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| Breathtaking view over the bay. |
Fascinating Fact of the Day About Ireland
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| John, our friend and the fish guy with Tom in the driveway. |
So please bear with me as I race through it, feeling compelled and yet pleased to finally be typing on the keyboard of my laptop. A nap is beaconing me, and although I usually only doze for 15 minutes, it’s everything I need to spur me on for the rest of the day. We’ll see how likely that will be.
This morning, knowing Ann was coming at 9:00 am to clean the house, we both bolted out of bed in a hurry knowing we’d like to get breakfast out of the way, tidy some of our “stuff” throughout the house, and be ready for her to take over for several hours.
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| Mom and Baby. |
As always, Tom made bacon and the perfect fried eggs on the planet. This morning there was a special treat to savor with my two eggs: fresh crabmeat John had dropped off last night. Adding chopped celery and a bit of mayonnaise, I made a quick crab salad, along with a few ounces of smoked salmon and a tiny avocado on the side.
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| Rescued donkeys are commonly found in Ireland, where love and respect for these animals are evident. |
Once we cleaned the kitchen and hung a load of laundry on the rack in the entry room, we planned the menu for our remaining seven breakfasts and seven dinners in Ireland. It was effortless planning this together as we always do.
After chatting with Ann before we left, knowing we had many stops ahead of us, we took off ready to tackle the day. Tom needed a haircut, and I needed to visit the pharmacy for a few toiletries and to speak to the pharmacist about some of the meds I am trying to wean off in the next few months.
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| Messy, dirty sheep with red identifying paint. |
I’ve discovered that one of the drugs makes me feel exhausted and results in too low of a pulse, often as low as the high 40’s when at rest. The surgeon suggested I get off several of the drugs at this point, which hopefully won’t cause any issues. I’m down two drugs with two more to go.
Tomorrow, I’ll begin the slow weaning process he suggested, which may take a month. But, the process is slow since this particular heart medication requires a prolonged weaning process to avoid a sudden increase in heart rate. I can’t wait until the toxic substances are out of my system.
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| Ruins in the neighborhood. |
So many of these medications have severe, life-threatening and debilitating side effects. Since I tend to be sensitive to drugs anyway, this surely is the right path for me at this point. I am looking forward to feeling like my “old self” once again, if that’s at all possible.
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| Belted Galloway cow all possess this unique pattern of a white belt around their midsection. |
He’d stopped at the barbershop while I started the grocery shopping at SuperValu to discover so many customers waiting. He joined me with a plan to return to the after grocery shopping. He had no choice. He needed a haircut, plain and simple.
Once we loaded the car with the groceries, we drove the few blocks to the tiny barbershop, put money in the parking meter, and prepared ourselves for a long wait. Although three other men were waiting, within 25 minutes, Tom was in the barber chair.
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| Piles of cut peat are often found at the side of the road. |
After a good haircut, priced at Euro 12, US $13.37 plus a generous tip of Euro 5, US $5.57, we were on our way back to our holiday home. Ann was still here finishing the cleaning, but we worked our way around her and put everything away. It was sweet saying goodbye to Ann once again. Such a lovely woman with whom we became very attached over the past three months.
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| Scenic lake. |
As we wind down our time in Ireland, we can hardly believe three months have passed. We’re ready to move along, hoping a change of scenery and activities will be good for both of us.
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| Little attempting to mate with this young female. For more photos, please click here. |