Newsletter - October 2007
Hi there, a long overdue newsletter for you! Well we are all alive and well after a particularly strange few days for us. On Sept 25–27 we hosted the National Ploughing Championships at Annaharvey – now to many of you this mightn’t seem like a particularly important occasion, but to the farming community in Ireland it is the premier event of the year and is not to be missed.
Traditionally it rains for the entire 3 days and everyone comes in wellies and wet gear, but we were very lucky and after some slight rain on Tues morning we then had 3 beautiful autumn days which greatly added to the event.
On day one we had the privilege of having the President, Mary McAleese and her husband here to open the championships – by President I mean the President of Ireland, so that in itself was a cause for celebration – she is a lovely woman with a word for everyone, and we have every reason to be proud to have her as our Head of State.
People came from the four corners of the country to visit Annaharvey and they reckon there were 80,000 people here on the Wednesday alone!
As you can imagine there was a lot of work getting everything in place so we had workers on the site from the middle of August, and indeed still have some around getting the place back to normal again. It was a great experience overall – though a bit daunting particularly in the last few days in the run up to it, when it was no longer possible to see Sam and Aisling’s house with all the Marquees and stands etc. – we did have a day of wondering "What have we done" but thankfully it passed, and we went on to really enjoy every part of it. We got huge coverage on National newspapers and television with half of one programme being devoted to the family profile, which from an advertising point of view for our businesses was brilliant.
Apart from all that, life has now returned to normal and we are no longer celebrities in the media world!! We have a return to riding guests coming and going, and are getting settled down for the winter –some of the horses got clipped last week – a sure sign winter is on the way! We had our first Hunter Trials on Sunday last – a lovely day dry and sunny with a nice crowd arriving from earl morning – we have a marquee now for doing the catering which is working out very well – more room than the gallery with seating space and also space for our new venture – we have a Tack and Country Clothing shop now which Joanna is running along with Sam and is going very well – lots of lovely jackets, jogphurs, Toggi shirts, boots etc. and of course blankets and bridles – and all things horsy!
Kate is getting bigger by the day and is taking after Rory in her ability to climb and wiggle her way anywhere she has a mind to go. Sam calls her the "Time waster" as no matter whenever any of us meet her in her buggy we have to stop and talk to her – himself being the biggest culprit. When Jo brings her up to the guesthouse kitchen we all down tools regardless of what is being done and do our utmost to get a chat from her – I often think she must think we are all completely mad!
Rachael is busy with her food distribution – she is now getting ready for Christmas, with cakes to be made, puddings and mincemeat, while we are busy in the guesthouse making jams and chutneys for the Christmas hampers and of course our Christmas Fair which is on for 3 weeks in December.
Aisling has gone to a new job in Gurteen college where she is lecturing in the Equine Dept. – we miss her of course here in Annaharvey but are really happy to see her in a job for which she is really well suited, and we have the added bonus of having her at home anyway to keep us on the straight and narrow.
Aaron has finished his degree course in UCD, and is now at Queen’s University Belfast for a year doing a Master’s in Environmental Planning – so far he seems to be enjoying it and life in the North is quite different to Dublin which is a nice change for him, meeting new people and experiencing a different type of life. We miss him of course as we were used to him being home every weekend over the past few years as he was playing Rugby for Tullamore, but we will just have to go and visit him a few times for a change!
That’s about all the news from Annaharvey for the moment,
best wishes,
Lynda, Henry and family
Back
|
More Newsletters
