And the time moves on ... part 1

I found a draft of a short note from February which I have now published (in November!) Trying to catch up is fiddly, so what follows are the thoughts as they come to me as I write, rather than a consecutive diary.

Time does move on. I haven't been in touch with my acquaintance in Suffolk. She was probably mentioned in my other blog - she is post-op TS in her late 70's, highly intelligent but also self-absorbed. Although she was supportive last year, her lifestyle and mine are quite different and I need to follow my instincts and much has happened. I ought to add that she leaves it up to me to make contact which, to my mind, suggests she is not wanting for interests!

Early in the year P was responding well to her Parkinson's medication and looking forward to the trip to Ireland. I was increasing my self-imposed workload to try and finish the characterisation of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the district. Thinking back on that always triggers the memory of last year when I accompanied a consultant to look at the landscape near the coast and the memory is particularly strong just now as yesterday would have been Barbara's birthday:

[I had stayed over at Barbara's the night before and met the consultant near Folkestone in the morning. We had an excellent day out - it is very rare for me to be able to discuss 'landscape' at length with another professional. Afterwards I dropped her back at the pub near Ashford she was staying. She suggested we have meal and carry on chatting but however much the idea appealed, and it did, something told me to decline the offer and go and visit Barbara (I had intended going straight home that night). The shock of seeing Barbara's condition after such a good day was quite traumatising - she was pale, clammy and in a panic ("Where had I been?"). I called an ambulance and the paramedic who arrived thought she may have had a mild heart attack. (Barbara, as was her wont had not used her alarm button to summon help earlier). B was taken to hospital and we spent several hours in resus. That was the Thursday. The hospital treated Barbara with antibiotics but she did not respond. The drugs were continued through the weekend, but Barbara was fading. Medication was ceased late Monday. I stayed with her until 8pm on Tuesday evening, when exhaustion took over and I went home. I had the call from the hospital at 6am on the Wednesday morning.

I guess that association with the landscape will be with me until my end.]

Poulnabrone Portal Tomb

Back to Ireland: P was uncertain how far she could travel in any one day, so we arranged to travel slowly to Carran, stopping at Swansea and then Waterford after the ferry from 'Fishguard' (actually Goodwick, a nice little port). We ate at a French restaurant in Waterford, and the next morning I was too ill to have breakfast. We still think it was more likely to have been caused by the buffet breakfast at the Swansea Ibis than anything else. It didn't matter ... Ireland was already casting its spell on us and by the time we arrived at the Burren, I was falling in love! The woman who owned the cottage was really friendly - it seems the cottage must have been the family home at one time, although she now lived in Dublin. We settled in immediately and went for a drive along the coast and past Poulnabrone which was deserted, so I managed to get lots of photos of it. Sunday, it rained for some of the day, but we got out and saw more and then we saw more on the Monday which was just cloudy and we also booked the ferry to Inisheer where I had already arranged an overnight stay. The weather the rest of the week was fine and the trip to Inisheer was fun. I only managed one day's walk during the week, but that reflected Pauline's good health and her wanting to do things!

On the Saturday we had a relaxed drive to Dundalk and found Pamela's quite easily. I managed, idiotically, to scratch the car but we settled in easily and it was a real pleasure to meet our hosts in person, especially Mary. Our stay was a bit of a blur (there was endless craic from start to finish) and I can't remember that much. In the evening we had a takeway from the famous Roma and then went round the corner to the local bar which was quite noisy (a major football match was on). It might have been later that evening we were introduced to Pamela's encyclopedic knowledge of television series from the 60's and 70's and settled into an episode of Randall and Hopkirk (deceased). We were treated to the full Irish breakfast on Sunday and then P, P and I went to Carlingford. It's a blur, but think we may have gone to the bar on the road to Blackrock in the evening. On Monday we dressed and had the sofa interview and, maybe, had another takeaway from the Roma. Tuesday was Dublin and I think that was the day Mary cooked a really tasty steak dinner for us while we were out. Pamela, in drab, was an excellent guide, but clearly the pain in her knee (which will need replacement) was severe. On Wednesday Pamela and I went to Blackrock and then Callan's for a 'dressed' meal in the evening. It was a stay with many highlights, but what stood out was just how easily we got on. On Thursday we had a fond farewell and then Pauline and I drove to Dún Laoghaire for our ferry which was actually waiting for us at Dublin Port! We missed it and caught the next one to Holyhead, arriving at midnight in the pouring rain. We ignored our booking at the Travelodge and drove back overnight, which was fine until just outside Dover when P decided to do some back-seat driving. After 6.5 hours behind the steering wheel I was not amused. The independence we each have gotten used to caused no issues between us, except who is driving when on the road! This was to be repeated on the later trip, but that's for Part 2 (and 3 and 4).


I'm not sure how long it took for me to book the cottage in Carran again for next May, but there was no hesitation in inviting Pamela and Mary to join us there. Back home, apart from going through photos of the trip, work became all-consuming. We had a heatwave this Summer and the benefit to me was that I didn't have to mow the grass, or do anything else in the garden. I had a deadline of end of August for the landscape work and in the last month that entailed working up to seven days a week. It was completed and is now onto the next stage - digitising and putting it on our website, but that's not for me. Probably, other things happened, I just don't recall them yet.