Jan. 21

Jan. 21

A quiet day. Called RSJD for her birthday, and it was nice to talk with her live. We had our weekly potluck with students. They did spectacular with an Italian theme. Plenty to eat for everyone. We made a huge salad which is a bit unusual around here – so it went pretty fast.

I drove students to the Artesian well that I spoke about before, but chose not to walk with them. It is through bog land with several inches of water. The real reason was I had just put on clean jeans – and jeans take about 4 days to dry here. So I wasn’t willing to get them “bogged-up” on the first day of wearing. It is something like camping – but it just lasts 4 months.

The local carpenter, Declan Guy, stopped by to look at the fireplaces and how we might try to conserve some heat. Within hours, he had returned with two large boards that will fit in front of the fireplaces for Cottage #3 & 4. They are hinged so they will go into the attic. Cottage 4 who has all the sick kids was thrilled. We all know you don’t get sick from being cold. But I’ve discovered, you also don’t get well while being cold.

I’m surprised that the locals believe we keep it too cold in our cottages. As I may have mentioned, Ann Jack had me go over to one of the cottages and tell them to turn on the heat. On days like this (snow on the mountains again), the heat must run more than morning and evenings. But we are being creative on how to conserve as much as possible. Tom said that as he showed Declan the cottages and what we wanted, he was being quite colorful in his language and the state of the cottages!!! Oh, well. Let’s just call it quaint.

After the potluck, we stopped by the pub which usually closes at 11 on Sundays. Interestingly, at 10 pm some musicians show up and begin setting up. It was lovely with 2 men who played guitar, banjo and whistle (not tin whistle, but probably wood). Very, very nice as we sat by the fireplace. It all became a bit clearer, as when we were leaving, we noticed about 3 pints in front of the musicians. Payment for good entertainment