I had the idea for this blog when I came across an article in last weekend’s Guardian. Looking for ideas for a new life-style, as you ask. As in the picture above. I would have to say that the title was at least misleading and probably darn right inaccurate. It gave the impression that they grew and made grapes / wine in Ireland*. Closer reading revealed that any relationship was tangential at best. And this in the Guardian, who’d have thought?
Anyway it put me in mind of a blog I wrote about Ireland and vineyards a few years ago. I’ve given you the links below So I won’t go into any detail here suffice it to say It was about my idea to plant a vineyard in Ireland. True quite a challenge but, as the article admitted, ‘they don’t grow grapes in Ireland, it’s too wet, but then so it is in Wales and they manage alright’. Or words to that effect. Anyway, how hard can it be or so I thought at the time. Read the links, see what you think.
Retirement blog about Ireland and some unusual happenings – again
Vineyard 59 : buds bursting out all over
And that’s not all because, just before lockdown, I had the bright idea of buying a ‘house’ and about 120 acres of land in County Kerry, part of which I would turn into our own vineyard. All I can say is thanks be to God Mrs Summerhouse banned this idea ( we would have had to sell our proper home and move to Ireland) as an idea too far.
More so now because since I got ill any physical labour has become unrealistic to say the very least. This last year and still to this day I’ve struggled to plant out any tulips let alone set up and maintain 1,000 vines in good old Ireland. Sometimes things happen for the best
Which brings me full circle to what I was talking about in my last blog – a new retirement lifestyle and, more to the point leaving behind all the retirement areas which I have tried, maybe not successfully but at least tried and now time to move on. In this case because I cannot do what I used to.
But that shouldn’t apply to the Yorkshire vineyard because, although I can’t physically do the things I did, I can (and have) taken steps to have others do the same tasks. Sometimes this will be with a cost and other times we will call upon the goodwill and generosity of family, which is cheaper.
So this is turning into a ‘things happen for the best’ type blog, which was never my intention. In this case that simply means that it has turned out to be a blessing that we aren’t stuck in the middle of nowhere trying to grow unsuitable grapes and, judging by the article three years later, still nobody is growing grapes and making wine in Ireland (pardon the grammar).
And what, you ask has this got to do with my small idea about starting again with a blank canvas? Yes, you’ve guessed it, absolutely nothing. Unless of course you know different. Just read this through, it was written over several days. God it’s a mess isn’t it?
*Two things related to Irish wine happened when I’d finished this blog but before I’d posted it. The first was a programme on TV about food and drink in Ireland (fronted by John Torode celebrity chef – nice programme by the way). He was in Wicklow and he started to talk about Irish wine. Oh I thought, somebody has done it, but it turned out the wine was made from fruit. I was strangely relieved, don’t ask me to explain because I can’t.
Second, was an email from my wine group, to which I no longer belong, again strangely. They were asking for information (yields) from British and Irish vineyards. Oh, I thought again, they do exist but when I replied, hoping to get the addresses, I couldn’t access the data and turned out they wanted information rather than were giving it. Back to the drawing board – again.