Ireland day 0577. Friday 28 April 2023- Lords and Ladies *

Ireland day 0577. Friday 28 April 2023- Lords and Ladies

Today’s summary	Val still away in the UK. I wrote a section of my Ice Ages paper, then went on an evening walk round the demesne. Admired the Lords and Ladies (arum) on the way
Today’s weather	Heavily overcast and showers most of the day. Eventually cleared in the evening. No wind. Appx 14C

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): Lords and Ladies demesne walk

Commentary

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

Val was still away in the UK but I actually had quite a busy day today. I started off with a quick video call to a friend in London, then went down to the gym. A good session – increasing the resistance on the bike and upping the number of lengths in the pool – it felt good!

After a late lunch, I eventually managed to gain some enthusiasm for my Ice Ages paper, and wrote another quite lengthy section. I was pleased with that. Then, as the rain was at last stopping and the sun looked like it might come out, I headed out for a quick evening walk round the demesne. It was an absolutely beautiful evening – a bit milder than recently, and no wind.

The sky eventually cleared leaving a rainbow lingering over the town, and, a little later, a spectacular sunset. The slight warmth and the abundant rain meant that everything had leapt into life and was turning the dazzling green at which Ireland excels. Perhaps most noticeable were the Cuckoo Pints – AKA Lords-And-Ladies (Arum maculatum) which were popping up in the marshy areas all the way alongside the path. The spadices – which actually get warm through a process of thermogenesis to attract pollinating flies – were putting on a magnificent display, if you like that sort of thing.

I was hungry by the time I got back to the flat and after I’d eaten I spent the rest of the evening reading an Irish mountaineering book that I’ve been lent, looking up possible routes I can contemplate once my leg is more fully up to strength. Hopefully not too much longer to wait.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The herbaceous bed at the entrance to the demesne has been simply stunning since February. First it was miniature daffodils, then it was grape hyacinths, and now it’s tulips. Top marks to whoever planted it.	Quintessentially English. Except of course it wasn’t.

Looking like a multicoloured comet come to earth – a vivid rainbow over Malahide this evening	So nice to see the blue sky after today’s weeping grey

*Wych elm (Ulmus glabra) seeds. The tree is highly susceptibel to Dutch Elm Disease, so nowadays it rarely grows any bigger than a large shrub before getting infected and dying*	A beautiful sunset after a dull wet day

*Lords-and-ladies (Arum maculatum) with thermogenic spadix on full display (see also the banner image at the top)*