Sunday 10 April 2016

A Photo Of Bantry Bay In April?


Been a few weeks since I blogged.  Been busy and life some times gets in the way or gets you down, like the weather.  The potatoes, onions, garlic, lettuce and cabbage plants are in the ground outside and we have lots of trays and plant pots full of Rosemary and pink Fuchsia cuttings in the poly-tunnel.  


These were the scenes across the bay when we woke up yesterday morning.  Talked to an elderly farmer yesterday.  Told me he had never known an April so cold and wet.  It's throwing it down today.  A lot of farmers have to put their cattle back in their sheds.  Some haven't even been in the fields yet.

There's definitely something wrong with the weather.  Climate change an all that.  Me thinks it's time to look at warmer climates.  A place in the sun or even a smallholding in the sun.  I am serious.   I am going to retire to Portugal real soon.  Can you retire when you are 52?

Have you been watching  The Durrells on Itv on Sunday nights?  That house in Corfu is to die for - I love it!  

Where would you like to live other than where you live now?  I will catch up with the blogs I follow over the next few days.  

30 comments:

  1. Hope your weather bucks up soon. Here we have a saying about April.
    "April, April, it will do what it will."

    If I didn't live here in Austria I think I'd enjoy life in Italy. I like Trieste, Venice, Tuscany, Umbria, Chianti, Alto Adige, Dolomites, and many other places. I'd enjoy the language (unlike for example German, I really love the sound of Italian), also the food, the wine, the Italian lifestyle would please me greatly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Gwil. Austria is a lovely place to live. Never been to Italy but it sounds good. It sounds like you will live there. Thanks!

      Delete
  2. I'd like to live in Charleston, we went there on honeymoon and it was beautiful and more to the point, warm! Climate change is quite scary, they say the British isles will get wetter if that's possible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charleston sounds wonderful Kirsty. Totally agree with you about climate change. The weather is getting worse every year. Cattle aren't out on the pasture more than six months.

      Delete
  3. It looks like norway. Well what i imagine norway to look like

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was in Iceland in Tralee a couple of weeks a go John. We bought Hollands pies and bottles of Vimto. Treasure from Blighty. It does look like Norway.

      Delete
  4. a Greek island like Spetze or or a bigger island like Zakynthos. The weather is delightful and good wind for sailing. By the sea not in the interior.

    Or in the south of France. Near Bergerac. lol Very specific arent I. lol

    Cant believe there is snow. Weather has been crazy this year

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can vouch for the 'near Bergerac' bit. I did my escaping at the age of 25, and have never looked back. I cannot imagine looking out on snow in mid-April.

      Delete
    2. Hi Sol. The Durrels makes the Greek Islands look like paradise. Bergerac sounds great. Is it expensive to live there?

      Delete
    3. Yes Cro I often envy you and Vera in your smallholdings in France. I am getting totally fed up with the weather. Thanks!

      Delete
  5. Would have to be New Zealand for me Dave, Wales on steroids it be. Still I envy your view across the bay my good man.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yea New Zealand looks wonderful John. Wales is a lovely place also. Especially the Welsh Marches. Good to hear from you John.

      Delete
  6. Hi Dave, good to see you here. April has been very cold here too, and wet. If I went to live somewhere else it would probably be France, I told P last night I was going to go and live there! I like Portugal too though. I love the Durrells on tv even though it is not quite like the books, and is actually not so funny, but it stands on its own and is good and I love that house they are in. Keep smiling Dave.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. France appeals to me Rachel. Plus it's close to the UK and Ireland. Think I would like to live on a smallholding with a gite and a fishing lake for an income. Thanks!

      Delete
  7. Yes you can retire at 52 why not, I always like the sound of warmer climes but cant do with all the heat in the height of summer anyway so I think I will stay put :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Dawn. I think it's all down to how much money you need to live on. Portugal is thirty precent cheaper than the UK and Ireland to live in. You can always visit Blighty or cooler places when it gets too hot. I would also make sure we installed air conditioning. We are thinking of buying an holiday home then eventually living there full time. Well that's the idea any way!

      Delete
  8. Crikey that looks cold. We have also had cold weather, but when the sun shines it does have warmth in it. Retire at 52? Lester 'retired' from office work at 45, but is now working full time on the farm, which he loves.
    Nice to see you post a blog up again. Was wondering how you were doing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Vera. It's unbelievable weather at the moment. Gorgeous morning today. Like it always is after a gale.

      Lester did the right thing to retire from his office work at 45. We want to buy somewhere with a self catering annexe for an income. You never retire when you have a smallholding. Thanks for wondering how we were doing Vera!

      Delete
  9. We'd like to move to France at some point in the future Dave. 52 sounds good to me for retirement.;)
    Weather here was lousy this morning but the sun's out now and it's quite warm, more like April weather.

    ReplyDelete
  10. We'd like to move to France at some point in the future Dave. 52 sounds good to me for retirement.;)
    Weather here was lousy this morning but the sun's out now and it's quite warm, more like April weather.

    ReplyDelete
  11. We'd like to move to France at some point in the future Dave. 52 sounds good to me for retirement.;)
    Weather here was lousy this morning but the sun's out now and it's quite warm, more like April weather.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. France sounds good Deb. Plus it's easy to get on a ferry, plain or the Chunnel back to the UK. Yesterday was much better and warmer. Thanks!

      Delete
  12. I tried retiring when I was 47 and kept at it till I was 52, then fell into employer mode for a few years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't worked full time since my mid thirties Heron. Far too busy around the farm and can always find a million one things to do. Think it's down to how much you think you need to live on every week. My late father worked shift work and we hardly ever saw him. Thanks!

      Delete
    2. I haven't worked full time since my mid thirties Heron. Far too busy around the farm and can always find a million one things to do. Think it's down to how much you think you need to live on every week. My late father worked shift work and we hardly ever saw him. Thanks!

      Delete
  13. Would you miss the rain if you moved abroad? Probably not lol. I have been busy building again but everything gets put on hold when it rains.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, no,and no again BG. You should get your self a poly-tunnel. You can still potter about when it's raining outside.

      Delete
  14. Hey Dave hope you are well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sol, Hope you are well. Lost my blogging mojo at the moment. Hope to write a new post this week. Thanks!

      Delete

Onion Set Planting.

I still managed to plant up two of the new planters/raised beds with onion sets in the rain yesterday. Notice the white root sock in the com...