Ireland day 1081. Friday 13 September 2024- Walking Wounded

Today’s summary	First thing, I took Val to the airport for a brief trip to London. Then spent the morning updating this website and after a light lunch walked down to Tesco Clare Hall to do some shopping. Caught the bus back then reheated some chilli con carne for dinner and spent the evening reading my book and watching hiking videos
Today’s weather	Dry and bright with plenty of sun. Light south westerly wind. Appx 15c

Today’s overview location (The grey 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): Walking Wounded go to Tesco

Commentary

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

First the medical update. Two pluses and one minus, I think. The first good news is that my shingles rash is fading fast. I think in a few days it will have more or less completely disappeared. The other good news is that my chin seems to be stabilising very quickly. There’s barely any pain and I think I will be able to take the dressing off soon, so I look a bit less intimidating. The slightly less good news is that the shingles pain is proving remarkably stubborn. Still, it’s less than a fortnight since I was diagnosed and I believe it can take months or even years to go so perhaps I shouldn’t expect miracles.

Well, the day’s proper update beckons. It was another early start this morning, as Val needed a lift to the airport for a short trip she’s making to London. So she was duly dropped off before 9 (the airport was remarkably quiet today – I don’t know why) and I headed back to the flat. The rest of the morning was spent tidying up this website, while Val jetted off for her rendezvous with St George.

I actually quite enjoyed tinkering with the nuts and bolts of the internet. When technology works, it’s very rewarding to see how it can take your thoughts and designs and translate them into something that’s interesting to look at and read. Though on the flip side, there is nothing more frustrating than a website that breaks, especially when you can’t figure out what has gone wrong.

So I was gainfully employed until lunchtime, when I paused to have a light lunch of crackers with some baba ganoush that Val had picked up at Dunnes while I was in hospital yesterday. I rather spoiled the healthy impression by finishing off two Mr Kipling mini-Battenberg cakes afterwards, though.

After lunch I thought I’d walk down to Tesco in Clare Hall to pick up a few items that I needed to top up our stores. For the walk down there, I tried wearing a new pair of boots that I’d bought last week, and came away pleased. They were comfortable and offer the prospect of being blister-free on longer outings. The shopping also was mostly successful, too – except that I couldn’t find any oatcakes, for some reason. They are always a bit hit-or-miss in ireland, despite being popular in the UK. Today was clearly a “miss” day. I was delighted to see, however, that the Christmas shelves are already well stocked. Of course, the chocolate Santas were tempting, though I thought – hang on a minute – it’s only September!

Once I’d finished, I hopped across the road and was fortunate to catch only a moment or two later, a late-running no. 42 that got me back to Malahide in double-quick time. After a couple of cups of reviving tea, I made dinner which tonight comprised re-heated chili con carne with brown rice and salad, followed by sheep’s-milk yogurt. And if I don’t mention the Mr Kipling Angel Slices, perhaps we can pretend they never happened?

Now it’s time to relax, read a bit more of my book (the chapters are only two pages long, which I very much like) and then settle down to that Norway video that I meant to watch yesterday but never found the time. Looking forward to a lie-in tomorrow morning, too!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The rash seems to be disappearing quite fast now. I just wish the pain would disappear too, as it’s really uncomfortable and doesn’t seem to be improving much at the moment. How I wish I had paid the €487 and had the vaccination!	Well my chin seems to be getting better, at least. No pain and I think the dressing can come off in a day or 2

The rather tedious section of the walk, alongside the R107	Driveway to Charles Haughey (late Taoiseach)’s house off the Malahide Road

Someone’s frustration at not being able to use the brand new but barricaded off cyclepath alongside the Mayne stream seems to have got the better of them	I bought these new Merrell Moab 3 GTX boots in Dublin last week. I tried them out on my walk today and they are remarkably comfortable, despite being a (Euro) size smaller than I normally get. Just confirms my suspicion that the width of the boot is just as important as the length in ensuring a comfortable fit (these are quite wide)

Destination in sight!