County Galway

I am still here and hoping no one has stopped checking the blog due to lack of posts!  Between our very full days and the lack of internet at times, I have struggled to blog, but I think I should be posting more regularly from here on out.  The scenery here is SO gorgeous so my posts will probably be picture heavy, but I am guessing no one will mind. :)  County Galway was amazing ~ we had so many unique opportunities there.  We stayed in a village called Letterfrack ~ one of the few names I can pronounce!  As you enter, most villages have their name on stones like the one below ~ some have the name in Irish AND English...this one just had English.

We stayed at a group of cottages called Heather Hill Cottages, run by a nice woman named Carmel, who had 6 kids.....

chickens......

pigs.....

dogs (and horses too, but I didn't get a picture of those).

This was the view out of my bedroom window each morning as I got ready ~ the sky just seemed SO big!

One of the best things about our stay here was that Ben and Chris made a friend.  This is Killian, one of Carmel's sons.  He was a cute little guy ~ very funny, with the coolest accent.  It was so fun to hear the three of them having a conversation.  They now have a new saying.  When Killian liked something, like a song or something, he would say, "Oh, that is class."  Of course, you can't hear his accent when I write it, but I am sure you will hear Ben and Chris saying it once we are back ~ listen for it!  They played with Killian for hours ~ walking into the village for candy at the little shop, exploring all kinds of secret paths Killian knew about, playing soccer and rugby, and throwing around the football (I don't think Killy had ever seen an American football). They will never forget him!

Chris with Killian's pet hen

Killian with his pet hen

One of our first big adventures was to go to a farm to see a sheepdog demonstration at Joyce Country Sheepdogs.  The owner's name was Joe Joyce and the area around his farm was labeled on the map  "Joyce Country" ~ after his ancestors.  

Failte means "welcome".

The first thing we saw when we pulled in were two 6 week old border collie puppies ~ we were in love!

But then we saw Joe's kids ~ Saoirse (2)...

and Martin (3) ~ and then we weren't sure who was cuter ~ the puppies or the kids.  One of the cutest things about the kids is that they were fascinated by my camera.  I would take their picture and then show it to them on the display and they would be so delighted to see and recognize themselves on the screen.  I guess they don't see cameras too often.  

We got a great demonstration of Joe working his dogs and sheep.  This dog is "Roy" ~ he controlled the sheep mostly with his movements.

This is Jill.  Interestingly, she controlled the sheep with her stare.  Wish I could do that with my kids.

Chris hugging a sheep. :)

We truly enjoyed our time there with Joe ~ he was an incredibly nice, hard-working man with really cute kids and skilled dogs.  One bit of trivia ~ there is a scene in the movie "Marley & Me" that was filmed near Joe's farm with his sheep in it.  He got to meet Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson after the filming.  I am thinking I will have to watch the movie again to check that out.

As we were driving back to Letterfrack, we stopped so I could take these pictures of one of the many areas where turf had been cut and was drying.  People still use these dried out pieces of peat to heat their homes.  Most homes do not use turf alone as they did not all that long ago, but many supplement their electric or oil heat with a turf burning stove.   At one time, the peat bogs were considered one of Ireland's most precious resources.  We did not have a turf burning stove in Letterfrack, but we did burn turf in our fireplace later in Donegal.  Turf is very hard to light and, in my opinion, doesn't give off much heat at all.  I cannot imagine having turf be your main source of heat!

And that is it for this post ~ what a great first full day here in Ireland!