Ireland day 1396. Friday 25 July 2025- Val Returns

Today’s summary	Spent the morning cleaning the flat and doing some shopping. Then went to the airport to pick up Val. Once back, we had a cup of tea and walked round the Demesne. Roast beef salad for dinner, with red wine and a TV documentary on Tuscany. A very agreeable day, in all respects.
Today’s weather	Mild and dry with some sun. Light westerly wind. Appx 21c

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): Clockwise walk round the demesne with Val

Commentary

My period of temporary bachelorhood ended today, as Val returned from her trip to Copenhagen. That meant of course that the general mess associated with solo male living needed to be despatched before she got back.

I had it all planned in my mind but everything went slightly awry when I woke up. It felt like it was about 7:00 am – my normal waking time – which would have left me plenty of time to get things done. But to my considerable surprise, when I looked at my phone to check the time, it was 9:32. I had no idea that I had slept so long. It certainly didn’t feel like it. I must really have needed it.

Once the shock of the hour had been overcome, I dragged myself vertical and after a quick cup of tea, set about cleaning and tidying. It’s amazing what a difference a bit of bleach, some Barman’s Friend, and a quick whizz round with the hoover can make.
As soon as all that was out of the way, I dashed down to the shops to get the ingredients for dinner tonight. It’s a roast beef salad – which is quick, easy, tasty, nutritious and relatively healthy. What’s not to like?

By this stage I felt like I needed a gastronomic reward for my efforts, so I made myself a Nespresso (from my new machine) and enjoyed the coffee with a few oatcakes. Then, continuing the pursuit of a more relaxed lifestyle, I put my feet up for a few moments before heading down to the garage to get rid of the rubbish, do the recycling, and fire up the trusty Yaris.

I was at the airport ready to collect Val pretty soon after she has got through Immigration, and we were back in the flat by mid afternoon. First things first – we had a cup of tea (Danish tea isn’t up to much, apparently) and compared notes about our respective weeks. It’s great to have her back – she keeps me grounded!

Afterwards, we both felt we needed a bit of fresh air. So we headed up to the Demesne and did our usual clockwise loop walk. It was good to see lots of budding cricketers out on the pitches. We learned from one of the spectators that the black and gold flag flying by the grounds was that of the Talbot emblem [Malahide castle was the ancestral home of the Talbot family for some 800 years]. During the summer there is apparently a Talbot v Visitors tournament for a few days a week most weeks – though I must admit I’d never noticed it before. Perhaps the world is finally getting back to normal after Covid.

Once back in the flat we jointly pulled together the salad which we ate while watching a documentary about Tuscany on RTE. Very enjoyable and it certainly reminded me that Florence is somewhere I need to add to my “must visit” list. The red wine and luscious tomatoes were very appealing!

We rounded everything off with some mini-doughnuts which probably undid all of any health benefits that the salad might have conferred. Oh well, what the heck. You only live once.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


My favourite sequoia. I just can’t resist taking its photograph – it’s so statuesque from every angle	One of the pollinator beds along the pathside towards the back of the demesne. Absolutely stunning. Well done Fingal!

Peter Rabbit taking in the evening air	An overview of the cricketing activities. It’s difficult to photograph from ground level – you really need a drone

Iarnród Éireann up to their usual nocturnal activities. Sigh. Note to self – never live next to a railway station!	Can’t make a habit of this – but they were lovely!

The Talbot flag (looking bedraggled on the left) flying over the Talbot v Visitors cricket tournament by the Demesne cricket pitch this evening