Coill na Baice to Trá Lí

Last Friday Zoë and I went on a rail journey. I'd been worried as Storm Eunice was ongoing but somehow we managed to dodge it the entire trip. Belfast was blue skies, Dublin even bluer skies. There was a flurry of rain as we passed through Tipperary and Tralee was a bit blustery. 

Obviously, the purpose of our trip was to visit Kerry Sister and the family, most especially Seánaí, her brand new grandson.

Great Aunt Nelly and the child. Taken by ZB?

We had four nights west of Dingle and it was a lovely time. The new baby was a beautiful darling and our hosts were definitely the mostest.  And there were dogs. I always feel most at home where there are dogs.

The journey home went well too. Home last night just after eight o'clock. I was tired but today I'm enlivened. I can still feel the weight of Séanaí in my arms and the soft silk of his dark hair against my face. It was such a good outing, family, stories, dogs and a new bambino. What could be nicer?

And I learned a few new things about knitting too. And finished A Pin To See The Peepshow.

 

In Need Of Cheer

October flowering California poppy, Eschscholzia californica 

One pinch of seeds, one seed tray, perhaps two dozen plantlets, dotted here and there in the flower beds and they just keep giving and giving. Pretty generous with the seed pods too. I've seed left over from this year so shall compare how bought seed does with collected. But only if I remember to label them correctly.

Things like this are very cheering on a day when the only good news is the pregnancy of a television star and a ginger prince. A day when a bigoted right-wing party from Northern Ireland can hold a government to ransom although I actually don't care that much about that, except I think that when Sammy Wilson's utterances seem to matter a fuck then the United Kingdom is DOOMED. Surely he only exists to mock Sinn Fein and be mocked by Sacha Baron Cohen?