Still Living the Dream in Rural Ireland

Fresh Eggs and Dog Beds, Book 2

By: Nick Albert

Narrated by: Andy Stevenson

Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Nick and Lesley's desire for a better life in the countryside was a long-held dream. Unforeseen events and a leap of faith forced that dream into reality, but moving to rural Ireland was only the beginning of their story.

Foreigners in a foreign land, they set about making new friends, learning the culture, and expanding their collection of chickens and unruly dogs. But their dream home was in desperate need of renovation - a mammoth task they attacked with the aid of a DIY manual, dwindling funds, and incompetent enthusiasm.

With defunct diggers, collapsing ladders, and shocking electrics, what could possibly go wrong?

Will their new life live up to expectations, or will the Irish weather, dangerous roads, and a cruel twist of fate turn this dream into a nightmare?

©2018 Ant Press (P)2020 Nick Albert

awesome

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall

Two Thumbs Way Up

In this second installment of Fresh Eggs and Dog Beds, Nick and Leslie are settling into their new house and continuing the renovations begun in the first book, although the work is somewhat slowed down by Nick’s work at the golf course teaching golf lessons. Since they are essentially redoing the house top to bottom, the project will take several years while Nick learns on the job with his trusty secondhand DIY book. While Nick works on the house, Leslie focuses on her garden but her back is causing her no end of trouble. In the meantime there are inevitable setbacks and triumphs.

This book is every bit as delightful as the first one as we listen to Nick and Leslie becoming more comfortable in their new house and integrating themselves into Irish life. The writing is chatty and casual, like listening to friend tell stories around a crackling fire on a winter’s night, and I highly recommend it. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Nick continues his story

Nick continues to tell his story with humor and self-deprication. The setting is truly foreign to me, but I'm enjoying the story anyway. And Andy Stevenson continues to deliver a quite satisfactory performance.

NOTE: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

love the humour

this book was as good as the first one. very entertaining and lots of laughs.

Hilariously funny look at a new life started!

This is a fabulous book with many ups & downs. A couple moves to rural Ireland to fulfill a dream & things don’t always turn out as planned! It’s funny at times, heart warming at others & sadly tear provoking at others! I would recommend this for anyone who needs a laugh!
I was given this book for free to write an honest review!

A delightful visit to Ireland

Do you like fixer-upper stories? Do you like traveling and experiencing new cultures? Do you overcome blunders, misfortunes, and obstacles with a smile on your face? Then, my guess is you'll enjoy this tale as much as I did.

I've rarely listened to audiobooks with male narrators. I wonder why that is? Anyway, I really enjoyed this one. His Irish accent brings me back to my wonderful visits to Ireland.

Although I haven’t read or listened to the first book in this series, I sank effortlessly into this one. I understood Nick and Lesley's desire to stay in County Clare! I wanted to do the same when Hubby and I viewed the ancient churches and castles and made our way through the various pubs and historical sites.

I laughed and cringed at the hijinks, enjoying every minute of this fixer-upper nightmare, and easily pictured each scene. This story has me longing to return to the Emerald Isle--an impossible feat right now with this dreadful pandemic—but, when I do, I doubt I’ll be looking into fixing anything.

Audio Narration: Andy Stevenson does an excellent job with narration. His inflection fluctuates with the various characters, he is believable, and made Nick really come to life.

Audio Production Quality: The production quality of this audio book is clear, with no distracting noises or music.

Overall Opinion: I enjoyed every aspect of this story. The setting, the adventure, the blunders, and the humor. The story held my attention throughout, wasn't too long or too short, and served as a delightful escape from the unrest going on in the world in present times.

I was blessed to receive a complimentary copy of this audiobook from Rachel’s Random Resources.

A real laugh riot!

Ireland, memoir, situational-humor, laugh-out-loud, verbal-humor, renovation, restoration

The first book pretty much covered the why and how of the husband and wife decision to change their lives by leaving job, family, friends, and England to move to a sustainable lifestyle in Ireland. In Book 2, the trials and triumphs of the DYI, Lesley's particular problems and new ventures, more chickens and dogs are detailed with the same self deprecating humor that makes it all so funny. I laughed my way through this one too! Loved it!
Andy Stevenson continues to be the perfect narrator for this hilarious series!

Fun stories about Ireland and DIY!

This is Nick and Lesley’s memoir about rebuilding a house themselves in rural Ireland. They have relocated from England allong with their very beloved pets for a quieter but more satisfying life. The stories of the extensive work on the house, their dogs, and lifes trials and tribulations are quite enjoyable. The book reminds me of the Bilbury series by Vernon Coleman. I look forward to the rest of the series. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

The saga continues! :)

A great edition to the first book! As Nick & Leslie carry on with their move and renovations to their new home not all things go well. As Nick's job greatly expands and Leslie is faced with some pretty severe medical issues things still manage to get resolved. Somehow along the way they also seem to add to their "little family" of critters with the addition of 2 more dogs , more chickens & some ducks.
I loved this book as much as the first one. I highly recommend these stories for anyone.
I was given this free review copy audiobook ay my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A hilarious Look at DIY a Country Home in Ireland

This is the second book in the Living the Dream in Rural Ireland series, but the first I read, and I loved it. I had no problem following this story, but I will definitely go back and read the first in the series. Have you ever wanted to chuck it all and move to a rural area, buy a rundown house and fix it up just the way you want? After a health scare, this is exactly what Nick and Lesley want to do, in the Irish Countryside.

In this book, English couple, Nick and Lesley are looking for a better life in the countryside and are able to purchase a fixer-upper in Ireland. Their plan is that they are going to do the work themselves. They are in a foreign land, need to learn the laws and regulations, make new friends, find equipment and materials and using their DIY manual, get to work. Well, that all sounds scary to me, but it makes for a wonderful and humorous story. I chuckled at times and guffawed out loud at others. Even with everything that went wrong, they still kept their sense of humour and humility. Several friends from home came over to soak up the history in Ireland, so Nick and Lesley shared local attractions several times with family and friends. With all the mistakes, accidents, equipment malfunctions and plans that go awry, this book had me stopping everything to listen to their antics. I definitely recommend this one for a change of pace, a humorous escape and even to learn a bit about Ireland.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Andy Stevenson. This is a new narrator for me, but I definitely enjoyed his performance. His expression, accents, voices and intonation were right on the money for me and he is definitely the voice of Nick Albert to me. I received a copy of this audiobook upon request from Rachel's Random Resources. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.