From herding cattle to walking in the footsteps of FinnMcCool

What a fantastic 2 days it has been.

Yesterday began with feeding the animals. Alix graciously agreed to videotape me doing this so you could see the pigs screaming. Of course the one day I approach them with a video camera they were so far off in the field there was no screaming! Oh well. I took a couple of videos yesterday and am in the process of uploading them on Flickr.

After feeding the animals it was time to weed carrots. Carrots that are newly planted, thus the carrot stems are less than an inch tall so one has to be on their hands & knees basically with your face in the dirt to distinguish carrot tops from grass. According to John grass is one of the only things that grows plentifully here and boy does it grow! The weeds are easy to pull out of the ground because it is so moist, but it is really tedious and tests your sanity. I was SO looking forward to lunch break because my back, knees, and legs were screaming.

For lunch yesterday we had toast with eggs and everyone but me had smoked salmon on that. The eggs were a bit runny for my taste but I know this is a European thing. For dessert we had yogurt. The eggs here are really good, and if you go to my flickr you will see a video of me collecting eggs!

After lunch it was back to the carrots. At this point I was seriously cursing carrots. Erin got to clean out where the chicks are as they got 50 more today and needed somewhere to put them. Erin pointed out that some of the chicks (they have 10 that are about 4 weeks old) are developing irregularly to John and he replied "Yes, it looks like I am going to have to go bonk some of them on the head." Wow. I will not be there for that!

Alix and I were toiling over the carrots and the heavens responded by unleashing a torrential rain. We responded by running inside to get our raincoats (it was sunny!) and by the time we went back outside it had stopped. Thus we walked back to the field and it started raining again! We went into the newest polytunnel and began using a hoe to break up the earth to prepare it for planting. Of course it stopped raining! Back to carrots! As we were kneeling down a hare hopped across the field directly in front of us!

I called it a rabbit and John corrected me that it is a hare. He likes to correct me a lot. For example trash is not called trash here, it is called rubbish. I think that's rubbish! (:

As we were cursing and weeding we heard Erin call us from the stables, it was time to herd some cattle! Hooray! When John & Laura wean calves here they have to bring in the mother cows as they can get mastitis from the flies in the fields so once their milk dries up they can return to the field. The field where the cows were returned to (also seen on my flickr) is across the road so John, Laura, & Alix herded them out of the stables and down the driveway. John assigned the task of blocking the road and stopping traffic to Erin and I. Once the cows got to the road they had to make a left and then a right a bit after that to go to the field.

These were our instructions:
John: You both stand in the road and stop traffic. Don't let the cows get past you.
Me: Umm how do they know to make a right turn?
John: Because I told them to.
Okkaayyyyy.

These cows are black, massive, and beautiful. I was a bit scared of them but once they made it into the first field I had to run ahead of them to get to the gate where the bull was. I reached the gate (after running up and over a 4 hills- thank goodness for running training!) and all of the cows came running towards me. Once I opened the gate the bull came out and there was a bit of a cow stand off as they all started demonstrating signs of aggression to see who was the top cow. Stamping at the ground like they were going to charge, I was a wee bit nervous! John herded them into the corral and then they did this butt heads thing for a bit.

Me: Will they hurt each other?
John: Well it doesn't look like it feels good does it?
Sarcasm is abound here! They call it being "cheeky."

Even though the sarcasm is prevalent, I cannot say enough about how friendly everyone is. They all want to know where we are from, what we are doing on our holidays here, and are quick to offer help or directions when needed. I feel really welcomed everywhere I go. It is very refreshing!

Today we went to the Giants Causeway, it was awesome! John gave us a ride to the bus stop and we had an interesting conversation en route. It started with me asking him what kind of cows the white and black ones are that are down the road from them. He replied that they are (insert Irish sounding name here)'s cows and that they have to be brought in 2-3 times a day to be milked. I asked if they were organic and he replied " I don't think he knows how to spell organic." He then proceeded to tell us about the differing treatment between organic and non organic cows here, it is not as simple as putting them out to pasture. Apparently there is a medication that is widely prescribed by veterinarians that kills all parasites on non-organic cows and sheep. This medication is still active in the manure. Traditionally dung beetles distribute the manure around the grass on the farm to fertilize it. There is also a bird species that only eats dung beetles. When the animals are on this medication the dung beetle will not go near the manure and the dung beetle has been eradicated in large parts of Ireland. The bird population has suffered as well as a result of this.

It is so interesting to see first hand the cascade of events that occur when we resort to the cheapest and easiest fix. I have really had an eye opening experience here that is really helping me to appreciate the little things, from organic carrots to dung beetles.

On a lighter note the bus station was in a shopping center with two grocery stores.
Me: "Which grocery store should I go to John as I need toothpaste?"
John: "Well I would sooner cut off my ears than go to either of those grocery stores."

The bus ride up the coast to the Giant's Causeway was simply breathtaking. Amazing views of rocky beaches, water as far as your eyes could see and quaint villages interspersed here and there. In these villages I observed people going about their lives sitting on their porches or tending to their spray painted sheep (so you know which one is yours!) and it seems so idyllic.

Another eye opening point for me is that a lot of people do have complaints about their country in a similar way that I have about mine. When I would always think of Ireland before coming here it seemed so idyllic, and it still is, but it is also more real. I guess that nowhere is perfect, all you can do is try to find somewhere that feels like home with the understanding that it is the imperfections that help you to see the perfections. But I digress.

It was interesting to see a lot of Gaelic signs on our way up there, as there aren't really any in the area where we are staying. We also received a free bus ride up the coast which was pretty awesome. When the bus docked in the station to pick us up the driver got off and went to the restroom. Ten other people in front of us got on and we followed. We were never asked for money either!

When we reached the Causeway we missed the stop because they don't announce it and for some reason we were expecting this mass exodus to get off but only one person did. It was off to the town of Bushmills then!

We had a lovely lunch of vegetable soup, a greek salad, pot of tea, and garlic french fries. Yum! After lunch we toured the Bushmills Distillery. I cannot drink whiskey let alone smell it but the tour was quite interesting. At the end we got to sample some whiskey, we all took one sip and that was enough for us!

We then had an hour until the bus to the giant's Causeway so we wandered around the town and shopped a bit. We also enjoyed Banofee Roulade which might just be the sweetest thing I have ever eaten! I couldn't even finish it!

The Giant's Causeway was beautiful and sooooo windy as you will see from my pictures. The area consists of an estimated 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns, which were formed during a volcano eruption 60 million years ago.
See below for the legend surrounding the Giant's Causeway:
http://thenorthernirelandguide.co.uk/giants-causeway-and-legend-finn-mccool

Interestingly enough it was the first place we have seen American tourists We were only there briefly as we had to hop on the bus back to Laren where Laura picked us up.

It has been a great couple of days and I am looking forward to farmwork tomorrow and karaoke at the local pub tomorrow evening! Oh and we get a new WWoofer tomorrow who is a german guy so we will be bringing him along as well!

Signing off for now as I need to go to sleep but flickr is having difficulty uploading video so I may do it on facebook....