I will eventually catch up!!!


Sunday, September 11 - Wednesday, September 14

These days went by pretty quietly. Sunday Involved more weeding bricks with (un)helpful dogs, and organizing cupboards and storage when the wind became overly ambitious.

Monday: I didn't take any photos on Monday. I don't remember what I did. Except I downloaded a photo of Amber. Fail.

Tuesday: Harvesting veg for Hilary's parents Tony and Sandra, who are enjoying a visit to the east coast of Canada and the US.

Wednesday: No photos. Fail.

Thursday, September 15

My 1st trip to Belfast. I was able to enjoy a city tour bus without rain, though the sky threatened all day. The history of Northern Ireland -- Belfast in particular -- is not something i learned in school, which is a shame. My lack of knowledge did make my visit more enriching, however; I learned enough to whet my appetite for more.

Notice the moose head under the lamp -- a gift from Canada.

The Titanic Experiece!! You can't call it a museum when it has a ride in it!!

Friday, September 16

We picked up Ludo from Hilary's trainer and took him to the vet's for an ultrasound. It's so foreign to me, the idea of taking the horse to the vet as opposed to the vet coming to the horse. I suppose that part of the reason is that N. Ireland is pretty small; it doesn't take long to get anywhere.

Saturday, September 17

I met some lovely friends of H's, who came over for supper. Fiona and William have the farm next door, with about 50 head of dairy cows. I made a yummy caramelized onion, roasted beet, and goat cheese tart, and my (famous?) chocolate quinoa cake. You'd never know it's not flour!

Sunday, September 18

We took the dogs down to the beach for a run, meeting Polly and her two dogs, a lovely yellow lab and a young lurcher, who I think is such a cool looking dog. Tilly was in heaven, and there was a group riding lesson being taught. On the beach. #childhooddreamunfulfilled

Also, Slemish. 
Seriously.

Better late than...

So much for weekly updates.


Well, moving on. I'm going to catch up with a couple of posts.

Tuesday, September 6th and Wednesday, September 7th

These days were spent doing what needs doing. Weeding between bricks and pulling toxic Ragwort from the fields. Tilly the Spaniel swam for two and a half hours straight.

I was very kindly invited to dinner and a viewing of The Great British Bake Off on Wednesday, and was able to offer a bit of advice to a budding Graphic Designer.

Thursday, September 8th and Friday, September 9th

I got into the local town of Ballymena on Thursday for some necessities and enjoyed another dinner out near the coast. The family has a fabulous cat and a loveable dog, both American expats.

Friday was another day of chores, hanging out with the dogs and tidying, and spending time outdoors.


Saturday, September 10th

Today started with a lovely ride up the road. Robbie has got great personality and the rides are never boring. The dogs has a great run in the field where Tilly got her swim on, of course.

I was invited to attend an art event in Cushendun. A art class of children had built paper boats to be towed out on to the water after being lit on fire, ala viking funeral as it were. This was followed by a great evening of good food and conversation.

That's the coast of Scotland you can see in the bottom right.

On the way there, I passed by an old estate built in the medieval style which is now an academy. On the grounds lives the oldest Eucalyptus tree in the UK.

A book sale in an old church, with paper butterflies made by the same group of children; the lovely american expat Cocoa, and the paper viking boat.

Learning Experiences

Saturday, September 3rd.

Today I experienced my first Irish event -- as in Three-day Eventing, except over one day instead. While I was originally going to be helping as a jump judge, I had a really great time simply watching Pre-Novice level cross-country. The course seemed to be a good level of challenging, with a fair number of people not finishing.

I got a kick out of all the horse boxes; I never saw them in Canada, only towed trailers. I wish I had more photos, but my phone decided updates deserved my battery power more than horse stuff. Obviously, my phone needs to sort out her priorities. 

Also, it's really hard to take horse action photos.

Sunday, September 4th

I was able to spend some time getting used to what needs doing for the next 3 weeks. I always thought I was a pretty quick learner, but I think it's particularly hard to shift your thinking when it's about things you've spent years doing -- "I know how to do it, but I don't know how to do it your way". So, adjustments.

I had a short ride and took the dogs to the field. Tilly is the spaniel who lives for the water, and Bobby is the Ridgeback who thinks barking at the horses is the most funnest thing ever. Did some cooking and had an early night.

Monday, September 5th

More adjustments; I'm on my own for the next few days, so I think making a schedule is what's going to keep me focused. I do like lists, after all.

Gardening and some more cooking. I also met some nice guys who came to fix the "cooker". It runs on oil and heats the house and water and is quite the behemoth.

The weather started out stormy, but the sun persevered against the clouds. Slemish Mountain is super photogenic, especially at sunset.

What's the word for super green?

I'm just going to say it: Ireland is like a storybook.

Sometimes the cliches are accurate.

I was allowed to ride a retired top level event horse along a country road with stone walls around green fields filled with sheep and cows, went horseshoe hunting with a rambunctious Rhodesian Ridgeback and a spaniel who should properly be called a mer-dog.

I was feeling a little bit like a Canadian Sarah Brown #internationalvelvet . 

This is probably a good time to mention Workaway.info -- it's the only reason I'm able to be adventuring. The website allows hosts to list their needs and then workawayers(like me) can contact them to see if they might suit each other. If you like the idea of helping people while experiencing another part of the world, earning room and board with your time and energy, check out the website. 

On another note:

You know that saying "if you don't like the weather in Ireland, wait 5 minutes"? 

It's true.

Also, UK money is weird. Those are all £20 bills -- they are all different colours and have different designs.

Oh, and just so you know, none of the photos used in this post are filtered. Yeah.

Hi Ireland

Travel day.

London to Belfast; an hour flight but almost 10 degrees cooler. Hallelujah. And there's rain too!!

When I flew into Gatwick, I was underwhelmed. It was small and seemed both old and unfinished, which takes a certain kind of talent. However, LEAVING Gatwick is a completely different story. Once you go through security, imagine the south terminal with a little bit of Metrotown.

Jamie Oliver has a restaurant there.

Harrod's has a mini store.

It was a pretty odd experience. 

Now I'm staying near Belfast in the beautiful Northern Ireland countryside, and I've already learned a new card game

Out of Time

My last day in London.

You all shouldn't be surprised to hear that I hate rushing. The most sure way to forget something is to be frantically get things done.

You all also probably know that I'm a procrastinator. These 2 aspects of my personality...don't really work well together.

I will sum up: I had a list of things to see and do in London, and I could have probably gotten them all ticked off, but I would not have enjoyed it. Therefore, I am truly content with what I did see, and look forward to my next visit in order to experience the rest.

Today was Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. I did not shell out for the tours -- £25 for the ToL tour?! -- but I really enjoyed walking around outside and I think I got some great "stock" photos.

The one in the middle I thought was a pretty serendipitous, considering the name of this blog.

...ok, so I also went to Oxford St. Can someone please explain to me why there needs to be 3 H&M stores within a 5 block stretch??? No? well, then have a layout of my new sunglasses(Primark baby), a cool HP-esque street, and a crappy blurry Selfridge's -- taken from the bus. You're welcome.

London Boil

That's me.

Look, the simple fact is that it is torture to walk around a unknown city in the summer. Between the tourists and figuring out directions, I had to make my day short and sweet.

The Tate Britain, home of the Turner collection. JMW Turner is my favourite landscape artist and early impressionist. His use of yellows and oranges make my stomach do the rollercoaster thing.

And it just so happened that the Westminster station was my stop. Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye -- well, across the water. 

Autumn has started in London, Westminster Station looks like an Escher building, and there's always room for another photo of the HoP.