Monday 28th June 2010

Sorry about the lack of recent posting but we have been all over the place.  We headed up to Dublin for a few days but returned to Kinsale on Wednesday as we had a meeting at the girls new school on Thursday morning.  We spent Wednesday and Thursday night at Ashling and Michael's "holiday house" in Cork City.  They treated us very well with a nice big BBQ, lovely wine, great company and a nice comfy bed.   Kids all played very well and I got to watch a few World cup games in peace and even got out for a few tasty pints with Michael in their local.  Ashling/Michael thanks again for putting us up (and putting up with us!), the stay was a welcome retreat for us.

So now we have a nice empty house and no furniture.  We were lead to believe it would be in Kinsale around the 26th June but now we have no clue when it will get in.  Turns out that there has been some big screw up somewhere in USA where it looks like they missed our ship and now nobody in Ireland or USA can tell us exactly when it will arrive.   The USA side is being the most annoying as they are just flat out ignoring us.

While waiting to hear something we are staying on a farm in Kinsale in a converted old barn.  It is small but quite comfortable and the girls are loving playing in the barn yard.  The three farm dogs have moved in with us too!

Father's day in Dublin and Bray

We are now up in Dublin. Best father's day present from Gwen; was able to sleep till nearly 11am. Weather beautiful. Heading out to Bray in a bit.

Friday June 18

Nothing much to report today.  Picked up our new car and dropped off the rental at the airport.  Quiet day otherwise.  Heading to Dublin tomorrow.

Really enjoyed watching USA clawing pack from 2:0 down, shame they were robbed by the ref for the winner.  Also watched the England/Algeria game.

Thursday 17th June – Day 13

This morning we had our 2nd full Irish breakfast since arriving.   Clonakilty sausages, rashers, local fresh eggs, brown bread, Barry's tea, etc...   Delicious and all of us setup for the day after our big feed.

We then headed into town to meet our estate agent and yes we signed the contract on the house so we now have an address.  The big question now is when will our stuff arrive.  We were expecting it on 24th June but new estimates are 2nd July meaning that it might be as late as 5/6 July before we get to move in.   All documentation for customs is in place and brokers do not expect it to take long to pass through the dock and our house cannot be more then 45 minutes drive from the port.

 ...and that's it for today.  Probably the quietest and most boring since arriving as we did not do anything else and I do not even have any photographs of us doing nothing.

Finally I would just like to mention all the emails we have been getting.   The blog has had nearly 5000 hits since starting and we are getting some really nice, inspirational and encouraging messages from all over the world.  This was a monumental decision for us and definitely not an easy one and I will not pretend that both of us have not had any sleepless nights worrying about our plans (plans?!) but all your emails, texts and comments are really helping us get through this with so much enthusiasm.  Thanks again and keep them coming.

Wednesday 16th June 2010 - Day 12 – We have a house!

Finally we rented a house!  So not quite what we wanted as it is a huge American style home and is in the town.    It is  lovely, has plenty of room for us, all our furniture and visitors and we will be moving in on 1^st July.  Word of warning for visitors when you see the house – Gwen and I are not rich, we simply took advantage of this downturn.

First thing this morning I drove all the way to Bandon to Fedex a check to the USA.   This is one of the few downsides of being here as simple things like getting to a bank or a shipping company are not necessarily very convenient.  But heck if we just wanted that we would have stayed in Dallas!

After lunch we drove into Cork City to pick up a few things and do some exploring.   I got to experience the “English Market” for the first time which looks like somewhere I will be going a lot.   I have only seen this place on TV and usually on USA TV as it seems like every chef on the Food Network has passed through it.

 

So again another amazing day here with yet again more glorious weather.   We are out of this temporary house in Garrylucas on Saturday morning and looks like we will be heading up to Dublin for a week or two.  Pressure is definitely off us now and the fun is about to begin.

Tuesday 15th June 2010 – Day 11

Again another stunning day here, absolutely gorgeous weather we are having with temperatures in the 20’s and lovely and sunny.  Is there a better place to be when the days are so nice?!

So up this morning to view a huge, expensive, way over our budget house.   It is on the outskirts of town with terrific views of the harbor and backs up to the local GAA.  The back garden was full of gaelic footballs and Sliotar’s from the club that the girls played with while we checked the house out.   Very nice place but insanely expensive and way above our budget but we are homeless and the housing situation is not looking good so we made a NAMA discounted offer and are waiting to hear back!  We expect the owners to laugh at us but you never know.

After the house viewing we parked in the town and visited the local farmers market which happens every Tuesday.   Some really nice stalls and a great selection of delicious foods being sold.  We snacked on a freshly made wood fired pizza that New York would have been proud of except this one was made on some portable pieced together oven on the back of a trailer!

After lunch more chores including getting insurance setup for our car that we pick up on Friday and lots of bank calls as our US credit and debit cards keep getting switched off as our spending keeps getting flagged as possible fraud!

We finished off the day at the beach with the girls, some football (Brazil/North Korea) and then watched some TV on the Bloody Sunday report.

Monday 14th June 2010 – Day 10

Started the day at the bank in Bandon and then off to to a viewing of the house with the highest expectation so far.  It was up in a hill just outside the town on 1/3 acre and looked great from the outside.  Today we got to go inside for the first time and we were very disappointed with the interior which was really dated with an awful kitchen.    Owners offered to redo some of it but this would not be ready until Aug/Sep.

So back to square one again and we really have no good options for a home.  Not the best situation to be in so we going to look at some more expensive houses that will blow the budget tomorrow.  

So after the disappointment we grabbed some lunch and toured James Fort at Summercove.   This fort goes back to 1601 and is so much fun for the kids.  Really interesting too.

Dinner tonight was homemade meatballs, marinara and spaghetti and after we headed back into town to check out a very expensive house.

BTW: another beautiful day today.