News about our 'plough'

Many thanks to all those who know their agricultural implements much better than us for the information about the implement that we unearthed earlier this month.


It seems likely that it is a potato ridger or grubber. Our dear neighbour Frank thinks so.


Thank you Sandra from Horsepower in Ireland for your comments:

Hi John,
What a beautiful place you have, the views are stunning!
It is fairly common to find old pieces of horse-drawn equipment in ditches, behind barns, under dung heaps etc., often covered in nettles like yours. But it is always thrilling to find these things on your own land! We found our first piece of horse-drawn equipment - a spring tooth harrow - behind our barn, and we still use it with our two horses.
Common ploughs usually have two wheels at the front, a smaller and a bigger one (one to run in the furrow, and one running on the un-turned ground). So it looks like yours, given it has only one wheel, used to be a potato ridger or possibly a scuffler (which is a horse drawn hoe of some sort). But because the acutal piece running through the soil is gone, it is hard to tell. You may find it hepful to look up the equipment we use: http://www.horsepowerinireland.com/about-our-equipment.html. There is a picture of a potato ridger and a plough, and I've just put up a picture of a scuffler as well.
There is a fantastic museum in Johnstown Castle in Co. Wexford (http://www.irishagrimuseum.ie/collection/index.htm)If you ever go that way, it is worthwhile visiting, and you might find some useful information.
Best wishes,
Sandra

Her site is brilliant, lovely pictures and lots of fascinating facts - good luck with your great venture

lovely site - and lovely logo!

Here's some pictures of our one:

Paul on unearthing day!

a beautiful thing

generally ploughs have two front wheels (so I'm told!)

you can see the indentations where they screwed in the height adjuster

hand wrought - lovely

there would have been two blades fixed here

and one here

This is a picture of part of a horse shoe that we found last July.
Could it have shod the horse that pulled our grubber?

found when we were making a flowerbed

Saturday

A day at The Turnip House
Yesterday our replacement vacuum cleaner came, so it was again possible to do the housework - Oh joy!
After cleaning the mobile set to on the Turnip House, getting ready to open today.
Then made celery soup and wheaten bread ready for visitors.

soup (celery) and wheaten bread ready to go

sun shines on the wet slabs of Slievenaglogh

The Turnip House is OPEN!

view form the table - although the mountains could well 'disappear' in the next rain shower

a lovely little place

if only the weather had been like this all day

AND, after work, managed to lay the insulation and first run of boards in the gallery:

We're Open again tomorrow, Sunday 11-5 come along, 

get some real soup, 

and check out the work in progress!

Down The Ages

This is a true story.
As you know the old Stevenson House is full of treasures, left when Annie Stevenson moved down to her son's place in 1977.
Food, Clothes, furniture, documents, books, newspapers, to name but a few.
Each is redolent of it's time, and we have spent many absorbing hours looking through them. 
Many of the smaller more fragile items we've cleaned and put into storage, to be brought out as the story of this place is told. 
Some however are still there, including the furniture and some papers.


A couple of weeks ago, after a stormy night,I was walking across the yard, and a fluttering of paper caught my eye. Not that unusual after a storm, it could have been anything blown from the Windy gap or any other part of the Townland.


It did look of interest, so I picked it up; a page from the Rathfriland, Mourne and District Outlook dated 14th October 1950:

Interesting indeed. It must have blown out of the (many broken) windows.
I took it into the mobile and left it on the table - to put away in a box later. 
That evening, I picked it up and started to read it. 
This is not something I do with all the papers, there are so many.


I nearly jumped out of my seat. On the back page this advert leapt out at me:

This is my father's business that he had in Kilkeel. 
I have never seen this before.


I looked through the rest of the paper. 
One the inside page, I saw this:

an advert for a Grand Dance in Ballymageogh Orange Hall. Near Kilkeel. The band playing: Girvan's Dance Band - my Mother played accordion in that Band.


By chance, I had in my hand a document over 60 years old, produced 8 years before I was born, with references to each of my parents - before they were married


This place - Amazing!

The whole front page

laying the floor ongoing

Work continues: an early start this morning, clearing the last of the timber out of the way so that I could lay the DPC membrane:

DPC laid and unwanted board outside

 I was very impressed that i could lift and carry a whole sheet of board - the trick is not to overbalance

the best machine in the world - thanks Phil!

By this evening, the joists are down and levelled - it was tricky and time consuming, but ready now for the insulation and the floor boards - tomorrow!

Add caption

Greening

All of a sudden, the greenness is everywhere - the blue skies and sunshine help of course, but the hedgerows are magnificent, bursting with vitality.


I made this montage back in the Trassey days, but it could be today - and I like it.

green white gold - and blue - the colours of Spring in Mourne

The garden is coming on leaps and bounds - unbidden at this point!

very pretty ground cover, and useful at the moment as we've not got round to doing anything else here

bulbs - and grass- coming on famously!

tropeolum bursting with new vitality - can't wait for those bright red flowers

the hedge down to the river, green green

The far seat: glowing in the evening sun

Making Ready

Today has been a more focussed, better day. Having been initially daunted by the unglamorous work of clearing out  all the accumulated bits and pieces - both relevant and irrelevant, it was time to gradually get stuck in.


This morning started wild and wet - a great excuse to sit in the warm with Charlie on my lap (well. his head anyway!) and finish reading Ireland a Novel by Frank Delaney

"Warm, intelligent, and unapologetically nostalgic... Delaney is as much in love with the art of storytelling as he is the story's subject." - Christian Science Monitor (Boston, MA) March 15, 2005


I enjoyed it very much. and would recommend it to all. 
As I finished, the skies cleared and it looked like a good afternoon, so I set to work.

First, the 'stuff'. Triage was in order:

• to be cleaned and put into (another) store
• to be cleaned and kept for imminent use in the gallery
• to be chucked out

I spent most of the day at this task, and the consolidation and organisation felt good. 

I also:

• fitted the phone to the gallery (so you can ring me and I've no excuse not to pick up your call!)
• did more washing
• collected and labelled the eggs
• fed various animals

So, all is ready for the floor to be laid tomorrow - an early start I think!

Damp - the outside wall is only single skin here - that we can remedy

water is seeping un under the door - some 'tanking' outside is required

this is what it's all about -

Slievenaboley

'The Mountains Create Their Own Weather'

Another of My Mother's phrases. Its true.


Exhibit 'A':

today, just before sunset, a clear blue sky, and clouds above the Mournes

Progress

There are times when nothing seems to go fast enough! 


It seems like an age since we started it, and yet the end seems far away.


Still, that way madness lies: 


This was after our conscious choice.


And the whole point is the journey.


And when you look at where we've come from since September, it is true to say that we are going in the right direction:

One corner, of one room, almost finished

the same place last September

Back to Cambridge

Eleanor and Elaine are off to Cambridge today.


I'm sure the reunion will be terrific!


But it's a bit quiet round here now

miserable job of the day: washing and drying Eleanor's things

Charlie in recovery mode

It's one of those days!

April morning

It's still cold here, but the stronger sun makes the mornings beautiful:

The Mournes quite hazy today

romantic ruin up on Slievenaboley

Eleanor on her daily tramp

an abandoned railway carriage across the river - with sheep and lambs

Charlie in the sunshine handsome as ever!

off on her travels in the Turnip House Courtyard

they may be small, but the're perfectly formed

Rowans that Vincent and Liz planted

Hollyhocks coming up strong

Furby's morning bath