of our trees to remember some of our friends and relatives now passed away and the magnolia tree is for Jacqui’s mother. After the storms we have been watching, wondering how many of our little trees would survive such an onslaught. Thanks to the sterling work by Donal and some extra watering and care from us it looks as if all of them have made it through that crucial first year. Now with help from Andy we can nurture them and add a few more to both the orchard and the wood.

I’ve had my MRI scan pictures from the unit though the report that actually explains them won’t be in for a while yet. There’s a continuous series of 120 images that show the whole shoulder, a sort of medical short film. Images of the movie “Fantastic Voyage” flitted through my mind as I ran it back and forth. It is a very strange thing, to “travel” through your own body. I have to stop myself worrying over some of the pictures. Is there supposed to be a hole in the white layer? Are the tiny white lines on the bone serious or normal? I’m waiting to see my doctor who will have a copy of the report next week and trying to rest the shoulder as much as possible. I’ll let you know what he says next time.

One of the bright spots about living here is the much wider range of goods in the supermarkets. Small local producers of items like cheese, meat and cakes all feature in all the big shops. They may be there one week and gone the next but you know they’ll reappear in a few days. This really helps the local economy and helps build a stronger sense of community as well as offering the chance to try new and often delicious choices.

The same goes for the range of wines. There are fewer French wines, unlike in the UK, but all the supermarkets have offerings from the wider EU as well as the newer producers. We’ve been most impressed with the wines from Chile and New Zealand and have become much more adventurous. Sometimes I’m swayed by a label – Donkey wine anyone? Felon 19? – as in this wine from Portugal. Who could resist the Sardine Submarine! Well, not me obviously. And the wine was good too, another bright spot on a dirty day.

Thank you for reading, keep safe and wrap up warm. I hear February may have a few surprises for us still to come.

Jennie.

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by on February 16, 2025  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jennie Finch on February 16, 2025

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/some-bright-spots-on-a-dirty-day/

First the cows, then the storms – welcome to January

Well, January has been a very exciting month. First we had the cows, then we had another medical interlude, and then the storms. Not surprisingly we are feeling rather tired now. The cows were rounded up and most of them settled in the field opposite where they had some shelter. We rang Bill, the wonderful fence man, and just 48 hours later he turned up and put in a new heavy duty fence to secure the orchard. He also reset the gateposts so it closes properly now.

We are very glad he did as later in the week we were driving up the hill on our way home and encountered most of the herd on the road again. This time they were wandering down towards our house, in and out of the fields. Several got separated behind the stone wall and we watched as they scrambled and jumped over the barrier. I had no idea cows could jump that high! We were a bit anxious in case one didn’t make it and injured itself. All finally did move safely on thank goodness.

We had two medical appointments this last two weeks. One was local, a routine appointment with one of the heart doctors. These hospital appointments are very curate’s egg-like – sometimes good, often not. This one was not. It was yet another different doctor who basically had a very limited amount of time and a checklist to run through. After we managed a small amount of time attempting to address issues that concerned us he made it very clear he didn’t feel the need to listen. He also implied he didn’t need to do any reading or research on anything new as it took too long to become practice anyway. We did manage to leave without being threatened by security however so it wasn’t all bad.

It was at the end of the week when the storms hit. Storm Eowyn, close behind storm Darragh that brought freezing temperatures and snow as well as high winds. There was some fuss over Darragh but we were not warned to how strong Eowyn might be until it was almost too late. Fortunately we were already on high alert and went around filling water vessels, boiling water for flasks, sorting some battery lights and leaving the camping stove out just in case. Jacqui even made a rich minestrone soup we could reheat. Then Eowyn hit in the middle of the night and everything went off. In common with 1 million people across Ireland we had no power, no heat, no telephone or wifi and no water. The solar panels did keep the pump working for some hours but then the sunlight ran out.

For almost 40 hours we kept the wood stove on, heated water on the camping stove and lived quietly on bread, tea, fruit and the lovely soup. The worst part was the darkness for 65% of the day, coupled with the slow but relentless howling of the wind. We were out of power for our tablets and phones by the end as even the power banks were drained. We thought we had been ready but this was a salutary lesson. We’ve now got extra batteries, four more camping lanterns on the way and a wind-up phone charger that is also a radio. We will add extra gas canisters too when they become available. As I write there are still 47,000 customers without power, many without water too.

In some ways we were lucky. Although we are quite remote we were reconnected relatively rapidly. We had some battery light and could heat water and cook simple meals, having bought the camping stove after the big storm in 2020. We have a large water butt so could fill containers for the loo. The biggest benefit was the wood burner in the snug. It was much darker in there than the other rooms but the stove made it a safe and warm place. One councillor reporting after the storm made the point that many people now live in new build all-electric homes. None of them have a fireplace or even a chimney, meaning they had no heating at all for the duration.

Eowyn set a new wind speed record for gusts of 183 km/hr. It is being compared to the infamous “Night of the Big Wind” of January 1839, an event still spoken of and written about. Eowyn did less damage to buildings, probably as they are generally much better constructed and maintained now. It did however wreak havoc across the country with thousands of trees lost and substantial damage to some areas. Roads are still littered with broken branches, hedges have been uprooted, fragments of garden debris are scattered across the countryside and some magnificent and venerable trees have been uprooted.

One such loss is in the garden of some friends. An ancient Ash tree, planted in 1819 when the house was first built, was blown down. It towers over the pasture, lying on its side next to the crater made when it fell. It is hard to imagine the force needed to move something that heavy and strong. We went around checking our wood, counting the new trees and inspecting the old ones.

Apart from some branches and some hedging we escaped unscathed, including the orchard that has now survived the cows and two mighty storms. All credit to Fergus, our tree man who inspects and makes the wood safe every year and Donal who did such an excellent job planting and securing our fragile saplings. And a special thank you to our friends for letting me share their magnificent, lost tree.

We had scarcely recovered from all that excitement when we were off to Limerick once more. This time it was for Jacqui’s eye appointment. She had made the list, finally, and we set off for an unpleasant but vital procedure. I must say I am seriously impressed by the care they take over eye injections. Three lots of anaesthetic and antibiotic before, a fetching hair net with a full body blue smock during and more antibiotic drops for three days afterwards. They are certainly not taking any chances and it is reassuring to see the care they offer and Jacqui says the shade of blue got her thunbs up. Going to Limerick is a pain but for this service it is worth it.

Well, that’s all for this episode. I hope the next few weeks are a bit more restful for us, and for you all. We are being threatened with a “snow beast” – arctic air and blizzards approaching apparently. Here’s hoping it misses us all and we can begin to drift into spring. The bulbs seem to think it’s already on its way judging by the snowdrops, daffodils and one tiny crocus.

Thank you for reading, stay warm and safe and I hope to see you again soon.

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by on February 3, 2025  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jennie Finch on February 3, 2025

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/first-the-cows-then-the-storms-welcome-to-january/

Surviving the zombie cow apocalypse and other oddities

I’m sorry this episode is a day late but I’ve had rather an interesting 24 hours. As most of you know we live deep in rural Ireland and that means we are surrounded by fields. This being Ireland thas also means we are surrounded by cows. Lots of cows. Last night not long after midnight Charlie, our youngest dog, started barking. It was a proper alarm bark, not just ‘Oh, there’s a car on the road’ sort of bark. A quick glance outside and we realised we had about eight heifers milling around our front drive.

I ventured out to see what had happened and was surprised to see all the gates were closed and latched. Grabbing a large and reassuringly heavy tree branch I decided to check in the orchard though I couldn’t see how they had got in, down the steps and past the shed in the dark. Well, they had. My trusty head torch gave out half way up the steps and I stumbled along in the dark. As I reached the gate another cow loomed out of the lane and began to scramble over what was left of a part of our wall. Shouting and waving the branch persuaded it to make off along the road, fortunately.

I know cows can be tricky and even a heifer is as tall as I am so I followed the cow down the road at a safe distance and opened the main gates from outside. The cows immediately made a dash for freedom and I beat a hasty retreat through the smaller gate and locked them out from the inside. We did try to contact the farmer but only managed to reach his voice mail. Shaken but relieved, it took us a while to settle down again.

The next morning I looked at our trail cameras and one of them had captured the escapees in the back field pressed up against our fence. Taken at 12.45 am, they look very disturbing with glowing eyes as they loom up against the fence. Truly zombie cows! Inspecting our orchard and drive we found a lot of hoof prints, some charming cowpats and the front wall much reduced in size. As we mused on how to secure the orchard on a Sunday there was another flurry of alarmed barking. Yes, they were out once more, this time several dozen at the front and ten or so at the back.

The farmer came out again and herded them back to the field, finally identifying a hole in the hedge they presumably used to escape. So, despite the creepy picture not so much zombie cows as Houdini cows at midnight.
I am waiting for our fence man to call me back as the gate in also now out of kilter and we need to secure the land urgently.

Apart from that bit of excitement we’ve had a fairly restful couple of weeks. The snow melted away and it got much milder very fast. This was good for some work around the gardens and Andy came last week and did a wonderful job clearing the overgrown front beds. I’d forgotten we had a path around there! Well, we have one again. We also did our regular log collections and I ventured around the wood path to see how it was looking.

Much to my surprise there was a large white bag lodged over the old log that has been home for various animals over the past few years. This was about 10 metres back from the path and behind the intentionally wild and overgrown section. Foolishly I decided to investigate, clipping brambles and struggling through heavy growth. I finally reached a large seed bag wedged in the log and dragged it back up the wood path. The whole thing took almost half an hour and I know now it was a mistake. My already weak shoulders are now very sore again so it’s back to the basic exercises for me.

We are forecast more snow later this week but the unseasonable warmth has accelerated some of the spring plants. There are tiny flowering violas in one pot, the daffodils are already appearing in places and primrose leaves are sprouting in the wood and garden. If we start to get flies again I will know the seasons are out of kilter!

Some evenings we watch some programmes from RTE, the Irish equivalent of the BBC. Last week there was a report on “Ear to the Ground” about a charity called “Free Trees Ireland”. Several times a year groups and individuals can apply for bundles of mixed saplings, all native trees. They donated 54,000 trees last time, an amazing achievement. We are looking into the scheme but I need to establish whether the numbers (5 minimum, 30 maximum) relate to bundles or individual trees. We have some clearer space and can clear more but I’m not sure we could cope with 50 trees in one go!

Well, that’s all for the start of the year from me. We are hoping for no more snow – or zombie cows. Thank you for reading. Your support means a great deal.

Stay warm, take care and I hope to see you again soon.

Jennie.

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by on January 20, 2025  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jennie Finch on January 20, 2025

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/surviving-the-zombie-cow-apocalypse-and-other-oddities/

Rounding up the year in 1,000 words

It may be an arbitrary date, dividing one year from another, but the New Year is always a good time to remember and reflect. Despite this supposedly being a quiet time of life this last year has been very busy and a bit of a rollercoaster. Rounding up 2024 in 1,000 words is a rather daunting task but here goes anyway. Like every year there has been good and bad, old and new. We have made some new friends and got to know some others a lot better. As you may know from previous episodes, some of these friends helped to make our 40th anniversary a memorable occasion.

Although we remain stoically antisocial we have got out a bit more, beginning with the trip to Cork in February. I had a visit to Dublin in the early summer where I met up with my old friend Jon “Ginge” Moore for the first time in almost 30 years and had a chance to visit the wonderful EPIC museum. I also had a stall at the local farm, art and agricultural show where I met some new readers and a number of hopeful writers.

We’ve had some visitors too, repeat visits so we must be doing something right. Helen and Adrian and Noel stayed in the spring and summer and my niece Polly braved the storms just before Christmas. Christmas itself was a quiet time, most welcome as we settled down in our “snug” and just pleased ourselves. We had a tree though I didn’t get the outside lights done, due to a mixture of high winds in indolence. I can’t resist modeling my new coat for you all. Thank you Jacqui!

A lot of our efforts have gone into establishing and maintaining the wood and new orchard. We are hugely indebted to Fergus, Donal and Andy for all their help here. Bill built a large and very fine lean-to just inside the wood and now collecting and drying our logs is many times easier. No more fighting with a huge pile of chopped wood and hauling tarpaulins around. Quality of Life product for sure.

All of these projects are ongoing and will take our time and attention this next year. We hope to clear more of the wood, removing the remaining dead ash saplings. Hopefully we can add a few more trees to our new mini arboretum and up in the orchard we have pla. ns for a few more fruit trees. We also hope to actually harvest some of the raspberries ourselves this year. Last year the birds stripped the lot in one day. I’ve been clearing out and have a pile of old CDs, mainly unusable computer disks. We’re making a frame to go over the raspberries to hang them out as bird scarers. We won’t net the bushes as birds can get trapped and die in the nets.

The wildlife continues to both share and invade our house. We have an on-going battle with the acrobatic rat that will strip our bird food from the main feeder. He still tries to get to the hanging containers though I think has failed so far. In the spring we woke to find baby bats stuck in our shower – how the hell they got in we don’t know. We rescued them in a soft cloth and put them safely under cover until dusk when they flew away. The mice crept in to the boiler cupboard last winter and it took a month of traps and the occasional release to get them out. Well, they are back again. At least Mabel the feral/farm cat gets the occasional tasty (and poison free) snack.

Our biggest invasion was a wasp nest in the end roof. This appeared in early autumn and so we waited for them to die off, to no avail. In the end it took three visits from Rentokill to get them out and I still find the occasional large but very drowsy wasp in the kitchen. The hole they made in the wall will need to be filled before spring, as will another inviting gap in the top gable.

At the end of 2023 I had two falls, one from a ladder and the second on some ice. This caused problems with both my shoulders and I had some helpful physio for the worst one. Sadly the other has now deteriorated so I’m looking at more treatment in the new year. Apart from this we’ve been fairly healthy if a bit more tired than usual. This is despite the interventions of the utterly useless consultants who did little but make Jacqui much worse for a lot of the year. They don’t want to see us and we certainly don’t want to see them so we are working on restoring her health and mobility ourselves. It seems to be working, slowly but we will get there. I guess age is finally catching up with us. Why is that always a surprise?

Ireland remains increasingly wet and once more the summer was something of a disappointment. When the weather is fine however it can be stunningly beautiful. It rarely snows here though it is snowing as I write, just to prove me wrong. The sky two days ago was a bright, hard blue with an unnusual number of vapour trails. Then a frost struck yesterday and – hey, presto, snow today.

It’s only the third time we’ve had snow in the four years we’ve been here and it causes great excitement amongst local children. Despite this it seems a rather benevolent type of snow as opposed to the UK snow we had in the north east. That came sideways up the street driven by the north wind and it only stopped when it hit a wall.

It’s getting chilly in my room now so I will stop and creep down into the warmth of the snug. There was a lot more going on but I’m up to my 1,000 words so will end my attempt at rounding up here. If you want to know more or need a quick catch-up you can click on the links to the right of the main web page and read back as far as our move!

Wishing you all a very good New Year, thank you for reading and know I appreciate all the comments and support very much.

Jennie.

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by on January 5, 2025  •  Permalink
Posted in A big Adventure, Friends and visitors, Remembering travels
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Posted by Jennie Finch on January 5, 2025

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/rounding-up-the-year-in-1000-words/

Easing into Christmas as the solstice arrives

Well, it has been a rather frantic month here in sleepy, rural Tipperary. The autumn slipped by quietly, enlivened only by the mowing of the ever-rampant grass and some gathering of unexpected but most enjoyable apples from the new orchard. We entertained the idea we might potter along, easing into Christmas in a calm and restful way. Yeah, right. As we wanted to mark our 40th anniversary we planned the meal for our friends and a wonderful evening it was. Please see the previous entry for details – but it took us quite an effort to organize ourselves, having become unused to keeping to a timetable!

We wanted things to be perfect, if possible, so there was a lot of cleaning and polishing. Jacqui’s meal was a triumph but nothing that good is achieved without a great deal of work. We ended the month exhausted, taking a number of days to just stop and rest. And eat all the delicious leftovers of course. I even had Southern Comfort “tipsy” trifle for breakfast one day. A day when I was not driving, of course.

Then winter descended with a bang. Two fierce storms swept over with exceptionally high winds and torrential rain. We were fortunate there was no serious damage apart from a mass of branches from one of the old poplar trees. These broke off and landed across the path to the pond at the end of the wood. This is a tree marked for felling by our tree surgeon, Fergus, and we are glad most of it withstood the gales. Now we will go down and remove the debris after Christmas, drying it out and chopping it up for kindling.

We had a couple more visitors just afterwards. Julie, our friend who used to live in the cottage next door, was over from England. The dogs were very happy to see her and we had a nice talk, reminiscing on her time here. Then my niece, Polly, arrived on a long weekend. She flew into Shannon and we picked her up from the bus station in Limerick. This did nothing for my aversion of the town. The roads in were narrow and poorly signposted, the bus station was actually clagged on to the train station and parking was a nightmare. Add the fact the sun was shining in our eyes the whole way and you have a severe headache in the making.

Despite this we found one another in the station and a lovely weekend ensued. Realizing she needed some rest and comfort our youngest dog, Charlie, followed her around. He cuddled up next to her at every chance and slipped into her room to hold paws as she napped. He’s a natural therapy dog, so intuitive and a most calming presence. We visited the little Christmas market in the town one day and made a gingerbread house another. Jacqui baked the cakes, two loaves, and I showed Polly how to cut it into shape, ice the roof and add windows and doors.

I still have the little figures my mother used and it looked very festive. Some bits we pinned on with cocktail sticks to keep them in place until the icing set. Polly decided it looked as if Vikings were attacking it, a novel interpretation of the poor miniature band. As royal icing takes a lot of stirring I used Jacqui’s big mixer, to great effect. All went well until I tried to get the whisk out and turned it on with the cover open. Icing flew everywhere, including over me. We cleaned up but I’ve been finding odd splashes all over the kitchen for the last week. I suspect my mother would have laughed at the whole performance.

Jacqui has been quietly making Christmas puddings using the secret Mavis Finch recipe and we’ve been sampling them. They are, of course, excellent. She’s also baked the Christmas cake though we’re not allowed to sample that yet. As the pudding recipe was used by my grandmother and passed down to us we remember our families well at this time of year.

After several days recovering from all the driving to Shannon we were back on the road, off to bl#*dy Limerick again, this time for an eye appointment at the regional hospital. Each of these trips took four to five hours and the dogs were decidedly put out, especially as we decided to push on the next day and do all the shopping and errands in town the next day. After four shops in town, four stops to deliver “thank you” biscuits to the exceptionally helpful businesses and two supermarkets we are well and truly exhausted. But – we are finally home and are easing into Christmas at last.

It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster year and I’ll do an annual catch-up of the highlights in a couple of weeks. May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and send all good wishes for the New Year.

Thank you for reading and for your support this year. It means a great deal and I hope you will stay with me for 2025.

Now I must go out and try to get the lights up along the front hedge.

Jennie.

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by on December 22, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jennie Finch on December 22, 2024

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/easing-into-christmas-as-the-solstice-arrives/

Forty Years on and a glance back in time

Forgive me if this episode is a bit late and a bit shorter than usual but we were up late and carousing on Saturday night. Sunday was our anniversary, forty years on from when Jacqui and I moved in together. It was not possible to have a formal ceremony then but we have always marked our union from December 1st, 1984. Saturday night we had a small celebration dinner with new friends in Ireland, another milestone for us as we continue to build our life here. It was a rather lovely evening with conversation around the table, some wine and prosecco and a fabulous buffet prepared by Jacqui. A good time was had by everyone, including the dogs, who behaved impeccably despite the multiple temptations around the room. We feel so lucky to have friends who will travel down dark country roads in miserable weather to help us remember and celebrate.

Whilst doing a bit of clearing up afterwards we remembered a night ten years ago, our thirtieth anniversary. We were still in Saltburn and our neighbours Mark and Sarah ran an occasional supper club. They put on a fabulous meal for us and we invited family and friends. It was dubbed the “155 year celebration” as our birthdays added up to 125, making 155 with the anniversary included. That was another memorable evening and Sarah even made a special surprise anniversary cake. Based on coconut and pineapple, I was a little dubious at first but it was one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted, and beautifully decorated too.

The last forty years have been interesting, to say the least. We’ve lived in three different houses, had a number of different jobs and made many journeys across Europe, sometimes with friends or family but often just us. For over thirty years we enjoyed the freedom to travel across the continent by car, train and ferry. Neither of us like planes but the slower journeys were often as important as the time spent at our destination.

We drove to Greece – much to the horror of our parents -, took ferries down the Adriatic, drove to Verona to see the opera and traveled on Swiss trains through breathtaking mountains. We also encountered forest fires, thunderstorms, a pistol-wielding teenager in France and even a couple of earthquakes. A lot of adventures to look back over, forty years on. The saying goes “nostalgia’s not what it used to be” but hey – we’ve got the photographs.

One of the things we miss is that easy access to the continent, and not just because of the cheap wine by the box load or the excellent food. We were very fortunate to be able to roam freely for so long. Looking back, forty years on from our first day-trip to France (with bicycles!), there is a sense of sadness, for us and for all the young people who can’t do the same.

This was before the combined disasters of Brexit and Covid, of course. Together they changed our world, forcing us onto a new path. Now, from our home in Ireland, we know we are fortunate. We are able to work together to make a different life here and we are building something new and valuable for one another. Forty years on and still together, I think that’s a blessing indeed.

We are coming round to Christmas again (where does the time go?) and we are all blessed – we have homes, food, friends and safety. I try to send a little gift out this time of year to maybe help those who are not so lucky. This year I’m not making a calendar. Instead I have the wonderful “Animals in Paint and Poetry” calendar by Sheila Graber, an old friend and supremely talented artist. She has donated a large number of original drawings and paintings to charity over the years, runs regular fundraisers and all the proceeds go to her three charities. Have a look and maybe get one too.
https://www.facebook.com/SheilaGraberUK

It is said it takes a village to raise a child and our good friend Noel O’Reilly does just that. He began a small charity in Kenya, Lighthouse Children’s Home and this supports a family with a single mother, several disabled children, an amazing young girl and several recent arrivals, children who were orphaned and abandoned to fend for themselves. With support from a diverse group of individuals across several countries they have built a safe home, can grow their own food and all the young people are now in education and have the medication they need. You can read about this uplifting project here:
https://www.lighthousechildrenshome.co.uk/who-we-are

Finally, when shopping this month there will be bins for the food banks in the supermarkets. This is a sad time of year for many families and just something that costs a pound or a Euro can make a difference.

And now I must go and help finish the clearing up.

Thank you for reading.

Jennie.

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by on December 2, 2024  •  Permalink
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Posted by Jennie Finch on December 2, 2024

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/forty-years-on-and-a-glance-back-in-time/

Marching towards winter with some help from our friends

Met Eireann, the Irish weather centre, is warning of “an arctic front” in the next few days. This will be centred on the north and west but may move south too. Now, we are somewhat ambiguous here as we are in the midlands, more south than north and both west and east by different reckoning. Either way it is getting colder so we are marching towards winter, with help. After the flurry of maintenance last month we are looking to consolidate the outside work. Winter brings cold and the inevitable rain but it does stop the damn undergrowth from growing which is a major plus!

Andy came back last week, finished the orchard work and moved on to the wood. In there we cannot use the mower as the ground is still very rough and there are hundreds – literally hundreds – of stones. He used the new brush cutter and leveled all the weeds and undergrowth, trimming carefully around our new trees. We have a lot of bark from the logs that we gathered into bags over the year and this is now spread around the tree bases providing warmth, protection and feeding the soil in the winter. He has also cut back a bit further, clearing the way to the dead ash saplings. Hopefully there will be some clear weather this winter so we can remove them and open up a bit more of the wood ready for planting in winter 25/26.

We have to take some trees out as they are diseased, especially the ash, storm damaged, especially the shallow-rooted poplars, or have self-seeded and are too close to thrive, mainly sycamore. We are aware the wood is not just for us however. It is home to a variety of life and has its own eco system. The aim is to balance the need to replant and grow a healthy, hopefully attractive, wood with providing shelter and habitat for our co-residents so are progressing slowly and carefully.

About a third of the land is – and will remain – untouched. About half will be the wood, surrounded by the newly cut path. This will be controlled by careful mowing and weeding, but not anything resembling a lawn. Rustic field is what we are aiming for. The rest will be half wild with some cutting of brambles, thistles and the dreaded bindweed. That’s the plan anyway. We couldn’t manage it without the help of people like Andy, Fergus our tree surgeon and Donal whose amazing planting skills have transformed the wood and the new orchard this year. Fergus came back with Martin and they chopped and stacked the wood cut last winter in the lean-to so now we are well set up for winter. He did a walk around and there are a couple of trees that are leaning a bit too far so he will be back in a month or so.

Overall it has been a bit of a long march to winter, this last month. The wasps are finally gone – well, 99% of them. We had to give in and call Rentokill and they did two separate treatments. I’m working on the remaining 1% using a bottle trap. Put a sweet fizzy drink in an empty water bottle, lay it on its side near the nest and the wasps fly in and drown, or at least can’t get out again. This was the theory and it worked wonders last year with coca-cola. This year I gladly sacrificed can of “strawberry cider” we got as an experiment. Even the wasps won’t touch it. It’s called “Sotma” which my dyslexic brain misread as “Stoma”. I think my name is closer to the truth.

The removal of the wasps cleared the way for the cable installation and we have new wifi and a landline at last. This involves a lot of setting up and reprogramming our different devices but we’re plodding though that now. We are very happy with the improvements but are all looking forward to a few quiet days, especially the dogs. They have been bred as watch dogs for thousands of years and the flow of different people has been hard for them – and for us as their bark is both loud and continuous!

There are still things to do. In a house like this there always will be but we are now slowing down a bit and pacing ourselves. There was an added complication as the car needed some work last week and suddenly developed a different fault on the drive home. The garage, Slatterys in Puckane, were marvelous, collecting the car early the next morning and getting it back before breakfast the following day. All our planning for shopping and banking went out of the window however with extra workmen and no transport for a few days.

We realized how vulnerable we are to a breakdown out here so are mulling over possible solutions. A second car could be too expensive, both to buy and run. We have the mopeds but neither of us can drive them at present. Jacqui mooted the idea of a quad bike – could be fun but I’m not sure about the legal position on public roads. And this could also be quite pricey. There is no public transport alas and very few taxis in the area since Covid. We shall have to think it over during the winter. We are now considering a motorcycle and sidecar.

Well, with all these goings on we have had little time for other pursuits. Jacqui is starting to look at her painting again which is wonderful – looking at it and the art itself. I’ve been thinking about the new book and will settle to it soon. Bring on winter and the snow – we are ready!

Thank you for reading, keep warm and safe and I hope to see you again in a couple of weeks.

Jennie.

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by on November 17, 2024  •  Permalink
Posted in A big Adventure
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Posted by Jennie Finch on November 17, 2024

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/marching-towards-winter-with-some-help-from-our-friends/

Sometimes things just seem to get harder

Sometimes things – all sorts of things – just seem to get harder as time goes by. I’m no spring chicken anymore so I expect some things to get more difficult. I’ve not really recovered from the falls last year – the concussion is fading at last but I have painful shoulders and spine still and restricted mobility for my arms. There’s a song by One Republic with the line, “For every broken bone I know I’ve lived” and I console myself with this sometimes!

What I didn’t expect was to find writing, something I used to enjoy and think I did pretty well, to get so very much harder. Some of this is probably to do with the huge hiatus in our lives. Covid and the lockdowns followed by uprooting ourselves from a home of 30 years were bound to have an impact. We were exhausted, adrift in a new country and feeling very much alone.

Setting up a new home and trying to sort out what was with us and what was lost, left behind or just plain stolen was emotionally exhausting too. Some losses were annoying – many of our tools, for example. A lot of our cooking utensils, pans and electrical items never appeared. Some things though leave a deep, sad space that cannot be filled. Jacqui packed up her studio and had a box – ready and labelled – of 11 years artwork. Sketchbooks, reference material, pictures and photographs that were the equivalent of the recipe books of all her artistic development. The loss is as raw now as it was then and has blocked her for all this time. Don’t get me wrong, I felt – and still feel – we made the right choice for us. But it was not an easy transition.

We began to settle in and get an idea of what this new life entailed. I’ve covered a lot of the changes and the different demands of living in such a rural location but there’s a lot of day to day stuff that is both necessary and time consuming. In some ways things seem to get harder despite the lovely setting, quiet and a calmer way of life. Writing, for me, needs a bit of a routine and I’ve not sorted one out yet. This is partly due to daily demands but, being honest, I can hide behind that sometimes. A lot of it is wondering why I should write. I have stories to tell, ideas I want to share, but whilst I might write them down I’m at a loss as to what I do then.

Impress, my publisher, was not perfect. In fact it was pretty awful, especially when taken over by Aelurus Publishing. After several years of no contact and no communication they went into administration and there was an unseemly tussle to save the rights to my own books. Fortunately a group of us got together and won our case but it left me with no publisher and little idea of what to do with the completed manuscripts I had ready to go. It has been dispiriting to be honest, especially as, like many writers, I’m not so good at publicity and marketing. Just before I left Saltburn I was told by an agent that no-one would touch an existing series and inferred I was too old to be of interest anyway. Needless to say I wouldn’t want them as my agent but it didn’t help much.

Despite all this I dug out a half-finished novel and did some heavy editing recently. I got to the point where I’d run aground and left it for a few weeks and slowly a little thread emerged, a way I can pick it up and move on. I’m exploring digital marketing through the Open University and I have some (faint but still possible) hope that a new book in a different genre might allow me to reset and move on. Watch this space!

On the homestead, we’ve been very lucky to have some excellent help from Andy who is tackling the hedges, margins and undergrowth around the property. Once it is all cut back we have a fighting chance of keeping it down, especially as Jacqui has found (and assembled) a proper brush cutter. We’ve had the water system serviced and tests taken to ensure it is has lower levels of nitrates, dangerous for us and especially for our dogs. We also need to ensure it is free from coliforms – and don’t get me started on agricultural run-off. The boiler was serviced earlier so we’re set up for the winter and now I think we might get our 5G cable fixed at last. After several calls, reminders and nagging the Rentakill man should be here tomorrow to remove the wasp nest. This should clear the way for the cable and maybe we will even have a landline. My, things are looking up.

Well, thank you for reading. I’ll let you know how it all goes and if the writing progresses may add a preview of the new book.

Take care, keep safe and hope to see you in a couple of weeks.

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by on November 3, 2024  •  Permalink
Posted in A big Adventure, new book, Writing
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Posted by Jennie Finch on November 3, 2024

https://www.jenniefinch.me.uk/sometimes-things-just-seem-to-get-harder/

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