Dorothy's Place

11/1/2018

Next I moved on to Ballymena, Northern Ireland, where I would be staying with host Dorothy. I helped out around her house and garden, and in return got to live like one of the family. Turns out that Dorothy is one of the best people I’ve ever met and we became as close as family. This was my home away from home. I stayed there for 7 weeks, and will definitely be back at some point to visit.
Dorothy lives in a big old farmhouse with extensive gardens. It is the house that she grew up in, and her father, John, now lives just down the road. She works amazingly hard in her garden, having sculpted them out of the woodlands that John planted. They are wild and playful with a hint of Alice in Wonderland. People can pay to have events on the grounds or in the Potting Shed, which has been turned into a lovely tea room. The whole place is magical, and I miss it.
John, who became like my Northern Irish/Welsh grandfather, is a genial man, and a collector. At his house he has a shed that he keeps with all his treasures, accumulated over the years. He says they’re bits and pieces that people might overlook, but that he finds interesting. Everything was once, if not still is, practical and functional, and he puts everything out on display. John is also a painter, and so you can see where he has added flowers or bees right onto the wall or items themselves. His artwork also hangs framed among the other pieces. It’s such a cool space, and it’s wonderful to see how much John loves it.