Birch Cottage has a new website of its own
Visit the Birch Cottage website to bookWelcome to Lackan Cottage Farm
We’re Steve and Claire Golemboski-Byrne, we live here off grid with our daughter, our dog, cats and horses. We make all our own energy using wind and solar, grow as much of our own food as we can (it varies widely) and have used permaculture design principles to help us create a great place to live.
Here on the website you’ll find stories about the projects we’ve undertaken – what works, what doesn’t. You can come stay in our guest cottage – Birch Cottage and we will show you round, or maybe you just want to find out how to do some of this stuff. Either way, welcome.
Reusing the bog oak roof timbers
The little platform above the living room needed some bannisters to keep people from plunging to their doom, and I wanted to re-use some of the wood from the original thatched roof, so here it is. The rails are made from lengths of bog oak that was used as laths under...
Home on the range
After many years of sitting cold and quiet, and having been tampered with to burn oil, our woodburning range had a proper fire burning inside it, and suddenly the house began to come alive. The sounds of the fire, and of the water bubbling through the pipes gave the...
Ceilings at last
At last, we're getting the ceilings in, and the place is starting to look like a house at last. It is amazing what a difference it makes, and the rooms seem to change size as we work. Here's the newly insulated kitchen - Tomorrow we'll be completing the plumbing, and...
On a brighter note..
We were married a year ago today, and what a year it has been, living in the truck, and meeting the most amazing people on our travels, and on the farm. There are so many of you that we couldn't have possibly done any of it without, so a huge thank you to all our...
RIP Lily..
RIP Lily hen, taken by the evil cat. Our growling hen vanished last night, at the hands (or paws) of the resident semi-feral cat. The layer of the green eggs is gone, and she, and her eggs be sorely missed.
A brave little horse
Poor little Sherafey, she has had a hard few weeks. Having finally found her a friend she got on with in the form of Mabel, she was bereaved after just a week here on the farm when we sadly lost Mabel to colic. The following day she ran through a wire fence and and...