Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

090909 today. NineNineNine to all our German friends, okay, make that YesYesYes.

Awoke to a bright sunshiny day. There was a rush to make silage. Literally making hay while the sun shines. Forecast indicates it will last only today, then more cold rain.

On my own now with the horses, I spent the morning mucking stalls and turning out the mare and her filly. She is really suffering after her follow-up visit with the vet. A new abscess was discovered in the bottom of her hoof, poor thing. No wonder she was walking funny - wasn’t just because she was favoring her sore leg.

The master horseman, and horse-business partner of “our” property owner, came by to trailer the filly and mare back to his place for more intensive therapy/treatment and I was invited to come along. What an experience. With the help of two of his staff, we set about to clean, disinfect, and treat her wounds. Trevor pressure-washed the “holes” in the filly’s leg and in her hoof then bandaged the hoof to help keep the dirt out. A very strong (seriously strong) antibiotic was given intramuscularly, then we all returned home. What an experience, what an operation. Check it out for yourself, go out the back gate and turn left, keep driving ‘til you reach:

http://www.bridgehousestudireland.com/

Olympic show jumpers and famous race horses are bred and raised here . . . . “million dollar babies”. I enjoyed a top-of-the line Irish horse experience from the inside, side by side with the master. What a treat! And what a generous family man to boot, with a lovely wife, Elizabeth, and fun-loving, children.

It was lunch time by the time I returned. Chicken and potatoes with vine-ripened tomatoes for us. Mmmmm.

I spent the remainder of the day working with Kevin in the “future” walled garden beds. We took the sod that had been removed and used it to build an extension on the existing ???? Don’t know what it’s called here, but looks something like a muck pile. It’s a wall of growing grass. The pictures tell the story.

We enjoyed the afternoon in the sunshine and five o’clock came quickly. After a dinner of venison chili and rice we spent the evening trying (unsuccessfully) to get online with our laptops.
I have been writing our daily blog entries in a Word document and hope to publish them soon. May be able to put them on a gadget and do so tomorrow if we can get access to the “household” computer.

Off to dreamland, still smiling. . . .

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

The rain and wet continued with nary a notice until late afternoon when it finally took its toll. With three projects completed, Kevin and I headed for the manor house around 3:30 pm for inside activities the rest of the day.

After a nice hot shower I hand-washed all our dirty socks in the utility sink. Than I rinsed our jeans out so as not to fill the washing machine with mud. It kind of feels like “jungle living” in this fine, fine place when all it really is, is too many people needing to clean their rainy, muddy clothes too often.

Kev is trying to connect to the web while I write and he’s not having much success. Oh, oh, it’s official . . . . No internet for us again today. We probably need to climb higher to another level in the house for access, like we do with the telephone.

We just realized tomorrow’s date. Not auspicious like last year’s 08/08/08, but going be 09/09/09. We’ll see what it means. All will reveal itself in time.

Yummy community prepared dinner of rice and chili with a tossed greens, tomato, mushroom, and avocado salad.

Some of the horses were transferred to another location in the past two days leaving only the pregnant mare in the pasture, and the stabled mare with ailing filly under my care. There has been a change in personnel. My new friend, Sonja, (farm manager, co-worker, and all around “good mate”) is no longer employed here. I will still see her when Kev and I visit Greg at the Farm Safari.

Actually, we saw Greg this evening when he came to visit the manor house. Kev and I sat around the kitchen table talking story with him, Peter, and John until 10:00 pm. Good craic!

Another grand day.

Sweet dreams, ya'll!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Monday, September 7, 2009

Sunshine Today!

A worldwide day of celebration of the harvest for the people of India occurred today. Locally, the families and friends of Indian heritage residing in nearby Mullingar spent the day at the Farm Safari (belonging to our new friend Gregory).

While Kevin stayed at Mearsecourt to attend to a barbed wire issue, I rode along with Sonja and was not only invited to join in the festivities, I was recruited to help with the actual safari. What a magnificent day.

The food was all vegetarian, served on a facsimile banana leaf, and all eaten with the hand. More than twenty different dishes had been prepared and I was offered at least twelve, including a finger banana only grown in India. Two kinds of rice, some hot and spicy carrots, some curried this, and ginger that, many coconut based goodies . . . . Everything most delicious!

Kevin and I had seen both the men and women preparing the lodge last night for the festivities today. The 4’ diameter, round medallion “painted” with flower petals on the floor being the most memorable. There would be singing and dancing after the safari but Sonja and I needed to return to meet with the vet and attend to the filly.

The safari itself was truly memorable. I was enlisted to “guard” the starboard side of the train. This entailed keeping the passengers on and the animals off when and where appropriate. Traversing the fields and pastures of the deer farm (three different breeds), we also saw camels, llamas, longhaired bulls, donkeys, ex-circus ponies, sheep and pigs. Quite a fascinating mix of creatures.

Amidst with the running commentary, I was engaged in many conversations with old and young passengers, one more fascinated than the next. The train stopped atop one hill and everyone disembarked for a group picture, handing me their cameras at Greg’s urging. What fun.

When we returned to the lodge at the end of the safari, Sonja and I thanked everyone for the food and the fun and said our goodbyes to attend to the visit of the vet. We were not allowed to leave until we were photographed with the group in front of their commemorative banner. An historical occasion, indeed!

Back at the ranch, there is news. The vet is here for assessment of the filly and Trevor has joined us to transfer some horses down to his place. The news is not good regarding the filly’s progress.

It is now 9:00 pm and Kevin and I have retreated to our room for a movie on the laptop. Neither of us finished with our “duties” until nearly 8:00 pm. A quick bowl of Kellogg’s Frosties was all we wanted for dinner. My mouth was still burning from all the Indian cuisine and the milk was most soothing.

It was another grand day.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Day off . . . . Slept in little bit. Kev and I went off to stables to meet Sonja at 9:00 am, then Kev returned to our room to read, write and relax while I helped attend to the horses.

After mucking the stalls and loading the teleporter bucket (big front-end loader) with manure, I learned how to drive the big thing. Yippee!

We treated the filly in the stall, then I walked down to feed the mare her “hormone feed” (to keep her in foal). The veterinarian comes tomorrow to check the filly’s progress.

Two hours later, when the “horse work” was finished Sonja asked if we would like to attend the American Auto Show in Kilbeggan where Greg would be selling his grilled venison burgers. When we accepted her generous offer, she planned to picked us up at 2:00 pm.

It was now almost noon, so after a nice brunch of rice, veggies, and chorizo, Kev and I retired to our room to relax before our outing. It was suddenly very cold as well as rainy.

I think we enjoyed the ride through the countryside to Kilbegan as much as anything. It was fun to see the American cars plus the Irish interest in them. And the Irish venison burgers were tremendous. We also met Louis, the creator of Lilliput Loaf (a potato bread) and a wonderful “box tea” which is nothing like the name implies. It is actually a potato, buttermilk, onion, flour, and herb bread cooked in a cast iron skillet over a peat fire. Simply delicious.

The event took place across the street from the horse racing track, we’ll be back for that!

Around 5:00 pm, after the event closed and we tired of watching people being pulled out of the mud by the many tow trucks at the ready, we helped the lads pack up.

We accepted an invitation for a cuppa tea on the way home with our new friends then returned to the manor house around 8:00 pm. Another good day.

We’ll sleep well tonight.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Today is our first official day off.

Kevin and I are quite enjoying ourselves, but thankful for the day of rest. Of course, the animals never take a day off and need care and feeding seven days a week, but I still don't mind. There is a certain therapeutic nature to being with the horses. Plus, there are no words to justly describe the beauty of this property. It is majestic! We'll try and post photos to this blog ASAP.

During a long walk in the forest with Kev this morning, we needed to return two escaped deer to their pasture. They were on the wrong side of the fence and we just "herded" them back through an open gate into the correct pasture. It involved nothing more than a lot of walking, and persistence. It was a beautiful day with bright, shining sunlight, so good fun. In the process we spooked a jack rabbit in the brush and sent him running, which was fun to see. No pheasants, yet.

Afterwards, I luxuriated in a hot bath in one of my favorite, really long, Irish tubs . . . . very soothing. We plan on resting and relaxing the remainder of the day.

We are finally able to access the internet from the manor house, upstairs in the dining room, on a local network. Yeah!

Our telephone is finally active also, but only works in the kitchen. We're too far out in the countryside for good reception in the entire household. Email is still the best way to communicate with us.

Hope all is well with you, and yours. Kevin and I send our warm wishes to you from across the pond.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Friday, September 4, 2009

Off to Dublin to muck about after returning the car for hire. We'll return to Mullingar by train at 6pm.

Regards and warm wishes to all our friends and family back in the USA.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Just able today, on our excursion to Dublin, to connect to internet.

I smell like horses, I’ve walked what seems like one hundred miles, and I’m loving it!

The daily weekday routine consists of meeting John in the courtyard no later than 8:00 am. Usually all we have is a cup of tea beforehand, but more can be consumed if hungry. A 10:00 am break of 30 minutes for tea and toast (or more), 5:00 pm end of work day. Dinner around 8:00 pm has been the norm.

Today, Kevin and I started our day by removing a wooden wall, cleaning and moving a stored washing machine and dryer to a new location for general use, then putting back said wooden wall, then break time.

While Kevin was off in another direction, the rest of my day was spent with the animals. After grooming the gelding, mucking three stalls, and moving the mare and injured filly out to the small side pasture, the remainder of my day was spent learning which pasture contained which groups of horses (mares with foals, two year olds only, gelding with boarders) which pastures and forest contained which groups of deer (herds of Moms and babies, herds of stags with families) and what to do with each group and when, walking the entire property through the forest . . . .Whew! Just getting from one side of the manor house to another, to the walled gardens, to the stables, to the machine shed, etc., each through different tunnel passageways, has been trying, but now there are two hundred acres with eight miles of perimeter to learn . . . . Plus the pathways through the forest . . . . Ai yai yai! What challenging fun!

Sunny most of the day with liquid sunshine throughout. A very pleasant day weather-wise.

The end to my day involved moving the gelding and helping with the treatment of the filly’s hind leg, which is still infected. She had surgery just before we arrived to open two abscesses. At least now she is more used to being handled and was less skittish today, but still a handful, poor thing.

The aroma in the kitchen was marvelous. Damson berries (a small sour dark purple fruit from a tree) had been “jammed” and also made into a sauce for the venison steak filets and roasted vegetables (picked fresh from the garden). What a scrumptious dinner.

A nice soak in a hot tub after doing a load of laundry (I don’t mind smelling like horses all day and night but I’m sure Kev can only take so much, ha) and then it’s off to our room to relax.

Tomorrow we’ll travel back to Dublin to return our rental car. No problem taking the day off, everyone here is so accommodating.

http://picasaweb.google.com/KevSRQ/ThursdaySeptember32009?authkey=Gv1sRgCIuUho-ztvW0Yg&feat=directlink