Ireland day 1484. Tuesday 21 October 2025- Interlude

Today’s summary	Basically quite a quiet day. Spent much of the morning on a phone call with a friend in Scotland and trying to sort out a problem with the bank. Had to go to the branch as it couldn’t be solved over the phone but they couldn’t fix it either. After a tuna and sweetcorn lunch, Val and I went on a short walk round the demesne then retired to the flat for the rest of the evening. Curry and a James Bond film in the evening
Today’s weather	Mostly dry and bright with plenty of sun. Moderate westerly 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): Easy afternoon walk in the Demesne with Val

Commentary

We keep saying we are going to try and have a few “quiet” days but never seem quite to manage it. Life rolls along and keep us busy, so those quiet days are relatively few and far between (Gran Canaria being an honourable exception). So in keeping with the pattern, our last ten days have been pretty busy, with guests, travel and mountain-climbing on the west coast of Ireland. And the next week is looking quite busy too, which meant that today’s free day was something to be cherished.

The consequence of this determination to get some down-time was that we didn’t actually do very much today. We had our statutory cups of tea and toast for breakfast, then I had a long phone catch up with a friend up in Scotland. It was good to hear from him and learn that all was going well in the highlands.

While I was on the phone, I also called the bank to try and sort out a problem with paying an overseas company. It couldn’t be resolved over the phone, so it was suggested that I should try going into the local branch. I did that but they were even less helpful there than they had been over the phone. So the problem was left hanging and I’ll just have to return to it tomorrow. How frustrating!

But after that, the day turned a corner when Val pulled together a very tasty tuna-and-sweetcorn lunch, which we both enjoyed very much. After a digestive pause, we went out for a short easy walk round the demesne in the autumnal sunshine. It was enjoyable and particularly so because Val met one of her former “Wonderlights” colleagues and they were able to chat for a few moments and catch up on all the news. (She’s taken the decision not to work at Wonderlights this year, by the way – there’s just too much else to do!).

The rest of the day was spent in an equally low-key way, mostly in the flat. For dinner, a curry that Val had made some time and ago and frozen presented a simple dinner option. All the preparation it needed was an afternoon to thaw out and then a few moments in the microwave to heat it through. To round off the evening we restarted our season of Bond-watching. Tonight it’s going to be “Live and Let Die”. So on that note I better sign off and go and get the popcorn ready.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Lunch! Tasty, cheap, simple and healthy. Perfect.	Sylvan wonderland up in the Demesne this afternoon – it could almost be springtime – but obviously it isn’t

bright-eyed and bushy-tailed! Well we do our best	*The Gunnera* is collapsing into its overwintering state – but next year’s buds are already showing, which is reassurance that warmer weather and longer days will one day return**

Toots seems to have been caught up in the Presidential election campaign – today he was sporting placards supporting Catherine Connolly, the Independent candidate	Castle remaining as impassive as ever, in the face of another political convulsion

The Casino model railway museum seems to be getting into the swing of Hallowe’en