Ireland day 0711. Saturday 09 September 2023- Shoes *

Ireland day 0711. Saturday 09 September 2023- Shoes

Today’s summary	Val back at work after her three month summer career break. I walked to Swords to get some new shoes then caught bus back. I cooked roast chicken and rice for dinner
Today’s weather	Warm dry and sunny with less haze than yesterday. Light southerly breeze. Appx 22C

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The orange 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): Walk to Swords to buy shoes

Commentary

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

After her extended career break, which has lasted a glorious three months over the summer, Val was back to work today. I think she had mixed feelings but was looking forward to catching up with her colleagues again.

But that left me with a free day. I decided to put it to good use by walking along the coast to Swords for a bit of shopping. Actually what I really needed were some new shoes to replace my ancient trainers which after several years good service were, as well as looking shabby, in real danger of becoming a health hazard.

So, once the washing that I’d put on when I got up had finished, I made my way along the coast, enjoying the warm weather and bright sunshine. This good weather is a real tonic and I’m sure will stand us all in good stead through the winter. So I didn’t rush, given that the conditions were so congenial, and spent a while studying the low water levels in the Broadmeadow lagoon, and trying to deduce the state of the moon which must have led to this condition. As it happens, my theory turned out to be right, as you can see in the pictures below.

The walk to Swords was pleasant and uneventful, and by the time I got there it was lunchtime. So I went into the castle – where a family fun day was in full swing – and found a shady bench to enjoy my salad. Yes – Val and I are on a health drive, once again, so no more sandwiches crisps and biscuits for a bit, sadly. Eventually I had munched through my lettuce and felt brave enough to face Penney’s.

I chose this particular retail outlet because it has a good range of reasonably priced clothing, and thought that it would probably be the most painless way of finding the new shoes I was seeking. They did indeed have a reasonable collection and to my delight they actually had my size, too (11 / 45, if you’re interested). And because I don’t really like buying clothes, I thought I might as well keep on while the going was good. In the end I selected no fewer than four pairs, which I decided could replace the four worst pairs in my current collection. And at €64 for the lot, or about 1/8th of the cost of a decent pair of Adidas, it felt like reasonable value.

I was originally planning to walk back but because it was still hot, and because of my unexpectedly large shopping collection, I decided to catch the 102 instead. Possibly not the best decision ever, as it was late and as it was only a single-decker, it was absolutely crammed. So the journey back to Malahide was hot sweaty and uncomfortable. Walking might have been better after all.

Anyway I need to stop now as Val will be home soon and I need to get on with the dinner. It’s roast chicken and rice tonight, which is just about the limit of my culinary abilities, but hopefully it will meet with approval.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The tide was extremely low in the inner Broadmeadow lagoon – suggesting that it is probably a day or two past the lowest neap tide of the waning lunar crescent	The tide chart seems to suggest that this is indeed the case. Inner lagoon level will probably fall continuously for another 24 hours or so, then start to fill again whenever the water level in the outer estuary is above about 3.0m

The coast path – it covers more than half of the distance to Swords and it’s a pleasant walk	Looking over the mud flats exposed by the draining lagoon

*One of my four (yes four) new pairs of shoes from Penney’s*	Val’s back working at the Casino model railway museum, and it was looking as charming as ever today

Swords castle with an impressive welcoming committee. There was a family fun day underway today