Welcome to my blog! I am very excited to be starting off on this adventure and I would like to explain what my objectives are and where I started from.
Growing up in an industrial town in the north east of England made me yearn for Connemara. Every time we visited my dad’s home place something deep inside of me was calmed and satisfied and at peace. Looking out one way, there was a ruined castle, (which to my child’s imagination was just magic) and looking out the other way was the view of the majestic Twelve Bens. Playing out from dawn to dusk, running through green fields and along golden beaches was paradise for a child from a dirty old town. As a young adult I became aware of environmental issues – to be concerned was the right thing to be but I was naive and didn’t really know what to do and of course, this was long before social media. When I bought a little house, two up and two down with a back yard, I tried to created a beautiful garden in that cramped space. I even planted a tree. It seemed to be important and only natural to encourage plants to grow. Our visits to Connemara continued and moving back was always on my mind. Finally, in 1994 I sold up and came to live here in Connemara.
My dad very generously gave me a site for a house and planning permission was applied for. Our little cottage was built in 1998. Once we settled in I wanted to start growing a garden, growing vegetables and being self sufficient as my ancestors had been. I thought my two little girls would love to have their own garden patch to grow what they wanted. One daughter was not interested in gardening then and the other one developed hay fever so found it difficult to be outside in the summer months. It was just me, and only occasionally because real life kept getting in the way. The “garden” was pretty neglected.
Eventually after various jobs and a long spell at teaching and after meeting my new husband, I was inspired to open a health shop. Something prompted me, whispered in my ear, pestered me until one day I jumped out of bed and said to my husband, “I’m going to open a health shop and call it An Bhean Feasa”. That is Irish for the wise woman and that was the start of a new chapter in my life. 