In the News...

Thought you might enjoy reading this article about the Beara peninsula that Sheila Boyle (Boston, Massachusett, USA) saw in The Boston Globe today and sent along.

http://www.boston.com/travel/getaways/europe/articles/2009/08/16/the_ring_less_worn?s_campaign=8315

Thought you might also enjoy Krista Tippetts' (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) latest blog entry about her recent stay at Anam Cara and her interview with John O'Donohue on her NPR programme, Speaking of Faith.

http://blog.speakingoffaith.org/post/163533904/resting-and-remembering-john-odonohue-in

Population Explosion in the Hen House

In part because the chicken flock had been reduced to five by the local fox, I decided to trade away the big white rooster and bring in four Lowmans, two Frizzles (they look like punk rockers), two Golden Brahmas (a rooster and a hen), and two Blueberrys. According to Giana Ferguson, the woman who raised them all, the hens are going to be very good layers. [In the top photo, the Golden Brahma hen is on the left, the two Frizzles in the middle, and the Golden Brahma rooster, who's going to get much bigger, on the right; that's one of the Frizzles in the bottom photo.]

In July, the little black Bantam hen didn't return to the roost at dusk, and Diane Gardner [Jamestown, Indiana, USA], who was letting the flock out it the morning, feeding them, and then shutting them in their house at night, and I thought that the fox had paid another visit. Turns out, 21 days later (after Diane had left), the Bantam reappeared with one fluffy yellow chick following her. She must have been nesting under a Furze bush in the henyard and only leaving her nest to eat and drink when no one was around ... another reminder not to give up hope too soon!

Best Drinking Water in the World

When feeding the ducks isn't break enough from our creative work, we are now going into Eyeries to pump our drinking water. And it's delicious!!! Here (from left to right) Diane Gardner, Leara Rhodes, Krista Tippetts, and Peg McAuley Byrd fill some of the bottles that will be our supply for about a week. We began making this trek as a result of the Cork County Council cleaning the mains water system, but the combination of the great tasting water and the nostalgia of the process may make pumping our own water a tradition!