Friday, January 15, 2010

This peeping puppy looking into our bedroom this morning alerted us to the storm and gale force winds.

When I pulled back the drapes and looked out the front window this is what I saw . . . .

Poor tree, uprooted by the wind, sprawled across our courtyard.  It will make good firewood.

A lalandia (spelling?) tree, looks like a pine. 

It missed the car, and the cottage.  Only damage done was to the tree.  Kevin moved the car just in case - there are more trees nearby.

Kevin trying to re-establish the television reception.  The antenna just won't cooperate.  Looks like more dvds tonight.

Our home office, scanning documents to email while we're "holed up" in more bad weather.

It has been raining on and off, all day.  Now it is storming again with more gale force winds.  Time to batten down the hatches.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Yesterday, Kevin and I drove off our Sheep's Head Peninsula, through Bantry, towards the Beara Peninsula.  I was hungry for mussels and found them on the the menu in the "pub" at  Casey's Hotel in Glengarriff (a visit to which was suggested by Carol).  The drive was most remarkable but our final destination was sooooooooooo disappointing.  They were closed until today!  We'll try again another time.

As you can see it was an overcast day but the roads were almost totally ice-free.  Road crews were out in force repairing potholes - a job they will be doing until spring.

  

 

Oh, the agony . . . .closed . . . . no mussels!

This beautiful locale is someone's private property.  Lucky them!

Going home now . . . . 

Eccles Hotel in Glengarriff

A gorgeous, scenic, coastal drive all the way home to Bantry.

Our daily drive on and off Sheep's Head Peninsula to Durrus or Ahakista.

When we returned home, we enjoyed an evening of Boston Legal dvds after a fine dinner of turkey breast/potato/onion/celery casserole.  Mince pies for dessert.  That's right, we each ate one whole pie.  And in Ireland, mince pies are huge!  See photo below:

 

It's so foggy today we cannot even see Mizen Head from our yard.  Not a good day to go sightseeing but at least the freezing cold is over.  I hope for good.

Looks like a day of catching up with laundry, putting new strings on the guitar, internet research, emailing, talking to Mom back in the states, etc.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The freezing cold and snow trapped us on the hill yesterday.  We wanted to drive to town but when we walked out to the end of the property and looked down the road, it was sheer ice!  Even if we could have driven down safely, we couldn't have driven back up.

The weather was pleasant enough, not too cold and no wind, so Kevin and I enjoyed a walk around the animals.  We were joined by our hosts, Julia and Mike, who came out to feed the ponies and discuss the weather forecast.

The ducks are huddled together on their frozen pond . . . .

So, Kevin and I were in for the night, all warm and cozy.  This is our kitchen window:

The wind howled ALL night long, sounded like hurricane strength winds.  And it was raining sideways.

When we awoke there were puddles everywhere!  Yeah!  It wasn't cold enough to freeze!  We had no internet access, but power was still on and we had water.  And our car was so clean!

So we quickly checked the road and saw water streaming down hill.  It was off to Bantry for supplies.  Hopefully, no black ice underneath.  The winds were still blowing very strongly.

We'll eat and be warm for sure, now.

 

It is still raining, but not freezing cold.  The weather report is cautioning that flooding may occur from all the rain and melting snow.  Plus, power outages from the strong winds have not been uncommon.

Our hosts (Julia and Mike) put us at ease when we returned, inviting us into their big house if the need arises.  They have alternative methods of heating their house (fire, wood, coal, oil, maybe).  All the heat in our cottage is electric, which is wonderful, but no fireplace in case we lose power.

The poor animals . . . migrating birds (swans and tiny birds, etc.), sheep, horses, foxes . . . . any outside creatures, are not doing well in this highly unusual cold weather.  Hopefully, should be over soon.  In the meantime, we're on holiday.

Oh, quick shout out to Carol in Canada . . . . we're enjoying your comments.  We'll be taking your suggestions as soon as the weather warms.  Thanks.  

Sunday, January 10, 2010

It's snowing again.  The new system could bring 5cm to 10cm. of more snow.  Schools will be closed through Thursday.   


Dublin airport was closed this morning for four hours.  Supplies of rock salt are critically low and even if more can be found, and ordered, it will take days to arrive.


Head of forecasting said that the country faced a situation unprecedented in 40-50 years.  He said temperatures have reached -12 or -13 degrees this week and ground temperatures were sub-zero down to a depth of 30cm (12inches), creating a problem whereby if the weather improves, rain would become ice when it fell on the ground.  Yikes!  Forecasts suggest this arctic cold to last through next weekend.  


Kevin and I have plenty of food, so we don't need to drive to the store.  Hopefully we can stay high and dry.