Category: Adventure

It’s been a funny week. It has been one of those where you know you feel like you’ve never stopped doing stuff, but you’re not quite sure what stuff and you haven’t done some of the stuff that you really should be doing and nothing actually looks much different to how it did at the start of the week.

It hasn’t helped that it’s been raining a lot. We had a beautiful day yesterday (and Chris was off, which made it even better), we went to Lough Key for the first time in ages. It was lovely.

But, apart from that day, it has seemed to rain and rain and rain and rain and rain. It is actually dangerous to cross the winter chicken pen at the moment, I had to use a spade as a walking stick this morning, haha. Maybe not dangerous, but very, very muddy and very, very slippy. And the way up to the greenhouse, where the broiler chickens are, is really boggy and wet. My short boots were leaking this morning, so, despite having made an oath not to complain today, I was walking about with soaking wet, muddy feet, doing all the jobs this morning, carrying water and feed and eggs and being mobbed by chickens, muttering under my breath and stomping and feeling sorry for myself. Wondering why on earth I/we thought this was a good idea, why on earth we’d moved here and why the actual @!#~ was it a good idea to have all these chickens and a place that needed so much work!!!! etc etc etc……… And yes, I know it is still early in the year and it may get better and all that.

But then, as life happens, particularly with God, a couple of encounters with people, prompted me to change my mind and chill a little and say thankyou for this life. It is good. It is busy and I think maybe I need to look at what is important and necessary and what isn’t. Otherwise I may collapse beating the floor with my fists and frothing at the mouth at some point. But, yes, it is good in most ways.

I also carved a very little spoon this afternoon, it isn’t brilliant, I haven’t finished it yet, I haven’t got all the right tools yet either, but I really enjoyed it and it is ok for a first one. I have joined a group on facebook to do with carving spoons and I’ve watched a couple of youtube videos, so I got a small piece of kindling and decided to try it. Watch this space, I could get into this wood carving/whittling business! Possible new obsession.

We have also finally planted some seeds, we’re a little late, but better late than never as they say. Looking forward to them sprouting.

Good night. I’d better put the kids to bed, it’s getting late.

I think we need a holiday, as a friend said to me recently.

Thankyou for reading!

Cathy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Warning: mentions getting chickens for meat purposes. Nothing explicit though…

So hello! It is raining and pouring again, the ground is as soggy as soggy can be. But we’re all doing ok. Doing our thing, home educating, doing our jobs, playing, watching Star Wars films… that sort of thing. I’ve been unwell for a couple of weeks, but I’m just starting to feel more like myself again and with a bit of energy. So I am very glad about that!

We went to pick up some broiler chicks yesterday, we got given 12, which is actually 2 more than I ordered (bonus!). The company we used are called Freeway Poultry, you order your chickens online and there are various drop off points throughout Ireland and you go and meet the van and they give you your chickens. I cannot fault them, they’ve been brilliant. When I was meant to pick the chicks up originally a couple of weeks ago, our car was broken and I couldn’t make it, so they said that it was absolutely fine and saved me the chicks and contacted me again with another date (which was yesterday).

The chicks themselves, they’re a breed called Ross, and they’ve been a bit of an education already, they’re only about two or so weeks old and just about fully feathered already and quite large. They don’t really need extra heat either. I’m used to everyday chickens which are on heat until around 5/6 weeks and not feathered until then either. So I guess I can now see why they are processed at around 8-10 weeks old and no older. They’ve gone straight into a pen in the greenhouse, rather than the house, with a deep bed of shavings and straw for them. It was a bit odd when I was collecting them because a few people were around and started being a bit coo coo over them and asking what breed they were. So it felt rather awkward saying they’re broilers … Still, we eat meat and it will be an experience to rear and process our own chickens for this, our first meat birds. All the others have been duel purpose (as in used for meat and eggs) and I’ve only done it because of them being roosters. These are different and it will be good to know how they’ve been brought up i.e. by ourselves.

So there’s a brief update. Will write more soon.

Cathy.

So, during the past couple of weeks, the car broke down with me and the kids in it. Chris was not sure if he was going to be able to repair it (he’s usually quite positive he can), so I was contemplating a future where we didn’t have a car. But! He has mended it, and in doing so, corrected a problem we’ve had with the jeep since we got it. So bonus. So we’ve now got a smoothly running jeep, hurrah! 😀

Because we couldn’t get out to the shops again, apart from Chris going on the motorbike. I started baking more again. Did loads of bread, biscuits, meringues. I really enjoyed it and have ordered a load of flour that was delivered within a day of ordering it. Amazing service from https://www.riotrye.ie/

We’ve had five more chicks hatch, it’s the cuckoo maran/copper maran mix chicks, they’re very little at the moment and very nice. J is constantly walking around attached to either a little chick, a big chick, or a guinea pig. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned, the kids now have guinea pigs as pets and I can safely say they will be the tamest guinea pigs in the world… J and I (our two boys) also decided, after watching a program about pets, that they want a parrot… (they can dream on).

The bigger chicks, the lone one we hatched and the six silkie/goldtop mix are going out into the greenhouse during the day at the moment, with a view to them going out permanently in a couple of weeks and ten broiler chicks that I’ve ordered, will be going into their cage in the house, for a little while. It’s really cold this week, hence, not even contemplating leaving them out at night at the moment. They’re still using the heat occasionally at night.

It’s been a lot drier over the past week or so, so I’ve started sorting the front garden out. I’ve decided to halve the area that we plant up and weed. I can’t cope with the full area, half seems to be much more manageable, so I’m in the process of removing the grass and rushes that have grown there and extracting them from the actual plants. I can’t believe how much I’ve ached from doing the gardening! I need to get fitter, definitely. It’s nearly time for planting seeds, I know some have started already, it’s very exciting.

The boys and I have been into Carrick on Shannon this morning, we needed to get new tyres and so we ventured to the shops while we were waiting. There’s an escalator in one of the shops. The boys have never, to their memory, been on an escalator and seemed to view it on a level with Alton Towers. J was fine and went up a few times and was very excited about it. I went up twice with I and then said I wasn’t doing it again, so ‘I’ tried to go up himself, wasn’t very confident, sank to the floor whilst on the escalator, leaning backwards (lying down), and nearly fell down it. I had to jump on and drag him upwards whilst holding him on with my legs. It didn’t phase him. At all. It was quite funny’ in a ‘what are you doing?! type of way.

One more thing, some people were out lamping the other night and until I realised what they were doing, they terrified me. Picture the scene, I’ve finished the jobs, put the kids to bed, sat down on the settee whilst Chris was having his bath, started reading a book on the kindle… then ‘bang, bang, bang, bang!’ (fairly close by) and I’m like ‘that’s a gun!’ Chris hadn’t heard anything and carried on relaxing in the bath and I’m sneaking around the house in the pitch black with a torch, peering out, getting into ‘you hurt my family and I’ll get you’ mode. Until I realised what was actually happening. Then I was like, oh, ok. Nobody is closing in on the house. 😀

We went on a local walk yesterday morning, it was so nice, it really is stunning around here. Here’s a couple of pictures and goodbye for now!

Cathy.

Hello! I’ve just been looking back at the last few blogs, thinking about updates. The eggs I had in the incubator (chicken) were not particularly successful, one hatched, 2 died in their shells, 9 didn’t develop at all (they probably weren’t fertilised). So we ended up with one chick, that was constantly chirping because there were no other chicks with him/her. Much as I loved playing mama hen (and I really did), having it under my chin and constantly with me, it was a bit much. So, I put a few requests out on various facebook chicken groups for day old chicks and got a message that a lady who lived a couple of hours or so away had some, but that I could meet her brother somewhere nearer if that would work. So we’ve now got 6 silkie/goldtop chicks and they are really strong and absolutely gorgeous. The lone chick is part of their little gang now as well, and all is well. J (eldest boy) is really good with them, they tend to stay really calm and with him when he gets them out. I’ve never had any type of silkie hens before, they have feathered legs and feet! So they’ll be interesting as they get older.

This one is now 1 1/2 weeks old.

I have put a few of my own eggs in the incubator now, and I will candle them on Saturday/Sunday to see if they are developing. If they hatch, they will be cuckoo maran/copper maran mix. The ovascope arrived and I used it last time, it is so good. It’s a bit like a microscope in looks, you put a strong light in at the bottom, switch it on, stand an egg with the broad side up on the stand, cover it with the plastic cover and then peer in and you can turn it around, it’s really cool. So it’s easier to tell if the eggs are developing and discard any that are not.

I’ve dug a channel down the middle of the big chicken run (the winter one) today, it is so wet, you sink into it as you are walking across it, it’s what you would call slushy if you’re being kind. There was a definite area where you could see the water travelling across, so I’ve dug a narrow trench today, in the hope that it will help with the drainage. I’m looking forward to getting them back on the field soon, but there’s still a bird flu lockdown thing going on, and, we haven’t got any coops that are big enough yet. We had to get rid of one of the coops we used last year. We’re planning on converting a couple of IBC tanks, just have to get them.

It only looks small, but it was quite hard work! and yes, that is a cot, I converted it to house some quail the other year, it needs a do over! The patch of grass where it’s been is brilliant :D.

We installed the rollaway nest boxes a week or so ago, and they’re so good! They keep the eggs fairly clean and stop them being eaten. Chris welded up a stand for them to be hooked up to, rather than fastening them onto the side of the shed and it works really well. I’ve just started putting eggs out again to sell, as the hens are starting to come into lay again and there’s too many for just us. Made our first sale of the year today, thankyou!

There’s so much happened in just a few weeks. We got guinea pigs for the boys, they love them.

We met some other home educators for the first time. We haven’t met many up to now, but we organised a get together and it was good. There’s another one coming up soon.

It’s been a bit milder, so the boys have been playing out more and running about on the field with the dog and I’ve started to get some of the spring jobs done, like weeding and trying to sort the flower and veg beds out. There’s a long way to go yet haha. That’s one of the smaller beds, down below, a strawberry one that I need to finish off.

I need to get the ducks back out of the greenhouse and out on the field again, they’re making the inside of the tunnel too wet. The soil is turning green, even where they aren’t! I’d like to get them an enclosed coop and run sorted too, but that’s probably asking a bit too much for now.

It is so good to hear the birds singing and see the days lengthening. Amidst the chaos of the world, these things are really good and important to me. To stand still, and breath in and out and listen and just be wherever you are, for a while, is immense.

God is good.

If anyone needs prayer, feel free to ask.

See you soon!

Cathy.

Hello and welcome! I’m pretty sure that was some sort of tv host’s catchphrase when I was growing up, but I can’t remember who and I can’t be bothered to google it at the moment.

It’s Sunday! (obviously). It’s a good day, today, Chris is off work, and both he and I have jobs to do outside, which I really like. It feels like it’s what it’s meant to be like, being here. Chris actually has numerous things to do, I need to completely blast one of our chicken coops with the pressure washer, put it in the greenhouse to dry and then once it’s dry, next week or something, I need to creosote it.

Chris is mending his motorbike, and hopefully putting my new nestboxes up in the chicken shed. I got some rollaway ones, which basically means the eggs roll down into a covered area and the chickens can’t eat them (if they’re into that) and other predators, like crows, can’t get at them either. Hopefully, anyway. Chris has been waiting for some bike parts and now they’ve come, he’s putting the bike back together. Which he is very excited about and so am I. I’m getting a bit stir crazy again, with being in the house for what seems like weeks. (Chris has had to use the jeep for work). But it will come to an end and that end is sight. I love being here, at home, I really do, it’s basically like having a job, looking after this place and the kids. I love the homesteader aspect, and the fact that I’m in a position to be able to do this! It is awesome. but I’m now not keen on being here non stop for weeks. It’s good to be able to get out sometimes.

It’s funny, like I’ve said before, Chris adjusted really well to moving here and I struggled a bit more. But I’ve realised now, that I’m actually starting to really like it here and don’t want to leave. It’s pretty amazing really. I really struggled with grief when we were first here, but it wasn’t really just grief for my dad, it was grief about leaving, guilt about not being there, questioning whether it was the right place and whether we’d just been selfish. And at certain times, it’s been massively overwhelming. I’ve also realised that until recently, I haven’t really been myself, the grief closed me off, made me brittle and low. It affected my energy levels and just me in general. I feel like I’ve really started to come out of that over the last six ish months. After I did the blog on grief and was honest about how I’d felt, I actually started to feel much better, and I’m sure in part it was due to certain individuals who messaged and helped, as well as the fact I’d been honest. So I’m sorry for dumping it all out in a blog, but it did help! Thank you for the messages and prayers.

Like I said, I’m starting to see the beauty again. And not feel so shut off, or feel I’ve got to shut people out. It’s good. I really do believe that sometimes we need to go through this stuff in order to get to the right place. And life can be so up and down, especially if we look at what is happening all over. But, as these words say ‘my hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood and righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus name’. All is actually well, whether we feel it or not. That line is actually from a hymn I’ve just found out! I never knew that. I thought it was a fairly modern worship song. It’s a great one. It was by someone called Edward Mote. My hope is built on nothing less. Look at the words, they really are great and true.

Anyway, Happy Sunday indeed! Enjoy, whatever you are doing.

Love, Cathy.

God is God and you are not. That is one of my favourite sayings from one of my favourite people. My husband to be precise. And it is very true.

This is just a quick one, I just want to say, Christians! There is no need to feel defeated, no need to think you have to speed on out there with a perfectly prepared testimony, that you have right, word for word, and God forbid anyone should interrupt you mid flow. This is my opinion. But I think it’s a good one. Live your life where you are. Where you live. With the people you know and the people God brings you into contact with. Know your story, and know that it’s real, no one can take it from you. Whatever your story is, it is good. Be natural. Live, with Jesus. Look at Him and Holy Spirit will direct you. You don’t need to be an all guns blazing, gotta tell everyone type person. Some people are, some people aren’t. If you want to be, ask Him. In your daily life, God will work through everything if you submit to Him and sometimes when you don’t, and people will see Him and either not want to know, or want to know more. This can be gradual, or sudden. Not down to us. Just keep your ears open and your love on, but be honest, flattery for the sake of it is never pretty, not to me anyway. Never try for the sake of trying. If love is not involved, I would say stop, and get your love back on with Jesus. we all have times in our lives when we need quietness and refilling, it’s not all about frantically telling people. Be prepared to be direct, when it’s required. But above all else, just be there. Be the you God has made you to be. Embrace God, love others.

Lecture over.

amen. 😀

I’ve just looked at the last blog and realised it’s just over a month since I last wrote. I tend to do things like that in general, go for it big time and then leave it for a while. Seems to be a trait of mine. So there were quite a few and then not much. But hello! and welcome again.

Quite a bit has happened in some ways over the past month. Not so much in our family, but around and about, with people we know, with friends. Things in their lives. Like I’ve said before, I don’t tend to write about people, not in a recognisable way, unless I have their express permission. But it is fair to say that God works in us and through us and also just sovereignly in people’s lives. He is amazing. He listens to prayers and He sustains us and brings people to Him. Sorry to be cryptic, there’s a lot I’d really love to write about, but I need to think about it and how to put it and whether I do actually want to share it. So onwards!

Since Christmas, we’ve had rain piling down, then it froze and snowed, which was brilliant, I love snow.

It’s gone again now and is just boggy and wet again. It is Ireland though, so to be expected. The photo below was a couple of days ago. All snow gone. Still beautiful though.

In smallholding news, I ordered some chicken hatching eggs and put them in the incubator about ten days ago. Unfortunately, it isn’t looking that hopeful at the moment, for a hatch. I’ve already had to discard five eggs (out of twelve) as they had no development at all and the others aren’t that clear to see (when candling, which is putting a bright light against the egg and seeing what’s inside), I’ve ordered something called an ovascope, in the name of home education (not so I can have a fancy gadget at all, haha), and I’ll hopefully get to have a better look through that. I put 6 of our duck eggs in a different incubator, but it turns out they aren’t actually fertile, so I’ve discarded those too. It is a little early in the year to be honest, I was just a bit impatient to get going! Even if this hatch rate is not good, we will be trying again later in the year. Probably in a month or so. I’d actually like to try hatching muscovy ducks rather than Khaki Campbell, so I might try and search some out in the next month or so.

Chris has been waiting for some parts for his bike again, so we’ve been at home again, but it’s probably for the best that he’s had the car, because of the weather. It’s been nice actually, to relax after Christmas and New Year and ease gradually into the year. We’ve started back up with the home education in the last week or two, and are finding our way again with that. The subject of Egypt is currently on the menu amongst other things, and on a different subject, the book ‘now we are six’ by AA Milne has just arrived today. I’ve never actually read it before and I’ve started reading it and it is lovely. The boys think it is funny as well, which actually is a massive surprise to me. I thought they’d be sighing and making faces when I was reading, but they weren’t! They do want to listen to the audio version though, so I might oblige with that. I’ve also bought a Kindergarten type curriculum by a company called Masterbooks, which I’m following loosely, and I’ve found it’s actually been really good so far and it’s very adaptable to use with our older boy J in some ways as well.

I can’t wait to get out in that garden and start on it, I’ve got a load of seeds in our new seed tin that my sister in law got us for Christmas.

I need to do a bit of planning. I’ve got a couple of different things this year, such as cape gooseberry and quinoa seeds, as well as the usual suspects. I have no idea whether they will work here, or whether I can find the room for everything. But I figure I’m going to try! The garden needs weeding really, really badly, but it’s still massively squishy, so I’ll leave it a bit longer, but I’m itching to get at it now. Have a little more get up and go than I remember having last year. Which is great!

I’ll leave it there for now, there is actually loads I could talk about, but it would probably fill pages and for a blog, that probably isn’t a good idea! So if anyone would like to me write about anything in particular or expand on any areas to do with our lives, any part of them really, or where we live, or our journey, or faith or anything. Feel free to comment.

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!

Cathy.

I love Christmas, it wasn’t always like that, there was a time when I felt isolated and alone at Christmas. Then Christ came to me and it all changed. It really did. Psalm 68:6 says that ‘God settles the lonely into families….’ and he really does. And it isn’t a judgement on our own families, you can have the most wonderful family in the world, but still have something missing, and that something is meaning and that meaning is Jesus.

However, he does also physically settle you into families and he can do that with people in churches (from my own experience) and he does that in other ways too. In my own experience, he gave me and Chris to each other and he gave us our kids, from both before this and after. And it hasn’t been plain sailing, relationships never are, but it is good.

Yes, I really do love Christmas. And it’s really cool here, because there’s very little pressure really, I’m not in a mad rush to get things done. We’ve been shopping and can get a few bits along the way. The jeep is working again by the way! Thank you Jesus! The part came and Chris fixed it that night. And I was able to get out before I went nuts.

Anyway, back to Christmas, I do love it, but I’m also painfully aware of tragedies and mourning and broken hearts for various tragic reasons this Christmas. We’ve probably all seen the reasons for this on the news or in person.

There are so many who are mourning or in deep depression for so many reasons and the season can emphasise their heartbreak and losses. There aren’t really any words to say on this blog about all this, apart from, it is possible to have joy and have your heart break over all this stuff happening at the same time. for those who are mourning, mourn! For those who are observing and believe – Pray. Pray for those who have nothing, pray for those caught up in situations beyond their control. Pray for the families of those who have lost loved ones. Pray for those who are abused, those who are confused, those who are on their own, those who are grieving, lonely, ill, wondering what is the point. Pray. God is good and He will answer prayers. Do what you can practically as well, if an opportunity comes to help or just be with, be a friend, or listen – do it. Love well. Jesus teaches us how to love well. He gave himself for us.

Enjoy what you have, help where you can, don’t forget we have a Jesus who entrusted himself to humans as a baby and grew up and then suffered for us. If you want to know where he is in your suffering, I can tell you, he is right in there with you, with you in every part of it. He is the light that never fails. Even when it feels like we have nothing, we have everything when we have Him. If you don’t know Him, or don’t believe in Him, He is still there and He still loves you and He still died for you. He’s just one step away and will always come if you ask Him.

Anyway, I’ll leave it at that now.

Happy Christmas folks!

Cathy.

It hasn’t been bad actually, we’ve been baking and drawing and photographing and printing it out and then the kids have been drawing ‘books’, cartoon style and cutting out the photo’s and using them. It’s kept them unusually well occupied, especially J. He loves it. It’s really good too, because it means he’s writing and enjoying it! Which is excellent.

The car part is apparently now in Ireland, but not delivered yet. So hopefully it will be here soon. We’ve been baking all the bread, so we don’t have to keep getting it from the shop. Chris only has a backpack to bring shopping back in. It’s gone quite well, my bread has improved a lot since we came here. In fact, it’s generally really nice. The only bit that went badly was when I apparently accidentally left cling film on top of it and put it in the oven (must have been distracted 😀 I didn’t feed it to them). I got it out and Chris and I looked at it and wondered what the white hard bit was and then realised it was plastic.

We’re relaxing now, as far as possible for the rest of the year (me and the kids that is, education wise), no formal curriculum being done here until after New Year now. But like I said, J has been doing his book all day, so all is good. The unschooling type approach definitely has bonuses. It has to be said, the books/masterpieces they are doing do have a lot of references to poo in them, but I’m thinking they’ll grow out of that at some point? haha. Maybe not, if Chris is anything to go by.

I’ve stopped worrying (on the whole) about Chris riding his motorbike in the freezing conditions, he says he would ride it anyway, even if the car was working. So there’s no point, I do pray though.

As I write, we have literally just had a power cut. Everything has gone dark, really dark, all of a sudden. J has just yelled ‘power cut!’ and I’ve sent him to fetch my emergency bag. Sounds very prepared and glam, it isn’t really. It has torches and candles in it and a radio. The fire is on, so that’s ok. It could be quite peaceful I suppose!

So on that note, I will go. (I was going to publish the blog and then realised I couldn’t because the router was off).

No! I’m back, hi! It only last ten minutes or so. The first of the season! I’ve put the heating on to heat up the water for Chris, just in case it goes off again. I’d better get the bread and food done too.

Sorry to anyone I normally send anything to at Christmas, I haven’t managed to send anything yet and it’s probably too late for Christmas post now. I will send the presents to the family though! Thanks for cards received, I do love getting them.

See you soon.

Cathy.







Very appropriate, seeing as it’s advent! So, it’s Sunday, known as Gaudete Sunday in some circles, Gaudete apparently means rejoice! We missed the mass this morning as we don’t have a working car at the moment. I was a bit disappointed as it’s advent and I was curious to see if the priest wore rose vestments 🙂 But it’s been good here, it’s icy but not snowy. This was when I went to see the chickens this morning.

I’m loving the views at the moment. Just as well really, seeing as we can’t go anywhere else.

Chris has just returned on his motorbike, he’s been to the petrol station to fill it up and bring some spare back. He’s going to have to go back out again to get a bit of shopping too. We’re almost out of milk. Knew we should have got a cow 😀 or a goat…then again, you have to feed them, so maybe not.

Chris in the bright sun!

I must say, I’ll be pleased when we get the jeep repaired. He went his normal way to work yesterday, of which part is a rural back road and he ended up on black ice for a very long stretch (and on a hill) and was thankfully both ok and turned up for work and got home fine later. Just as well he’s a good rider! But yeah, for days like this, the jeep would be good. There is a different way he can go, he just didn’t think of ice being a problem until he hit it. He’s going the longer way tomorrow morning.

It’s a strange feeling not being able to get anywhere again. On lockdown, if you like, but not on Government guidelines, on my own haven’t got any transport thing. The part is meant to be here on Thursday (ish). Duty has already been paid on it, so it hopefully won’t get held up in customs. I’ve got another parcel that’s been there since the 9th November! I am really hoping the car is working before Christmas. Thankyou God for the postal services (and Amazon)! I can’t even get to post the few parcels I still need to post unfortunately. Still, all is well and I’ve decided to enjoy being here until we can get out again.

Chris has just said, ‘you really enjoy writing those blogs, don’t you?’, to which I replied ‘yes, I love writing’. So then he said 😀 ‘why don’t you write a book then and make us shed loads of money’. I said ‘I would if I had any ideas’. 😀

Happy rejoice in Jesus day!

Cathy.