Rooster Crows and Cushy digs

Dang, I should have known that was Mac's poemerizing, Mo's is more about nature, and Mac's is about ??? Not sure what, but is always entertaining.


Cushendun


Our view from Drumkeerin, and our road up, a little tight

It is Sunday morning, about 8, and I am sitting in the Drumkeerin Bed and Breakfast Barnhouse, which has been converted from a hostel to a self-cater, and it is almost perfect for our needs. I've been up since first crow at 5:30, and the rooster is still crowing. The Barn, as it is called, has a master suite and 2 other bedrooms, each with 2 beds, so plenty of room. There are 2 other bathrooms in addition to the master suite's, a big family room, and a somewhat awkward kitchen. The hosts, Joe and Mary McFadden, are very nice, and greeted us with fresh scones, fresh eggs, butter and store-bought milk. They are accomplished artists and hikers, and offer lessons in painting. Their works are to be seen through the Barn and the community. They have given up using the main house as a B&B and the Barn as a hostel, and apparently converted the Barn into a self-cater in '08.

There has been a light mist in the far hills, and rainbows are appearing and disappearing. This place sits high up the hillside above Cushendun, and overlooks the Sea of Moyle. The views are awesome. The only knock is it looks like a good hike down into town, maybe 2 miles, and the hike back looks killer uphill, but there isn't much in Cushendun anyway, and Mary steered us away from the local pub food. We will day trip from here to many things, including the Giant's Causeway, the cities of Belfast and Londonderry, and some castles such as Dunluce. The grounds here are very nice, with a lawn bowling court, gardens, and a creek.

Yesterday we left Pitlochry, Scotland, at noon, and travelled back to Edinburgh with a short stop at the Hermitage to see Scotland's tallest tree, which by American standards was not all that tall. It is a Douglas Fir brought from the US in the early 1800s, and there is a grove of them now. They are 1/3rd the size of the largest in the US at around 130 feet. We arrived at the airport at 3:00, and I ditched the car while the entourage checked in. When I hooked back up with them, I could see that Dana had checked my carry-on with $1200 in it, so I had some anxiety until we retrieved it in Belfast.

The flight was less than an hour, no hiccups at all. We got the car from Hertz, a Saab 9-5 wagon, which is a disappointment because it is a little beat and is the only car I have ever seen that had a speedometer only in kilometers per hour. This is a real mystery, as the UK uses MPH, as does Ireland. So I have to convert in my head as I drive along and speed limits change. The saving grace is that the speed limit is generally not posted and I just do like the locals. I might switch this car in Belfast when we go back in.

The drive from Belfast to Cushendun was about an hour, and it poured pretty good most of the way, but when we got to the scenic coastal route it stopped so we could see how beautiful the area is. We stopped in Cushendall, the slightly larger town 5 miles before Cushendun, for groceries. The Bay of Cushendun is on the north side of the road, so this is a beach town. Kids were playing everywhere, and it looked like a great place to grow up. There was a funeral going at the shore, and they were using a speaker so everyone in Cushendall could pay respects. Cushendall is about the size of Los Alamos, maybe 3,000 people, a total guess. Cushendun is even smaller.

Cushendun walk, Dad, Mike and Laura

The populations in this area are falling. N. Ireland is divided into counties, then baronies, then parishes, then townlands. There are about 62,000 townlands in N. Ireland. Of the 58 townlands in the Cushendun Parish, all but a few have lost population, some are empty, and many are Harmony-sized (~20 people or less). The local students have done a study of population trends here in Cushendun Parish, and I draw on their work. Our landlord Joe did all the illustrations in the resultant booklet, 'Townlands in the Parish of Cushendun', and the students wrote stories about the history of the townlands where their families live, some for hundreds of years. This gives a sense of local history that is deeply rooted - people are still upset about the murder of Shane O'Neill in 1576!

We will probably stick around here today and hit the road tomorrow, because Dana appreciates me less on 40 mg prednisone days, every other day, and that is today. I see myself traipsing the countryside with Mike today. Dana is still limping around a little, but improving.

Monday, 5:30 am, 1st crow was 15 minutes ago, and the rooster beat me to it
Sunrise is beautiful again! Sunset is around 9:30, but it isn't dark until after 10 pm, so 16 hours of daylight, and I see them all. I went to bed at 10 last night, so I got 7.5 hours of sleep, plenty. I have a solid headache from prednisone jangle, though.

More beach at Cushendun

Yesterday we mucked about here all morning, but I made a big picnic lunch for us. By the time everyone was ready to hike around, it was after 1, so we just sat down and ate the lunch, then hiked around looking for some ruins that are in some field nearby, never found, and then on into Cushendun and the beach. It is only a mile, maybe less, easy hike. We knocked around the beach, and sat and drank the hot cocoa and mocha I made. I forgot the thermos cups, so we had shot-sized nips from the screw tops, which were designed for knuckleheads like me. John couldn't muster, so it was Dana, Mike, Laura and me, and we went into the Cushendun Pub for Mike's first pint of Guinness.

The pub had an outside seating area covered by a plexiglass roof, which it turns out is common in this area, and necessary with the on and off rains, so we sat out there. We said 'Cheers', and Mike fell in love with Guinness. We have been making tuppence (2 penny) bets to settle disputes; the first bet was whether there is a tuppence coin - I won that one. I said the Irish say 'Slainte' for a formal toast, and Mike disputed that. Of course I didn't pronounce it right. If you pronounce anything here the way it looks, that's usually wrong. We asked one of the locals what they say for a toast, and they said 'Shlantcha', and I asked how they spelled it. I had the spelling right, but Mike wouldn't pay up on the technicality of mispronunciation. Piker. So we went to the Post Office and got some groceries, and hiked back up the hill to home.

Mike has his first sip of Guinness, the most natural thing in the world - water, yeast, hops and barley

Dana, Mike and I went into Cushendall for dinner at a restaurant Joe recommended, and it was very good seafood and a great warmed goat's cheese and walnut starter. Today I think we will drive west to the Giant's Causeway and to find Dunluce Castle. Dana is already up and plotting our adventures in the kitchen. The rooster is turning out the troops a bit earlier, except John, who slept until 1 pm yesterday, or 8 hours of rooster crowing every 2 minutes, maybe 3300 crows or so. Eight years ago when we were in Ireland, driving through some scenic country south of Dublin, I got so fed up with the stupid Gameboys that I tossed John's into the hedge, and I am at about that point now. In Pitlochry, he took his last bit of money and bought a step-down transformer so he could charge his gaming unit, and is now spending all his time with that. Brilliant.

Family tensions remain high. This pimple on the ass of our trip needs to be popped and drained, but my clutch has been glued down and I am not saying anything. Or did I just say something?