Counting Down and Progress in the Meantime

 This is one of those weeks where I am constantly having to stop and think abut what day it is. Over the weekend, we packed some more stuff and on Monday morning, my friend, M came over so we could load the her and take off for Killybegs. Once again I was amazed at how much we fit in her little car on this second trip. There wasn't much that was heavy this time--a few books and my slow cooker. The rest was lighter. Before packing things into the car, I laid down one of my knitted blankets and then on top of that, a big, heavy, thick blanket that a friend gave me years ago. I used it for a while as a blanket in one of the places we lived when we had a real cold snap, but other than that, it's been used as a cover for chairs or couches. The colors are deep, rich, and gorgeous. If I'd folded it up, it would've taken up lots of room, but laid flat, it took up none at all. Anyway, we got there, unloaded, went to a delightful little place for lunch, which hadn't been there when we lived there before, and enjoyed a lovely lunch. I shall go there again. I got some food to bring home for Bill and me for supper as well. I was glad I did because it was a long day. After lunch, we went to Fintra Beach with Finn and his mom and were there for over an hour playing ball, of course.

When we arrived, everything was blue--the sky, the sea, and even the rocks and hills had a blue tinge to them. In the photo above, in the far distance, you can just see Benbulben in Co Sligo. Even that seemed faintly blue. But as we were walking and kicking balls, the clouds started rolling in, as you see above. We walked to the far end of the beach and played there for a while before turning around and heading back towards the car. We were almost back there when we felt the first sprinkles whipping around in the wind so we picked up the pace and got inside the car before it started raining in earnest. Then we dropped off Finn and his mum, said good-bye to my other friend, and headed home. Now we just have odds and ends and houseplants left to move.

It was nice to see the new cottage after it was painted last week. It looks beautiful. Work there is continuing with the cast iron bath removed from upstairs and the shower that will replace it arriving yesterday. Someone is coming to clean the cottage on Friday and some furniture is being moved in. 

Yesterday was a much needed quiet day. I stayed home, drank tea and coffee, read a soon-to-be-published cozy mystery, and enjoyed the sound of the splattering rain. This morning I was off again with M, this time to a knitting and crochet group that started at a place down the road from me. If I was going to be here, it's one I'd continue to go to. The women seem quite nice and I enjoyed their conversations. I think I would've had the possibility to do some teaching there as well, but it's not practical--I'll be too far away. I'm sure they'll find someone to teach what they want taught and I'll probably have opportunities later in the year. I'll look into that once we're settled. One thing I am sad about is that some of the women are making blankets for a children's ambulance service--something to give the kids when they have to be in the ambulance and that's something I would definitely contribute to. Perhaps there's a similar initiative in Killybegs. I'll find out. After the group, we went out to lunch. I had a lovely bowl of soup and picked up a couple of slices of white chocolate raspberry cheesecake so Bill and I can have a nice dessert later. Then we stopped at a grocery store where I was able to get some yummy farm fresh chard and other things. Tomorrow is the library knit and crochet group at the library, which I will miss very much. That's a smaller group, but a very good one and I've made friends there--people I wouldn't have met without the group. 

So we've got a couple of weeks left here. We won't be bringing any more stuff until the cleaning is done and the furniture is in place there. That's fine. I can use a couple of quiet days at home. 

I hope you're enjoying your days, whatever you're doing.

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