In many parts of Ireland, older homes are heated with peat rather than wood. A house with a fireplace comes with it's own little peat bog. This one is about a quarter of a mile from the cottage. Anna explained how the peat is cut (with a machine I can only envision as the "Ditch Witch" that the phone company uses to bury phone lines), then turned after about a week. At this point it's ready to be stacked in this little triangular stack with a flat piece on top in front of Anna. The wind and the sun finish drying it, and after a few weeks it can be put into bags and carted home. Sounds very labor intensive. The peat logs don't burn as long as wood and they don't smell like wood when they burn.
The bog looked muddy but when I stepped in the muddy-looking places they were wet and spongey. If someone jumps up and down a few feet away you can feel the vibrations through the ground. A fun, interesting place! Gave me some insight about the daily life my Gibbons family might have led.
No comments:
Post a Comment