Week One, Burtown House, Athy, County Kildare, Ireland

We have survived our first week at Burtown House. True to our expectations, Ireland at the end of October is cold and wet. We have come in from most days covered in mud, with icy fingers and toes.

The kitchen garden is HUGE! It is surrounded on four sides by six-foot-high rock walls. The tool shed looks like a miniature castle. There are so many wonderful things growing there: purple and green kale, several types of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, broad beans and bush beans, raspberries, zucchini (which the Irish call "courchettes," the French name,) pumpkins, acorn squash, rhubarb, artichokes, potatoes, asparagus, fennel, various herbs, gooseberries...you get the idea. Also on the property is a small grove of apple trees, and "the nut grove," whatever that means.

We've been working hard, and hopefully earning our keep while getting used to the routine around here. I (Donica) have been cold pretty much all the time that I am out from under the bed-covers. James, our host who was raised in this house, called it the "coldest house in Ireland" and I don't think that he is exaggerating. He says that in the winter there is sometimes frost on the inside of the windows!

Even so, there are quite a lot of things about the house that are really neat examples of Irish country life. For example, all the cooking is done in an oven that they call an Aga - an oil stove that is constantly on and hot. No temperature control. There is a hot side and a less-hot side, a little place to keep the kettle warm, and a covered burner for boiling on the stove top. I cooked beets in it, which only came out slightly charred, and an apple tart, which came out great. We are slowly getting the hang of it. The Aga keeps the kitchen warm, and therefor the kitchen is a VERY popular place to hang out.

There are charming details about the house that don't exist in most American homes - fancy shutters for the windows on the main floor of the house that fold across floor-to-ceiling leaded windows, detailed plasterwork above windows and doors, fireplaces in almost every room, and stone walls that are at least three feet thick. Our room is on the fourth floor in a sort of attic-space. Last night there was a terrible storm, and we were warm and cozy listening to the wind and rain pound at the skylight.

Hopefully next weekend the weather will be more pleasant and we can get out to explore and take pictures outside a little bit.