Ireland day 1019. Saturday 13 July 2024- Temptations!

Ireland day 1019. Saturday 13 July 2024- Temptations

Today’s summary	Leisurely morning doing the laundry and catching up on the news from Val’s trip to the UK. Managed to have lunch on the balcony in the sun. A rare treat. Walked down to Portmarnock in the afternoon while Val went to work at a film festival in the castle in the afternoon and evening.
Today’s weather	Bright dry and sunny until mid afternoon, then clouded over. Light south easterly breeze. Appx 16c

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): Temptation Walk

Commentary

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

It’s great having Val back from her travels, so we spent most of the morning catching up on the news from the UK, and doing yet more laundry (it’s endless!). And then, in a rare treat (so rare it’s only happened once before in the three years we’ve been living here) we had lunch sitting outside on our balcony. Quite a novelty, and very enjoyable.

Anyway, all good things must come to an end. Today that happened because Val had been called in to do some stewarding up at the castle. They are having a “Movies on the lawn” day and Val was working the 1pm – 10pm shift. It sounded great fun – especially as the weather was half decent this afternoon, too.

I had intended to use the time while Val was at work to catch up on some admin. But I’m afraid my resolve crumbled at the sight of the blue sky and sun outside. The prospect of sitting at the computer dealing with paperwork all afternoon suddenly seemed a lot less attractive than actually going out and enjoying the fresh air.

So as soon as Val was away, armed with her packed dinner, I gathered a few things and headed out for a stroll. I didn’t attempt anything too dramatic – just a permutation of various of my favourite “coast and hill” walks – but still coming in at a respectable 15km.

In a second demonstration of my failing willpower, once I reached the Spar shop in Portmarnock I just couldn’t stop myself going in and treating myself to a jam doughnut and coffee. Despite a few pangs of guilt, I did actually really enjoy the refreshments very much, while taking in the view from the beach.

On my way back through Malahide, I stopped off at Tesco to get meals for tomorrow then made it back to the flat by about 6pm. After a quick sandwich dinner, I dashed back to SuperValu to pick up all the shopping that I’d forgotten to buy at Tesco. Then spent the rest of the evening until Val got back reading my climate book, and contemplating our activity plan for the rest of the summer. Lots to look forward to!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


This Buddleia should really be filled with peacock butterflies – but this year, just like the Ragwort yesterday, there’s no sign of the insects 🙁	On the top of Malahide’s Secret Hill – a lovely hidden gem. Sadly it does have a name now – Seamount Hill Park – so the secret’s out

Brand new apartments on the slopes of the secret hill. They appear to be almost complete now. Very smart – no doubt with a price-tag to match	On the recently-repaired boardwalk from the golf club to the Velvet Strand, Portmarnock

The House of Temptation – Spar shop Portmarnock promenade	*Looking down on Lithostrotion* beach – with Lambay on the horizon**

Ripe Japanese wine berries, Rubus phoenicolasius, growing on the bank of one of the upper terrace roads on the Jameson Orchard estate. I don’t know if it was deliberately planted or if it was self-seeded, but either way the berries were quite nice. Sweet, but perhaps a bit tasteless. And not toxic (I don’t think) (Check back tomorrow)