Ard Nahoo

It's been a bit of a quiet week on the blog front I'm afraid. Much of the early part was spent in the fuzzy aftermath of a concussion. But all is well, back on track, and here it is, the Friday Five!

1. Brendan heard the first cuckoo last night. The most impressive part of this is that it took me no less than five attempts to remember the spelling of cuckoo. I went through coucou (laughable) caoco (coco bean) cookoo (getting there) and cukoo (close, but no banana). There's almost a Friday Five there, in the spelling misadventures alone. Maybe that concussion hasn't quite left the system yet. But seriously, welcome cuckoo!

2. WE HAVE BROADBAND! It is incredible. We can answer the phone whilst online. We can look at a page online without having to take a tea break during the wait. We can do lots of things that were just never available to us. It's a blessing.

3. We're taking lots of bookings at the moment for healthy hen parties. Groups of girls come up for the weekend take a few Eco Cabins and indulge in treatments, Uisce Hours, and a bit of TLC. It seems that the appeal of trawling through a city centre with all manner of bumf stuck to your back is dwindling. For more information, get in touch.

4. We're experimenting with a wheat and dairy free diet at the moment. Our bread is already spelt and vegan (don't forget the ongoing bread war) and we have switched to oat or rice milk, which is just fantastic. For anyone who isn't a fan of soya (myself included) either is a brilliant alternative. Keep your eyes on the blog for some new vegan recipes.
 
5. Apparently it's set to be a gorgeous weekend this week, so hopefully you'll be out and appreciating a spell of good weather. This Saturday we're hosting our second Yoga & Relaxation Retreat, which is set to be great fun. Included in the afternoon is a guided walk around Loch Nahoo, which is only here for a few more weeks I'd say. A fine time to see what wildlife is still milling around!

That's all for this weeks (somewhat blurry) Friday Five. Have a fantastic weekend!

Now, don't all 12 of you get excited, but here is ANOTHER Friday Five. We have five questions for you, our avid readers, so we can find out a little more about you all. Don't worry, this is no market research project, just a little curiosity...


1. Have you ever been to Ard Nahoo?

2. If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

3. Do you think this is the best blog in the world?

4. If not, why not?

5. Which bread do you like better?



Go on. What else would you be doing? That's not one of the questions by the way.

1. Check out this quote from an avid reader of our blog..."Very readable and definitely the best blog I’ve read." There you go. The best blog she's ever read. The BEST BLOG she's ever read. What a way to start the Friday Five.

2. This week we had a group up from the Burren Connect Project, who were working in association with the Greenbox to make their businesses more environmentally friendly. We had great fun with the group, who enjoyed a four course organic vegetarian dinner courtesy of our chef Maria, and an epic buffet breakfast in the morning. We hope that they benefit from the link made with the Greenbox, and start their own project in Clare.

3. Mother and Baby yoga is starting with Noeleen this Wednesday, 23rd April at 10.30am. Suitable for babies up to crawling age, the class is geared at incorporating babies into your practice, and connecting mother and baby. There is also a routine for the infants themselves (don't worry, no headstands involved)

4. Brendan is outside at the moment putting the finishing touches to our Earthen Oven (I know it's features heavily on the blog, but it really does look fantastic) We're creating a stone seating area, so during our Family Eco Retreat we can sit around the clay dome, pizza in hand, and watch the beautiful Leitrim sunsets.

5. Contain your excitement, because I can't. WE'RE GETTING BROADBAND! It's early days, but it looks promising. We're expecting the saviour to come any day now to put up the...broadband thing. As soon as that is done, it's fast internet ahoy. Expect video clips on our site, 360 degree photo tours, and an email attachment to take less than 47 minutes to send. Glorious. Just glorious.

Have a fantastic weekend bloggers!

After a well informed vote from guests this morning, we have a clear lead in the bread battle. I'll keep quiet about who's on top until we get some more votes in. In the meantime, here is recipe number 2...


400g organic spelt flour
Tablespoon quick acting dried yeast
1 pint warm water
Tablespoon honey
Splash olive oil

In a large bowl, mix together the flour and yeast. At this stage, you can also mix in sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds etc.
Mix a spoonful of honey into the warm water. Make sure the water is body temperature, and not hot.
Pour the water and honey into the bowl bit by bit, and mix with your hand until you're left with a sticky and gloopy 'dough'.
Splash about a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into the mix and squish together.
Grease a bread tin well, and put the mixture in.
At this stage, it's nice to put poppy seeds on the top. Make sure they're pressed down.
Leave in a warm place to rise for about 20 minutes.
Put in a hot oven for about an hour. When the loaf makes a hollow sound when tapped, it's ready.


Enjoy!

Here is the first contender. The traditional Ard Nahoo bread. Given to everyone staying in the Eco Cabins, along with organic eggs, milk, butter, teas, coffee etc. Despite my misgivings, it's one of the easiest bread recipes in the world.

Experiment, and then prepare yourself for recipe number 2!

Ard Nahoo Seed Bread
2lb organic wholemeal flour (spelt)
2oz mixed seeds (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin)
1 heaped tablespoon black strap molasses
2 heaped tsp. bread soda (sift into the mix)
1 ltr milk (regular, soya, rice)

 

Place in large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly.  Pour into two well oiled bread tins and cook at 180 degrees for approx. 1hr 10mins.

Set to be an immensely popular weekend, these retreats combine yoga classes in our stunning yoga studio and surf lessons and workshops in Sligo, where some of the best surf in Europe can be found. Stay in our unique Eco Cabins and enjoy good food, great location and friendly company. For more information on this retreat, please contact the facilitator Paul Byrne at paulebyrne@gmail.com or call 087 6439583.

Dates: 23rd - 25th May 2008

Cost: €310

We've had literally tens of people tuning in each Friday to see what five snippets of wisdom appear. Unfortunately, yesterday was just too darned busy for me to get around to the blog. But fret not, that piece of bad news creates this bit of good....it's the Saturday Six!

1. On Thursday we found a bat just outside the house. The poor little guy was shaking but not visibly injured. So we picked him up and made a little house, with the work glove he had become very attached to. Luckily, he made it through the night, and yesterday we put him out on the highest window sill so he could make a break for it. Apparently he doesn't feel quite ready, so he's sticking around for a little while yet. Introducing the newest member of Ard Na Zoo...Bartleby!

2. Today is the last day that the Community Connections group are here, which means that by 1pm we will have an Earthen Oven, which we're very excited about. The oven has been made by the Dromahair youth group with the Active Age folks, under the expert supervision of Gareth. Authentic pizza, here we come!

3. This week we began planting around the new Eco Cabins. Niki Briers was here to plan and plant, and the Eco Cabins are now surrounded by a rosemary hedge, which smells just divine, apple, pear and plum trees, as well as numerous berry bushes. Now we just have to patiently wait for the fruits. In the meantime however, the plants look gorgeous and really make the difference to the new buildings.

4. We're very excited about the recent yoga births that we've had (not on the premises, I might add). The first flux of yoga for pregnancy mothers have given birth to beautiful and healthy babies just in time for the start of our Baby Massage and Baby Yoga classes, which start this Thursday.

5. A bread battle has broken out at Ard Nahoo. The two recipes (and chefs) are duking it out in order to win the coveted title of Ard Nahoo Bread. If you've stayed here before you'll have tasted one of the two, most likely the traditional loaf that has held the title for many years. But change is not something to be feared. Embrace the new! Incidentally, both recipes are the easiest way to make bread. No kneading, no rising, no messing about. I'll post both recipes in the next few days so you can decide.

6. We're featured in this months edition of the National Geographic Adventure magazine, in an article detailing the Best Green Adventures. We're very honoured to be featured in a prestigious publication such as the National Geographic, especially as a big pile are sitting in the green room for any resident or visitor who wants to have an interesting read. This spinoff magazine features the best places for extreme sports, tours, and...adventure! There are so many activities on our doorstep that people can avail of. Hiking, surfing, kayaking, rafting, horseriding, biking, caving...the list goes on. If you're staying at Ard Nahoo then just ask and we will tell you how to make the most of the area.



Tune in next week for the Friday Five!

Last night our continuers yoga class was taught by guest teacher Annette Murphy, over from the Santosha yoga studio in San Francisco. A world renowned Iyengar teacher, Annette had the whole class pushing themselves to their limits, with headstands, handstands and inversions aplenty. The class was enjoyed by all, and a fascinating change of pace from our Hatha based classes. If you're ever in San Francisco, visit her at www.santoshayogacenter.com

The time has come. Over the Easter weekend the Hooper swans that migrate to our namesake Loch Nahoo every year flew on, leaving the few Mute swans to their own devices (I'm sure they're secretly pleased to have their lake back to themselves again)

This year we counted over 60, which is fabulous. They've also been a lot more playful, coming closer to the pathways than ever before. We also had one fly directly over our heads one afternoon. It's been great to see them so closely.

We're making the most of Loch Nahoo, as it won't be long before the waters are gone, and it will be marshland for another summer. The waters have been higher than ever before, so perhaps this year it will stick around a little longer.