Current events

I feel impelled to mention a couple of current events. I don’t do this often enough on my blog, but a couple of things have taken place recently that caught my eye. 
On 18th June, five people, four of whom were tourists and one of whom was the company owner, set off in a submersible into the deep sea to observe the wreck of the Titanic. Contact with them was lost quite quickly, resulting in a five day search involving many vessels from different countries. There was a possibility that they might be alive and running out of air. Eventually debris was spotted, leading to the conclusion that the vehicle had imploded only ninety minutes after the start of its descent. It’s very sad; one of the passengers was only nineteen, and very unnecessary - they were paying a huge amount of money to peer out of a tiny window at the Titanic in a dangerous and inadequately tested submarine. It was not at all exploration, which might justify such a risk. Understandably, parallels have been drawn between the immense publicity engendered by their tragic demise compared to the less intense publicity given to drownings when boats full of refugees sink. Earlier this month a boat overcrowded with migrants went down off the coast of Greece and more than 500 people are feared to have drowned. 
In other news, Russia’s army of mercenaries, called Wagner, and led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, turned against the government army leaders on 23rd June, presumably because they felt that the country’s military leaders were doing a rubbish job. Wagner started marching on Moscow and things seemed very dicey for Putin for a short while. It was rumoured that he had fled Moscow by plane for an undisclosed location. However by the evening of 24th June the Wagner troops had turned back, ostensibly to avoid bloodshed. I presume that Prigozhin and Putin had negotiated an arrangement, and the Wagner soldiers are not being punished, while Prigozhin is no longer deemed a traitor and has been exiled to Belarus. What struck me about this was how quickly and dangerously wars, civil and otherwise, can arise. 

Sardine Express

This morning with Davie was great fun. At Davie’s suggestion he and I went swimming in the Mariners’ Canal right next to our hotel. Strictly speaking, I don’t think that you are meant to swim in the canals unsupervised, but we spoke to a man who was just getting out of the water who said that it was fine. James came with us to spectate and took a few photos. Oh boy was that water good! It wasn’t even cold - it was maybe about 16 degrees - and it felt like cool silk on my skin. We had a great time. After a quick shower back at the hotel we took a tram into the city centre and the three of us had a delightful brunch before starting our journey home. 

We are now on a very crowded train, travelling from Preston to Glasgow. We will be in Glasgow in about twenty minutes. The first leg of our journey went well, from Manchester to Preston. However when we arrived at Preston we noticed an unfeasibly large crowd thronging the platform where our train was due. Unfortunately there had been a fatality at Oxenholme this morning, and there had been a cancelled train before ours, doubling the amount of passengers trying to get onto our train. There has been a bit of jostling and pushing, but the passengers have been fairly good-natured so far. All seat reservations have been cancelled, not that we could even have reached our seats since the train aisles are solid with people, however I managed to nab a seat after one stop. James however has been standing the whole way. 

Bridgewater Canal Lunch

We travelled by train to Manchester on Saturday to visit Davie and Chanel. I love my visits to Manchester and when David and Chanel move to Scotland in August I will be quite sad not to have a reason to visit here regularly. On the other hand it will be great to have them living closer to us. The train journey was rather trying. It was very hot and the guard told us that the air conditioning was broken in our carriage. So we moved to the next carriage where it was nice and cool - at first. Unfortunately the air conditioning broke there too and it got hotter and hotter. I eventually dozed off and when I awoke as we approached Manchester, I was extremely hot and bothered. Davie and Chanel met us at Manchester Piccadilly and took us for iced coffees to a nearby Black Sheep café which thankfully had air conditioning, and I slowly cooled down. We took a tram to Media city and checked in to our Premier Inn before meeting David and Chanel for an excellent dinner at the air-conditioned Botanist. Later we went on to the bar next door, the Seven Brothers, and sat outside in the warm evening. It really is summer when you can sit outside on a warm evening at ten p.m. 

The main event of the weekend was of course our Sunday lunch cruise on the Bridgewater Canal. We arrived at Worsley in plenty of time and went for a walk along the canal. It was hot. Very hot. In fact I later discovered that it was the hottest day of the year so far in the UK, reaching temperatures of 32 degrees, and it can’t have been far off that at the Bridgewater Canal. I was very worried about how I would cope with the heat whilst sitting in an enclosed canal boat. Luckily it was cooler than I had expected because the roof was solid rather than glass so it wasn’t getting an unreasonable amount of direct sun indoors, the windows were all open, and as the boat moved along there was a slight flow of air which was helpful. There was also an endless supply of cold water with ice, supplied by the lovely staff. Reassured, I really enjoyed eating our delicious three course lunch as we travelled along the canal and back for three hours. The canal banks were overhung with many trees and bushes in their full summer regalia. David noticed an abundance of cherries growing on some of the trees. We saw a little lighthouse, canal barges, and people walking and cycling along the towpath. It was so relaxing and enjoyable. 

We were so stuffed after our huge lunch that we weren’t really hungry for dinner, but we decided that we should have something or we might be very hungry by bedtime. So after strolling along the canals at Salford we had a light (and surprisingly spicy) supper at a Caribbean restaurant near the Lowry. Back at the hotel, we caught the end of Elton John’s set at Glastonbury. It was being hailed as a great triumph online, but I thought that it was good but much the same as the couple of times I have seen him live in concert. 

A very pleasant week at home

Back home from Ireland we were happy to be reunited with the cats, and have had a pleasant and fairly social week. The weather has continued to be hot and sunny, so we have spent plenty of time outdoors in the garden. We went to the Banksy exhibition at Glasgow MOMA, which was very interesting; the explanations at the exhibits were funny and self-deprecating, however the elusive Banksy is clearly a very quirky, imaginative and talented person. 
We went to see Peter Gabriel at the Hydro with Gordon and were absolutely thrilled to be upgraded to the “Hydro Club” where we were in a booth with a great view of the stage. More importantly it had its own toilets and bar with NO queues at all! It was bliss. Peter Gabriel was fantastic; his voice is still very good and he performed a mixture of old and new songs. I loved Solsbury Hill, it’s so joyful. 
I had a coffee with Jackie’s Mum. It was difficult to see her without Jackie there, but good to be able to talk about Jackie. My heart goes out to her and the whole family. 
I had brunch with Sharon at Vin18 and it was totally lovely to catch up with her. And we had lunch with Janet and Peter in a splendid restaurant in South Queensferry; the food was great and so were the views of the three bridges over the Forth. It was good to spend time with Janet and Peter, of whom we are very fond. 

The Giant’s Causeway

Yesterday was our last day with Ally, Cat and Davie, who were all flying home from Dublin in the evening. Ally and Cat were flying to Gatwick and Davie was flying to Manchester. We packed up in the morning, and at Cat’s suggestion we travelled eastwards to the little seaside town of Howth, which is only 25 minutes from Dublin Airport, so we didn’t need to worry about being delayed on a long drive at the end of the day. It was a pretty town, full of holiday makers. There were lots of people with sailing boats and kayaks as well as people just strolling around the harbour and out to the end of the pier. It was busy but very picturesque in the sunshine. I did however feel a certain sense of melancholy because it was our last day with the young people. We found a nice wee ice cream shop and because it was cooler inside it than outside, we sat indoors to enjoy our ice creams. This was just as well, because my delicious sorbet soon nearly fell out of the cone and Ally kindly fetched  me a cup to save it. All too soon it was time to drop Ally, Cat and Davie off at Dublin Airport. 
James and I continued north into Northern Ireland and spent the night in Lisburn, a bit south of Belfast. 
We spent the final day of our holiday visiting the Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim, to see its distinctive hexagonal basalt columns. I have fancied going here ever since we visited Staffa with the children many years ago. It’s stunning, with thousands of columns (caused by fractures occurring in cooling lava) of different heights, which you can walk and climb on. There was even a dolphin frolicking in the bay, it was really lovely. When we returned to Larne to catch our ferry back to Scotland it seemed like a longer time than nine days since the start of our holiday because we have seen and done so much. 

Cliffs of Moher and Aran Islands

There was a really big thunderstorm during the night in Killaloe - there was thunder and lightning followed by torrential rain. It sounded to me as if there was water pouring through the ceiling somewhere but I had a look round the house and couldn’t see anything coming through. In the morning it was back to hot and sunny and at Cat;'s suggestion we decided to go to the cliffs of Moher, as a well known feature in the area. It was indeed well known, because it was quite busy, perhaps not surprisingly on a sunny Saturday. We parked in the large car park then walked up to the cliffs. They were worth the hour and a half drive from Killaloe - gorgeous big sandstone cliffs curving for miles around the edge of the sea. There’s an 18 km cliff walk but it was way to hot for that so instead we drove to nearby Doolin, a tiny hamlet, again very busy with visitors. After a quick lunch we were just in time to take a ferry out to the nearest (and smallest) of the three Aran Islands, Inisheeran. It was only about twenty minutes on the ferry, and we had a couple of hours before we needed to catch the last ferry back to the mainland. When we arrived on the island we were greeted by several horses and traps, with their operators offering to take us on carriage rides around the island. We opted to go on foot instead. There are a couple of wee shops selling the famous Aran jumpers, an old castle, a hotel, a pub, a café and a pretty beach. The sky was absolutely spectacular in a sinister and terrifying way, because while we had set off on the ferry in warm and sunny weather, a bank of storm clouds had quickly built up behind us. Behind them the sky was steely grey, and we could see lighting flashing in the cloud. Sure enough, after about an hour the storm reached us and the rain came crashing down. We nipped into the café and got ourselves some coffees; there was a feeling of camaraderie among the tourists, who had converged on this tiny island from all over the world. The rain had stopped by the time we got back to the boat, although the seats on the ferry were rather wet. 
Back in Killaloe we had dinner in the “Tuscany Bistro” an Italian restaurant which was just across the river in Ballina. It was absolutely excellent with great service. It had been a good day, and I would like to come back to County Clare because despite being on the go all day, we barely scratched the surface of all the things to see and do there. 

Limerick

James and the young folk collected me from my hotel in Limerick late morning, having driven up from Dingle. While I was in Scotland, the intrepid hill-walkers had ascended their final Furth, and so had completed all thirteen. Since we were already quite near the centre of Limerick we decided to continue in to the historic centre at King John’s Castle on the River Shannon. It’s a big castle, originally built at the beginning of the 13th century by King John of England (the Magna Carta guy.) it has been extensively damaged over the centuries, not least during the siege of Limerick in 1642, when both sides dug tunnels under its walls so relentlessly that it became very unsafe and parts of the walls had to be pulled down. It’s not very pretty when you’re inside it, and the basement is horribly smelly, but it has great views from its battlements and tower, a good exhibition area and a nice café. It actually looks much more attractive from across the River Shannon, because you can see the shape of it better, with its round towers connected by crenellated walls. Ireland has excellent castles. 
We strolled around the river walk and crossed a couple of bridges and I posed for a photo with the statue of Terry Wogan, which is recognisable but not a great likeness. 
Our accommodation for the next two nights is in Killaloe, about half an hour away from the centre of Limerick. It’s a really pretty wee town on the banks of the Shannon, and in fact there are two wee towns, Killaloe and Ballina, one on each bank. I have never been to Budapest but it seems to be a Buda and Pest type arrangement. Our accommodation looked very smart, in a new estate, but in fact there were a few issues with it. First of all, the dishwasher drain was full of rotting food, and the previous occupants had used it like that, with the result that all of the mugs and dishes were covered with hard little speckles of food. They all needed to be re washed. And the downstairs, especially Davie’s room, had a very damp smell. To be fair the housekeeping team came out and sorted it as best they could, and apologised. 
We had dinner in a friendly seafood restaurant down by the river, where we sat outside on the warm evening. Ally ordered the mussels and was brought the biggest bowl of mussels that I have ever seen, it was huge! Towards the end of our meal, we noticed a similarly massive bowl of mussels being brought for someone at the next table. We waited to hear his reaction. It took him a moment to notice and then he exclaimed loudly, “Holy Shite!” We all burst out laughing at both tables! 

Katy’s funeral

Katy’s funeral yesterday was a lovely personal tribute, but she died far too soon at 76. Her brother John did the eulogy where I learned that part of her childhood had been very difficult because of certain family members. This resonated with me. Her life was a mix of happy and sad (especially regarding Brice) but she was a very good and kind person who was always there for others and was very much part of her community as well as a loyal and loving mother and wife. We went to the Torrance Hotel for a purvey, and there was much talk of a future cousins’ get together. It was nice chatting to the usual suspects, they are actually a pleasant bunch. It’s strange to think that I was so scared of some of them when I was a child. Back at the house I socialised with the cats; the heatwave continues and the sky was a hard bright blue. In due course I caught my plane from Dublin to Limerick which was nice and quiet. The steward was a bit of a joker and enlivened the flight with his commentary. 

For example; “We have landed 13 minutes early, which proves that Ryanair is not always late. Only almost always. I’m joking.

If you smoke, quit. It’s not good for you and it’s very expensive especially in Ireland. 16 euros for 20 cigarettes is robbery. But if you do smoke you must use the designated smoking areas at the airport. If you get caught smoking elsewhere the fine is quite nasty and you will deserve it.” 

My subsequent two and a half hour bus ride to Limerick also went to plan. When we arrived at Castletroy, the driver was wound up to a surprisingly sudden rage by two drunken youths who approached us, to the extent that a kindly passenger had to calm him down and guide him back onto the bus. “I was attacked at Dublin airport last week,” he explained before driving away. I had a 20 minutes walk through the barely dark streets to my hotel. The sky seemed to retain the summer light. It felt so strangely pleasant to be walking along in such a warm night in a city I have never visited. By 1.30 a.m. this morning I was tucked up in my bed. 

Geese in the garden

James, Ally, Davie and Cat dropped me off at Kerry Airport on Tuesday afternoon, because I was going to fly back to Scotland for Katy’s funeral. My journey went smoothly, apart from being caught with a 200g jar of Avoca Café tomato chutney at Dublin Airport. It’s a present for our tomato-loving friend Ewan. I had forgotten that chutney would be perceived as a liquid and of course the limit for liquids is 100g. Instead of making me discard it, the kindly official let it go through in my tray, and told me that if anyone asked about it, I should say that I have it for “dietary reasons.” I did so, and all was well. 

When I was changing planes at Dublin airport on my way home, I started to get unusual messages from neighbours at home. First, Suzy sent me a photo of some geese in her garden. This is not a usual occurrence around here; the geese are only to be seen in Holmhills Park up the hill, and that’s where they stay. James has been observing them during his morning walks. Presumably these were the same geese. There were a mother goose, a father goose and six goslings. The goslings are quite big but still very sweet and fluffy looking. By the time I messaged Suzy back, she said that the geese had left her garden. The next thing I got a message from Carmelle across the road. More pictures of the geese, but this time they were in our front garden! I received updates from Carmelle and from Christine next door over the next couple of hours. The geese got themselves trapped behind our gate, and were milling about. So Kyle went round to release them. The geese crossed the road and had a pit stop in Dougie’s garage. By this time our lovely concerned neighbours decided to escort them on their journey, which they guessed was the river Clyde, so that they wouldn’t get run over on the Main Street on their way. Christine told me of their adventures the next day. The geese walked along Cadzow Drive, shadowed closely by Paul, Christine and Dougie, down Westcoats, and then all the way back along Hamilton Drive! Then down Greenlees Road, and after their rescuers dissuaded them from a wrong turn towards the bakery, they continued across the Main Street, and down Clydeford Road to the river. This took about two and a half hours! Christine told me that they seemed very happy to get into the river, they had likely been out of water for about ten hours by this point. They quacked loudly and swam about. Paul, Christine and Dougie are my heroes! It just shows that there are some lovely people in this world. 

Dingle Dolphins

The day started with a disappointment, but (spoiler alert!) it continued very well. We turned up bright and early for our 9.30 a.m. boat tour to the Blasket Islands, only to be informed that it was cancelled due to fog further out, which would last until the afternoon. Then the young man said that he had tried to phone me earlier. I knew that this wasn’t true because I had no missed calls and being in the centre of Dingle my phone reception was fine. Thanks to this small but foolish lie, I became suddenly suspicious about the alleged fog. So we walked around the corner to another boat tour company, and sure enough they told us that there was no fog! In fact the weather and sea conditions were so good that they were putting on extra tours, and we managed to get booked on one at 11 a.m. Now, to be fair to the first firm, they refunded us in full. Perhaps the skipper was feeling unwell, or had slept in, and if I had been told the truth I would have understood. But I do hate to be lied to, so it was quite annoying. 

However this was all soon forgotten when we set off on our new boat trip because it was brilliant! We were in a rib which whisked us all the way out to the Blasket Islands. Our young skipper was very informative and also very relaxed about letting us walk about the boat while it was moving, we were all wearing life jackets so it was perfectly safe. We first visited Thunder Cove, spectacularly made of layers of compressed sand and stone, and originally formed where North Africa lies today. We saw sea arches and lobster pots, and many sea birds. We even went right into a sea cave; the water in there was so clear and an amazing green tint. 

Then our skipper cranked up the speed and off we went to the Blasket Islands. He told us that Inishvickillane was bought by future Prime Minister Charlie Haughey in the 1970s, which caused a lot of speculation at the time about how he could afford his lavish lifestyle on a government salary! Great Blasket island (the largest one) was inhabited until 1953 with a beautiful wee beach called the White Strand. But, a bit like our own St Kilda, life for the inhabitants was very harsh especially in the winters and eventually they agreed to be evacuated. We saw lots of puffins flying around from the cliffs. Another of the islands, Inishtooskert, resembles a “dead man” or “sleeping giant”  and there has been children’s book “The Sleeping Giant' written about it. 

On the way back to Dingle we traversed an expanse of shallow water which was thronging with many seabirds, and we encountered the famous Dingle Dolphins who frolicked around the boat. What a fantastic boat trip! And the weather was great the whole time - no fog at all! 

The Rose of Tralee

Today we set off to Dingle, in the extreme south west of Kerry. We decided to have a coffee stop in Tralee on the way, where we went to a wee park full of roses and it had information boards on the origin of the song “The Rose of Tralee.” It’s rather a sad story. A local rich boy fell in love with a much less rich girl (actually called Mary) and his parents sent him away to break up their romance. When he eventually arrived back in Tralee he found out that she had died. He never forgot her and wrote the song in her memory. Not far from Dingle we stopped at Insh Beach which is on a long narrow peninsula. It was extremely hot but I stayed cool by paddling in the lovely cool water as we walked a couple of kilometres along the beach and back. It was a beautiful sandy beach and in idyllic scenes some people were practising their hurling. 
We found our next Airbnb, Boatman’s Cottage, up a wee lane in the centre of Dingle. It’s very comfortable although a bit on the warm side for me, due to the hot weather. James’ and my bedroom windows only opened a tiny amount * We had a walk around the picturesque little seaside town, and booked a boat trip for tomorrow morning, then had an absolutely delicious dinner - I had a citrus and gin risotto with chopped hazelnuts - the best meal of the holiday so far. Back at the cottage we played several lively games of Uno. 

* In fact it was possible to open the window further, which James discovered in the morning. 

Killarney and MacGillicuddy’s Reeks

This has been a big day for our hill-walkers; I dropped them off at Cronin’s Yard campsite at 9 a.m. for the ten mountains in MacGillicuddy’s Reeks that are over 3000 feet. After bidding them farewell I set off for the little town of Killarney. It’s a busy and touristy place, on the ring of Kerry, with attractive wee shops and pubs and cafés. Due to the warm weather most people were sitting at tables outside the cafés which gave the place an almost Parisian feel! I had a lovely coffee outside Reidy’s, wandered the streets and then took myself to nearby Ross Castle. It’s another lovely Irish castle; in fact it’s a “tower castle” primarily built for repelling attackers, with a crenellated roof and “machicolations” front and back, which are stone protrusions at the top of the tower with handy gaps in the floor for pouring boiling oil on one’s enemies. Nice. It was built in the 15th century and has had a colourful history of much fighting. It has a beautiful setting on the shore of Lough Leane, with ducks swimming about and even boat tours. 

Back at the cottage mid afternoon, I prepared dinner and processed the washing, and read my book in the garden. Messages started to come through from James and Ally that they were running late, and that they had conquered all ten peaks - an impressive achievement. Finally I was asked to pick them up at 8.30 p.m. and to bring water because they had drunk all of their supplies. I arrived in the car park early to find them already lying on the ground (except James who was slumped against a wall!) I quickly distributed the water and they slaked their thirst (I love that phrase, used very amusingly in a story by Billy Connolly!) Back at the cottage we had dinner; our hill-walkers were tired but happy. Nobody stayed up late! 

Two Irish Castles

Our next destination was the little village Ballyporeen in County Tipperary, famed for being Ronald Reagan’s ancestral home; he visited the village in the 1980s. We arrived last night, stopping for a hearty pub dinner in the Galtee Inn in Cahir on the way. “Grannie’s Cottage” is markedly more comfortable than our previous gaff, and Ally and Davie switched on the television and started watching football enthusiastically; it was a cup final between Manchester City and Inter Milan. 

This morning we awoke refreshed and I dropped the hill-walkers at the trailhead for Galtymore, today’s mountain. 

I headed back to Cahir to visit the large castle that we had passed yesterday. I was not disappointed. An overcast early morning had segued into a very hot and sunny day. Built (from) 1142, it has seen a lot of fighting and sieges (by the British) and is now a national monument. It’s a gorgeous castle and has been used as a location for various films and tv shows, including The Tudors and The Last Duel, a film we saw only a couple of weeks ago. I had a good wander round and a coffee in The Keep café across the road, before heading back to Galtymore to collect the others at about quarter to two. Their mountain had been successfully bagged and they were in good spirits. 

At Cat’s suggestion we then travelled to Blackrock Castle in the city of Cork, where we had a tasty mid-afternoon snack at their delightful café. It had a really good menu and the staff were very friendly. We went on the 4 o’clock tour, of which the first half was about astronomy because the castle is currently used as an observatory, with a telescope on top of one of its turrets. The guide’s talk about the planets and stars was very interesting, it made me want to start using James’ telescope. Then a second guide marched us up a hundred steps to the top of the tower and told us about the castle’s eventful history, during which it was burned down and rebuilt many times! Among many interesting facts and stories, she told us that the spiral of the spiral staircase is the opposite way round than usual, because it was designed for invaders coming in upwards from the sea, so that the defenders could still have their swords in their right hands when fighting. At least I think that’s what she said. I found it kind of hard to understand. 

We set off to our next destination; Milltown in County Kerry, our base camp for MacGillycuddy's Reeks. Our Airbnb is lovely, the best yet. On our host’s recommendation we had dinner in Bunkers Bar in nearby Killorglan. Dinner was good, it was all decorated in Kerry’s green and gold, there was hurling being broadcast on the bar television there was a live band playing Irish music, and it was definitely the most Irish place that I have ever seen in my life! 

Avoca!

We are in County Wicklow, and currently Ally, Cat, James and Davie are climbing Lugnaquilla, which is the biggest mountain around here and more importantly, over 3000 feet. I dropped them off in the car park in Glenmalure and noted the pick up point for later. I filled up the car with petrol in nearby Laragh and then set off to find the Avoca Mill Shop and Café - their original café that they opened as a wee sideline, before it became so popular that they expanded it and opened more cafés around Ireland. I have been to the one in Dublin and I loved it! Such great food! It was when I realised that we are in County Wicklow that it occurred to me that it might be nearby and it was only 25 minutes drive from Laragh. The village of Avoca itself is also very pretty. The Avoca Mill and shop and café are in old white-painted stone buildings and are very quaint indeed! 

Furths on the Emerald Isle

Ally and Cat are keen to climb all 13 Furths in Ireland, so they have arranged a holiday to do so and invited us to join them. A Furth is a mountain over 3000 feet outwith Scotland but still in Great Britain. In other words they would be Munros if they were in Scotland. They invited Davie and Chanel too, but it's still Chanel's school term so she can't come. I was keen for her to come, because I will miss her and also because as a retired teacher I know what it's like to be restricted as to when you can take your holidays. So I found flights so that Chanel could join us for the last part of the holiday, but she understandably felt that it was too long a journey for only a couple of days. Today has been rather a long day. Ally, James and I got up nice and early to make sure we were in good time to catch the midday P&O ferry from Cairnryan to Larne. The day was divided roughly into two hour slots; two hours to the ferry terminal, two hours on the ferry and two hours to Dublin. Added into that were some contingency time, and two stops in Tescos in Northern Ireland for Ally to find his favourite protein breakfast drink, and some time being lost in the countryside, of which more later. It was very warm and sunny and it was rather too hot indoors in the ferry, so we spent a lot of time out on deck. The crossing was smooth and pleasant. We picked up Davie from Dublin Airport about an hour after he landed, so our timings worked out quite well. 

We are spending the night in a little cottage called Stables Cottage in County Wicklow, about an hour south of Dublin. It’s attached to one of the large horse farms in the area, and we visited the horses in their stable, they are racing horses and very fine. Our arrival at the cottage was delayed by 3/4 of an hour of trying to find it around the village of Grange Con, due to terrible directions from our Airbnb host, so we were tired and relieved by the time we got there. Grange Con is an attractive wee village, with a little Madonna in the centre who has a blue neon halo! The cottage itself was rather basic but fine for one night and we soon settled ourselves in and had tea, and then went for a walk up to the top of the little hill. We got fantastic sunset views all around the hills, and we could see tomorrow’s hill, Lugnaquilla, in the distance. Ally has now gone to collect Cat from Dublin airport (he had to retrace the journey, which was due to my mistake when I booked the cottage - I had forgotten that Cat’s flight from London was much later than Davie’s flight from Manchester.) 

* Update - By half past midnight all five travellers were safely ensconced in the cottage, ready for our Irish adventures to begin. 

A trip to Gourock Outdoor Pool

Another sunny day and another swim, but this time in a different place. Marjory suggested that we go swimming at Gourock Outdoor Pool, which she hadn’t visited before. I have visited it with the boys, but probably about twenty years ago, so I was very happy to go again. My previous visit was during the school summer holidays and I seem to remember heavy traffic on the journey and a very crowded pool on arrival; that’s probably why we only went once even though we enjoyed the experience. Today, midweek during the school term, was very different. There were no delays on the forty-five minute journey, and when we arrived the pool was pleasantly quiet. The sky was still quite overcast (the sun didn’t come through properly until the afternoon) but that didn’t detract from the stunning setting of the swimming pool right on the edge of the Clyde Estuary, with views over the water to Loch Long and the hills of the Cowal Peninsula. In fact Blur have used a photo of the pool and its backdrop as the cover for their new album, The Ballad of Darren. The thirty-three metre salt water pool is heated, but to our slight consternation the pool attendant informed us that their boiler had been giving trouble that morning and had only just been successfully switched back on. We went into the water with trepidation, but actually it was fine, and we had a very good swim, with seagulls circling overhead. This made us quite hungry and we stopped for reviving coffee and scones at Port Glasgow on the way home. By now the sun was out and needless to say as soon as I got home I headed for my hammock! I was soon visited by a beautiful wee robin who perched on the fence beside me and sang to me. 

Arran outing

I’m blogging on the train from Ardrossan to Glasgow, having just spent a really great day on Arran. I always enjoy visiting Arran, however the gorgeous weather rendered the island even more beautiful than usual. The vivid blue of the sea, the lighter but no less bright blue of the sky, the mountains across the bay, the white sailing boats, the stately ferry, all looked extra stunning in the sunshine. Maggie met me at the harbour and we walked along to the Little Rock Cafe where we had a tasty lunch before walking along the front, chatting and laughing. We made our way to Maggie and John’s house to find John sunbathing outside and Millie relaxing in the sun room. I can hardly believe that Millie is seventeen and a half years old - the oldest dog on Arran according to the local vet. We had a lovely afternoon in the garden and then Maggie and John insisted on making me dinner before I went back on the ferry. It was a delightful crossing, with blue sea, blue island and blue sky all in different shades. 

A day at the pool

I’m back in my hammock, no surprises there! What is surprising is how long this spell of hot weather is lasting. We put on the summer duvet this morning, rather belatedly, because the winter duvet has been far too hot over the last week or two. Then, as is traditional, I took the winter duvet to the dry-cleaners so that it will be nice and fresh for the autumn. We spent most of today at David Lloyd’s, where the good weather has turned the poolside into a bustling area with people competing for the sun loungers. As it is Sunday there were also lots of children splashing around. James and I niftily bagged a couple of sun loungers and swam and relaxed and read our books, for all the world as if we were in Sorrento. Well, not quite, because we lacked the requisite stunning sea views beyond the pool. However it was extremely pleasant. We came home at about 4 p.m. to find the cats lying on the table in the back room, enjoying the sunshine. 

Last night we ended up watching the very last episode of the tv series “The Marvellous Mrs Maisel” which had a worthy and quite exciting ending to the eponymous heroine’s story of becoming a stand up comedian in the early 1960s, played by Rachel Brosnahan with a very good supporting cast. And earlier in the week we watched the last ever episode of “Ted Lasso” which was also a fitting ending for a very enjoyable show. I think that we will watch a film tonight, after dinner. 

Lilacs in the Spring

I spent Wednesday and Thursday in Ullapool with James and the weather continued to be fantastic. We had breakfast each morning sitting on the love seat on the new patio and it was idyllic. We also walked around the village inspecting the new harbour front which is nearly finished. I’m still not sure how much of an improvement it will be because I’m worried that the wider road will result in faster traffic - although I realise that for ferry traffic that’s the point! I just hope that the smart new seafront doesn’t detract from its existing casual charm. The two days flew by and then we headed home, to the cats, and swimming at David Lloyd, and a lovely summery dinner at Heather and Ewan’s. And of course more time in the hammock because our mini heatwave continues. I had lunch with Hannah today in Kilmacolm to celebrate her engagement and then headed home to find James setting up the barbecue for dinner - our second of the year! As I read my book in the hammock while the potatoes were baking, I could smell the lilac at the top of the garden wafting its delicate scent into the warm air. It reminded me of buying it in a garden centre near Doncaster in 2019, before the pandemic and all the chaos that it brought. The ephemeral scent of happiness. The barbecue was delicious and we stayed outside for ages.