So rest in peace Buddsy.

So the only risk free option seems to be to holiday at home, or a little closer to home than you usually would. There are all kinds of bonuses to a domestic holiday…

• You get to take the car (and with it, the kitchen sink). Baggage allowance? Pah! No such thing.
• You can avoid all the hidden airline charges
• Travel time is drastically cut down (even with short haul flights, you have to get to the airport, wait around, and travel at the other side…take a day off your holiday at least)
• You get to see the places you’ve always wanted to, but never gotten around to visiting

So why not take your break at Ard Nahoo? We have options for families and for couples or groups of friends. When the sun shines, there’s truly nowhere else you’d rather be than on our six acres of greenery. Swim in the?nearby lake, surf in Strandhill, borrow our bikes and tackle the hills, take a kayak out and around, play Robin Hood with an on site archery lesson, or just sit out on the deck, light the chiminea and gaze out upon the hills of Leitrim.

Visit www.ardnahoo.com and see what your options are.

Our first Yoga and Relaxation Retreat was featured in the Irish Times, to great review.

Are you based in the local area? You can attend as a day retreat guest, enjoying all of Saturday’s activities. Classes can also be taken on a ‘pay as you go’ basis.

Dates:?April 30th - May 2nd 2010, Dec 3rd - 5th 2010?
Cost:
?300 pps for the weekend
?90 for the day (finishing with the restorative yoga class)
?30 per class

What’s Included?

• All yoga tuition & Meditation Sessions
• Shared accommodation in our Eco Cabins
• All food (organic and vegetarian)
• Guided walks
• Uisce Hour

After a few years planting and growing, we’re finally getting the hang of what works with our land, where to put the crops, and how long it will take until the food is on our plates. It’s always bleated from the rooftops but really and truly, nothing tastes better than veg you’ve just pulled up from the mud and put on the plate.

Bean Crock

2 cups of beans (eg butter beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, aduki beans) either soaked overnight and boiled in fresh water for one hour, or 2 tins
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
2 large cloves garlic, crushed and diced
1 leek, chopped
3 large tomatoes (avoid if arthtitic), chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
Vegetable stock or tomato passata
Paprika, pepper
Mixed dried herbs
Handful of chopped parsley

Heat the olive oil in a sturdy pan at a medium heat. When hot, add the onion and the garlic and keep moving until translucent. Be sure to not to burn. Add a good pinch of paprika to colour the mix. Add the leek and sweet potato, and saute for a few minutes. Add the beans and stir, ensuring the colour of the paprika covers all the beans, adding more if necessary and to taste. After a few minutes, add the stock or passata and water, until the mixture is well covered. Add a little pepper if necessary. Throw plenty of mixed herbs in. Put the lid on, and put into the oven at a low heat for at least 3 hours if using dried beans, or one hour if tinned.
To finish, throw the chopped parsely over.

A special addition to this retreat is the inclusion of workshops with experts such as Gaby Weiland, who will show you inspirational ways of incorporating raw foods and wholefoods into your diet. Personal development will also be covered, with a workshop with psychotherapist Rachel Webb. Two treatments are also included in the retreat - a sumptuous massage and a specialised detox accupuncture session.

Included:
Accommodation in our beautiful Eco Cabins
All food, juices and smoothies
Daily yoga and meditation
Daily session in our detox sauna and hot tub
Invigorating walks
Plenty of time for rest and relaxation
Massage
Detox ear accupuncture session
Workshops with nutritional expert
Personal development workshops
Raw food feast

Date: 17th - 21st March

Cost: ?790 pp

Too book, or for more information, contact us. More information will be live on this page soon.

The festive season is here again, and we have a variety of perfect gift vouchers for that special someone. We’ve plenty of day spa packages for people who are living in the Leitrim and Sligo area, but also overnight breaks for people further afield.

We also have all of our wonderful retreats available as a gift voucher, so why not give the gift of health this Christmas, with a break filled with relaxation, regeneration and the skill to help you lead a healthier, happier life.

All of our gift voucher packages are listed below, and are available to buy over the phone on 071 91 34939 or online through www.ardnahoo.com/special_offers.php

Day Packages

Head to Toe Pamper ?180 (3.5 hrs)
The ultimate treat for someone special. Begin by melting your cares away in the Uisce Hour (a session in our indoor/outdoor wet area, including Detox Box Sauna and Hot Tub) before indulging in a Back, Neck and Shoulder massage, Fabulous Footsie and Skinglow Facial Massage. Detox tea and healthy snacks are included to nourish as you relax and drift away in bliss.

Stressbuster ?90 (2.5 hrs)
Relax and unwind with an Uisce Hour (a session in our indoor/outdoor wet area, including Detox Box Sauna and Hot Tub) and then indulge in a massage of your choice. Includes detox tea and healthy snacks.

Detox Treat ?60 (1.5 hrs)
Purify yourself with a session in our infrared detox box sauna, eliminating all toxins and burning up to 2400 calories. Followed by a nourishing massage of your choice.

Melt & Massage ?60 (1.5 hrs)
Soak your cares away in our outdoor hot tub, before feeling your muscles melt with an indulgent massage of your choice.

Uisce Hour for two ?60 (1.5 hrs)
Soak away your cares with a session in our Uisce Area, complete with detox box, steam room and hot tub. Lay back in the bubbles and gaze upon Loch Nahoo.

Residential Packages

Ultimate Chillout Break
Escape to our eco retreat and give your body the rest it deserves. This fantastic break includes either one or two nights accommodation in a private Eco Cabin, a soak in the outdoor hot tub, a massage of your choice and organic dinner on one night, as well as an organic welcome pack. With the different pricing options below, this is perfect for that special someone who deserves a completely pampering escape.
One night
?180 per single person (?280 at weekend)
?300 for two (?360 at weekend)
Two nights
?225 per single person (?360 at weekend)
?340 for two (?450 at weekend)

1. Fires
It’s almost worth freezing your fingers off outside, knowing that you can come in to a blazing fire. Yes, it’s dark at 5pm, but the fire is roaring and you don’t have to worry about the outside world. This is where the hibernation kicks in for most people in Leitrim. Something has to be really blooming good to make us leave our fireplaces.

2. Winter Food
Mmm, winter food. Slow cooked with rich flavours, winter meals just warm you from the very core. A wonderful lamb stew, with meat falling apart on the fork…a split pea and sweet potato soup…shepherd’s pie…It’ll all sort you out.

3. Crisp winter mornings
When it’s not pelting with rain, those perfect winter mornings of watery blue sky, fresh (and freezing) air and a clouding of frost just make everything look like a picture book.

4. Hot Whisky
The perfect end to a winter evening. So long as it’s made properly, with clove-studden wedges of lemon, good quality whiskey and honey.

5. Duvets, scarves, blankets and jumpers
Snug as a bug in a rug.

Each weekend will include what to use, how to use and how to make the remedies indicated by the subkect matter; by the end of the course the full spectrum of harvesting, drying, making infusions, decoctions, compresses and poultices, tinctures, macerated oils and ointments will have been covered and experienced by the participants.

This is an amazing opportunity to live and study under a true wise woman, who has been treating herself and her family for many years. With a wide range of knowledge of natural medicine, Shen Tao and herbs, Judith is opening her home and her mind to pass this information on. Each three day weekend costs ?200, and workshops run from 6th - 8th 2010, and every fourth weekend thereafter.

For more information, contact Judith on 07497 36406 or email judithhoad@gmail.com

We’d both heard of raw chocolate before, but never had the ingredients to hand, or seen it offered elsewhere. Raw chocolate is made from the un-fired cacao bean, before it is turned into what we know as chocolate. As the cacao bean isn’t fired at the high temperatures needed for traditional chocolate, the supernutrients are contained, meaning that chocolate is good for you! Mix these ground nibs into smoothies, nibble them as a snack or sprinkle them on cereal, and you’ll experience an incredible rush of energy. Woody Harrelson and Matthew McGonaghy often mix raw cacao smoothies and go running in the forests of California for hours on end.

Now, the taste isn’t quite as satisfying if your pallete is used to the creamy taste of milk chocolate (as mine so lovingly is). But if you’re a fan of good quality dark chocolate, then you’ll really enjoy our recipe…

You’ll need equal amounts of raw cacao butter, raw cacao nibs and agave syrup. We started off with 100g of each, which was anough for about 30 chocolates.
Put some boiling water in a pan, and put a perspex bowl over this. Do not put the pan on the heat - you want to melt the cacao butter but not heat it. You could also leave the butter in a warm place to melt it down. When it’s gooey, mix in the ground nibs (you’ll need a coffee grinder to do this) and the agave syrup. Mix this well. Pour into ice cube trays and leave in the fridge to set. About four hours later, they’ll be hard enough to eat, just like ‘normal’ chocolate!

When you’ve made the above once, experiment. Throw in superfoods like goji or acai berries, increase the syrup, or add honey or nuts. Go wild! And tell us how it all works out.

Carrot and Beetroot ‘Spaghetti’

Raw Chocolate Mousse

Apple, carrot, betroot and aloe juice

This range is exclusive to Ard Nahoo in Leitrim, with no other stockists nearby. For any more information, contact Nicola at Ard Nahoo.

New Yoga Classes at Ard Nahoo

Start 8th September

Tuesdays:
All Levels Yoga (Beginner

What we’ll brush over is the unfortunate demise of Wee Whitey, who met her end a few weeks ago.

But less of that, let’s all just be grateful there are baby chicks in the world again!

Unfortunately we only have a blurry photo to show for it, but it’s better than nothing…

But worry not, after a quick redesign and a new special broody coup, Dumpy is back on her eggs. And after a quick google told us that these eggs should be chicks in as little as 3 weeks, pretty soon we’ll have a new gaggle! So here’s hoping that Sarah/Elvis is doing his job properly. Any ideas for new chick names can be submitted here!

But we will muddle through, safe in the knowledge that pretty soon we’ll have even more of the blighters ready to fill our egg cartons (and bellies). Now, how long does it take before chicks turn into egg factories?

Ard Nahoo on the Six One News

See Noeleen and others talking about Eco Tourism in Ireland, our uniquely designed Eco Cabins and how green holidays can lift Ireland’s tourism industry out of the recession. And Nicola pretending to read a book in the Green Room.

We still have availability for this weekend, so book in and enjoy all of the festivities from our stunning Eco Cabins, just a quick walk from the best festival Leitrim has to offer.

Cairde celebrates diversity and community and in this year

This all depends on whether Sarah/Elvis has been doing his job properly, and if she can stay on for the remainder of the course, but if she does, we’ll be adding three more to our brood. There was a bit of a glitch after a fight with Whitey, and one of the original eggs broke, but it seems to have been smooth sailing from then on.

This has also helped distract us from Buster’s absence (I saw him running up the drive a few nights ago, but on the whole we have been a badger free zone). We also have a very friendly bird around the place, who lands on the side of the hot tub while guests are having a soak, and perches on the windowsill outside the green room.

But we still miss Buster. Maybe if we put a badger egg under our broody hen, some magic might happen…

The No.1 grower and producer of Aloe Vera and Beehive based products.

Aloe Vera products have been known to alleviate:

? Eczema
? Psoriasis
? Irritable Bowl Syndrome
? Arthritis
Please join us for a special preview of our extensive range of health, nutrition, personal & skincare.

Thursday 11th June at Ard Nahoo Eco Retreat, Dromahair at 7.30pm.

200g salmon, cut into 1 inch (2.54 cm) cubes
1 leeks, chopped into 1cm (0.39 inches) pieces
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 stick of celery, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
Tablespoon sugar (optional)
75ml soy sauce
5 tablespoons water
300g brown rice (or however much you think 4 people will need)

Heat a casserole or crock pot with a little oil. Sweat the onion, leek, celery and carrot for around ten minutes over a medium heat. Then add the garlic and sugar and cook for one minute. Throw in the fish, season with salt and pepper, and cook for a further minute. Pour in the soy sauce and water (the colour of the sauce should be a lightish brown - too dark and it will be too salty, too light and it will be bland) and stir. Cover the pot and cook in the oven for 15 minutes. Serve over brown rice or udon noodles and enjoy.