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.