A home for the Wee people
A very small house and the home of six Leprechauns who are very shy at the best of times and can get very irate if disturbed.
Fortunately for the photographer they were not at home, this fact was easy to ascertain for there is no sign of smoke or heat leaving the chimney.
The Old Pump
Pumps like these situated at the side of the roads,were once a very common sight in rural Ireland. This particular one is still used, the water is regularly tested and the pump is maintained with an occasional lick of paint.
With the onset of public water supplies soon to be metered and a charge made, it will be interesting to see what will happen at this particular pump.
That house looks like something straight out of a fairy tale. Simply adorable!
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is :)
DeleteMeter a public water supply? Coin slots on drinking fountains? I cannot believe "the public" makes such use of a pump with a handle that a few gallons less in the well is notable. I'm sure when the last old timer is gone and everyone left is drinking from plastic bottles the government could just put a plug in it, recycle the old pump for scrap metal and come out ahead.
ReplyDeleteAh' don't give them anymore ideas please :)
ReplyDeleteThe wee house is lovely, enchanting or enchanted? We have community water supplies by the roadside here as well, mostly springs (not with fancy paint like yours but a source of clean water just the same). The water for our cities and towns has lots of chemical additives so the spring water is cherished.
ReplyDeleteRegarding chemicals in the water supplies, Ireland still has the dreaded Fluoride in most of it's municipal water.
DeleteI would have sixteen chickens living in that wee house
ReplyDeleteAh tis far too posh even now for feathered birds!
DeleteAhhh, that's where my wee helper garden elves have gone off to.
ReplyDeleteYes Gwen they are taking a vacation in their 'old country'. I have it on good authority that they will return to you safe and sound as soon as they have sobered up from the forth coming Paddy's Day booze up :)
ReplyDeleteGreat, as long as they can still handle a shovel. Party animals!
DeleteAh' they'll be twice as strong after all of that Guinness, don't you worry :)
DeleteWhat a lovely little house. I hope the leprechauns don't stay away long. As for the pump, maybe it will get more use with water metering coming in!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful cottage!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite winter evening pastimes is going for a walk out in the frosty air, look into warmly-lit windows of the neighbourhood and imagine how cosy it is in their kitchen and by the hearth. I am not a voyeur, just a poet at heart.
As for the leprechauns, they would appear to be the only ones who would fit comfortably in that small space!
I drink fresh water drawn from a spring about five kilometres from my house, up a mountain road. It is heaven - and the drive is quite special, too.
Lovely little house. I'd be very happy living there!
ReplyDeleteHere there are plenty of very ancient spring-water fountains. One in particular (built about 1270) I would visit regularly to fill containers with its beautifully pure water. On one occasion I found a sign saying 'Eau non potable'; some idiot had managed to plumb his new septic tank soak-away directly into the spring. It's still closed, and I presume will remain so forever.