Ireland day 0895. Monday 11 March 2024- Downtime *

Ireland day 0895. Monday 11 March 2024- Downtime

Today’s summary	Went to the gym in the morning (the boiler blew up!) and Val did a long run. Walked round the demesne later in the evening and then read and watched TV in the evening
Today’s weather	Overcast and bright with rain in the evening. Light easterly wind during the day, much stronger later in the evening. Appx 7c

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The orange 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): Demesne after gym in evening

Commentary

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

Today was a fairly quiet day. Perhaps the most remarkable feature was that neither of us woke up this morning until 9:30. I must admit I had been feeling a bit tired lately – clearly it must have caught up on me. Anyway I was definitely a lot more refreshed this morning than I have been for a while.

We didn’t have any definite plans for today so once we had enjoyed the statutory cup of tea in bed, we got up and I pottered off to the gym and Val set off to do an 8km run (impressive). My gym session went well, though the swimming pool was uncomfortably crowded. My relaxing session in the sauna was cut short when the cabin was shaken by a loud bang from the utility cupboard next door. One of the pool attendants rushed out and evacuated us from our little log cabin although I don’t think there was any immediate danger to anyone. It later transpired that the boiler for the adjoining steam-room had failed.

After a beans-on-toast lunch, Val and I decided to take a gentle walk around the demesne by the end of which it was beginning to get dark. So we came back to the flat, but a bit bereft tonight as we finished the Sopranos yesterday so will have to find a new box-set to soak up in the evenings. The ending of the Sopranos is, by the way, excellent (though I won’t spoil the tension). While we are making our viewing choices, I have a couple of half-price Tesco chicken kormas to heat up for dinner, and a new book to read. So I think we will have plenty to keep us occupied for the next few hours at least!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Val checking out her hellebores – the work she put in tidying up the flowerbed a couple of months ago really seems to have paid dividends	Fungal invasion of one of the pathside trees in the demesne

The Casino model railway museum – still looking charming, though the thatched roof has faded a lot since we arrived	My latest reading project. I have to say it’s not too intellectually demanding, but quite enjoyable nevertheless



Flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) coming into flower – surely sign that Spring must be on its way