Ireland day 0556. Friday 07 April 2023- Green and Blue *

Ireland day 0556. Friday 07 April 2023- Green and Blue

Today’s summary	Val was at work so I did some Spanish homework, went to the gym, and walked round the demesne. Jacket potatoes for dinner
Today’s weather	Cool, dry and very sunny all day. Beautiful spring weather. Light south easterly wind. Appx 11C.

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where I walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Longer walk using poles

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

I’ve called this a blue-and-green-day, because that’s what it was. Bright green fresh grass everywhere, pressed up against a clear blue sky. It really was a day to lift the spirits.

Anyway, poetry aside, on a more prosaic note, Val was at work and in a re-run of yesterday, I got up, did an hour of Spanish homework (an audio transcription, which I found quite difficult), then I pottered off to the gym. Also as yesterday, I spent the time mostly on the exercise bike and in the pool, though today I upped the resistance a bit on the bike, to give more of a workout without putting too much strain on my new hip.

On the way back from the gym, I dropped into SuperValu for a few essentials then went back to the flat and got lunch. But as the day was so glorious outside, I decided to head back out again and try out the trekking poles on a slightly longer walk – round the demesne and back to the shops, a total distance of just over 5km. It seemed to go well – and the poles are certainly a lot more manoeuvrable, and lighter, than the crutches. The main thing I haven’t quite worked out yet is whether to “double pole” (i.e. to move both poles forward together, as you do when on crutches) or to alternate (i.e. right – left – right etc. as you do when cross-country skiing). I tried out both techniques as I went round and either seemed to be OK, so I’ll just keep experimenting and see which works best for me.

But now it’s dinner time and I’ve made jacket potatoes with tuna and sweetcorn. With some soup that I found in the freezer to start with. It looks good and after all this exercise, I’m hungry!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The grassy verge just by the demesne entrance is still in full daffodil-y bloom. A second wave of flowers – blue grape hyacinths – is coming through now as well	Amazing stripes up at the cricket pitch! A few players were out practicing in the nets – a sure sign that the new season can’t be far off.

There’s a sort of water filled moat running alongside the demesne perimeter path for part of the way. Surprisingly, I’d never noticed it before today	One of my favourite views of the castle. It will look quite different in a week or two, when the leaves reappear on the trees

Scented currant bush in flower near the playing fields

Decorative daisies growing in the un-cut verge near the sports field