Sceil Lus na Feannaig

Tapping in

2009-05-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

wide ones

2009-04-18T20:06:00.000-07:00

Tool making and using

2009-04-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

Peat as commerce, history, and ecology

2009-04-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

The Wicklow way

2009-04-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

2009-04-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

(partial) Anatomy of a reciprocal roof

2009-04-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

The last weeks with class

2009-04-05T21:37:00.000-07:00

2009-04-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

This is Philip, our ecology teacher, natural history guide, practical philosophy guru, storyteller - and wood working teacher. We are certainly forgetting a few titles. Philip collects wood and lathes lamps, bowls, bannisters and other rounded articles. The craft requires a mix of brute strength and calculated movements, the ability to sense depth and distance in an object spinning at high speeds, the focus and understanding to determine which loud crashes are normal, and which ones mean you should retreat immediately. It is a mix of violence and subtlety. Firmness, angles, the heaviest and lightest of touches.

During our visit, he demonstrated the tasks of making a bowl and a lamp from wood blocks to sanding and oiling, throwing in a few tricks along the way. He made it look easy but it's not.

Thanks Philip!

Cork: Finbar's house of worship

2009-03-06T16:57:00.000-08:00

2 days in class

2009-03-05T17:15:00.000-08:00

Yes! Above is the River Bandon which empties into Kinsale Harbor. The cloud, which Irish broadcasters might call "fierce" actually was - gum ball sized hail stones pelted us minutes before the picture was taken. Here we are planting birch, alder, and hazel in Michael's field (center right, blue attire). The field was occupied by British forces in 1621, it being the highest point for some distance. From it, they took stock of both Irish and Spanish positions, both of whom they routed. The Battle of Kinsale set Irish independence back decades if not centuries.

Asked if the plastic, which controls competition, would starve the new tree of water, I was kindly informed, "what?" Evidently 'drought' or anything resembling it is still something a non-traveler has only heard of, and maybe not even that. Suddenly for me, my lifetime in Seattle felt dusty.

This is Paul, our organic gardening instructor, demonstrating the function of a draw knife and his neat jig. He and two friends felled, hauled, and milled the trees/boards used in the house behind us. Timber framed houses are spoken of as an anomaly here, their virtues touted (year-round constructability, easy to insulate well, flexibility in design...). I think even the brick houses in the PNW are timber framed. I knew I loved wood. Save the damn forests! Gotta love steep undevelopable, sprawl-stopping slopes. While we are on the subject, if Washington state, with it's tall mountains and deep valleys, if it were stretched flat, how big would it be? And when we refer to it's area in square miles, are we being true? Does not the angled land get discounted or mismeasured? Does it really rank behind South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas? And how does it compare to Texas?

Barcelona and Catalunya

2009-03-04T03:42:00.000-08:00

The monastery of Montserrat

2009-03-04T02:00:00.000-08:00

On our last day in Barcelona, we took a train out to the mountain of Montserrat. Montserrat literally means "jagged mountain" in Catalan. It was spectacular as we approached in the early morning. The mountain is composed of striking pink conglomerate, a form of sedimentary rock.

Fifty years after the birth of Christ, St Peter is said to have deposited an image of the Virgin carved by St Luke in one of the mountain caves. It was supposedly lost in the 8th century after being hidden during the Muslim invasion. It reappeared in 880 and a chapel was built to house it, superseded in 976 by a Benedictine monastery set about three quarters of the way up the mountain at about 1000m. Miracles abounded and the Virgin of Montserrat soon became the chief cult image of Catalunya and a pilgrimage center.

The path to Santa Cova, a 17th century chapel built where the icon is said to have been found originally.

The monastery.

Chapel at Sant Joan.

This was from a trek that we did on Bob's birthday. We walked from the small city of Olot, through an extinct chain of volcanoes to the charming village of Santa Pau.

Oh, yeah and we are now engaged!

Water bird sightings of late

2009-03-01T16:32:00.000-08:00

Common teal (Anas crecca)

The speedy common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) adorns the covers of many of the local bird guides probably because of its electric blue rump and back. We see members of this family often, usually darting from the woods to the bank below, then back to the woods. Never lingering. Its numbers are declining.

Greenshank (Tringa nebularia), its slender bill has developed along with its habit of eating buried worms and molluscs, but also fish, crabs and shrimp. They are visiting from Scotland and Scandanavia, where they will return shortly to breed.

The Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata) is the largest (sometimes called a marsh hen) and easiest to identify local shorebird, its bill curved downward. It is noticeably larger than the others. Irish breeders are joined by Scots and Scandinavians in the winter. And it eats mainly ragworms, crabs, and molluscs. They forage individually during the day but roost communally, presumably telling stories like the one about the pesky ragworm that got away, and sorting out other thoughts they had.

Lapwings (Vanellus vanellus) flock together in the winter, the Irish breeders joined by continental breeders. They feed at day but also at night. Speculation is that the larger sub-water surface worms that come out at night might be a cause. As might be the need to avoid black-headed gulls and their troublesome kleptoparasitism (food robbing).

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

The grey heron, this one and the stern of Shane's boat.

A greenshank touching down.

Workin' on the quays

2009-02-28T18:09:00.000-08:00

Kinsale is a destination for continental grain, milled locally into pig and chicken feed. It's common to find corn kernals on the roadsides around town, spilled from the trucks.

Kinsale's main pier.

Shane's boat, leaned against the quay wall so he can do some propeller shaft work.

Not a green roof in the permaculture sense, a result instead of the wet climate and plenty of grain dust in the wind.

Irish woodlands (the birch, oak, & beech)

2009-02-28T16:52:00.000-08:00

Songbird sightings

2009-02-28T16:15:00.000-08:00

Stonechat (saxicola torquata) down by the marsh. Our guide book says they, "perch prominently on tops of bushes."

Blue tit (Parus caeruleus)

A male chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs).

The great tit (Parus major) largest of all the tits has 57 distinct calls and songs.

Hmm. Sort of stumped on this one. Some of the colors of the goldfinch but the patterns are off.

An insect eating gray wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) is often found near water.

The European robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Walkin' home

2009-02-28T15:41:00.000-08:00

This is our walk home from town. It would be illegal for me to work, but for some reason Jen and I end up making the walk most nights. The picture of the moon and Jupiter is from January when they and Venus were apparently traveling together.

Famine Village

2009-02-28T05:00:00.000-08:00

These is the remains of a nearby settlement that was deserted due to The Famine. We don't have any other details than that. The trails to it are overgrown and fenced off.

A Fin Whale's ending

2009-02-04T05:14:00.000-08:00

Two weeks everyone got news of a fin whale who swam into Courtmacsherry Bay. It was the talk of the town and within days it seemed that everyone had ventured on over to take a look. Those that waited saw more of it's inside than it's outside and we wonder what the kids thought of that. We made only one trek, about 24 hours after it died.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group chronologed the stranding, biopsy, and removal process.
http://www.iwdg.ie/article.asp?id=2204

Something of a tussle broke out between the two nearest villages, each claiming that they were heirs to the skeleton. Courtmacsherry, situated in full view of the whale (see the second photo), seemed like an appropriate place to build a display...to outsiders like us. Residents of Kilbrittain felt otherwise. They argued that the whale perished on their side of the bay's centerline, and though their town center is a kilometer or so inland, it is there that a display should be built. Indeed it's residents were credited with most of the effort in trying to remove the carcass, with staging and access coming from their side. Undeterred, Courtmacsherry residents made a low-tide midnight attempt at the jawbone, but the sounds of wheeling chainsaws alerted Kilbritain's best who rushed across the mud flat to renew their claim, or so the rumor goes. They retrieved the jaw and hid it until the furor died down.
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/villagers-in-row-over-ownership-of-whale-carcass-1607151.html?start=2

And finally, whale removal lessons from Florence, Oregon, 1970.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_t44siFyb4&eurl=http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/

Knockmealdown

2009-01-27T16:32:00.000-08:00

Looking south across Co. Waterford, the coast, and out to the Celtic Sea

Michael and his daughter Shan invited us to climb the peaks. He was last up here when he was 17.

A close-up look at the Golden Vale, a series of valleys beneath several peaks, and some of the most fertile land in the country. The Vale is centered in Co. Tipperary and spills down into Co. Limerick.

At a pass in the Knockmealdowns known as "the Gap" stands this shrine to Mary. Ireland, which is half the size of Washington State, has hundreds of these shrines, usually beside well-travelled roads. Most were built in or just after 1954, the year the Vatican named a Marion Year, or year to celebrate Mary. Parents named their newborn daughters Mary and Ireland issued a stamp. Many of the shrines are built near holy wells, and one located about four miles from Kinsale made the news in 1985 when observers noticed a slight movement. Similar movements were seen at shrines across the country: usually at dusk, after the spot lights are lit.

When Michael was last here, none of this was. This is one species of rhodendron, common rhododendron (rhododendron ponticum). The mountainside up to the right is covered in it. I can't think of an infestation this large that I've ever seen. Today, it is "native" in SE Europe (SE Bulgaria through Turkey into the Caucasus) and the Iberian Peninsula. But it grew here in the Tertiary period and then much more recently in one of the most recent inter-glacial periods, both times receeding due to changes in climate. It was (re)introduced to Ireland in the 1700's and has since then exploded. It is shade tolerant but thrives in full sun as well. A prolific seed producer, it will just as likely spread vegetatively. Unfortunately for native oaks, it hosts the fungal pathogen that causes 'sudden oak death.' Ponticum has invaded has invaded three habitats of international importance under the EC Habitats Directive: upland oak woods, bogs and heath.

Sport plowing

2009-01-27T15:43:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we had the fortune to see something we never knew existed, the traditional sport of Plowing. Plowers are given a set time to plow a number of rows as straight and cleanly as possible. There were four divisions - basically the four generations of tractors (if you include the horse as a generation of tractor), another thing we did not yet know.

Competitive plowers take their task seriously, frequently jumping out of the cabin to inspect the plow, especially near the start. A good furrow depends on minute adjustments to the plow, and these are based on soil type, current moisture conditions, and probably a few other factors this forest-phyte cannot yet grasp. Our guide referred to these manual adjustments (above) as 'cheating,' but as long as the plower gets the mandated rows completed in time I don't think it matters. The judges, at least, didn't appear to care.

A day in the hazel coppice

2009-01-27T08:34:00.000-08:00

Back in November we travelled to a woodland owned by Saul Mossbacher where we learned first-hand about coppicing by harvesting a crop of hazel.

Coppicing is the oldest form of woodland management. It essentially involves cutting the stems of the tree down to the stump. They then re-grow producing multiple stems, or poles.

Typically a coppiced woodland is harvested in sections or on a rotation. In this way, a crop is available each year somewhere in the woodland. Coppicing has the effect of providing a rich variety of habitats, as the woodland always has a range of different-aged coppice growing in it, which is beneficial for biodiversity. The cycle length (7-20 years) depends upon the species cut, the local custom, and the use to which the product is put. Not all tree species can be coppiced, only those that tend to sucker when cut.

In the case of hazel the poles are harvested approximately every 7 years and converted into a wide range of products including woven hazel fencing, rustic furniture, and poles for building things such as yurt frames.

Coppicing has the effect of maintaining trees at a juvenile stage, and a regularly coppiced tree will never die of old age. The age of a stool may be estimated from its diameter, and some are so large (perhaps as much as 9 m or 30 ft across) that they are thought to have been continuously coppiced for many centuries. There is a growing movement in Ireland and Brittain to return abandoned coppices to rotation. Word travels among the 'interested' of a disused coppice that has been rediscovered, eyes widen and palms are rubbed together in hopes that a way can be found to remind folks of the forgotten value of a sustainably-managed woodland.

During harvest we sorted the poles according to size and straightness and bundled them for easier transport and sale.

Ponds and polytunnels

2009-01-27T04:19:00.000-08:00

(The presentation room)

Another trip to West Cork, and outside the town of Ballingeary we found John Dolan's site. John specializes in designing and building ponds and constructed wetlands for domestic sewage treatment, aquaculture, frog production (read below), recreation, irrigation, and interestingly - as a frost deterrent. The picture above is of his yet to be completed house and the main pond on it's south side. He has just increased his solar uptake by almost 2x's. Below is his current quarters.

Here is John's polytunnel. Yes he does grow vegetables, but he also has a crash pad-loft, a functioning kitchen, and a meeting space. It's warm through the winter and the air is alive with flavor.

In a fit of creative thought, he increased the height of the structure by taking advantage of the rock outcrop behind the tunnel. If you look closely, you'll notice that the polytunnel is propped up and rotatated (circles don't lean?) towards the south.

This is John. Over the past ten years, he has been gardening on this naturally wet site and, as with many gardeners, he had a slug problem. They thrived in the wet environment and feasted on his young transplants. He pondered... and in time began noticing a few things: a predator-prey relationship, slug feeding behavior...He surmised that there was little chance of happening upon a single slug eliminating trick, he didn't feel that lucky. So he began to apply several tricks. He built raised beds and constructed ponds, together lowering the effective water table thus drying out the garden a little. He knew that frogs prey on slugs, and there were a few frogs on the land. So he set about about creating a tadpole-boom by mimicking and multiplying their floating spawning mats. He grew raptor-protection cover plants at pond's edge, and built pond edges that allowed frogs to escape if necessary. And for the slugs that escaped the frogs, just before and during the transplanting of his young food plants, he feeds the slugs what he calls "junk food balls," crumpled up balls of semi-decomposed kale and comfrey. The slugs turn out for the event and feast. It makes slugging easier, and importantly, they leave the young plants alone. Finally, for those slugs that have weaved their way though the hurdles, John probably offers a hearty congratulations, and let's them be, adopting the theory that plants when nibbled upon produce antioxidants, which makes them healthier to him and his friends.

Kinsale Community Garden

2009-01-11T05:34:00.000-08:00

This is Kinsale's community garden. Established in front of a row of former barracks a few years ago, it has been managed by a rotating group of energized folks. Locals from the neighborhood and around Kinsale congregate every Sunday to dig, plant, mulch, weed, and socialize. Today there is a soup and planning session. The garden is affiliated with Kinsale's Transition Town.

Several weeks back, a few of us got together to haul straw and manure to the garden. Our friend, classmate, and local farmer-accountant, Michael Barry supplied the the raw materials, hydraulic power, and 1/3 of the muscle to get the stuff across town.

Michael, Ollie, and Ollie's son Dylan, after the morning flurry of work.

Smoking fish and tasting honey

2009-01-11T04:51:00.000-08:00

Tim Rowe came from West Cork arrived to talk about smoking fish and beekeeping. He showed us how to build a smoker quickly with materials around the college (blocks, sand, wood chips...). Once the burning wood turned to coals, we applied doug fir chips and began to damper down the fire - making sure to plug up the leaks with sand. The fire was positioned lateral to the fish so that only the smoke and not heat would cook the meat.

We used Whiting, not because it was the best fish but because it was what was available. Typically you would want to use a more oily fish like mackeral or herring in Ireland.

A bit too salty but still good!

Tim runs his own bee farm in Ballylickey, where he gathers and produces absolutely delicious honey! He is also very involved in conducting surveys on the loss of bee populations in West Cork due to Colony Collapse Syndrome. A great book recommended by Tim that outlines the current plight of the honeybee is "A World Without Bees" by Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum.

Ponies and ewes

2009-01-05T09:39:00.000-08:00

When we arrived in Clifden, Co. Galway we found out that it was time for the annual Connemara Pony Auction. What luck! The streets were lined with cars and horse trailers and there were lots of Irish cowboys and girls walking the streets. We headed down to get a look at all the action.
In this photograph a mother and her yearling were being auctioned off together but when there were no buyers the mother was sold separately.

The Connemara pony is the only native Irish breed of horse. Some believe that the Connemara developed from Scandinavian ponies that the Vikings first brought to Ireland. Another source was likely the Irish Hobby, a now-extinct breed established prior to the 13th century. Legend, however, says that galleons from the Spanish Armada ran aground in 1588, and the Andalusians on board were set loose. The Spanish horses bred with the native stock, redefining the local ponies.

Ponies were going for a variety of prices. It seemed to be highly dependent on bloodlines and registrations. In the time that we were there, one male colt went for only 25 euros, while another beautiful mare went for 2500 euros!

While hiking the Twelve Bens in the Connemara we came across this herder, who bounded over the boggy heath lands with an agility and ease that we were certainly lacking. He crossed over an area about 4 square miles, trotting up and down the slopes with his two border collies. He continuously called to the dogs as they worked the sheep into a group and then moved them down the mountain. The sheep are spray-painted to help the owners identify their flock. All over Ireland sheep are painted either bright pink or blue.

Connemara II: around Letterfrack

2008-12-28T02:32:00.001-08:00

The salmon-rich Dawros River

Looking south to Diamond Hill. Bienvenido compadres.

Commercial-scale turf cutting. Peat bricks set out to season before being hauled to market. Most are pressed into rock hard bricks, sold, then burnt in the fireplace.

A grown-over dig. Bog bursts are a problem here. Blankets of peat that cover the earth help hold the ground together, protecting it from lateral slides. When the peat is removed, especially on sloping bogs, its stabilizing function is removed, and the subsoil is let loose, clogging streams and burying valuable topsoil.

Connemara's Twelve Pins

2008-12-25T00:41:00.000-08:00

Connemara, which derives from Conmhaicne Mara (meaning: descendants of Con Mhac, of the sea), is a district in the west of Ireland comprising of a broad peninsula between Killary Harbour and Kilkieran Bay in the west of County Galway or south west Connacht. The Conmhaicne Mara were a branch of the Conmhaicne, an early tribal grouping that had a number of branches located in different parts of Connacht. As this branch of Conmhaicne were located by the sea they became known as the Conmhaicne Mara, i.e., of the sea.

Connemara was traditionally divided into North Connemara and South Connemara. The mountains of the Twelve Bens and the Owenglin river, which flows into the sea at An Clochán/Clifden, marked the boundary between the two parts.

Weather was intense. We experienced gale winds, rain and hail. Then in the next instant the sun would shine and light up the mountains. The ever-changing elements gave The Connemara an even more dramatic beauty.

The native Irish hawthorne.

Permaculture in action

2008-12-16T12:26:00.000-08:00

A visit to our instructor's property at Derryduff Mor near Bantry. Graham has had the 4 acre plot for over 7 years.
Here is his cordwood roundhouse with attached greenhouse. Our meeting place for the days activities.

An overall view of the property that lies above the flood plain of the Coomhola River. The red-roofed house in the background is Graham's home.

Madeline (France), Eileen (Cork), and Ann (Cork) working on gathering seeds.

We didn't get to see this is action but it is a wood bending system. You would stick a pole into the pipe and add water then light the fire to steam the pole. Then remove it and start turning it around the wheel to shape it.

Patrice (Quebec) and I working on trellising.

Stella (Germany) using a draw knife to peel stakes.

Cordwood & Cob

2008-12-16T10:18:00.000-08:00

One of the green building projects is a cordwood roundhouse on the school's premises. Currently we are working on the the walls of the building. They are basically built of cob (a combination of subsoil, gravel, clay and straw) with rounds of wood (Douglas Fir in this case) spaced throughout. In these photos we are mixing together the ingredients for the cob.

Then we mold it into balls or "bricks" to make it easier to handle.

Here's our teacher Graham Strouts giving us a tutorial.

The cordwood roundhouse in the background (current project) and the amphitheater (finished previously) to the right.

I find Permaculture so exciting!

A sort of Ode to The Gray Heron and some of her marsh friends

2008-12-11T04:57:00.000-08:00

The European Goldfinch

The seed eating Carduelis carduelis has recently climbed to the 9th most encountered bird in Ireland. Its population crashed in the 70's and 80's as agricultural practices intensified and weed seeds like thistle and teasel declined. Agriculture has not let up. Instead, the practice of installing peanut feeders in gardens has grown, and with it, the goldfinch population and human encounters.

A Rook, one of Irelands seven corvid species.

The Litttle egret

Egretta garzetta was a rare visitor in Ireland until 1997 when it began breeding along the south coast. It now occurs in almost every coastal county.

Garrettstown beach

2008-11-21T09:54:00.000-08:00

We were very excited to see these: Blue-rayed limpets, Helcion pellucidum. Only 1.5 cm long, they attach themselves to kelp but can leave to ... explore (?). They leave a oval scar on the kelp frond and will return to this base. As they age, the blue rays darken and lose some of their vibrance.

Snakelocks anemone, Anemonia viridis. Like other anemone, Snakelocks stings its prey with its tenticle tips then uses them to pass the food toward its mouth. Unlike other anemone, snakelocks cannot retract its tenticles, thus it is vulnerable to death or injury caused by wave action and/or dehydration during low tide.

These folks are known as Beadlet anemone, or Actinia equina. When their tenticles are out-stretched, you would notice a series of bead-like nodules at the base of each.

These sand, shell, and gravel structures are built by the colonial Honeycomb Worm (Sabellaria alveolata). We never saw the worms, but they are 4 cm long and emerge from their combs during high tide to feast. This Beadlet anemone appears to like them enough.

Cork Lough

2008-11-19T10:39:00.000-08:00

Which goose is this? Anser anser, the Greylag Goose

Black-headed gull in its winter plumage.

A male tufted duck

A female mallard

Columba livia, or Rock Dove.

Gallinula chloropus, aka the moorhen.

The coast near Nohoval

2008-11-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

This is the coastline a few miles east of Kinsale. We'd been told that the seabirds were everywhere but we didn't get here in time - Fulmars, puffins, and guillemots all breed on the cliffs during the summer. We did catch a quick view of the chough, an increasingly rare corvid (crow-like bird) with a bright orange bill.

The countryside just back from the cliffs

Saving seeds in West Cork

2008-11-17T00:26:00.000-08:00

We took a trip out to a farm in West Cork near the town of Skibbereen. The farm is called Ardagh and besides raising organic beef they are mainly occupied with their seed company Brown Envelope Seeds. It is one of only two company/farms that produce seed in Ireland. The other being the Irish Seed Savers Association. You can read more about them at their website www.brownenvelopeseeds.com

Drying onions from one of the two polytunnels.

Brassica seed. On all of our field trips we spend part of the day helping out with the projects taking place there. Here we were sifting through dry seed heads, to separate and collect the seeds.

Amaranth, a staple food of the Aztecs that has been cultivated as a grain for over 8,000 years. A beautiful plant.

I wish I could remember the name of this squash. Very interesting! At the farm they are always trying new varieties, experimenting to see what works well in the cool, wet Irish climate. They want to not only give growers more options but also the ability to be creative and have fun with their gardens.

Madeline McKeever, at center, owns Brown Envelope Seeds. Her and her partner were our hosts for the day.

Brassica seeds shells and dried flower stalks

Lunch time with (from left) Lizzie from Canada-Scotland-Oaklahoma...mainly Scotland, me, Michelle from Galway and Sinead from Cork city.
Story... on the first day I met Sinead she was telling me that she had been to America and had lived in the most red-neck town there was. I asked where. Ocean City, MD she said. Real funny.

There was some confusion for us when we got here and our zucchinis were being called marrows and courgettes. So these here are marrows. Apparently courgettes are marrows picked at an immature state and for a better taste. These ones were huge, left on the vine to produce good seeds.

The Birds of Cork continues

2008-11-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

Difficult for us to identify, our ecology professor Philip believes this is a rock pipit, Anthus petrosus.

The local robin is not a thrush like ours in North America. Erithacus rubecula is a lot smaller, and has a pinker orange than our burnt orange 'turdus'. They are year-round residents in Ireland but the numbers swell with continental arrivals in the fall.

European goldfinches feeding on the seeds of teazle, a protocarnivorous (traps and kills insects but can't digest or absorb them) plant that looks a lot like thistle.

Some of the non-human stuff

2008-11-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

The Gray heron perched on an old oyster stand

A young herring gull slowly de-clawing its prey

Mute swan in Kinsale Harbor

A Eurasian curlew, largest of the shorebirds we've seen

A pied wagtail. "Pied" we've learned means black and white. These sharp-looking passerines are darn common even on city streets.

Forest learning

2008-11-10T11:39:00.000-08:00

We spent this class day frolicking in the forest, tuning into our more creative and child-like side. There were a variety of sensory activities. This one involving the close observation of leaves.

And here our palettes of woodland colors.

Our favorite. Searching out a spot in the woods and constructing a mini forest homestead. Of course trying to utilize our permaculture knowledge. Groups created all sorts of structures. Some of them large enough to get inside! We stuck to the miniature, it's only about 10 inches tall. Complete with moss roofing, water drainage, protective fencing and a wood pile! If money gets tight in Kinsale we can always move in here.

Odds and ends

2008-11-05T12:16:00.000-08:00

Morning on the harbor

The yurt ceiling: a pleasant sight to doze off to.

A grey heron amidst the masts, two quite common sights in Kinsale.

As a fan of the sea, rivers, and salmon I've started asking questions of the locals like, "Is there any sort of cultural affinity, past or present, towards the salmon like that which exists in the PNW?" The answer is evidently, "No." For mackerel, yes, but not salmon even though they are local and used to be a staple for the masses and an important commercial resource of the recent. I've been told that the Irish have tended to look inward, away from the ocean and toward the land - more focused on making a living from the soil than from the sea. There are more than a few exceptions. And Kinsale will give us the chance to explore both outlooks.

Aboard the Aurora Borealis

2008-11-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

Homarus gammarus: the European lobster.

Shane kept this tote of live lobsters submerged and lashed to the side of his boat until he was ready to deliver them the a local restaurant.

Roisin is great to be around. Both Jen and I have been suffering from Inde-separation withdrawal since we left her in Seattle with Deb. Roisin, of related breed but different temperament, is doing her best to fill the void. She's like Inde on speed. Which isn't bad.

From the Aurora Borealis, Shane's boat

The startup, not always pretty for a hard worker.

Our journey begins...

2008-10-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

Kinsale's town center. Not sure if there is actually a name for this street.

A fishing boat. Not Shane's. Charles Fort is in the background, built by the English in the 1670's to guard Kinsale's harbor. It remained in use in 1921, when the British finally, finally withdrew.

31 Cork Street. Our first house in town, that is without counting the week we stayed with Karen (Bob's sister) and her husband Shane. We only lasted one week at this house. The original plan was to live here while helping to clean it up and dispose of the mass amounts of rubbish (garbage) inside and outside of the house - this in exchange for money off rent. It is really a very interesting old house however much in disrepair. Well, it just didn't happen as planned. After a week we realized that between the exiting tenants throwing their furniture and trash out the window in the middle of the night and the threat of a very cold fall (there were some windows lacking panes) we had better find a new place.

The Lee River in downtown Cork City.

Our ecology class on the rocky shale shoreline near Charles Fort. We have ecology every Friday and our teacher Phillip, a fascinating fellow filled with rich opinions and humorous stories, takes us on field trips around the area to have a look at different types of ecosystems.

A night with Karen and Shane's friends Diana and Mike at their home on the outskirts of the town center. They have a beautiful house with gardens, goats, a yurt and a cob oven, right on the water. One false step and you might land yourself in the harbor. They made pizza in the oven and we hung out by the fire for the evening.

Cruising the streets of Cork on the lookout for the English market and some specialty foods (Jen's first day in a "European" city).

Ireland is similar to Alaska in at least one respect: Alaska is to the U.S. as Ireland is to Europe. Officially this is fact, but locals will look at you like you're crazy if you think it's true.