Ireland day 1260. Tuesday 11 March 2025- Guests Arrival

Today’s summary	Got up early again and went for a quick walk round the demesne with Val. On our return, we drove over to Swords to pick up some gear for our guests, who arrive tonight. Also filled the car with petrol and got a much-needed car wash. Had fish and chips for lunch then Val did some baking in the afternoon. In the evening I went to Spanish then our guests arrived by taxi from the airport at about 11pm.
Today’s weather	Dry and bright with lots of sun but feeling quite cold. Moderate northerly wind. 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 with Val before jobs

Commentary

We’ve got guests arriving this evening and so we’ve spent a bit of time recently, getting things ready for their visit. Our friends are with us until Friday so we’ve been busy planning days out and activities to make sure they get the most out of their trip.

First, though, as the weather was nice, Val and I hiked over to the demesne and put in a quick circuit round the perimeter. Although it looked bright and sunny, it was actually quite chilly outside, and a cold wind was blowing. So we didn’t dawdle. In any case, at 12:30, we had to be in Swords to pick up some things prior to our guests’ visit, so we couldn’t take all day.

Once in Swords, we collected everything we needed, then – most importantly – went to the petrol station for some fuel and a much-needed car wash. A bit like me having a haircut, I reckon a good wash takes years of the Trusty Yaris’ apparent age.

By the time we got back to the flat, it was early afternoon and we were both in danger of getting hangry. So Val pottered off to Beshoff’s to get some fish and chips, while I finished tidying up , and made cups of tea.

We had a fairly quiet afternoon – Val made a cake while I tried to resolve a fault with the printer. It’s one of those intermittent problems that is impossible to diagnose. So although it’s working right now, I don’t know actually why it is, and I don’t have too much confidence that it will continue to do so in the future. Only time will tell!

In the evening, I drove down to my Spanish class, then our guests arrived by taxi from the airport at about 11. So quite a long and busy day – and now we’re very much looking forward to seeing what excitements the next couple of days will bring.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The Casino Model Railway Museum – aka Val’s office!	Tree-fern avenue in the castle Demesne. the protective wadding that is put over the delicate growth tips every winter, has been removed. Another sign that spring is on its way

At the entrance to our estate (also called The Casino – not to be confused with the The Casino museum, which the estate surrounds)	Lunch! One portion of haddock and chips is plenty for the two of us



My favourite Redwood – temporarily blocking the sun