I was sitting in the kitchen beside a crackling fire in Teach deBúrca, sipping hot, milky tea from a mug made by a Clare potter while listening to the lashing rain and cold wind howling outside and reading a book appropriately titled Two Months in Clare, written by Mary John Knott about her visit to Kilkee in 1835. If this sounds like an idyllic, cozy scene, it was not. This was me making the best of a bad situation!
Eóin and I arrived in Kilkee last Tuesday morning after a very long journey that included an eight-hour layover at New York’s JFK Airport, an experience that had me rethinking any wish I may have had to return to New York City for an extended visit. Let me just say that my experience with JFK Airport workers did little to dispel stereotypes of New Yorkers! After this ordeal we were in a hurry to settle into the cottage and rest up for our much-anticipated summer. The fact that it was unseasonably cold, windy and wet didn’t really register until we arrived at Teach deBúrca, unloaded our luggage and then realized the radiators were not getting hot. Exhausted and at wit’s end I was in no mood to deal with a cold, damp 100-year-old cottage with a broken furnace, so I promptly threw our pajama’s and toothbrushes into an overnight bag and booked a night at a local B & B!
I’m not sure if the heat had ever actually been on in full force while our guests were here in May but it was not working in June. I’ve heard the weather was better last month so maybe it was adequate for our friends – I sure hope they were warm enough – but the weather this June has become infamous for its low temperatures, rain and hail and has been a common topic of discussion on Clare FM as well as with every Irish person I’ve spoken to since we arrived. The furnace needed to be repaired and the sooner the better!
As soon as we finished a wonderful Irish breakfast on Wednesday morning at the B & B, I got to work sorting out the heating problem. After getting the name and number of a recommended heating/plumbing contractor (I know, strange combination) it was with great disappointment that I learned that he could not make it until Saturday morning!
This began a marathon of keeping a fire burning in the hearth throughout the rest of the week… and that is where you found me at the beginning of this post, biding time sitting as close as I could get to the fire, reading and drinking lots of tea! But things didn’t get any better on Saturday morning because the repairman, who made me wait so long, failed to show up at all! After sending two early morning text message rants to my husband back in Chicago about Ireland’s “God forsaken weather and unreliable heating/plumbing repairmen” I located another heating man who, much to my delight, came within an hour and fixed the problem!
Now we have a cozy, dry cottage. Ireland, and the reliability of its repairmen, has redeemed itself once again! In fact, not only do we now have heat, but tonight we are enjoying our first absolutely gorgeous summer evening after the skies cleared this afternoon for the first time since our arrival and dazzled us with blue sky, sunshine and billowy, white clouds! The man on Clare FM just promised more of the same throughout the week… and I’m holding him to it!
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June 27, 2011 at 6:27 pm
diana
Glad to know you are safe, cozy and Dry…Have a wonderful and relaxing time. And, try not to think about Michelle Bachmann! 🙂
diana
June 27, 2011 at 6:33 pm
bloggingfromthebog
Thanks Diana! I only just got my Vodafone internet re-activated today and considering how the first week here went, it was probably a good thing that I was forced to wait until things were a bit more under control before writing in the blog!
Never hear a word about the likes of Michelle Bachmann over here 🙂 🙂 !
June 27, 2011 at 7:14 pm
eddie stack
Welcome back! You brought the good weather with you…I’ve been here 4 weeks and today was the first time I read a newspaper, haven’t turned on the radio once and we have no tv…so I’m on a sort of news fast retreat…does wonders for the head. Up the Banner!!
es
June 28, 2011 at 4:33 am
bloggingfromthebog
You’ve been here 4 weeks, so you missed the summer in April as well! I just hope the weather allows me to walk along the Kilkee cliffs – that’s all I ask for myself. My son has a wetsuit so will go into the water no matter what – though even the starfish seem to be staying away from the Pollock Holes! I’m enjoying a “news fast retreat” as well, it’s good for the spirit!
June 27, 2011 at 9:42 pm
lifeonthecutoff
Good to hear you are now warm and cozy and that they weather is cooperating, Janet. What a comfortable picture you post of your cottage; the roaring fire, mug of tea, and book all look so tempting and inviting.
Enjoy your time there – and BLOG about it.
June 28, 2011 at 4:38 am
bloggingfromthebog
I have to admit that the fire, tea and book were pretty cozy in spite of the cold dampness as soon as I ventured away from the fire! That day was particularly rainy. The sky was grey and it rained consistently all day – sort of like a rainy day in Chicago. Usually here you can expect some changes throughout the day. Today the sun is shining and though we had a downpour about 15 minutes ago – it is clear and bright again. That is more like it! As I type this I’m watching a magpie poking around on the ground outside my back door, I had better go look for another one for good luck!
July 1, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Cindy
I enjoy reading your blog so much! I feel like I’m there, too. Glad it cleared up for you, although by now, it might be completely different! Look forward to reading more of your adventures as the summer goes on.
July 5, 2011 at 8:40 pm
Juliet batten
I’ve just discovered you blog, after being referred here by Penny. I could feel for you every step of the way, as I have a little cottage (In New Zealand it’s known as a ‘bach’) by the sea, and each time I go out there I get ready for what I might find in terms of water, rats, fallen trees, phone line, etc. But this is all part of living close to nature, and like you I have a wood-burning fire that takes me through times of power cuts. A fire gives such good cheer. I look forward to reading more of your blog in the future.
July 6, 2011 at 6:23 am
bloggingfromthebog
Welcome to the bog blog Juliet! Your description of living close to nature sounds very much like my experience here! I’m not sure what to expect when I first arrive. This summer it has been much more civilized than it was when I arrived last summer, though perhaps I am just more uncivilized!
July 6, 2011 at 12:23 am
Kate
Oh man….this story made me crave a cup of tea with milk!!
July 6, 2011 at 6:25 am
bloggingfromthebog
We are having a day today very similar to the day I wrote this particular blog. Eoin’s horseback riding camp was even cancelled. On the bright side, we DO have heat now so I’m not huddled by the fire.