kathi_in_beltra

In September 2008, I spent 4 weeks with Maggie and her animals on her Triskel Flower Farm. It was just great! Maggie is a very nice and cheerful person. She gave me any information I wanted about local heritage. The holiday really gave me a detailed insight in authentic Irish Life, the local customs and irish habits. She also introduced me to many locals.
We had a lot of fun while we were exploring all the local activities - these included a local show (Beltra Show), visits at friends, she always brought me with her when she wanted to go to a city and I had my free time as well as opportunities to accompany her to art exhibitions, local markets, I went to a service in Church to see how it is and I even experienced a meeting of the Irish Countrywomen Association - believe me! It was unique and I would not want to miss it. She also offered me to come and see the traditional dances, but unfortunately she injured her foot and I was too much of a chicken to go and try alone ;-)
I joined her as a volunteer, this means I also came to do some work. I would not call all of it work, I enjoyed a lot of it as it included recreational activities (like designing flower bouquets for the Beltra Show), things that I usually do as hobbies (taking care of her Spanish PRE stallion Destino Larios and riding him AT THE BEACH!!!), relaxing tasks (gardening in the glasshouse) and only some of the "work" was tiring (rearranging the straw into another shed, getting new stardust for Desi's Bed). I also helped her a little bit with her homepage that she had at that time. Most of the things we did together (and if not she often kept me company and brought me a cup of tea from time to time), so it was never boring. At the end I also did a bit of housesitting, so Maggie could go and visit her son for some days. I also enjoyed that a lot of the work was outside as I really love nature and her farm is a very nice spot to relax and detach from your daily routine for a bit, forget about the sorrows, to something just for yourself and enjoy the freedom that you have there. I also liked taking pictures, observing wildlife and chatting about all the world and his wife with Maggie, who was always happy, laughing, understanding, reassuring and liked to share her experiences.
I hope that I'll find some time to come and visit her again, I can strongly recommend it to anybody who likes active and happy traveling and also enjoyes getting in touch with locals.
I want to thank you again Maggie, I'll never forget my irish september 2008 :-) Take care, have many happy helpers and just stay as nice and happy, sometimes a little bit cheeky and sarcastic as you are!!!