Farm Girl's Weekend

You know you're a true farm girl when your best weekend in Ireland yet was spent out in the country visiting dairy farms!  This weekend I took a 6 hour trip north to stay with the Thompson family. We know the Thompson's from back in Wisconsin where they run Gold Dust dairy. Uncle Paul had told them I would be studying here and they gave him all their info so that I could go visit them some weekend and since I had nothing on the agenda this weekend I decided to go for it.  I headed out Friday afternoon and caught a bus into Dublin city, that was a 4 hour bus drive. Then I had to catch a bus from Dublin to Banbridge, which is where the Thompsons live, that was another 2 hours. When I got to Banbridge I realized my phone no longer worker because Northern Ireland is technically part of the United Kingdom. Thus with no phone I was not sure how I was going to let the Thompsons know I had arrived. First I asked another person who got off with me if they had a phone I could borrow, no such luck. Then I asked for a payphone and they pointed me in the right direction, however the phone only took pounds and I only had euros. I then headed back to the bus stop knowing that the Thompsons knew the approximate time I was suppose to be there so I hoped they would just show up eventually lol. But then I decided to take a chance across the street at a church that seemed to be having some get together, so I wander into the entryway where some younger kids were and asked if any of them happened to have a phone I could borrow. A young gentleman kindly offered me his so I was able to finally call the Thompsons to let them know I was in town. Within a couple minutes, well after 10oclock, their youngest daughter was picking me up from the bus stop. I was rather proud of myself for getting myself all the way there by myself. The Thompsons were very welcoming and I spent my first night there getting to know each other and I got to do some snuggling with their dog Josie :)
Saturday I got up and had the option to go to Belfast for some shopping with their oldest daughter or I could go and see some farms in the area. Guess which I chose?  Haha of course I chose the farms! First we went to go see the farm the Thompsons use to farm on which is just up the road from the house they are in now. It's a decent size farm for Ireland, they probably were milking around 250 cows. I was just so glad to be on a farm, taking in the sight and smell of the cows! I have really missed the farm and it felt so good to be back on one even though I wasn't getting my hands dirty or anything. Maybe I'll have to go again and see if I could help out some. The farms seem to be pretty similar to ours. The cows are in a freestall barn and their parlors are similar as well. They mily 2-3 times a day all year long. Although I know on some of the smaller farms they only milk part of the year, drying up and freshening in all their cows at the same time so that they don't have to milk in the winter months.
After visiting this first farm we went into town where the local high school's rugby team was playing. It was my first time watching a rugby match and I have to say it was pretty interesting. I can see why it can be such a dangerous game. We watched the match for a little while then went to a relatives farm where they had both dairy and sheep. Got to see some newborn lambs, which were adorable!! Once we got back home I decided to take a walk with Josie so that I could take some pictures of the countryside. We took a good 45 minute walk around the back roads, it was simply beautiful.  For dinner we had Irish Stew another first of mine in Ireland, although I have to say it's just like beef stew if you ask me. I ended my day snuggling in bed with Josie, who kindly snuggled with me all night. (Don't worry Candy she hasn't taken your place she was simply a fill in since I can't have you here with me.) 

Miss Josie

Finally some Dairy Cows!!!

Rugby Match

Little Lamb=pure adorableness

The countryside surrounding the Thompson's home.

Today I spent most of the day on the bus back from Banbridge to Limerick. It was a long bus drive, but it was so worth it. I had the best weekend yet just relaxing with the Thompson family and getting to see some farms. Lord knows this farm girl was definitely missing the country life. A big thank you goes out to the Thompson family for allowing me to stay with them and being so welcoming. I hope that I can maybe get out there again sometime.