Settling in at Breffny House, Dunmore East!

This past week was challenging both in terms of health (back was still painful and tender) and in terms of patience. With the prospect of our nice cottage awaiting us in Dunmore, staying at Ballitore was difficult. Especially as, because I couldn't really walk very far without pain and there was nowhere in the house that was comfortable to sit except a straight back chair, life was a bit dull. So we watched quite a bit of youtube and kept changing our moving plans. We were originally going to move on the 17th. And then we decided we would move on the 15th. And then, because church is in Waterford, we decided we would move in on the afternoon of the 14th and save ourselves an hour's journey. And finally, when Brian the realtor said he was fine with our moving in any day we wanted, we decided to move in on Friday the 13th.

Packing the car was quite a job. Even though we had a larger car than we had arrived in, we had bought a few rather bulky pieces like a duvet and a TV and a printer. I bit my tongue as Richard squeezed stuff in (I had wanted to do two trips). But as usual, he was right and everything DID fit even if the dog was boxed into a corner in the back seat. Speaking of Mitzi, she was very upset as she saw us packing stuff and starting to load the car. Although it was 0º outside, she sat by the car and even tried to climb in a couple of times before we were finished packing. Determined not to be left behind. She is very happy now in our home in Dunmore.

Ahhh, Dunmore!! As we got out of the car I looked down on part of the village and out to Hook Lighthouse:

What you see is a third of the "main street" in Dunmore East. Several little shops that are a mere five-minute walk away. As opposed to no shops in Ballitore. That was the first thing I was grateful for. I was also grateful that it is such a picturesque village and then that the house is well appointed and cozy. Richard thinks I am crazy but I put together a little video, a walkthrough the house. But it was too big to put into Blogger so I will have to wait until we have high speed broadband and then I will upload it to Youtube.

We are still getting things organized but as the house was a short-term let, fully furnished and equipped, so much was already there--the stove, oven, washing machine, dishwasher (no dryer but a dishwasher), microwave and the teeny tiny fridge. We have been talking about getting a fridge/freezer combination but, the vagaries of January sales, every time we try to order one, it is sold out. So we are pretty well decided we may just live with this and perhaps get a small freezer.

So the first night, we sat by the fire:

And when I went upstairs, this was the view from my window seat:

It was pretty cold the first night though. The house hadn't had the heat on for a couple of months and the temperature had dropped to 0º C for two nights. So even though we had the radiators going for hours, Richard was huddled in his jacket in front of the fire and said he was very cold all night with two wool blankets on his bed. I was fine under the duvet and as a result yesterday we hit up Tesco, Home Stores, and Harvey Norman and got him kitted out with bedding. But Home Stores was out of memory foam bed toppers so they will be coming in a few days.

We are discovering how far we want to push the "simple life." Weighing aching backs against going to the shops a little more often because the freezer is so small, we chose to solve the back problem and worry about food storage a bit later. As we continue down the road, we will see if we learn to make do with the small fridge freezer or whether we need to branch out. The irony was that in church today, the sister who taught in Relief Society spent several minutes encouraging food storage, outlining what could be stored for two weeks, two months and a year. Two weeks? We can't fit enough food for a week into our fridge. Or, at least, not the way we have been eating. So we have to choose--choose the menu to fit the parameters of our fridge AND find a way to have two weeks' worth of food without going to the shop (perhaps going back to my days in Montreal as a child and eating from cans a lot) or, back to the original issue, get a bigger fridge. The conundrum is quite silly really as most of the world's population eats day-to-day and count themselves blessed if they eat enough to survive every day. I remember a brother who was visiting from Sierra Leone a couple of years ago and when someone in church asked him how his branch handled food storage he said that they were grateful if they had food for tomorrow. Oh well, given that we do still have to drive to Tesco ten minutes away for groceries, making less trips makes sense.

I have taken Mitzi on several walks. I wish I had had my camera yesterday as I introduced her to the beach and the tide. She loved the beach but stayed well away from any incoming water. She scrabbled along the rocks but, again, avoided any little puddles. I stayed on the beach as I don't trust my back. She was fascinated by the gulls and some larger birds that looked like a cross between a cormorant and a pelican. Since I can't even tell the difference between seagulls and kittiwakes, I am going to have to bone up on my bird knowledge. Jean, your birding friends would love it here.

It surprises me that we haven't been in Ireland a month yet. It feels like I have lived here all my life. Mind, Richard is still doing all the driving until Dave-our-mechanic finds us a Fiat 500 or something equally small. R hates driving in Ireland, absolutely hates it. As one of the sisters put it in Relief Society this morning, Brigham Young planned Salt Lake City with foresight for needing wide roads but Ireland simply turned cattle tracks into roads. 

Still for all the hair raising car trips, there is this to enjoy, walking at dusk:

Tomorrow we are off to Woodlands Leisure Centre so Richard can go swimming (I will read a book or walk around outside, depending on the weather) and then we will find the "PPS Allocation Centre" so we can get our identification numbers and then apply for our free railway and bus cards.  

And now for Richard's poem

Reminiscing on 1916

I am sitting by the window bay

The sun slowly rising from the sea

Illuminating night-darkened clouds.

And open the rocky shore

Black and twisted trees.

Irish cottages cold with frost

From the chill night's winter air

March in terraced rows

Chimney pots piercing the brightening sky

Where gulls shriek their plaintive cry

Restless for the sun to climb

To its zenith on invisible stairs.

Sleep now my child

Yesterday was long and hard

But now the bagpipes rest silent

Their mournful strains

Still echoing on the hills

While sheep and cattle slumber

Huddled in deep repose among the dales and rills.

And sleep now my bonnie lass

When respite from the gathering storm

Will break upon the foaming rocks

And all that live in Ireland

Who mourn the darkness of the seas

And the persecution of the land

Will cry to set them free.

An mbeidh scríobh arís i gceann cúpla lá.

(Will write in a couple of days.)