Ireland day 0781. Saturday 18 November 2023- Catching Up *

Ireland day 0781. Saturday 18 November 2023- Catching Up

Today’s summary	Spent the day catching up on the week’s admin and Spanish homework while Val went on a run. After lunch Val went to Wonderlights mid afternoon and I went on a walk up and over Paddy’s Hill to Portmarnock. got rained on on the way back
Today’s weather	Mostly overcast with brighter intervals during the day. Rain in the evening. Moderate southerly wind. Appx 14c

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): Dark and Damp Paddy's Hill

Commentary

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

One of the many challenges that beset people who go to work is, as I have recently rediscovered, finding time to deal with the mountain of paperwork which seems to accompany 21st century life. So whilst it was extremely nice to have a day off today, I seemed to spend much of it – well the daylight part anyway – hunched over a computer keyboard, writing emails and filling in forms. Then on top of that, I had some difficult Spanish homework to finish (I am still finding spoken comprehension very hard).

Anyway, eventually all that was done. While I had been working, Val had impressively been out on a run and by now, it was time for lunch. Once we’d eaten, I finished off at the desk and Val allowed herself the indulgence of an episode of “The Crown” series 6 which has just dropped on Netflix. Sadly, it got the thumbs-down verdict. Eventually she had to gird her loins and head up to the Castle for a night working at “Wonderlights” which left me with the rest of the afternoon and the early evening to fill.

I decided to brave the once-again-threatening looking weather and headed out into the rapidly gathering dark to tackle my favourite walk over Paddy’s Hill and down to Portmarnock, then back along the sea-shore. OK it’s much nicer in a T-shirt and shorts on a warm summer morning, but tonight wasn’t too bad either. It did rain halfway round though, and unlike last night I didn’t have my full waterproof gear on. So I got a bit wet.

Now I’m back and need to think about what we are going to have for a late dinner once Val returns at about 10pm. We both feel as though we have been piling on the pounds a bit lately, so I think it will be fruit and yogurt based. Ah well – summer is just round the corner (I wish) and we need to get our beach bodies knocked into shape!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Festoon lights leading the way to Wonderlights up in the castle demesne	Portmarnock beach illuminated by the moon





Looking like something from Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons – Wonderlights shines on the clouds above the castle