Connemara - a place for relaxing while being active

Being rather committed to so many things day in day out, I decided to treat myself with a 2 nights stay in Connemara. So far I had no holiday planned this year and might just spend it within Ireland.
The main Criteria was not too far away, somewhere quiet and tranquil. Westport always sounds good, but would be to busy this time of the year. So my finger on the map went further out, further West, past Louisburgh and for one moment the Islands of Clare and especially Inishturk seemed to be an option. In Inishturk I put my stories of my neighbor together in one little book ' good bye Mr.Smith'. Finally I decided that I settle around Letterfrack, near the Connemara National Park. Even though I had been there before a few times with my family, but the development of the Wild Atlantic Way might have created new attractions.
Despite the not so inviting early July weather of the usual drizzle-cloud-sun mix it seemed to settle quickly and past Leenaun the sun managed to peep out. My B&B, Ard na Mara cottage just above Glassilaun beach, promised great views, peacefulness, wholesome breakfast and lovely hosts. This was no lie and from the start I felt cosy and relaxed in my beautiful blue room with my blue views over the blue sky and blue ocean.

I decided to take a short stroll down to the beach. As you do, I kicked of my shoes and started discovering: there was that colorful old sandstone in amazing shades of reds and purples, washed out and carved by the endless power of the sea. I get carried away, once I m settled and admired those little, random displays of nature, once framed by photograph they look like a piece of art on its own. But maybe it's just me - being carried away once more by my natural surrounding.

oh ya - the soft sand and the cold water .... no need for shoes

looks just like a purple shamrock 

imagine this framed 

Chilling, writing, soccer, more chill-axing, more writing, Penalty shoot-outs, snoozing off..... .





The next morning after a full Irish Breakfast ( never do them at home .... ) I checked the forecast - as you do as a regular tourist. The day was promised rather good and I decided to discover once more the stunning surroundings of the Connemara National Park in Letterfrack. No Parking charge, no entrance fee I checked out the 3 walks on offer. The long walk included a climb up onto the 'Diamond - mountain' and as I had to work of those sausages and bacon, this seemed to be my kind of task for the morning.
The track was leading me through bog land and over wooden bridges up further to more rocky ground. Without any misleading or unjustified description in imperfect English, I might just share a few pictures with you.

famous Kylemore Abbey

View from the ' Diamond'

After the climb I decided to experience the other 2 walks as well and felt inspired and full of energy. Hiking in the great wide open is such a great healer of mind and soul. It gives you the possibility and the time to ask yourself a lot of questions. You don't tend to lie to yourself by producing a 'quick answer' just for the sake to move on with it.

In the afternoon I walked back to the Glassilaun Beach, where 'Scuba-Dive West' offers all sorts of Diving and Snorkeling experiences. After a while I found myself squeezed into a heavy duty wet-suit, a snorkeling mask sucked airtight onto my face and huge fins stuck on my feet. As I had a bit of experience  ( many moons ago ) I was allowed to swim around the Bay on my own. It was fascinating to see all the different types of fish, craps and shells and I paddled and drifted from one corner to the next. The seaweed seemed to move with the rhythm of the ocean ..back and forward .... again and again ...until I felt kind of dizzy and the urge to take a deep long breath without the snorkel.

No ... I do not have an embarrassing photo of myself in that outfit :).


In the evening I went back to Letterfrack to watch Iceland taking on France, while eating fresh fish and chips. I felt totally relaxed - despite all the exercise.

10 min to midnight 

The next morning it seemed that the rain and wind chased each other around the exposed cottage. It didn't look to promising. But you never know in the morning what the day might bring.
After breakfast I wrote up some bits, feeling in a bit of creative mood. Amanda, the Lady of the House, didn't mind me staying that bit longer.

It was such a pleasant stay and exactly what I wanted and needed to start of a busy week,
Before heading back home I decided to do a bit of a detour over Clifden. The weather settled a bit and while driving along you just know why Connemara can put a spell on you: those rather high and rough mountains, the lush green fields combined with those sandy white beaches, which have a turquoise Caribbean look, once the sun reflects in the clear Atlantic water.

The old graveyard on Omey Island

 I passed the sign for Omey Island and decided to see, if the tide was still that much out that I could walk over. The rain had stopped and I was lucky and strolled over to the Island. As two graveyards faced towards the mainland, I decided to look around. There is something about old graveyards, especially surrounded by such beauty, it has something consoling. An old men did some work at a new grave and we started a conversation, which ended with my curious question when I should leave the Island, before the tide closes in. He smiled and pointed out some cows, telling me, "whenever they leave, you might just follow them over". 'Ya - right', I thought to myself ..... . But not to much later the obviously lead cow called the others and I felt it was time for me to just go along with them. Half way over, my 'human ego' whispered "are you for real, following a cow?"

that moment when a cow calls you :)

The final conclusion about this weekend was:
It might be sometimes more advisable to follow a cow then the people we 'follow' in real life.

         

Nature Inspires - even on your dinner plate

Its only a few weeks ago that some friends and Co-Producers at our Country Market asked me if I would be interested in joining them giving a culinary workshop for children ( 8 - 12 ). Soon after this proposal we met up and discussed date/time/numbers/pricing/venue and the outline of the 5 days.
It went ahead last week and now we are looking back and agreed that all went really well, all smooth and without any major hick-ups. But most of all, the young chefs seemed to be very happy and proud and the feedback of their parents asserted us, that they were all enthusiastic about their new skills.

Jeri, originally from Oregon/US had done a lot of the preparation and on the first day she surprised all the children with their own aprons. Talented as she is, she stitched them together from a few square yards of ' blue checked gingham' and the children ( 8 girls and 2 boys ) personalized them with some fabric markers.

Our aim was to cook up everyday some favorite dishes, which the children were choosing of our program, but also intended to do gentle lecturing on food overall. There was bacon and cabbage, chicken-veggie curry, pizza from scratch ( dough/sauce and all ), a barbecue with grilled shish kebab along some super healthy salads and homemade noodles and lasange.

The children would not go home half fed without a dessert, so we had all-time favorites like waffles with homemade apple sauce, american pancakes and crepes with strawberry jam - made from Jeri and Liams own grown strawberries, cupcakes with super-creative icing, fruit pizza made from cookie dough and loads of fruit toppings, homemade lemon-lemonade and the kids all time superstar hero: 'the chunky-funky-monkey bread'.

 the chunky - funky - monkey bread 

In between the chopping, shredding, cutting, cooking, baking and eating I tried to give them some insight in basic food:

very fresh duck- and hen-eggs 

Like the magic of an egg, We had a look at a goose- duck and chicken egg, we cracked them open to learn about how does a super fresh egg looks like. So what do I have to look out for when buying eggs? Make sure that the hens are at least free-range or even organic, which should guarantee the wellbeing of the chicken, but also guarantee that you are not eating a 'chemical cocktail yoke'.

As the weather was rather wet, I went foraging on my own and gathered more then 25 different wild and cultivated herbs, but also some eatable flowers around our home. After dinner that day I had all children sitting around and we identified the herbs. We rubbed leafs between our hands and sniffled the fragrance or 'stink' and talked briefly how people used to and still involve herbs within their diet and for healing. Eating Nasturtiums-, Borage-, chives- and small Pansy-flowers was fun to. Biodiversity at its best.

We also talked about 'Fairtrade' and the importance for small farmers all over the world to get fair prices for a good product. We figured out that there are tea, coffee, nuts, grains, bananas and most of all chocolate, which carry the fairtrade label.

On our Pizza and Breadmaking Day ( everybody made their own small loaf of yeast-bread to bring home with ) we were milling our own flour with my nearly 30 year old electric grain-mill. Flour isn't just flour - there are so many different types and most of all different grains. I did bring some ancient grains like Einkorn and Emmer and also some Spelt and Rye. If you buy flour of the shelf in the Supermarket it usually has a very plain, neutral smell. Some of the children loved the scent of the milled grains, others just remarked 'it stinks' - you have to love the honesty of children.

Another interesting aspect was the production of your own noodles and lasange-sheets. Therefor everybody kneaded their own dough until it had the right consistency and put it again and again through the manual 'noodle-machine', until it was extra thin and mega long. Some were used for a broad type of noodle and the others were used within the veggie-lasagne.

We discovered that our daily food is influenced by many countries. The Italian Food like Pizza, Pasta, Lasagne is very popular, but also Curries from India and Pakistan, Crepes from France and American Pancakes from well guess where.... . There were many other countries mentioned and their traditional food - it had to be the sausages and sauerkraut for Germany, the Austrian Schnitzel, lots of cheeses for France, Hungarian Goulash, Mexican Salsas ..... .

The workshop also taught us a lot of lessons and we will review them carefully. But it also encouraged us to continue different types of workshops in the near future. Some adults already showed huge interest in those topics. So watch out for a 'reloaded' version of the kids-workshop, but also a teenage one, a student one and for sure an adult one.

Jeri, Liam and myself believe in good food: simple, seasonal, homegrown  and/or organic if possible or otherwise sourced locally. Sometimes we get carried away with so called convenient food, when we can do better, healthier and also have fun.

the daily shopping trolly

Why not pop in to Drummartin Country Market, every Saturday from 10:30 - 12:30. A great range of local organic beef/lamb, organic vegetables, local pork, jams and other preserves and homebaking by Jeri and Liam, a wide range of traditional homebaking, local honey and eggs, beautiful gifts, Anja's window pictures and recycled flowers, seasonal plants and flowers and I usually do some cavemen's bread ( ancient grains freshly milled ), goatscheese and my Mama's special recipes Tarts.

 every day there were some goodies to bring home with

See you there for a cuppa and some treats.