Day 11

Day 11: Today we decided to go to The Ewe, a sculpture and experience garden that we had seen on the way back from Kenmare the other day on our crazy drive home from Killarney. On the road there were huge misshapen blue hands pointing the way and a sign that invited you in. When we got there we were greeted by a sheltie-mix dog, and the sound of roaring water. Turns out these two artists, Sheena Wood and Kurt Lyndorff, bought a house with a river and waterfall running through it and have carved out the steep hillside to install around 50 sculptures of cement, found objects, rebar, chicken wire, glass, plastic, leaves, branches, and other ephemera.

There’s a fish riding a bicycle uphill, a giant snail leaving a glittering glass trail, outsized purple chairs with gargoyle heads attached, mirrored waves on posts, a giant cement pig bathing in a cast iron tub by the creek (had to take a picture of that one for Rick), giant metal children waving their arms in the wind, and multiple spots to sit and play primitive games set up strategically around the property. We had to cross the roaring river on a slatted wooden bridge made slip-proof with nailed down chicken wire, climb steep steps carved out into the hillside and spiral up and through the property. It was very pretty scenery and that made the kooky sculptures even more fun to look at. A laminated guide told two-line stories behind each piece.

Bill’s favorite piece was the huge snail trailing glass slime, Cindy’s favorites were the chairs, the fish riding upstream, and a very large black maiden covered in a black blanket sleeping on the forest floor. Laura and Tom particularly liked a piece constructed inside a famine ruin found on the property. It had an iron bed with a sleeping figure done in plants in the center. Clare loved the many games set into the large boulders. One of Lisa’s favorite pieces was called “Felix’s Helix”. It was almost hidden in the forest floor, but it was made of two months’ worth of plastic milk jugs used for a family of four. Flattened and strung by their handles on a steel post, they spiraled into the deep green of the tree canopy. It looked like a piece as elegant as Willie O’Leary would make. It was also an interesting comment on consumption and waste. A lot of the pieces had the same theme, and signs posted along the route called the viewer to contemplate his or her impact on nature with consumption.

Just as we were leaving The Ewe, the skies opened up and poured, even though it was quite sunny in spots. We drove on to Glengarrif, stopping along the way at a roadside recycling center (huge plastic domes where you stood and sorted out your green, brown, and clear glass, aluminum cans, and food cans). We don’t have “rubbish pickup” at our Derryfunchion cottage (told you it was backwoods!) and we have to sort out our recycling, compost our scraps, and then take the rest to the dump, where we are charged 8 EU per large black bag to dump our trash. Of course, Tom has figured out that many pubs keep dumpsters open in the back, so we have yet to experience that joy of paying someone to take our rubbish away.

We stopped in Glengarrif to lunch at the Glengarrif Lodge and Spa called the Blue Pool, and had chowder, roasted tomato salad, Guinness, and lovely burgers and hand-cut fries. We sat in a strategic spot in the hotel restaurant where if we turned the computer at JUST the right angle, we could tap into the Wifi and upload those first 8 entries of the blog.

After lunch we went next door where they had an excellent selection of kitted woolens, blankets, coats, and other beautiful objects. It was the first place with very high quality objects (read: expensive, like between 100 to 500 dollars for a one-of-a-kind coat) and not just the usually tourist drudgery we’d been encountering. Laura and Lisa both got a blanket, and Clare, for being SUCH an excellent girl during all our long and windy car rides got a tiny fuzzy seal, which she named, of all things, “Furry”. We wandered the town a bit, this not being particularly hard to do since it was all of two sides of one street, saw the most beautiful police station ever, and bought postcards to send home. They may never get in the post, but hey, it’s the thought that counts. Tom and Clare found a gallery that actually had some very competently painted and good Art! The Katherine Hammond Gallery. The work inside was mostly representational but handled in contemporary techniques. Tom left his card.

Then we drove to Bantry for groceries again (with a three foot tall fridge and no freezer, we can’t rally “stock up” for our party of six) and then on home to enjoy a cheddar, brie, Nutella, heavy-jack (very thick crepes), water cracker, whiskey and wine repast out on the grass. It was still gloriously sunny, with big puffballs clouds floating into the distance, but the wind was picking up.

We roasted a huge chicken for dinner, and while it didn’t surpass the excellence of the Italian bird-of-all-birds we had in Positano, it was perfectly serviceable stuffed with onions, lemons, and rosemary. Roasted over a bed of onions and fresh carrots, it made a heavenly smell in the cottage, and we dug into it with great gusto that evening. A crispy salad and baguette slices buttered more than probably is healthy, completed the meal.

Tom was trying to stay up late to see the stars, but seeing as how it doesn’t get dark until nearly 11pm, he gave up and went to bed. Laura ad Cindy probably got a good view though, as neither one of them could fall asleep this night.

téigh in éag (means: to end!)