My Lady Bird

I had the pleasure of spending a week in London last month, little did I know the outcome would result in become completely besotted with a lovely British bird named Clare. We actually met 4 years ago in Utah, friend of friend, rarely kept in contact since. Before I went to London I thought it'd be nice to meet up with her and hang out for a day, so we did. We had an incredibly romantic 5 days together and needless to say we were more than friends by the time she dropped me off a the airport. We kissed eachother goodbye but both knew we'd be seeing eachother soon. As soon as I got back to the farm in Ireland I called her when I walked in the door, to my pleasant surprise she had already looked up flights to visit me in Ireland. 5 weeks later I met her at Cork Airport and was never so happy to see someone. We spent the next 5 days in the countryside walking through fields, over rolling green hills and cow pastures, along seaside cliffs, picking blackberries, pulling potatoes in the garden, painting the old farm house, hitch hiking to nearby villages, working on my old sailboat and riding a ferry boat out to a gaelic island. We also did lots of cooking and baking together, ate cheese and a massive amount of chocolate. It really was the most ideal 5 days together we could ask for. I was absolutely gutted to see her go but she'll be back for my birthday next month so I think I'll survive.

This has all come so unexpected to me. Here I am on my travels, just living day by day, making the most of the world at my disposal. I definitely wasn't expecting to find the love of my life just yet. Couldn't be happier.

Many Thanks!

Thank you so much for the few yet generous donations! Your contributions have aided me in getting more Polariod film and a few bus tickets, neither of which are cheap. If any of you have not yet had the chance to give alms to your vagabond friend, please just check out the colomn to the right. Seriously anything helps.

Much Love!

Atlantis

I'm now living and working on a 100 year old wooden sailboat named the Atlantis. We're tucked away in a wooded cove on the other side of Baltimore Bay. Baltimore is a gorgeous semiposh seaside sailing village at the very southwest tip of Ireland's coast. The Atlantis set sail 18 years ago on a voyage from a commune in Donegal Ireland to a commune in Columbia South America but was caught in a horrific storm off Fastnet Rock and was saved and brought to the quiet cove of Church Strand, Baltimore, where she's laid ever since. We're in the process of restoring the massive 50ft wooden boat and having it seaworthy within a year. Lots to be done but all is going well. If any of you remember from my blog about 2 months ago I was actually planning on joining the boat back then. I just wasn't ready to leave the farm yet.

Living on the boat is good life. We have an old iron wood-oven in the main cabin with a chimney out the top, I go out everyday and collect wood along the beach for the cold evenings. I wake up in the morning, climb out of my bunk, put more wood in the furnace, climb up on deck and have a cup of tea while the salty sea breeze and wood smoke blows through me and throughout the cove.

The field down to the cove

Baltimore

I've spent my days hammering the rust off a massive old anchor then scraping it down with a wire brush, polishing it and painting it with iron paint. Grease all the gears of the anchor winch, helm, steering mechanism, clean and pump the bilges down in the belly, scrubbing the deck, and oiling down the wood planks. Sometimes after a long day of work in the sun we go swimming at Loch Hyne. It's a fresh water lake that connects to the sea so it's nice and cold and salty. Its absolutely freezing but numbingly refreshing.

The owner has been out of town alot so it's just been me and the boat, we've gotten to know eachother pretty well. I love the seclusion, the sea breeze, sounds of the seagulls and sparrows, fish splashing in the water beside the boat. It's a peaceful place to live and half the time it doesn't even seem like work.

Made a friend on the way home the other night. I was walking back from the village and was about half way when I heard small quick footsteps behind me. I stopped and turned around to see a big golden Lab following behind me. She's wagging her tail and comes right up to me. It had been raining all evening and she was soaked. I said hello, scratched her head and went on my way down the trail, over the electric fences and through the field down to the boat. I was just about to the boat when I hear some excited barking at the top of the hill but think nothing of it. It's a really dark night so I carefully slip onto the boat and down the hatch. I put down my sack of firewood and start preparing for bed when I hear panting and thumping against an oil drum outside. I pop my head out of the hatch to see my friend the golden Lab with her two paws perched on the starboard side, smiling and waiting for permission to come aboard. I immediately wondered how the hell she found her way down here, then realized that barking I heard was her verses the electric fence. Poor girl. She came aboard, I pet her and we hung out for a bit while I brushed my teeth on deck. I said goodnight and jump into my bunk in the aftcabin. She sat down just outside the hatch looking down at me and wined. I could hear her walk around on deck for a while then sit down and howl like a coyote. It was a long soft howl that faded into the late night fog of the cove. I fell fast asleep.

Woke up the next morning to see her looking down the hatch smiling at me. I snapped this shot of her.

She stayed and kept me company all day. There she is in the top photo hanging out with me on deck.

Sometimes I gather my breakfast, toss it in the dingy and row out into the cove and drift around the shipwrecked boats while I lounge in the sun and sea breeze. My lovely host Anne is an all organic vegetarian with a great taste in food. Loads of fresh fruit, hard cheeses, heavy homemade brown breads, an array of fruit and veg juices and homemade herbal teas. I've been eating incredibly well, it's funny how something so simple can make you so satisfied with life. That, and there's nothing like going to sleep with the sounds of the cove and waking up to a sea breeze coming down the hatch.

London

Spent the last 6 days in foggy Londontown and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I..

Played with old friends.
Got in a fight with a cabby.
Went on a hunt for Banksy art in the wee hours of the morning.
Took a 200 question personality test for what turned out to be for Scientologists.
Ate delicious Indian curry, Thai, Moroccan, Pizza Express (awesome), beef bagel with the hottest English mustard known to man, Camden grease doughnuts, loads of ice lollies, and Snogs yogurt.
Went shopping with Devandra Banhart at American Apparel, seriously.
Was an assistant on a photo shoot.
Went to Tate Modern and took photos of people.
Went to the London singles ward which I loved. There's just something about having your lesson taught by hip black British blokes that makes it that much more enjoyable. It was my first time to church in 2 months, aren't many in Ireland. It was a great to be there.
Went swing dancing and threw all the lindy hoppers off with my eastcoast strut.
Became a pro with the Tube/London Underground.

Spent hours perusing the streets of Brick Lane and Camden Market.
Had a lovely sunday drive through London in Monty, a beautiful 1950's styled convertible, listening to Django Rienhart all the while.

London cost me more money in 6 days than the entire 2 months I've lived in Ireland. Slightly absurd. Worth it though.

Belfast

Spent the last 3 days on a trip to Northern Ireland. Barbara, my farm host, has built 3 holiday cottages attached to the 150 year old family farm house that we're just finishing and about to let out. Here's a page I put together for the cottages and for potential guests to check out. http://barbarascottages.blogspot.com/

We needed to completely furnish the houses before our bookings in just 2 weeks. Ikea was the place to do it but the Dublin store doesn't open till late July. So we hired a massive moving van and drove 7 hours to Belfast.

Stayed with a friend in Magherafelt that night then got up early the next morn and got to Ikea before they opened at 9am. Went over our gargantuan list while we downed some breakfast and coffee then spent the next 2 days meticulously raiding Ikea from open until close, a total of about 16 hours. We'd gone mad by the end of it and were dragging eachother out of there.

Northern Ireland was pretty interesting, having been in the south of the Republic of Ireland for the past 2 months there were many very noticable differences. For one there were Union Jacks flying everywhere, which I thought was fairly smug. The currency was sterling, which was a pain because we had to get our money changed over from euro. We didnt really have time to drive through Belfast city center but you could see a feel the torment that has hung over the city for ages. The people were really quite lovely though and I adore the accent. It's a queer blend of ancient Irish and Scottish. Very warm, light and melodic. Everyone sounds like there from The Secret of Roan Inish which I love. Overall I really liked the North and will be back sooner than later.

Our lovely Ikea associate that helped us with our mattresses.

Job well done.

Bicycle ride to Union Hall

Finally got my camera back from being repaired in the States, I now feel complete.

Went for a ride today, this is what I found.

Met the loveliest little girl at Keelbeg Pier.

Down the low road to Reen Pier

Up the high road to Ceim Hill

On to Castletownshend Cove

Another good weekend

I need to catch up on the last 3 weekends, every one of them an adventure. There's another farm-hand that joined us 2 weeks ago from Oregon named John. Great guy and the two of us make a mighty fine pair for getting into mischief on the weekends. I'll just briefly outline this last one.

First the bad news. One of our chickens died. Not sure why? Think she might have been picked on by our crazy old cockold.

Hitchhiked up to the closest town with a movie theater about 35 miles away to see Terminator Salvation. Shitty little theater but the film was so bad ass!!! When the T800 cuts John Connor's face to give him the scar that he has in the flash forward in T2 was probably my favorite part. And Kyle Reese as a kid was a complete bad ass.

Met a leprechaun in Clonakilty.

Watched out for old people.

Went to mass.

As we were hitchhiking on the way back to Skibbereen these two brothers picked us up and invited us to a house party out in the countryside of Leap. It was one of their birthdays and they were quite pleasant characters so we joined them. It was at a professional soccer player's house, a new modern house with lots of windows and nothing but fields surrounding in every direction. I made some lovely friends, spun some fire, danced all night and kissed a girl from Galway. They write songs about Galway girls.

"If her hair was black and her eyes were blue

I've traveled around I've been all over this world

Boys I ain't never seen nothin' like a Galway girl"

I probably only got about 2 hours of sleep that night. Got a lift back the next morning then made some homemade pizza to finish off the weekend.

And that's just a summary.

Month 1

I've been here in Ireland 1 month today.

What I've learned:
Knackered means exhausted
Give over means cut it out
Crack - a great party or good time
Blight - a potato disease
Point of lay pullet - a chicken around 6 months of age, now a hen able to lay eggs
Hitch hiking here is practically a form of public transportation
How to turn soil, make raised timber beds, and plant new crops
Go raibh maith agat - "thank you" in gaelic, pronounced gurra mah aggut
How to wire a battery on a 100 year old sailboat
How to wield a pick axe
Irish dairy was sent from God
Tea in Ireland is consumed more than water
It's common courtesy to say "hiya" and wave when you pass someone on the road
Everyone knows everyone
How to live with and be a big brother for a curious, inquisitive, trouble-making, 8 year old chancer of a boy
Ireland is more beautiful than any picture you'll ever see on a calendar
I still can't pull off a legitimate Irish accent
And that I'm starting to call this home

Up the road

Went for a walk up the road today, this is what I found.

On the Farm

I've been working here on the O'Regan Farm for exactly 2 weeks now, feels like 2 months. Everyday has been long, hard, exciting, educational and absolutely beautiful.

I begin everyday at 9am, reluctantly jump out of my warm bed and into my cold clothes, lace up my boots, brush my teeth and head to the kitchen. I have 3 fresh eggs every morning that I collect from the chickens, 2 slices of Fields of Skibbereen toast topped with pure Irish cream butter, orange juice and a cup of hot tea with honey.

Our Cuckold and chickens

The eggs from our 10 hens

After breakfast I feed the chickens then spend the rest of the day in the garden, earthing-up potato spuds, weeding, and turning soil for our new crops. We'll be planting carrots, lettuce and sunflowers very soon, currently we just have lots of potatoes and onions.

The potato spuds, and frame for polytunnel we'll put up soon.

Most of the worms I find in the garden are about this size.

We compost just about everything here

I work all day until Reuben gets home from school at 3pm and then we go off on adventures, running through the hills and doing cool stuff like making wilderness shelters.

The beginning of our shelter.

The house.

Window box on the left is my room.

The kitchen, where I spend every evening making dinner.

Okay, thats enough for now. There's so much more that happens around here and I have A LOT more photos but I think thats good for now.
Okay, one more. This is a prelude to my next story. Um, shit. They're running straight for us. Stay tuned...

Holy Day

What an extraordinary day. It began by attending First Holy Communion at Castlehaven Parish, my first Catholic experience of any kind. It was basically exactly what I expected. I enjoyed it, lots of prayers, kneeling, standing, then kneeling again. I even ate the eucharist wafer and made the sign of the cross while mumbling half of some prayer I'd heard a few times throughout the service. Reuben was singing in the choir and they sounded lovely. Here's a recording I got of them. Click HERE to listen.

The weather this morning was dreadful.

After Holy Communion Barbara's sister Susan came to collect Reuben and I and bring us back to Baltimore where she lives. Baltimore is a beautiful seaside sailing village about 20 mins from here. In the past week I've actually contacted a lady, Anne, in Baltimore on HelpX.net that has a 100 year old sailboat that needs help repairing. I told her I'd call her when I got into Baltimore. To my pleasant surprise Susan informs us in the car that we're stopping in Skibbereen to a attend a protest. Due to the economy the government is making lots a cuts, most recently they've planned to terminate the bus route from Drimoleague to Baltimore. This is the only bus to Baltimore and many people rely on it as their only from of transportation, like school children and elderly folk. A local politician organised the rally with signs and banners for us to walk through the center of town. As we were all gathering and huddling under eachothers umbrellas I was introduced to some of the locals. I kept noticing a lovely lady with long dark hair looking over at me and smiling. She eventually approached me and introduced herself as Anne, I politely responded by introducing myself but I was getting the feeling like I was missing something. It took a second to click but then I realised it was Anne from Baltimore with the sailboat. She had already figured out who I was by my American accent and heard my name as I was introduced to others. We both had no idea either one of were going to be at the protest, pleasant surprise. She introduced me to her best friend Becky, beautiful half Spanish half Irish woman, and the three of us spent the rest of the evening together.

The little one on the left is Reuben. It was his first protest and he loved every minute of it. The photographers from the local paper loved him too.

After the protest we stopped for tea then piled in the car and drove down to Baltimore. Some of the most beautiful part of the country I've seen yet. Rolling green hills with shimmering coves and sailboats in every direction. Anne and I were dropped off on the side of the road and she led me through a field, over a barbed wire fence and down to the shipwrecked cove where Atlantis Adventurer lay sleeping.



Anne gave me a full tour of the 50ft beauty inside and out then we sat in the cabin for a bit to chat. In 2 weeks when I'm done here at the O'Regan Farm I'll relocate to Baltimore and begin living and working on the boat. She's having a sea wright come to do some work and I'll be his assistant. I'm beside myself to say the least.

After the boat we walked up the road, climbed over a weathered stone wall into Anne and Becky's back patio, stepped through the small garden and into the house to make lunch. We spent the rest of the evening together preparing and eating a delicious vegetarian meal, drinking tea, lounging in the sunroom and listening to their travel stories and of the many years they lived in the commune called Atlantis in Columbia South America. It was an absolutely delightful day. I'll be joining them again this weekend.

Life gets better everyday.

Fishing with Reuben

After a long day of earthing-up spuds, Reuben and I took his rods and walked down to Castletownshend, the old fishing village a few miles down the road. No luck with the fishing but we didn't mind, he found lots of treasures on the shore and I love being down at the beautiful cove with all the fishing boats.

Friends at Sandy Cove

Took the bicycle for a ride through the countryside and along the coast today. Met this lovely pair down by the cliffs with their dogs. Kevin and Bet Hanley were their names and we spoke for a while on the shore.

It was a cold and windy day but the sun was warm enough for me to take a nap in the plush green grass on the bank of Toehead cove. This is were I extinguished my use of a cellphone by ceremoniously throwing it into the sea. This is a new age that demands us to inherit the old.

Maybe I'll settle down here someday.

Living on the Emerald Isle

So much has happened in the past 5 days that I've been in Ireland, where to begin? After a long eventful, delicious, sexy and incredibly fun weekend in NYC I said my goodbyes and boarded my plane at JFK. It hadn't really hit me that I was finally going to Ireland until the lovely flight attendant began speaking in Gaelic. My heart leaped out my chest.
Flew in to Dublin Monday, had a layover so I spent a few hours walking about the city. It was sporadically raining and much colder than I was expecting. My digital camera is still being fixed back in the states so I didn't get to take any photos, I could buy a disposable but haven't been able to bring myself to spend 18 euro on one. Just my luck it was a bank holiday so not much was open, but I did get to go to the Temple Bar district, saw the Guinness Brewery, walked through the gorgeous Merrion Square, passed Oscar Wilde's house, and ran across O'Connell Bridge to catch my bus back to the airport. Took a short flight to Cork then another bus to Drimoleague where I was to be picked up by Barbara my farm host. I was supposed to take a bus to Skibbereen but because of the holiday not many buses were running. The bus ride through the countryside was breathtaking, rolling rich green hills, sheep and cow pastures every bit of the way and sun showers all the while. I was fading in and out of conciseness due to the jetlag, constant travel, and lack of sleep in past 24hrs. Everytime I woke up I was pleasantly reminded I was in Ireland. Drimoleague is a very small village and the only thing open when I got off the bus was May Dean's Pub across the street from the stop. I stumbled in and threw my massive backpack from my shoulder, all eyes on me as I hear a voice mumble "jaesis lads, lookat we got ere". Besides the fact that everyone knows everyone here I definitely stand out. I had to pee sooo bad so I thought I could drop in use the toilets and phone Barbara. After about 30 seconds I decided not to leave my bag unattended and I'd rather just sit outside at the bus stop where Barbara could see me. Atleast half the town wouldn't be staring at me in the pub. I spoke too soon. On my way out the door my wide ass backpack gets stuck in the reeeeally bloody small doorway, as I try to shift and maneuver my way through it I panic and just take it off. I turn around to see the bartender coming to give me a hand, I jerk my pack through, say thanks then speed walk down the street hearing an uproar of laughter behind me. Pretty embarrassing but mostly hilarious. Moments later Barbara came to collect me.
Since I arrived on the farm I've been working long hard days and loving every minute of it. I'm living in a 150 year family farm house, we have chickens, potatoes, lettuce, onions, raspberries, gooseberries, rhubarb, and sunflowers. There is loads of work to be done remolding the house and landscaping and when I'm not busy with everything else I've got to mind after her 8 year old son Reuben. He's a real chancer and gives me an awful pain in the gulliver, but we get on just fine. Though he continually tries my patience we're actually becoming quite good friends.
I've borrowed Barbara's digital camera and taken a few photos around but haven't the time to upload them all now. Here's a peak.
To be continued..

the road to our house

Acclimating

In 12 days I'll be in Ireland. I think I'll have to go straight to work on the farm when I get there so I've been planning to acclimate to Irish time.. but I'm not doing so good. It's 5 hours ahead.
Right now its 6:41am in Ireland. I haven't even gone to bed yet.

It's final

I'm finally embarking on my voyage to the Motherland. I've got 3 weeks left here in South Carolina until I fly back to NYC for the weekend then I'm off to farm in Cork, Ireland. I'll be doing work-exchange on many farms throughout the UK and Europe that I've found on HelpX.net for the next year or so. Most of the farms don't pay but they provide room and board, so it's a great way to travel and stay places for an extended amount of time on the cheap. The first one I'm working at is in Castlehaven, beautiful rolling country side right on the sea.

There's about 6 other farms I've contacted and have in mind after Castlehaven, but I'll just see how it all plays out once I get there. This is the route I plan to take May-July: Google Map
If anyone is going to be in the UK around then, let me know!

And to everyone in or around South Carolina we've got 3 weeks to hang out before I leave FOREVERRR! I leave Wed April 29th.
And to everyone in NYC/Brooklyn, I'll be in town Thurs 30th - Sun 3rd. It's going to be the weekend to end all weekends. We'll need to share as much love and sweat as possible before I fly to Dublin Sunday night.

My time has come, for I must depart on yet another grand voyage. I may or may not return for quite sometime so I pray thee well until our paths may cross again.

"I will leave the dust of the City street and the noise of the busy town
For the windy moor and the high hill and the peat-stream flowing brown.
I will seek the place where gypsies roam and strange, wild songs are sung;
I will find once more the magic paths I knew when earth was young.
Stretch not your hands nor bid me stay, I hear the white road's call,
The sun hath kissed the buds from sleep, and I am one with them all."

From The Vagrant - Pauline Slender

Summertime

It's almost here and this is all I want in life. It's all I can think about.







Jay Adams, Tony Alva and Stacey Peralta. What would life be without you?

Sailing around the world

Everyday I work a little bit harder for this.


More magnificent photos of my favorite nautical race -
2008 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

*Thanks Jory

Zoo date

I've had a big crush on my yoga instructor for a while now. She's 27 and a babe, we've been playfully chitchatting before and after class for weeks so I finally asked her on a date to the Zoo. We met up this morning at the Zoo gate, she brought me a rooibos tea, delicious. We walked along adoring the baby Lemurs, getting spooked in the reptile house, making fun of Orangutan face, comparing ourselves to Leopards, and singing Jungle Book songs. We were having a lovely time until we got to the Ocelot and she tells me she's divorced. And she has a boyfriend. And he's in the hospital dying of Leukemia.
What the hell am I supposed to say to that?!

Funniest date ever! Too bad it wasn't a joke.

Corto Maltese

A French vagabond and friend of mine recently told me of my resemblance to French comic book character Corto Maltese. The 1970 creation of Italian artist Hugo Pratt, though popularized in France in the 80's. Matlese is a badass and I can't help but claim him as a comrade and kin.

Corto Maltese is a laconic sea captain adventuring during the early 20th century. A "rogue with a heart of gold," he is tolerant and sympathetic to the underdog. Born in Valletta, Malta (south of Sicily) in 1887, he is a son of a British sailor from Cornwall and a gypsy Andalusian prostitute known as "La Niña de Gibraltar". As a boy growing up in the Jewish quarter of Córdoba, Maltese realized he had no fateline on his palm and therefore carved his own with a razor, determining that his fate was his to choose.

Mon frère d'armes