First days of March

Thursday, Feargal and I worked to rake and clear the areas we had leveled with the escavator and prepare for planting. Fist we hauled a crate of roof tiles and ridge tiles to the balcony so Feargal could finish the final sections of the roof. We used a large bucket and a rope to pull loads of tiles to the balcony and carry them to where they would be needed. Once that was done we had a cup of coffee and moved to th gardens. After showing me the slopes he wanted raked and where to gather sod and brush he went to work on the roof doing the final cement work around the front windows and gabel. I spent most of the day pulling up small trees and gathering them in a large pot and working to make the center hill even and free of vines and rocks. I still needed to get to a printer to get a copy of my insurance policy so around four I cleaned up and made my way to the village of Avoca where there was a tourist information center which I could pay for internet access and printing. I got into the village only a few minutes past five to find out the office had closed at four before I even left. Since I traveled that far and had missed my lunch I decided to take an hour and get some traditional fish and chips at a small diner on the river. The meal was quite good and hot, filling me for the two mile walk back to the meetings. I was dissapointed that I still didn't get done what I needed, but still had a few days to work something out. Feargal and I had a late night chatting and listening to music to clear my head, which I am sure he stayed up even longer than I did, knowing we would be up early for a buisy day Friday.
I woke up early Friday and went right to work after a bowl of oats to clear the final area and help feargal prepare to take his truck up to Dublin and trade in his other vehical for a new larger truck. When he was gone I helped Frances move old window panes to the garden area where she would like to one day soon start working on some cold frames. This was one job I would have liked to help her with myself If only I had more time to build more boxes and frames. When Feargal returned, after showing off the new truck to Frances, we got to work getting ready to plant bulbs. Mostly we had daffodils and snow drops which had been dug up before the excavation started and would be transplanted on the newly cleared and leveled slope. We worked hard to place all of the plants where they were needed and plant the in the loose top soil. There must have been several hundred clumps of bulbs spread over the fifty foot slope. It was just before dark when we finished and we stood back looking at the new spring garden that would in a year or two cover the bend with colors. Just below that garden is the sea of irish bluebells which has been spread furthur each year now thick with foliage like a grass. These areas will be the first sight as one walks into the forest before the twisting trees and trails lead onto the hillside.
Feargal decided that night to change his plans for the back balcony of the house. He was going to build a wall of granite and cement blocks in the style of a castle tower along the curve visable from the hill and the road. He thought this would look to fabricated and formal on top of the stone walls and ganite inlays taking away the natural balance the rest of the house had. His new idea was to built the same design, but out of large boulders and stones from the hillside and left over rock from the rest of the house. So Saturday we would take all of the blocks off the balcony and clear it off, then get a few ton of stone up to replace them so he could start on that project after I leave. Without someone to load the buckets at the bottom, he would be constantly be going up and down the scaffolding, likely using more than a day just moving the stone and then two or three days designing and building the custom wall. I knew this would be a long day so I went to bed early and got some good rest. This would be my final weekend here and what we got done is all that would be done around the house and garden until another wwoofer arrived.