Week of December 7, 2015

Monday is generally my art day. Kevin and Dimitry have a free drawing class in the Friary along John Street, not far from me. This week we worked on using our outstretched arm with a pencil in our hand with a squint to measure relative size. Here is my attempt at a still life.

A couple of pitchers.

Two tries at an antique planer.

The second part of the lesson was drawing negative spaces. The set up was two chairs - one upright and the other on its side up against the upright one.

You can see it (and all the photos for that matter) better if you click on it.

After art class I met Sarah at TK Maxx to look for a handbag for her upcoming travels, then on to Simon Lambert's for lunch. Sarah had already eaten so just had coffee. I had lamb with chips and roasted root vegetables. We then strolled around town stopping in some of the shops and it began to rain, lightly at first and then the sky opened. We ended up at Dunnes and Sarah called her husband, John, and he came and picked us up.

Talked to the grand girls via FaceTime in the evening to see the decorations at Papa's that they helped hang and found out that my Christmas package was already received. No worries this year! All my shopping is done and I didn't go over my self-imposed limit.

On Tuesday, it was again another sunny morning as I set out for my group walk across the bridge.

This is from my parking lot; you can see my spot marked 17.

See the beautiful sky.

More sky and interesting chimneys

Love, love, love being by the water.

The Wexford Bridge that I am walking across to meet my group.

The decking can be very slippery when wet, so walkers have to be careful.

Just about 3/4 of the way through our walk, it started to pour - I mean it was coming down in buckets! I was soaked from the bottom of my jacket to the soles of my feet, but stopped in to the Riverbank House Hotel for our tea anyway. This time we sat by the fireplace, though. It was dry walking home afterward, but I was still wet and cold. So when I got home I turned on the immersion heater to get some water hot, did some laundry to hang in the spare bedroom on the clothes horse by the radiator, then showered. I really must try the shower in the main bathroom. It is in a bathtub. My shower is a rectangle standing one and my arms are too long. I am forever banging my elbows.

Late in the afternoon I met Sarah at Dunnes, then went to Trimmers for tea. It was quite chilly this evening, but quite pleasant without the wind.

I had a lovely surprise in the evening - Mona called me via Messenger and we talked for quite a long time. I miss her and my other friends at Gallery Place. I look forward to seeing them when I am back to visit in late May and early June.

Wednesday is usually my Fab@50 aerobics class, but my thumbs are still very sore from kickboxing last week. I go back to A&E on Wednesday next week for a reappraisal, but am still being quite protective of them. I walked instead to Bean & Berry for an omelet and then took a walk along the quay and across the bridge and back. I stopped in at the Wexford Dental Clinic on my way back and made an appointment for an evaluation and cleaning close to Christmas. If I understood the receptionist correctly, the exam and the cleaning both done by the dentist will cost €65. Unbelievable!

I continued my walk to Pettit's SuperValu for a few groceries, then stopped by home to put them away. I am still getting mail for previous tenants so walked to the post office branch on Main Street before heading for St. Aidans to see the other, bigger SuperValu. I really like the selection there. It is much bigger and is a better walk for me, so I may take my business there from now on. It is owned by the same family that owns the downtown one and they have their own farm from which they get their meat.

When I got home I lazed around for awhile playing Words and Wordbubble (I am addicted to it, Anne, just as you predicted), then went out after dark to get a few more pix. The day time photos below are from across the bridge near the pool where we meet to walk on Tuesdays.

The next ones are from around town and the quay after dark.

On Thursday I usually do aqua aerobics at the gym, but the thumbs, you know, so instead I headed out for a walk to an area I haven't walked before. It included a walk up a really big long hill. I enjoyed it and took some pictures from the top of the hill.

This is from the top of the hill. You can see the River Slaney just north of the Wexford Bridge in the distance.

This one was taken toward the north from part way down the hill and shows the Super Value I trekked to the other day.

This is at a junction. I usually go left (The Fide is how I think people pronounce it), but today I went up Mulgannon to the top of the hill where it dead ends in a cul de sac. My friends Lionel and Connie from the group walk and Sunday ambles live up there.

I walked along the Faythe on the way back because there is a juxtaposition of two buildings that I thought would make an interesting picture. What do you think?

A gun shop right next door to a Montessori school.

Here are a few more pictures from the day.

Another beautiful sky from the parking lot of my apartment. There is something rather special living right next to old ruins.

More ruins

I love these brick buildings with the interesting and colorful windows.

And another.

Love architecture and colorful buildings.

Appears to be an old graveyard along the Faythe.

See the empty (at least I think they are empty) kegs from the evening before along the sidewalk

Look slightly familiar?

I have no idea what these lads are doing, but thought it made a good photo.

One of the local fishing boats.

Lovely skyline.

Along the quay with a partial reflection.

It's Friday and I stayed up very late reading last evening. I couldn't believe it when I checked the clock when I got up. It was just after 10. Got up, made coffee and laid around drinking it then had a banana before getting dressed and heading out for my first walk of the day. I did my usual walk over to Redmond Square across to the bus/train station and then across the bridge, then back and along the quay before heading into town. I noticed that Simon Lambert's had butternut, carrot, coconut milk soup so stopped. That banana didn't go very far. It was only in the mid-40s, but without wind it was quite pleasant. Sarah called me just as I sat down to order, so she walked down to have lunch with me. She had the soup too.

Walked over to the butchers (Doyles) for a lamb roast as I had some root vegetables I wanted to roast. Brought it home to put in the fridge and then headed for Tesco. They have a wider selection of toiletries and I needed deodorant, mouthwash, and fingernail polish remover. When I am done with the blog I will attack these fingernails. I also bought some fresh rosemary to rub into my lamb roast along with some olive oil and cooked it slowly with carrots and turnips. Wonderful meal.

Tomorrow the TidyTown group is supposed to be meeting on the quay near the skating rink. I am not sure what we are doing - picking up is my guess - but it is supposed to rain tomorrow so I will wait and see. On Sunday a friend, Susan, is performing in a choir performance at Clonard Church and if it is not raining Sarah and I will be going. It is so nice to have things to do here. So far I have not been at a loss for entertainment. I am also on my last book - it is called Ask Alice - and I am quite enjoying it. I may have to find time to get to the library tomorrow to replenish my supply.

Hope I haven't overdone on the photos and have not bored you to death. Maybe I shouldn't wait so long between posts. What say? Do you like a weeklong post like this or do you prefer a shorter version more often?

Tata....