It's getting frustrating that the internet connection comes and goes - sometimes up for a few hours and sometimes for minutes. It's impossible to upload photos at the moment. I'll look into transferring from Dropbox to Flickr and will put a link here. You really don't want me to link to Dropbox where my photos are uploaded automatically from the phone (my camera) whenever I have wifi. At present that is not a smooth process. Every time the uploading is in progress and the wifi quits, it kind of resets so I have multiple copies of each picture in Dropbox and I have to get in there and delete 2/3 of the pics.
Yesterday the big adventure was to be a walk in a new place. I don't enjoy walking in a heavy mist so decided against it as soon as I stepped out the door. I did get my hair trimmed - always stressful with a new hairdresser. Time will tell but I'm not overjoyed with the trim. I can live with it until time for the next one.
The highlight of the day was the evening in Bolinrush. Kathleen and Luke hosted the entire family and we had a wonderful meal with more dessert offerings than most restaurants. I loved the amazing apple crumble with custard sauce. My idea of a small serving is somewhat different that what I received, but I loved every morsel. I did pass on the other choices.
After solving the world's political problems over supper, at my table - there were two tables - we all moved into the lounge and enjoyed further conversation. I did learn of a story-telling evening at Ballyroebuck next Saturday night - Feb 25 - during the time that the Keatings are coming for a weekend visit. I hope they're up for it because it sounds like a great time. According to Google Maps it's a 12 minute drive from here. Really? I think I'll do a little test run in the meantime. Rest assured the route is not on roads wide enough for a centre line. That also means not necessarily enough room for two cars to pass with all wheels on the pavement. I've come to appreciate driving at night ,when the headlights warn you of oncoming traffic. Traffic being about one oncoming car per 5 minutes of driving.
When I asked the family for recommendations of places to visit, Ina spoke of the Heritage Park in Wexford and that sounds like a great place to spend a few hours. It's about an hour's drive away. Maybe that's where we will go during the day next Saturday. There are lots of other places of historical significance in that area too.
The rental car! I'm so NOT in love with this little piece of garbage - a CITGO. It will soon be a CITGONE. It can't decide whether to be a manual or an automatic. There's no room in the backseat for anyone with legs. The trunk can hold a load of groceries - remember I'm shopping for one person. It hates hills, pausing to decide whether or not to proceed from time to time. This is rather a disadvantage as I'm in very hilly territory. Whenever it changes gears - in automatic mode - it's like attempting a bad gear change without properly engaging the clutch. There is no "Park". You must use the hand brake when you stop. The "gears" are neither lined up vertically as on an automatic, nor in the familiar H pattern of a manual. When you turn the key to start the beast, there is no reaction for several seconds leading one to think it's not going to start. All in all - insert scream here.
I've just had a conversation with a helpful Hertz agent. I can turn in the little beast on Monday, in Wexford town, for a fee of 40 Euro. Then I can pick up, at that location, a diesel vehicle which will be either another Ford Focus as I had in January, or a VW Polo (Golf for those of us from across the pond). Yay! Either will be fine. The very nice agent told me that would be a much bigger car. Well it's not so huge, but it will allow me to carry passengers, groceries and even suitcases if desired. I can hardly wait.
I've now booked online for a better car, an automatic, with diesel engine. All done and dusted!
I toyed with the idea of saving money by renting a manual as I have at times in the past. However, it's not that expensive living here and it's just so much easier with an automatic that I'm willing to pay the huge premium. Note to the nieces and nephews, your inheritance is dwindling.
Genealogy alert:
I've started working on a binder for Jim, of his family tree. Good progress has been made and with the rate at which Irish records are becoming available, I will at some point simply have to call a halt and work on something else. Just yesterday I found a record that had been in hiding. The family has suffered a lot of losses of children over the years. In almost every case it was from an illness that would not be fatal today. The same thing happened in Canada to the Byrne/Burns family in the 19th and early 20th centuries. I've also uncovered several examples of blindness of males in the family, both here and in Canada, but I have no information on the cause of the blindness in any of the cases. Was it genetic? We'll never know.
I'm going to branch out a little and work on Tom and Kathy's mother's family for a bit. I'm hoping to unravel some mysteries that have arisen from DNA test results. I don't know that I am connected to these in-laws, but the answers are out there somewhere. Welcome to my X Files.
It's wet again today. If it looks like it will stop for long enough I'll stroll into town and/or drive to Gorey, or maybe go in the opposite direction back to Co Laois to look for Fennells. I'm trying to think like a detective and currently am torn between a little shopping trip (not detective like) and talking to people about whether they had heard of the Fennells and where did they all go? Once that's sorted out I'll work on the Whelans. Ah the joys.
Enough for now.
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