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| Mud in front of the donkey shed. |
The donkeys like their new shed but just outside, the water seeping down from the hill is causing a mess of mud. It's treacherous for us and for the donkeys. So Alex got the digger driver to dig a trench the length of the shed. Alex laid the drain pipe and covered it with gravel dug from the sides of the road.
That helped considerably and the muddy areas started to dry. Then more rain came and we realised the trench didn't go quite far enough. The area between the gate and the shed is sloping and sloppy mud. So we'll have to dig some more and lay some more pipe.
The donkeys get a half bale of hay and a half of straw daily. They have a nice bed of straw to lay on, and they get carrots and a cup of ponyfeed each in the afternoon. They seem happy enough but this week is going to be brutally cold. They say it could go down to -10C but WindGuru is showing no less than 0C for us.
We get a windstorm tomorrow with rain overnight but then dry, cold conditions. The southern regions are under snow with orange alerts for low temperatures and ice.
It reminded me of the unforecast St Stephen's Day hurricane we had in 1998. We were here for Christmas and came down to breakfast on Christmas Day to normal weather. As breakfast progressed, the wind picked up. Then the windows started rattling, and the chimneys were howling. We watched out the front windows at Ross House as trees came down in the pouring rain and vicious wind. Several people died that day, roofs were torn off and cars were stranded. About 100,000 lost power.
But the real miracle came the day after. The temperature dropped and the water fell as snow, blanketing the sea as the wind died down. The entire earth was covered in a foot of snow and silence descended on Mayo. It was one of the most beautiful spectacles we've ever witnessed. We went for a walk with a chainsaw in hand. Alex cut the trees that were down on the avenue. Horses were rolling in the snow. Cillian came walking from Ross Village with his new bicycle. There were no snowploughs, no salt trucks. We enjoyed the isolation in front of roaring fires in the house and occasional rambling with cameras in hand. It was one of the most memorable Christmas weeks in our lives.
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| Water pooling at the shed |
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| Brucie escaped while I was putting hay in the feeder |
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| Barricade until Alex returned |
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| Girls were very agitated about Brucie leaving them |
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| Alex filling the drain. |
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| The hay shed with door in place. |
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| Christmas tree on the inlet |
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| Donkeys waiting for their breakfast |
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| Snow cap on Croagh Patrick |
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| A bit of sneachta in Mayo |
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| New gate into the garden |
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| Muddy |
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| Very muddy |
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| Donkeys happy inside |
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| Sunset at 5 pm - the grand stretch has begun. |
