Wandering? not today

Today I gained an hour as the clocks went back overnight. My apple watch, Macbook and iPhone all behaved well and reset themselves. I woke up to the news that Braden and Sammie were at the airport at the boarding gate and ready for the trip home. They'd spent the past couple of days in Dublin taking in whatever sites appealed to them. Their special souvenirs from Egan's made it through security and will be enjoyed at home. 

I miss having Heather, Braden and Sammie with me. They are all excellent company and travel companions. None contributed greatly to the Irish economy by splurging on souvenirs although a couple of items returned to Canada with them. The beauty of carry-on luggage is that it restricts the number of purchases one can take back home. Heather's souvenir sweater from the Alpaca walk (it was cold and she needed something warmer to wear), and Braden and Sammie's Guinness glasses will help keep them warm back at home.

Yesterday was a relaxing day at The Store. Donal delivered some fresh eggs from the resident chickens and John O stopped in for a coffee. Aside from that I stocked up on groceries at Aldi, topped up the gas tank at Texaco and withdrew my rent money from the ATM - all in Bunclody. For a small town the traffic would rival many larger places. 

Last evening I had a lovely dinner with Susan and Damien, just up the way. They have a remarkably long and winding driveway on which you would never want to meet another oncoming car. There was no need to worry as I was expected. To keep people on the narrow road, they have some signs like "do not pass" all installed for the purpose of keeping drivers on the track. If one should ignore the signs your fate would be sealed, tumbling over the edge. It was very dark and pouring rain, but on leaving, Damien with his umbrella, guided my reversing so that I'd safely manoeuvre my way back to the "main" road. It was barely wider than their lane.

We enjoyed a mainly genealogical bent to the conversation. Susan has done extensive researching of her roots and Damian's. Both she and I are writing the family stories now. Why is it that everyone else's family seems more interesting than my own? We are both very keen to have accurate records, while being very aware that there are errors on our family trees. That doesn't deter others from wantonly copying people from one tree to another without regard to any real relationship to their own, nor to any notes we've included to say that a particular person or fact has not been sufficiently verified. I've given up caring.

It was a relatively early night, followed by an extra hour's sleep. Today is a lazy hermit sort of day. It's raining now (quelle surprise!) and promises of similar weather all week could mean progress with my writing or research. I might only need slippers as plans don't involve the outdoors.

So, cosying up with a coffee and the trusty laptop, here's to progress in writing.