Ireland day 0831. Sunday 07 January 2024- Deskbound *

Ireland day 0831. Sunday 07 January 2024- Deskbound

Today’s summary	Val was working and I needed to do the same. So while she was out I went through my materials for the workshop on Tuesday with varying degrees of success. Found time to go for a walk along the coast and over my “newly discovered” hill. Clear views all round. Ready made dinner from Kerrigans in the evening
Today’s weather	Clear, cold and bright with plenty of sun. Almost no wind. Appx 5c

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): Brief escape from the desk

Commentary

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

Val was back at work again today so I decided that it would be an ideal opportunity for me to use the spare time to get on with some revision and preparation for my workshop on Tuesday. It meant missing the Club walk in the Dodder valley, which I was sorry about, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices.

My effort to work through the day was a mixed success at best, I should say. I soon ran into the familiar problem of endless distraction which made it hard to focus. Eventually, when I had done about half as much as I had hoped I would, I couldn’t resist the lure of the bright winter sunshine outside any longer. So I shut down the PowerPoint and headed out into the fresh air.

It was an enjoyable walk, in the end. I joined up some of my favourite local haunts – Hanlon’s Lane, the beach, Paddy’s Hill, and my newly “discovered” hill between Seamount and Seapark. Excellent views to the north and the Mournes – though once again not to the Welsh mountains, even through they are not that much further away. The route took me an hour and a half at a fairly leisurely pace, and I came back refreshed and afterwards I managed to do a little more work. I’ll finish off the the bit that’s left in the office tomorrow.

Once Val got back, we enjoyed a ready meal (chicken en croute) prepared by Kerrigans, our latest “go-to” butchers. Delicious! I feel a little more ready to face the week now – just need a couple of hours down-time now, and a good night’s sleep, and I shall be all set to go.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Essential distractions when you are ploughing through PowerPoint presentations	Glad to be out and about

Tide well out at the mouth of the estuary, with the Portrane “Island” on the other side looking so close you could almost reach out and touch it	The Mournes with Slieve Donard on the right, from above the Robswall estate

Entering the little park alongside the Moorings, at the bottom of Seapark	Eucalyptus in full bloom – despite the fact that it’s mid winter – on the Old Golf Links park

Sea beginning to freeze in the Broadmeadow Lagoon. Demonstrating that it is: a) very brackish; b) very still ; c) very cold. Never seen it happen before.