Green Acres is the Place to be...

ALL OF MY PICTURES CAN STILL BE FOUND AT www.flickr.com/photos/jamierushell. I have more photos, but I've run out of uploads for June - the rest will follow in July.
So I don't think I'll ever live on a farm, but I'm quite enjoying my stay here at Ardagh Castle Goat Farm. Don't let the name mislead you - all that's left of the castle is a stack of stones almost completely overgrown with grass. The property is still gorgeous, though, with your typical Irish rolling green hills. My host is a great woman named Judy who manages the farm only with the help of WWOOFers like myself; how she does it is a mystery to me. Aside from caring for 8 female goats, 1 to-frisky-for-his-size male, and 3 "kids", she also makes cheese from their milk, keeps chickens, a boarding kennel, and rents out a cottage (a converted dairy cow stable) to holiday makers. On top of constantly being busy, she has to retrain and put up with inexperienced workers every time a new WWOOFer comes in. I wouldn't have the patience for it all!
Judy's house is a beautiful one that had been abandoned for over 20 years before she took it on as a project - inside she found old furniture, lots of garbage, and a shrine to the pope amidst a chimney full of crows, a house full of sparrows, and a balcony full of honey bees. Over the next 2 years she turned it into a livable place and working farm again. In the picture you see, the house on the left is Judy's, the small building in the middle is the creamery where the goats are milked, and on the right is the cottage that used to be the cow shed. To the right of this is the vegetable garden and the tiny white building almost covered by the hedge is the chalet where I sleep.
Mornings and evenings are spent milking goats and walking dogs - both more time consuming than you would expect. The days are filled with whatever else needs to be done, be it battling the stinging nettles in the garden, or mending hay racks; and I can muck out an entire goat shed in no time flat! I also get to trap magpies - as cruel as it sounds, I quite enjoy that job only because I know what a nuisance they are! And the trap is the greatest invention I've ever seen! I was the only WWOOFer my first week here, which can get a bit lonely working during the day, but since then a Frenchman named Laundre has come and this week we're expecting a full house - a Spanish guy, 2 French girls, and a German couple. I mistakenly made the comment that there won't be anything to do and in return I got a list of projects to be finished this week. That will teach me to keep my mouth shut!
I walked down to the Lough Ine (pronounced Lock Hyne) on my last day off; it's a saltwater lake that meets the ocean over a narrow rapid. There's a giant hill you can hike up for an absolutely fantastic view of the area. On 2 sides all you see is ocean and rolling green hills with farms and cows. The sailboats on the water look like little toys that are barely moving. Another great place to go is Cape Clear island, a 45 minute ferry ride from Baltimore. It's a tiny island with not much to do - you don't need more than a few hours, but it's worth seeing. It's got great walking trails and beaches comparable to some in Seattle (you Californians would still call them fake beaches), and the views are incredible. Overall, South Cork is a quiet are and the people are great. Again, Not the type of place I think I'll end up, but perfect for a quiet holiday.