If the housing market picks up and we get our house sold, this summer could well be our last one in these parts. So, we plan to make the most of it and take day trips all over ... that's if it stops raining long enough!
I joined the National Trust so hope to check out all their properties and visit the beaches and Giant's Causeway on the north coast. Further afield we may drive south to Kerry and Clare, taking the tent with us. In saying that, the cost of diesel is crazy here - over £1.33 (roughly $2.70 ish US) per litre and set to rise.
So watch this space ... weather and fuel prices permitting of course.
A couple of weeks ago the kids and I took a walk around Ardress House which is near our home in County Armagh.
Believe it or not, this used to be a farmhouse. I think the owners must have had delusions of grandeur or something, as it has been extended in all directions in neoclassical fashion. Note fake wing at front. No European bureaucratic rubbish in these days. We can't even convert our roofspace without having to almost rebuild the entire house.
There is a fantastic old cobbled farm yard to the rear, complete with chickens and a couple of peacocks which EJ thought were amazing although they took one look at him and fled. Mustn't have fancied being rugby tackled by an over enthusiastic two year old. The out buildings are unpretentious and date from around the 1850's. The equipment is simple and built to last. I reckon that I could have lived back then :)
Next week we hope to make the most of our membership and call in on the Argory (another NT property) which is a couple of miles further up the road from this one. Armagh is known as Orchard County due to the milder climate and fruit produce and dotted all around the countryside are large houses and estates like this one. Makes our teeny wee house feel like a garden shed!
1 comment:
That is a beautiful place! I would love to visit there.
That's to funny about Miss T and the Golden Arches.
The kids have grown since May!
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