A Few Photos, A Rant, & Reflection

Rather than going back and putting photos into the appropriate post, I thought I would just put them all in one post together.

On Thursday when we were in Durrus, Chris took us to see his in laws place (his home, and where he will be working when he finishes the course!), called Blairscove. So glad we were the first people up to see the farm, so that we were the first down and had time to go and see the grounds at Blairscove. Stunning. http://www.blairscove.ie

When we went up to the farm to see where the famous Durrus Farmhouse Cheese is made, they were in the process of filling the molds with the curd. It is neat to understand the process from making our own cheese at Ballymaloe, the diary at the school is exactly the same, just on a smaller scale. I will definitely be trying to find some Irish Farmhouse Cheeses when I get back to Edmonton. Was great to introduce mum to a few of them yesterday.

http://www.durruscheese.com

Our school tour day was so inspiring, I don’t know what better way there is to think about what you want to do in the future than spending a day with a bunch of like minded people on a bus, beside Darina Allen, and stopping in at various places to meet people who have gotten up and done something that they are passionate about. John McKenna was so neat to listen to, and I wish we would have had a bit more time with him. The basic message from all of the places we stopped was simple, don’t sit around and waste time thinking, just do it. That is pretty much the message that we are told everyday at the school… Certainly gets you thinking.

It is so interesting to be on the home stretch of the course, and having a bit of time away from the school this weekend. I read so many blogs and did so much research before I decided to commit to coming to Ireland to do the course. So many of them had the same message, and towards the end of the course their message got stronger. They loved every minute of it, they were inspired, but, most of what I read, people complained about how tired they were, or about various things happening at or around the school (ovens being turned down, not having enough space or equipment in the kitchen, drama in the cottages etc.). It is true, every now and then an oven gets turned up or down by mistake, there is drama in the cottages (hello, you are living with 63 strangers!), but… I see it like this, I have invested a lot of money to be here, to do something I love, I researched it, and knew what I was in for, being immersed in The Ballymaloe bubble has been so incredible, and I have very little to complain about – and really, that’s just that it’s not long enough. It’s twelve weeks out of our life, commit to it, go at it with a positive mind, and take it all in. There is no time to be tired, and there is no time to turn things down or say, “I can’t, I’m too tired…” Once I am home at the end of the course, I don’t want to look back and think I wish I had done this or that… I guess that would be my biggest piece of advice to anyone thinking about doing the course, get up and do it, and enjoy every minute of it. Okay, as Darina would say, “END OF RANT!”

Here is a link to a video called Myrtle Allen, A Life in Food…

https://vimeo.com/87478576

“You can spend forever procrastinating or you can just get up, do it, and make it work.” Darina, John McKenna, and Carmel Somers