Ireland day 1269. Thursday 20 March 2025- Dunnesing

Today’s summary	A very quiet day. Walked out to Central alongside the Broadmeadow shoreline in the morning, while Val went on a run. After a snack lunch, we drove to Dunnes to get provisions for guests coming to stay next week. More lentil curry for dinner then a couple of episodes of “Mad Men” (which we are very much enjoying) in the evening.
Today’s weather	Dry with bright hazy sunshine all day. Light south easterly wind. Appx 12c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue 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): Anticlockwise Broadmeadow Centra Demesne loop

Commentary

Do you ever have those days when you feel like you never wake up properly? Well I had one today, which was surprising as I actually slept quite well last night.

Anyway I eventually dragged myself out of the foggy mire and after enjoying our regulation cups of tea, we both decided to head out to get some fresh air and exercise. Val, being made of sterner stuff than me, went for a run round the Demesne while I took the more sedate option of a walk along the Broadmeadow shore to Centra. I had planned to go for a run on my new super-comfy Hokas but I’m still a bit circumspect about the prospect, as I’m paranoid about damaging my hips.

Once we had reconvened in the flat and had a light snacky lunch, I took the extraordinary step of actually sitting down and reading a book. I’ve just started on “Gaia” by James Lovelock (who died in 2022 at the age of 103). It’s about his theory that the Earth as a whole acts as a giant, self-regulating, living organism. It promises to be an interesting read.

Eventually, after battling my way through the seemingly endless prefaces, we both concluded that we needed to change gear a bit. We’ve got friends coming to stay next week, so headed on down to Dunnes to get some provisions. We’re having a bit of a Dunnes phase at the moment on account of their loyalty scheme. At random intervals, they send you vouchers which give you €10 off every 50 you spend. We had managed to collect 2 of them so rocked up at the Portmarnock outlet, determined to spend €100. That proved depressingly easy to achieve, but we came away pleased to have got 20% off our groceries as well as stocking up for next week.

The rest of the day was also pretty low-key. For dinner, we finished off yesterday’s lentil curry (which was even more delicious after a night in the fridge) then rounded off the day with a couple of episodes of “Mad Men”.

And I’m just beginning to wake up now too!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Three in a row! And judging from the amount of down floating around, they are moulting too	Hazel catkins – another harbinger of spring. Well tomorrow is the official first day of the new season, so very timely I think

Looking down the Gaybrook stream to where it empties into the Broadmeadow lagoon. An estuary in an estuary	Looking across the lagoon to Seafield House, with Brent geese massing in the foreground

I call this pathway in the demesne “Tree Fern Walk” – I’m sure that’s not it’s real name, but it seems appropriate to me, given the botany along the sides	As I was ambling down the tree-fern walk, I happened to look up and was amazed to see this magnificent magnolia in full bloom, way above my head. Unless you turned your gaze heavenwards, you would never know it was there. A hidden beauty

I love it when the lawnmowers come out. Summer is on its way!