When Dean and I plopped ourselves onto Northern Irish soil in June of 1998, we spent our first couple of nights in the university's dorm rooms. They didn't have any double rooms available, so they gave us two single rooms on a hall with a community bathroom. Wow, thanks. We ended up dragging the mattress from one room to the floor of the other, just so we could sleep in the same room, having just arrived in a foreign country and having no clue how things worked or any idea where we would permanently live. To add further tragedy to this story, I didn't even have a hair dryer that worked in those bizarre UK electrical outlets--imagine the horror!
Well, I got my jet-lagged self straight on a bus that first morning and found my way to a little shopping mall where I found a hair dryer and then, miraculously, got back to our minuscule dorm room. It took half the day, but I emerged victorious and with better hair. Priorities. The wonderful thing about that awful dorm room was that we were beyond motivated to find a place to live. I can't remember following up on more than two ads before we found our little "semi-detached" home (what we call a "duplex" in the US) on the Belfast Road in Carrickfergus--a ten minute drive to the university with easy access to public transportation and--what do you know--directly across the street from a KFC, which the Northern Irish people refer to as "the Kentucky." I think we went in there once during the year we lived there. If KFC in the US is sub-par, you can imagine what the Euro-version is like....
The landlady of this precious first home ended up being pretty precious herself. Carol Del Castillo was the first arm of Northern Irish hospitality ever extended to us and we are still grateful to her and her husband, Pepe, for taking us as renters and trusting us with their property. In addition, Carol introduced us to her parents, John and Pat Beggs, who own and work a significant sheep and cattle farm in the country near where we lived. Just so happened I had a weak spot for sheep--still do--and once I found out we had a direct connection to sheep, it took no time at all for us to show up knocking on the Beggs' door.
Picture several hundred acres of farmland that stretches right down to Belfast Lough, massive barns and outbuildings, a long fenced drive that leads up to the house, a salt-of-the-earth livestock farmer who is quick with a joke and always has a smile...and inside, a true lady who "bakes on Mondays," tends an epic rose garden, serves lunch for her husband and son and anyone else who happens to work at the farm that day, and brings out her silver tray and teacups for us every single time we visit...and there you have John and Pat Beggs. And we just couldn't ever stay away from their charms and their gracious hearts for very long.
Any time we had visitors, we would call down for a visit and most all of them would end up saying it was the highlight of the trip. Pat would bring out her tray every time and John would tell his stories and we would laugh and tell each other our news. We got to see baby lambs and baby calves and breathe in "the farm." One April, Dean even had the pleasure (?) of helping a mother sheep deliver her lamb.
There is simply no way we could ever even think about being in Belfast and not making the trip out to the Beggs'! And because their farm is directly in our path as we head out of town to travel up the Antrim coast, it was and still is always a part of our day on the coast (which we have also traveled countless times with anyone who ever came to visit). The Glens of Antrim are simply one of God's greatest creations and we are overwhelmed with gratitude that we had a sunny day to see them yesterday--rarest of rare in a land known for it's rain and gray and mildness. Truly a gift that will stay with me for a while to come....
Please take a moment and attempt to grasp the beauty of this hair. This is little Olivia, who belongs to Ian (pictured) and his lovely wife, Sharon. Ian is Carol's brother/John and Pat's son. Olivia is three and it took me about three seconds to become obsessed with her hair and three more seconds to realize she was actually the inspiration for Pixar's new princess.
Could you not just eat her up?!
We'd been there less than ten minutes when I looked behind us to see Pat's tray on the table!! Ahhhhh, heaven. And here she comes now, bringing hot tea!
Pat is a legend in my mind's eye. All the goodies pictured are homemade, by her hands. And this happens WEEKLY. The round oaty ones dusted in sugar have always been my favorites!
Tea or coffee for the adults, juice in colorful plastic cups for the children. One of the most gracious hostesses I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Truman with Taxco, their very strong and energetic, but friendly Rottweiler.
John and Pat have several stuffed taxidermy specimens displayed around their house. Somehow I have never noticed this fox, which sits on this chair behind their front door and looks startlingly REAL when your eye just happens to rest on it!
Pat standing in her newly-remodeled kitchen! It's beautiful! So thrilled for you, Pat!
John and Pat--dear, dear people!
Mamie and Olivia--I can't even handle the sweetness.
Going to see the new baby calves in the barn...Mamie and Daniel, Ian and Sharon's oldest, holding hands!!
As luck would have it, two baby calves were born the night before we came for our visit! Not even a full day old....
In one of the barns--the cows in the open area are all pregnant, nearing their due dates, so they are staying in the barn for now.
Hello, little one.
These barn pics are so delicious to me. So proud of Mamie for not being afraid of the cows and just getting right in there and living in the moment!
Golden.
Thank you, Sharon, for this wonderful family photo!
This man is a true delight.
Very thankful to Ian for the suggestion of hosing off my boots before we got back in the car!
Gosh, I love this view.
So long, dear Beggs. We will continue to hold you closely!
Heading up the coast and anticipating the vistas--oh, how I love this drive!
Stopping for lunch at a tearoom in Glenarm and having a little impromptu afternoon tea!
Tea--with--jam--and--bread, with jam, with jam, with jam...and...bread!!
Spontaneous pull-over for a little sheep interaction. Oh, how I wish they would come closer!
Can we be friends?
God's country. Are you bored yet?
What I would give to be able to sink my fingers into your wool, little lamb!!
Walking the long path to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Some of the most breathtaking scenery I've ever beheld in my life. Truman could've just stayed in this spot for a while--he kept saying, "this is just awesome."
Some things can only be explained as "miraculous grandeur, courtesy of God."
The Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. It's a must-do!
Don't look down, Walker-boo!
Getting over to the other side of the rope bridge has its rewards.
Truman has fond memories of being here when he was 6. He feels very at home as he reclines on a nice little tuft of grass, as you can plainly see.
So thankful for a total stranger who can take a decent photo! Treasure!
Looking back at the Glens of Antrim from the vistas at the rope bridge. If you think the photo is nice, you really should view it in person someday.
And then it was on to the other big coastal attraction, the Giant's Causeway--a truly amazing natural rock formation. The boys were in heaven.
After trying to coax the boys away from their climbing to come over for a picture and conveying frustration, on my part, over it having taken so long for that to happen, Truman replied, "I can't help it. I have mountain goat instincts." Huh...this explains so much.
I love this picture, but it also makes me laugh. Somewhere Mamie has picked up this cocking her head to one side in pictures. Gosh, I love her.
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