Ireland day 1064. Tuesday 27 August 2024- Workmen

Today’s summary	Woken up early by workmen clambering all over our balcony to fix the decking of the flat above. Closely followed by the gas engineer doing our annual boiler service and then the fire safety officer who tested our smoke alarm. Got a haircut afterwards then walked with Val to Centra for a cup of tea. Then a quick trip to Clare Hall and finally delicious spicy noodles and a couple of episodes of “Boomers” in the evening
Today’s weather	Heavy rain in the morning then sunshine and showers for most of the rest of the day. Moderate to strong southerly wind. Appx 19c

Today’s overview location (The grey 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): Centra coast walk for tea

Commentary

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

Our day got off to a turbocharged engineering-based start today.

First off, we were awoken at 7:45 by the sound of workmen clambering all over our balcony, installing ladders and drilling holes, in preparation for an entire day spent fixing the decking on the balcony of the flat upstairs (to be fair to the occupants of the upper flat, they did ask us first). Then pretty much as soon as they had established themselves on our balcony, another workman arrived at our flat – this one a gas engineer, here to service the boiler. We left him to his devices for half an hour or so, at the end of which he declared himself satisfied, even though I have no idea what he actually did. Finally hot on the heels of the gasman, the fire safety man arrived to check the smoke alarm. He waved a basket-shaped device on a long stick under the alarm and after pressing a few buttons, he said it was working fine, and left.

All this before 10am! Of course by this stage we needed a coffee before starting the day proper. But then once re-caffeinated, I went off to town to get my hair cut. I didn’t have long to wait and the barber did an efficient job. I always come out feeling cooler and younger and today was no exception. I always resolve to get my hair cut more often, but never do. Perhaps this time it will be different?

We had a very light lunch (fruit and yogurt – you see: the diet is still on!) then walked out to the Centra store, via the demesne, to get a cup of tea which we enjoyed whilst sitting overlooking the Broadmeadow lagoon and putting the world to rights. We had a view of the new cycleway alongside the railway embankment to Donabate and the main spans appear complete now. Hooray! We were midway through our musings when the rain started again, so we pulled on waterproofs and headed off back to Malahide. Fortunately it didn’t last long and the sun even came out briefly.

Once back again, we drove more or less straight off down to Clare Hall. I had a minor appointment at a clinic there, while Val went to Tesco to do some shopping. We rendezvoused at the car an hour or so later and made our way to the flat. By the time we got back it was clear that the decking job wasn’t finished, so doubtless the workmen will be back bright and early tomorrow. But for now it’s quiet, so we’re enjoying spicy chicken noodles for dinner then will probably watch a few episodes of “Boomers”. It’s our latest go-to drama and a nice light-hearted antidote to the recent dystopia of “The Wire”

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Old decking from upstairs ready to be taken away. I had a quick look at it and it did sem pretty rotten. made me wonder about the state of our balcony!	Scary new 4&2

It was a jackets-on, jackets-off sort of today. this was one of the jackets-on phases	The flower beds at the entrance to the Milford Estate are always a bit of a joy to behold

Typha latifolia reeds growing in the marsh at the end of Milford. One of several different species known as bulrushes. This group is the most impressive I know of, anywhere	Interesting contrast between “true” jasmine (upper flowers) and “false” jasmine (which is actually a relative of the potato) at the bottom. In Hanlon’s Lane

The workmen mending the decking upstairs seem to have taken up permanent residence on our balcony!