Introducing my MacBook Pro -- Sinead's Place

This post is once again beginning in the sun room of Sinead's spacious farmhouse. I've begun many posts from the sun room of Sinead's spacious farmhouse, but I haven't completed any of them, excepting the sole post from a couple of weeks ago. This is due largely to the fact that it is extremely difficult to write blog posts on an iPhone, and that I knew (or thought I knew, anyway) that my laptop would soon be joining me in the sun room.

The laptop was delayed. In fact, it was delayed and nearly sent back home, due to address confusion, excessive taxes, and personal transportation limitations. But due to the extreme friendliness and small-town mentality of the Irish people (my guess, anyway), it was delivered to Sinead's doorstep yesterday by a charming Irish chap who handed it over with a winning smile, saying "Look how we take care of you."

Made my day.  

So, now I have my laptop. However, I am so completely overwhelmed by all of my half-finished iPhone posts that I don't even know how to start writing this one. 

So I think I'll start with pictures. Finally. 

A view from Sinead's

Hannah in the onions

Hannah (the WWOOFer from Montana) with Sinead's onion harvest. It's so humid in Ireland that onions won't dry properly if left on the ground. So we spent many days throwing away rotten onions, bundling onions, and tying up onions on an intricate twine spiderweb suspended from Sinead's barn ceiling. I am doing my best to make a mountain of red onion marmalade out of all the half bad red onions. Progress is slow. 

Ivan's yoga

A nearby WWOOFer from Vermont attempting to show off some of his yoga moves before my little yoga class started. I'll include a quick excerpt of what I wrote to my yoga teacher friends regarding that class:

Hello all,

My illustrious career as a vagabonding yoga teacher continues to flourish in the home of an organic farmer in Kilkenny, Ireland. I've been leading my supportive host through an hour long routine every morning. These routines go astonishingly well, as she has wisely learned to do as I do, and not as I say. They've been going so well that she took the initiative to invite four of her friends over for an evening session of yoga on the lawn. Between my host, her four friends, and the other two American WWOOFers, I found myself facing my largest, most intimidating class thus far. On the far left was Ivan, an American deported from Canada for crossing the street in an illegal manner and kicked out of Vermont for aiming an empty BB gun at a cop. He insisted on consuming four cans of hard cider prior to practice, decided a yoga mat or towel was superfluous, and refused to part with his bright red cowboy boots during practice. I decided to ignore him as best I could, but the frequent passage of thunderous flatulence from his direction often drew my attention away from the rest of my class. On the right were two triathletes. Incredibly strong Irish chaps with a downright dearth of hamstring flexibility, and with mats they seem to have procured from my host's kitchen drawer 

I led them all through a couple sun salutations, and did a few poses focusing on hip mobility. I tried to ignore the flash of Ivan's red cowboy boots on the left, as he kept doing involuntary inversions onto the verdant Irish lawn in his cider induced stupor. I was so nervous about losing my place in the routine that I didn't leave my mat once to assist any of my evening students. 

However, I managed to get them all into Savasana just before the sun went down, and for some reason or other, they all said they enjoyed the class and would love to come back next week. Except Ivan. He said I made yoga impossible and not fun at all. I told him to lose the boots and the booze. Ach.  So, if there are any suggestions regarding poses good for triatheletes and drunken renegade Americans, I would love to hear them. Miss you all. Congratulations on all of your classes and progress as yoga teachers!

Kilkenny Castle, the most famous castle in Ireland

Cat

 A German WWOOFer convinced Sinead to purchase this superb mouser, so in a spurt of generosity, Sinead gave the WWOOFer naming rights. The WWOOFer (Juliana) named the cat Julia (so that Sinead wouldn't forget her). This did not sit well with Sinead, so the cat is now called Cat. Cat has an annoying habit of sleeping in the egg basket, so she's always quite anxious for me to hurry up and clean them so that she can resume her favorite napping position. 

Entrance to the Dunmore Caves

Dunmore Caves. Sinead took me to see these caves my second weekend here. There was a mass murder by the Vikings in these caves, wherein 900 women and children were asphyxiated.  They have the bones on display upstairs to prove it. Walking through these caves was a fairly chilling experience, especially since the guide had such a dark sense of humor about the whole event. 

 Kim and I have been admirable in our attempts to go out walking. However, Ireland has thwarted us at nearly every attempt. It is a country for the car, the tractor, and the cow, which leaves little room for the adventurous pedestrian. The roads are too narrow, the cars whiz by way too fast, and the fields are either taken up by cereal crops or cows. So Kim and I hitched into Kilkenny yesterday, and enjoyed an afternoon walking about the city, drinking coffee, wandering around the many bookshops, and browsing the second-hand stores. 

A misfit carrot. Kim and I were forced to keep him, because no one will buy a carrot with a face. 

In other news, I've had to rearrange my next WWOOFing placement. The farm I was originally set to stay with never renewed their subscription to WWOOF Ireland, and my insurance doesn't cover me unless I'm staying with a recognized volunteer organization. So I was hard-pressed to find a new place and find it fast. I was also a little nervous, thinking that I might end up at another Moyleabbey since I couldn't give potential farms much notice. I got very lucky, though. Sinead set me up with the pate woman across from her at the Kilkenny Farmer's Market. The pate woman (Maria) is also a horse trainer, so I'll get to spend four to five hours a day riding horses in Tipperary. I will be living in a spare room of the house, and I'll be able to enjoy plenty of meat and dairy. 

I am very excited. 

A couple of things I've learned:

• How to make some stellar essential oil moisturizer
• How to take part in Druid moon ceremonies
• How to understand Irish time. Factor in a one-two hour tea break for every scheduling commitment. 
• How to outsmart runaway chickens
• How to hitchhike
• How to fill out a SAD form (find someone else to do it)
• How to manage a farm for an entire week while the owner is taking a vacation in Portugal
• How to operate a stall at an Irish Farmer's Market
• How to carve a cat pumpkin and a carrot mouse 

Now that I have my laptop, I'll be posting more regularly and including more pictures. Thanks for reading, everyone.