I'm meant to describe a normal day in my life. However, in my life, this can be divided in about 4 different 'days'. Much of it depending on the weather and the time of the year, but also on the financial situation in that moment. Ireland is not the best country when it comes to the weather. Many people who read my blog know that I homeschool my kids, the 'unschooling' way, so each day can be completely different from the day before or the next, but it can also be very similar for days on end...Those are our 'boring times'. So I decided to give you one normal day in my life, one for each season.
Four days, which may or may not be part of more of a routine.
Last part of the winter and Spring 2018
At the end of the winter, you often hear people here say: 'Hopefully the weather will pick up, we've had an awefully long winter...'
Of course, the winters here aren't any longer than winters elsewhere, but what is meant by that is that our 'shitty weather season' started quite early, usually around August with a little ray of sunshine around September and then another shitty shit storm until the true end of the winter. Our long winters aren't four months of under zero temperatures and huge amounts of snow. Quite the opposite, here the winters are shitty, wet and did I mention shitty? Pretty much all year around, but in the winter it's just more shitty than other seasons.
In the northern region of the country you might see some snow during the winter, but usually in the rest of the country, it's just wet, windy and cold because it's wet and windy, not because of the frost.
So when we finally do have a few days of what resembles a normal winter day in Canada, this can be appreciated in different ways by different people. The country is not made for snow and frost. The people aren't either. The trains aren't, the busses aren't, the roads aren't.
Last winter, we had three days of snow in some parts of the country.
As a result, trucks with stock for several shops around the country, couldn't get through the rough, snowy and icy roads of Ireland. And subsequently, the shops didn't get their stock, resulting in a shortage of some stock. In the case of Ireland, this shortage consisted mainly of milk, white bread and of course: the beloved potato.
So what to do when the roads are too slippery? Early childhood science. One normal day in the winter.
Exactly, you go out into the yard to discover what makes it so special to have a winter wonderland right there, but maybe not for long...
Then, when you come back in, of course, this strange white substance has to be inspected a bit closer.
And since inspection alone is not enough to establish the true nature of the substance, there needs to be a taste test:
YUP it's SNOW!
Then the spring came.
This last spring was extremely kind to the Irish. Only in February we'd had snow, now it was March, and the sun shone as bright as she could on this first sunny day in Spring.
After the long winter, the sun drew us out for a walk with the dogs.
To discover the ruins of a haunted abandoned house.
And some cool old stuff along the way...
Or maybe just a stack of stones, covered in moss. Beauty can be that simple.
On some early spring days, it can even be nice enough to dare a drive to the beach. It was warm and sunny after all...
But not so much at the beach.
But never mind, besides taking pictures of the dramatic weather scenes in the west of Ireland, there is also always something to explore...
Like the 'science of snails', or: 'Where do their heads come from?'
Snails will always be there, time to ward off some vikings... You see? I'm powerful! No viking in sight! They're all too scared...
And if we're lucky, the day is just warm enough to risk a toe-dip at the nearby lake...Or maybe just a little climb to practice for the big stuff later...
And here was my chance to practice trusting him to be safe. Moments of faster heart beats I call them...
Then, in the evening on the way home, one could just be met by a bunch of horses and their riders as part of a funeral...
On those sunny days, there is always time to pick flowers too...
Or we study the way plants grow after we sow...
One normal day in my life in the Summer:
The summers in Ireland are always very welcome, last year it was on a Tuesday 😝😂
This past year, we were lucky. We had 12 whole weeks of sun and not one drop of rain.
Of course, as it is custom in Ireland, anything above six weeks is called a draught.
Do you get this? I mean: Ireland is surrounded by water. Nine to twelve months of the year it rains, but when there's no rain for six measly weeks, we're in trouble.
As much as Ireland halts in its tracks when a few snow flakes fall, so much is the country in trouble when it stops raining.
Truly a land of extremes.
Either way, when there's draught, there's also lakes and beaches to enjoy, so we try not to get so hung up on shortage of water...
A day at an empty beach.
Footsteps in the sand lead to...
A little explorer - after all, there is always enough to explore.
Sometimes there is even time to visit a castle on the way back home. History lesson completed for the week...
And sometimes even my eldest daughter and her boyfriend can be encouraged to come with us too.
And then sometimes, you come home to find this home invader...
After a first shock, and thinking it is a big wasp, I calmed down when I figured out it wasn't an evil wasp...
What it was? A pigeon horntail wasp...looks creepy but harmless. The mother lays her eggs in wood. Her babies found their way into our home as stowaways in the fire wood.
Biology lesson for the week completed...
Another very normal day in Ireland:
In some places in Ireland, it is still quite common for someone to have a turf plot, where in the first good weather in spring, early summer, the first turf is cut.
After cutting, it is dried, turned, dried some more, turned, stacked and then finally brought home to fuel the fires in many homes. We were lucky: we only had to load the turf, and bring it home. Even the kids help out and most of the time it's fun.
Even the littlest ones aren't spared...
So even though we enjoy the beach and play...this could also be a 'normal day'...
At the end of the summer, a normal day could be: shovelling holes for stakes. Getting rid of unwanted grass and weeds with the scythe. Either way, there is always something to do in a normal day in our lives.
A normal day in autumn
At the end of the year, we always try to pick as many elderberries as we can handle. It makes for great jam and best of all: natural medicine.
One last time with the dogs to the woods...Because every day it could be the last time to walk here mud free.
And if the rain doesn't let us out the door, we'll just do crazy tests and challenges...
Just to see how sour some ascorbic
acid can be...
