This morning, despite my nagging sore feet, I went for a bit of a walk in the spitting rain, around the neighbourhood. I opted not to walk down the hill into town because I'd have to climb back up. It's fairly flat for a few hundred yards in the other direction so off I went. At the end of the pavement a narrow road, Strawberry Hill according to the sign, looked quite attractive. Going this direction I would be walking uphill to start with and could finish with the down hill run. Hmmm - I stuck to the more-or-less flat streets. There's really nothing truly flat around here. This is a small town but there is much farmland too. In one nearby field were two horses having a quiet moment. In another, directly across the road from Moss Cottage, were a few goats. None of the animals obliged by prancing, jumping or doing anything much at all. I hoped the goats would provide some amusement but they were more intent on munching the grass.
During a brief visit to her place on Friday, Margaret had invited me and two others for dinner today. I met Anne and Lynne when I was here in Spring 2013 when they were planning "The Gathering: Canada Come Home". That's when I also met Margaret. It was a wonderful afternoon of eating and talking and the hours flew by.
Dinner featured leg of lamb with mint jelly and gravy, potatoes - two kinds, roasted veggies, peas and the most amazing rhubarb crumble. I topped it all off with a couple of cups of coffee. I should feel sleepy around 3 am - I'm wide awake now and it's almost midnight.
Instead of taking route-planning advice which had resulted in a rather twisted route through Gorey to get here, I let the GPS take me back to Ashford. I have renewed faith in the annoying little voice that tells me, nicely, where to go.
Most of the way was on quite good roads up to the motorway which is terrific. The one part on narrow twisting roads was traversed in sunshine. Every corner brought a lovelier view - at least so far as I could see it while driving. Around one bend was a massive house with the most amazing multi-level thatched roof. I will have to go back on the next sunny day and take pictures. Not far from there the winding trail went over a narrow stone bridge. I was grateful there was nobody coming the other way. Eventually this road led to Ferns and its lovely castle which houses a tapestry that I'm putting on the list of 'what to see'.
As the journey took less time than I needed, I asked the GPS where to find the nearest Lidl store, and found it easily. I stocked up on some herbs/spices for cooking. I briefly contemplated an inexpensive milk frother quite similar to one I had at home that really doesn't do an adequate job. Right beside it was an electric steamer/frother which called my name. I answered the call. It wasn't expensive either. Tomorrow's coffee will be a great improvement over any I've made so far. The cinnamon I bought will top it off nicely.
I'm going to try to get the bedroom cool enough to really enjoy the cosy warm duvet. It was a bit of overkill last night. I have more heating options here than I'd ever imagined.
Our conversation this afternoon did wander down the genealogy trail as the other girls are also interested in their family histories. Margaret pulled out a roll of pages of her family tree. The author produced it using Excel - a spreadsheet. It was a work of art. I can only imagine how long it took to put together and to reference each ancestor from page to page.
I'm waiting to hear from a volunteer genealogist in Co Kildare who is going to help me try to locate information, and maybe the precise location, of the home place of my Fennell and Whelan ancestors. Fingers crossed that she has time soon. It's only an hour's drive away and I'll be there whenever it suits her.
No specific plans for this week other than to get somewhat organized about my searches and writing. I'll probably drive over to Coolross and Rocktavern to say hello as well.
Hopefully my next installment will be more interesting.
Ann
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