Max and Paul's Excellent Adventure

We arrived at our accommodation relieved it is as good as the write up. The next few photos were taken on and at the end of our street The view to the west near sunset An old forge right on the water's edge And a paddock of young bulls, including one with a heart shape on his head! Now it is said there is a ghost of Barrow Round Castle. It is the ghost of Geoffrey de Clahuill thought to be the original 14th century inhabitant and Sheriff of Kerry. There is a surprising amount of old stone cottages and churches in the area without roofs and left to ruin.  The Celtic cross appears on many grave sites Having some time off from the animals gave us time to drive around the countryside without having to keep an eye on the time. We drove to Dingle via Castlegregory to maximise a drive along the coast.  And what a drive it was! The beaches were stunning and the views speak for themselves. Dingle is a popular tourist town and apparently gets very busy in the summer. Hugging the coast i...

 Just a quick two-day sit in Midleton, 30 minutes from Cork. Milo is a cute little fella and was very easy to look after. The people had left and so we entered the home without introduction, encountering a bite-sized bullet of excitement. He torpedoed through every room. Dat face! Here is the look he gives me when he wants more attention. What a poser!  So darn cute! A quick trip into Cork to see 'The English Market'. It's right in the middle of  Cork and is housed in an 18th-century hall. There was heaps of local and organic produce as well as some amazing delis and cheese stalls. Sampling the cheeses.  The next stop is a two-hour drive to stay 4 days in a cottage in Fenit, just out of Tralee in the west of Ireland.

 A 1-hour drive north got us to our next sit in an area called 'Knocknamota' which is in county Wexford in eastern Ireland. The area is beautiful and the property we are staying at is a rural small acreage with a 5-bedroom house. Niamh, (pron. 'Neeve') Paul, and their two homeschooled kids welcomed is with Irish charm and warmth. The pets, Sammy and Chickpea, have gentle natures and took to us immediately. A quick rundown and the family headed off to catch a plane to Spain.                                   Sammy                                                                      Chickpea The house. It was a bonus to meet like-minded souls. When they returned from their holiday, we could have stayed there for a week chatting ...

 For over a year now, it's been a to and fro with the passport office trying to get a UK passport issued as, by law, I'm entitled to one. Having all documents lodged and confident that the passport would be issued, we booked pet sits in the UK through to July. Silly me for thinking a government department would do what it said it would and the result was an unexpected rejection which forced us to cancel all plans we had including a beautiful sit on the south English coast for 7 weeks. We had to cancel because I am on a visitor visa (Max has a UK passport) and I/we had to leave the UK for some time as running over your visa time limit is not recommended. So here we are in Ireland after frantically cancelling all sits in the UK and trying to book some in Ireland. Being a small country, there are few sits available and even though we were successful in 3 cases, we have many gaps which we'll need to fill with other accommodation.  So after completing the Somerset sit, we drove ...

The Somerset countryside is so beautiful. We took a trip  out to Glastonbury on a fine day to experience the 'alternative' capital of England.  The 'Market Cross'  signifies the town centre Many colourful shops with, as you guessed it, crystals, tarot cards, incense and 'medicinal' products. I wonder why this store needed so much security? One of the locals. Max had to try these on. Which one suits her best? 1 2 3 Local street art...with a message Only in Glastonbury would you find a phone booth with an elephant and message like this. Close-up. I couldn't go to Glastonbury without visiting 'The Tor'. Legend has it that King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table visited Glastonbury Tor and, there is also the legend of 'The Holy Grail' being buried here by Joseph of Arithemea.  4 cute cottages are seen along the way Waterfall on the path up to The Tor Must be this way... Ah, there it is! Made it! The view over Glastonbury from The Tor The g...