Ireland day 0822. Friday 29 December 2023- Video calls! *

Ireland day 0822. Friday 28 December 2023- Video calls!

Today’s summary	I took a whole day off and Val was only working in the evening so we went on a walk round the Broadmeadow lagoon. After she headed off to the castle I had a 2 hour phone call to a friend in Scotland then 3 hours on the video to family in Canada. More turkey sandwiches for dinner in the evening
Today’s weather	Cool but dry breezy and bright. Moderate westerly 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) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Broadmeadow Lagoon with Val

Commentary

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

I decided to take a day off work today – something you can do with impunity when you are self-employed. Though I was plagued all day by the nagging doubt that maybe I should be working after all so perhaps I didn’t enjoy my freedom as much as I should.

Anyway, Val wasn’t working till mid afternoon so we decided to make the most of the fact that the sun was shining and that it wasn’t raining to go off for a short walk. In the end we decided to walk along the north side of the demesne, then out along the Swords road then through the Seabury estate to the coast near the Centra shop. We dropped into the shop to get a coffee from the machine – and to my delight I managed to get a half price chocolate croissant too. One of my favourite delicacies – almost as good as the almond variety.

We had our refreshments on a park bench overlooking the sea, but didn’t hang around as the wind was strong and cold. But we did stop long enough to observe the family of swans pecking around on the grass opposite us. It left me wondering if the swans are actually eating the grass and if so how they digest it, as they are presumably not ruminants. One of the world’s mysteries though no doubt a worthy PhD student somewhere knows the answer.

We finished off the walk quickly, had some more shepherd’s pie for late lunch when we got back, and then Val sped off to work. Soon after she had left, a friend from Scotland video-called and we spent a good two hours chatting and putting the world to rights. This segue-d immediately into a call with family in Canada which this time lasted three hours and which gave us a great opportunity to catch up on all the news. I honestly don’t know how we used to manage without video calling! Anyway, my two calls lasted so long that I was still on the phone when Val got back more than five hours after she had left for work.

So that was our day. Bright, cold and enjoyable – and with turkey sandwiches for dinner!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Enjoying the winter sun up in the demesne	Val striding off down the perimeter path

Bright cyclamen decorating the petrol-station-turned-carpet-shop on the corner of the Swords road	A chilly wintry day today – but still hardly any real frost – but the temperature doesn’t seem to have deterred these hardy daffodils down by the lagoon shore. They must either be a particularly hardy variety, or be living in a little microclimate of their own

Brent geese enjoying the balmy warmth of the lagoon – at least it’s balmy compared to their summer domicile in the north of Canada	The detached house on Hanlon’s Lane which I quite liked has been demolished and the site comprehensively redeveloped. The foundations for several new buildings are already in place though I hope that, given the evidence from today’s visit, they are fitted with a pretty robust damp proof course

Yes its winter again and the heliotropes are back, filling the air with their vanilla scent above the meandering estuary of the Gaybrook stream