Ireland day 1584. Thursday 29 January 2026- Elbow Grease

Today’s summary	After a toast and tea breakfast, we spent the whole day tidying out and deep-cleaning the flat.   Val made numerous trips to the charity shops and to the bins.   Midway through we paused for lunch of leftovers, then carried on working all afternoon.   It was tough going and by about 6pm we were nearly there and had had enough for the day.   So we downed tools and treated ourselves to dinner out at Jaipur restaurant
Today’s weather	Another windy and cloudy day with showers then more persistent rain in the evening.   Strong to gale force south easterly wind.   Appx 7c
Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)			Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (No GPX today)

Commentary

Phew!   That was hard work.   I have concluded that moving out of a rented flat is not something to be undertaken lightly.    The deep cleaning takes ages – or at least it has in our case because we have probably been overly thorough.   Do the underside of the sinks really need to be sparkling clean?   And the skirting board behind the beds?   I just don’t know.  But with our €2000-plus deposit at stake, it seems like a potentially good return on our investment of time and effort.

We are slightly running out of things to eat in the flat now – we have been winding down stocks for the last week or two, so for breakfast we just had tea and toast.   But it was enough to fire us up for our day’s labours.   We didn’t dally too long over breakfast though, as there was a lot to do and we needed to get started.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur of descaler, bleach and windolene.   It took a surprisingly long time to  sort out the kitchen, in particular – the fridge, freezer, microwave, washing machine, dishwasher, hob and oven all needed a thorough clean to remove the accumulated grime of four and a half years of daily use.   Then there was the window cleaning to finish off, as well as the remaining skirting boards in the sitting room to be polished.   And all this before tackling the layers of limescale on the shower screen.

Midway through, we made time for lunch, which was mainly leftovers from the bottom of the fridge or from the back of the food cupboard.   We enjoyed hummus on mariniera biscuits, with a couple of tomatoes and a banana each that Val had picked up on one of her many trips into the town

While I was up to my neck in elbow-grease, Val was heroically shuttling backwards and forwards between the the flat and Malahide’s two charity shops – St Vincent de Paul and Oxfam.   We have had to be fairly ruthless in letting things go – even though we have taken several suitcases and a car load of belongings back to the UK already (and Val has also posted eight large boxes of bits and pieces, too), there are still quite a few of our things with us here in Malahide.   We can take the most precious with us when we finally leave – we have a big suitcase, two smaller suitcases and a couple of rucksacks – but some of the rest we simply can’t manage.   So they are either going to charity or – in the last resort – into the bin.

So it was farewell toaster, old and much loved jackets, half-used herbs and spices, half a packet of carrots and a cabbage from the fridge, old files, notebooks, miscellaneous charger-cables  and even half a ream of printer paper.   It was quite cathartic to let things go – safely knowing that there was nothing of great sentimental value, and most of the rest could be replaced quickly and easily and at minimal cost anyway.

Our final job of the day, once everything else was cleaned, tidied, packed or disposed, was to sweep all the accumulated leaves off the balcony and to transplant our bulbs into a new, permanent home.   We have been enjoying a beautiful display of miniature daffodils in a couple of pots on the balcony recently.   We bought the bulbs and planted them in Autumn 2024 and not only did they flower in the spring of 2025, they have survived our tender ministrations over the summer last year and have sprung into bloom again in 2026.

After a bit of deliberation, we decided that it would be nice to plant them out in the Casino grounds, where we live, so that residents could enjoy the rest of this year’s blooms, and hopefully, if they establish themselves, also in future years to come.   We found a suitable spot and I realised that I actually quite enjoyed getting my hands mucky and doing a bit of digging and planting with the trowel.   I can see how gardening could be a very therapeutic pastime.

Well that’s quite enough for the day.   I’m signing off now, and going to get ready to go out.  We are treating ourselves to a curry for dinner at the “Jaipur” restaurant we went to a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed.   I’m looking forward to it!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)

Digging in!   Hope this is a suitable spot for our bulbs to thrive   Maybe we will just have to come back next year to find out!	Curry on the menu tonight!   It was tandoori lamb chops with pistachio for me, and butter chicken for Val.  So much easier than cooking!
The fruits of my gardening labours.   Our daffodils, which we have been carefully nurturing on our balcony since they last flowered a year ago, are at their best again now.   It would have been a pity to throw them away when we move out – so I planted them in the Casino “Secret Garden”, and hopefully others will be able to enjoy them for a few days more.

Interactive map

(No map today)

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