Blueberry Hill Farm - Sneem - Ireland

A disgrace is what I am !
I was going to write something about Blueberry Hill Farm yonks ago, but up till now I didn't get to it yet.
But NOW is the most appropriate time, as our friends Sigi and Yvonne came to Ireland from Germany 20 years ago. They had a big party over the Easter weekend to celebrate this with their friends and family.

They chose Sneem as a new home for themselves and their 3 lovely children, who have now grown up into beautiful (in and out) young adults. And my word, have they worked hard to create this heavenly place that they named Blueberry Hill Farm (You can find their full story on their website when you click link on the left)

Blueberry Hill Farm opened its doors to the public 2 or 3 years ago. It is a must see for all ages. Young kids and old kids (90+) and everyone in between.

We booked a tour last summer for ourselves (Bert & myself) my mother, brother, sis in law, 2 y/o Sarah and 6 y/o Mathias (my niece and nephew)
What do you get ? A full tour of the farm and interaction with the livestock.  Yes, livestock.  This is a smallholding that is largely self sufficient and organic.  And the farm animals are not pets as on any other pet farm, but meant for food, be it for meat, eggs or milk.  Don't worry, no animal is being killed for the table while you are there.
There really shouldn't be any other meat on the market than from animals that have had such a fantastic and stress free live.
After the tour you get freshly made scones with homemade butter and homemade blueberry jam, coffee and tea. Obviously with lovely flowing conversation with Sigi and Yvonne themselves. The kids got to help making the scones and while they were in the oven (the scones, I mean), Sigi took the kids to make them a candle in the workshop.

Just a few photos of our fab time we had last year to get you in the mood for visiting Blueberry Hill Farm when you're next in the area.

 Feeding the wild boar

 Yvonne, Sigi, the best hosts.

 Ever milked a cow or goat before ? Here is how you learn it.

 Mathias feeding the kid goats.

 On the tractor

 Off the tractor

 aaand, back on !

 Time to feed the chooks and ducks.

 Fun for young.  And old (sorry mum)

 With the wabbits.

 Some people go all soft when they see kittens.

 Making scones with Yvonne

 And then there is some time to admire the Bearded Dragon, called Nacea (from Echinacea)

...and to wear some crocs, that are not yours, not a pair and too large.

The 20 year anniversary party took place on the Easter weekend.  Saturday night was the big event.  Their family and friends from Germany came over, as did a lot of local and not so local friends. There was live music, BBQ and lots of craic (that is Irish for fun and has nothing to do with the drug, just to clarify).

Sunday afternoon was a relaxing and peaceful event, as you can see from the next set of photos.

I can't close off this post without showing off the cake I made for their party (with the help of our lovely HelpX-er, Pat)

Don't you ever, EVER leave Sneem without visiting this magical place that is Blueberry Hill Farm.

Thanks for reading.  Till next post.
Patricia xxx...x

Storm after Storm after Storm.

Let us not be fooled by the lull in the weather.  Enjoy this peaceful day.  As of tomorrow afternoon we'll be facing yet another storm front. Unplug everything and everything, that's my motto for this winter.

Patricia xxx...x

A Year of Excitement and Turbulence. 2013.

First and foremost. A Happy New Year to all of my handful of readers.  You are extremely appreciated.

What was I thinking ? Had I forgotten the Irish winter storms ?  How could I forget the times when fallen trees damaged our beloved stone outbuilding and a caravan that was occupied by a Slovakian lodger ?  How could I forget the time when our conservatory roof took off, swiftly followed by the slates from the main roof ?  How could I forget the many times we were without power and telephone ?

The fact is, I never forgot, only, the anxieties and pains fade away over time.   That was during our first stint in Ireland from 1996 till the end of 2003.

Now, here we are, all these years later, facing the Irish winter storms again.  Lightning, thunder, high winds, horizontal rain, hail and whatever else it throws at us.

This time we didn't have any life changing disasters though.  Before, during and after christmas the power has been off several times, the modem has burnt out twice now in just as many weeks, and we're still waiting for the 3rd one to arrive by snail mail. In the meantime I'm writing this blogpost on New Year's day in Word to be copied and pasted on the internet when it is in working order again.  Bert's dingy (that's his  little boat, yeah) went off on its own one evening when it was blustery.  One minute I saw it and  the next it was gone ! A few days later a neighbour from accross the water visited us to tell us he might have found it at his place.  This man was so wonderful that he even rowed it back to us during the next couple of days and tied it up well and proper.  In the meantime Bert has learned his lesson and brought his dingy to the safety of our shed.

With a lull in the weather, christmas day turned out to be beautiful indeed. Good enough to take a stroll along the beach at Derrynane with the dogs and my mother who stayed with us over the christmas period.

 

This past year, known as 2013,  has challenged  our mental and physical strength.  Selling and buying a house, moving house is stressful at the best of times. Moving abroad is a whole other ball game.  But we're seasoned pros and we take it in our stride, exhausted as we feel at this moment in time, we know it will only be temporarily.

 

We  have many, many boxes still unpacked that will stay unpacked till we have build our extension.  I dare not ask Bert about the expected start or finish of this build, but most of all I dare not ask if it fits into our budget.  Probably the budget doesn't stretch that far, so we'll have to do it as and when money comes in.  We'll be able to have it wind and water tight, but  the interior finishing will have to wait. 

Our beloved greyhound Sam passed away early July after a long illness.  We gave him a lovely spot on our land to rest in peace.

 

There were way more positive than negative happenings in 2013.

We gained another family member in October or November (I can't even remember exactly). Blackie, our adopted lurcher.  Another lovely boy from the greyhound clans. He loves it here and we love him. Millie has a lively playmate  whom she can race around the garden with.

 

 

All the pets have settled in their new surroundings once more. Bar Fergus who had to disappear on us for a whole 10 days after we'd just been here for  little over a week. He came back of his own accord, starving and frightened.  Not that he remembers any of it right now.

 

The most lovely spring and summer we've had since our arrival mid April.  The weather was beautiful.  My mother and 6 y/o nephew, Mathias came to stay for a whole month. My brother and the rest of his family arrived 2 weeks after my mum did. It certainly was a month made of memories.  Mathias, in his later life, will think back fondly of his fantastic time he spent with auntie Patty and uncle Bert. Let's hope he can add to this in many years to come, together with his little sis Sarah.

We've started and 'almost' finished quite a few projects in and around the house and 'the other project' that I promised to write about so long ago and never did.  It still isn't finished either and that is what's stopping me from showing it to you all. I can give you a little taster though with a couple of photos. This is the other house we bought on one of the village greens. 

sitting room. before

sitting room after

 

Bathroom before

 and after

 

With the help of 2 Spanish HelpX volunteers we have now drained a little piece of land. A chicken house, a bird feeder has been build by Fran, who also moved a lot of earth to provide us with a planting area for the cottage garden. He also cleared much of the little stream on our land, so the road doesn't flood anymore with heavy rainfall.

 

We've had a shed build.  We were in desperate need for storage that we couldn't find anywhere near the village, so the best solution was to have one on the property. Trying to set up a business is hard in these times, but we'll put our backs into it and hopefully something half succesfull will come out of it.

The time for planting trees is here and it is also on my mind, as well as the goal of starting at least a small patch for vegetables.

 

We have it all mapped out in our heads and some of it even  on paper, all the things we would like to achieve in 2014.  Will we achieve everything ? Possibly not, but planning is half the pleasure. And the plans may  change along the way. It doesn't matter. We'll take it all in our stride.

We are happy to be back in Sneem amongst most of our old and also new friends.  We are grateful for being able to live in such an unspoiled area. The sea, the mountains, the rain, the wind, lightning and thunder, the sunshine.  The rainbows.

We'll take it all in our stride.

Thank you for visiting.

Patricia xxx...x