Thursday, September 12, 2002

Morning

We rise and have breakfast at 08:00.

The sky is clear the sun is shining. Totally different to yesterday. Intending to make the most of it, we walk around the hotel grounds, and over the causeway.

Wild swans are enjoying the sun too.

A cattery is spotted on the road from Rosscarbery to Ballineen.

Moving in

We're back at the rectory at 09:30. Maud greets us. Sebastian doesn't: he has escaped; he has done a runner: a window had been left open.

"He'll turn up" says Judith optimistically.

The removal men arrive to unpack. By 13:00 they are done. We say goodbye to our English friends. The next friends we meet will be Irish!

We take a lunch break in the garden.

Maud joins us. She hears a neighbour's dog and climbs a tree for safety. Getting down is a bit slow and clumsy. Her drugs are still wearing off.

We hear Sebastian meow from the undergrowth. He's around. Best not alarm him by chasing after him.

The beds are made, curtains are put up. The bedrooms are usable.

Everything we do we are accompanied by a sleepy Maud. She wants to sleep, but doesn't want to loose sight of Judith. She mews pathetically when alone. (Fear not. The normally robust Maud is restored in a couple of days.)

Ballineen

I walk around the village. The shopkeepers are very talkative!

I entered one shop. An item of plumbing had taken my interest.
After half an hour I leave. We had discussed several of the world's major troubles but nothing to do with plumbing.

This is my first taste of the local Irish people.