It was a quiet Sunday, a Sunday that was spent just resting. It started too warm, the usual early breakfast and coffee. The vat was fed, and appeared to be quite content. It was a day of rase and leisure, it eas not spent doing anything in particular. As the day went on it even started to rain. This was great, now there was no need even to water the plants in the courtyard.
The son came up and set up a few things on the computer, that was nice.
It was a lazy Sunday.
The cat walked in and started to complain. It is hot this morning. The temperature is almost twenty degrees and the day has not started yet. Stroke the cat, and she commences to shed hair profusely, one would almost imagine a bald cat. But there is so much fur there, there is no chance of that.
Get up, dizzy with the heat. Yesterday was cooler, and even though it was a late evening sleep was impossible this morning. It all takes getting used to. In other countries, this temperature would be regarded as cool.
The cat wanders about, dissatisfied. Then she goes downstairs. Follow her downstairs, go to the bathroom, and then make the regular breakfast. The avocados have gone soft, they will hopefully not be overly so in the next few days. Maybe it will be possible to have two tomorrow.
Showering is one way to cool down, try not to waste too much water. But it is most pleasant.
Trump versus Biden in the news, two old men attacking each other. America should be ashamed. It is, to my mind, more tasteless than mud wrestling. Apparently nobody spoke about the planned policies for that huge country.
Spend the morning trying to get things organised, with only very minor success. But it does not matter. Yesterday the son helped to carry down the old chest of drawers that has to be got rid of. Now there is space to waste again.
quiet, it was a beautiful morning, despite som stomach pains. The cat called to awaken her human, she made quite a fuss because of her hunger. She received nothing but a sleepy look, why it was six in the morning, who does the feline think she is?
Perhaps she is well aware that she is a cat.
She stops making noises when she realises that there is no point.
The day was spent trying to sort things out, then a short meal of a bowl of soup and a handful of rice. Afterwards, a cup of coffee and a thin slice of lemon cake.
The son arrived in the evening, and helped to carry down the old cupboard. Perhaps the people who are getting it will be able to have it repaired, who knows? There was a lot of carrying upstairs and downstairs, and now the room is emptier than it was. The cat was disturbed by the missing piece of furniture.
The son shows what he would like for his birthday, and just buy it online. Things are so easy nowadays, items are just so easy to have. Before you think about it you have spent what used to be half a months wages.
Now it is a quarter past eight, it is Thursday. At nine it will be time to pick up the Argentine at his flat and take him on an hour's drive to Tittling, where his friend is suffering from cancer. It is a small favour for an older man.
From an older man. People say that sixty-nine is no age, but sixty-nine years elapsed is a very long time. Both men, visitor and visited are older. The driver is younger, those other two are both over seventy.
It is a fine day, and it will turn hot. The threat of the scorching summer is turning real, it is a thing that will have to be lived with in the future. A smell of burning paper comes in through the window, either somebody is starting up a grill for breakfast, or the neighbouring ceramic artist has decided to start her kiln.
The birds are quietening down for the day, after their morning chorus at six today. The cat was excited by a bird that dared land on the balcony. The bird flew away unscathed, despite the cats best efforts. The plants on the balcony where watered too.
Now there is the sound of the neighbours talking, and now it is almost half past eight in the morning. The workers at the various building sites have been doing their things for some time now, going by the sound of the cranes that they use. They will start their morning break soon.
In five minutes it will be time to leave the house. There is now time to check whether anything has been forgotten or not. The plants have been watered, the pills have been taken. The camera has been packed.
Everything seems complete.
It was a pleasant afternoon up at the artist's place, chatting away and just relaxing. A day for a retiree, watching all those other elderly retirees buying ceramic art. The morning was spent trying to organise a few things at home, and also trying to fix up a few private pictures.
At midday, there was a short trip to the supermarket, to buy six tins of cat food. There is no reason to let the cat starve just because the wife no longer sees it as her job to buy the stuff. Deliver a postcard to the adress of the Scot who wanted the information upon it. The letterboh0x to the Scot's flat is in a serious state of disrepair.
After this srive on slowly to the artists place. There is not much happening, and then suddenly there is a whole lot of action, with visitors and the driver of a large vinatage American car. It is a Chevrolet Corvette, a sleek monster of a car.. The conversation changes from ceramics to cars. Take a picture on the mobile phone of the artist couple sitting in the car.
Remain chatting all evening, and enjoy a pleasant meal in the garden.
Then drive home, and realise that somebody has won a match in this years European Championships. There are people driving their cars yelling and blowing their horns.
From the television sets to the cars, everybody playing with their favourite things
Tuesday was a strange awakening, it just took longer. There was that episode chatting to a young woman in the pub last night. Everyone thought that this was just an old codger attempting some sexual contact. It wasn't, it was just an attempt to be polite and to escape a strange meeting. Being polite is easy enough, the woman was drunk and talking about her own experiences in the world of high finance. A curious thing for a broke photographer to be talking about. It went on until a bit later, so that getting to bed was late, and getting up in the morning was late too.
The day was spent drifting from space to space. The man from Argentina was there, met with him, chatted, and drank a glass of beer. Not so much else happened, apart from a telephone call making up arrangements for tomorrow. Thursday there will be a drive to meet the man with the bad lungs, the cancer patient.
The late afternoon was spent playing a strategy game on the computer. It is a pointless form of relaxation.
It is those bright scary summer days that all fear are here to stay now that is blowing its warm air and shining its bright sunlight in through open verandah door. As it is morning, the temperature is not yet unpleasant. The beginning of the month was cool, but now it is getting warmer all the time, now that the longest day of the year is past.
Things are not good and not so pleasant. There is the distinct feeling that things need to be done but that the strength and the reslove to do them is just not available. It is sad, but we all get older, and loneliness is taking a bite out of what should be happiness.
Breakfast is a high point of the day, always followed by an indecisive low. It should be possible to get out and do some work of some kind, but it is hard to lift oneself by ones own shoelaces.
There are no bootstraps any more
They seem out of fashion.
Just left the house after breakfast and took the car down to see the collector in Vilshofen, There was no point in hanging around at home longer, the enmity of the situation was depressing.
The streets were still deserted, it was all just before the Sunday exodus, people still asleep or breakfasting, a few in church.
The first part of the journey was quiet, the motorway not busy at all. Proceed at a steady ninety-five kilometres an hour, there is no need to waste fuel getting there ahead of time. The A 92 is quiet, but the traffic picks up on the A3 for the last part of the journey. Arrive, and visit the coffee shop. This has changed owners, but still has the same people working in it. The coffee has changed its name, but tastes the same.
Walk around the small town for an hour, and then settle down to wait in front of the collectors house. He has library duty today, it will be done at midday.
He arrives, and has a wish to go visit a place that he does not get to easily. It turns out to be a very large deep quarry some twelve kilometres away. It is a granite quarry, it is possible to see the ages in its walls. Take two hours to walk about the place, it is quite beautiful. Return to the mans house, and nearly faint, it is late and it was hot. Have coffee and cake to resuscitate, and when all is better, drive home
The journey takes a while, drive slowly, there is no hurry.
Now it is twenty past eight
The day was not strange at all, not in the beginning anyhow. The pills were taken again, the two for the blood pressure and the other one. That was all plenty.
Breakfast was had, that was good too.
And then a long discussion was held at the butcher restaurant with a photographer colleague, on the business of virtual wide angle lenses all put together by "stitching" the pictures.
A cup of coffee was all that was had for a midday meal.
The afternoon was then spent with the Argentine gent with the Londan accent. It was pleasant company, but after a while
the heasd is buzzing. Maybe it is hunger.
It is evening, the kitchen is occupied and there is no wish to cook. It is just unpleasant,
Go up and play a tactical game on the computer. With some difficulty, then just give up. Listen to the radio all evening, no pub, no nothing just music.
Tomorrow there will be a journey into the country, down to the junction of the Vils and the Danube. That will hopefully be pleasant. There is a distinct feeling of utter lack of purpose
Waking was uncomfortable again today, there is nothing else to say about it. Domestic problems are causing havoc, time is being lost trying to clean up detaily around the house, when all is uncertain..
But get up anyway, and enjoy the breakfast such as it is. Three eggs, an avocado, and a two slices of buttered toast. It is enough to leave the house on and to go to the apothecary to pick up the pills that had been ordered yesterday. There is one pill to keep the bladder in order and the other is one of the two pills against high blood pressure. Take the medicine daily, and hope that the symptoms get no worse soon. Bad things that are going to come anyway are best delayed.
There is the usual wandering about town, then decide to take the car to the building suppliers to buy a self supporting bag to act as a clothing container for all of the dirty clothes that are left in front of the bathroom. Their presence makes it impossible to cleean the floor outside the bathroom, so the idea is to pack them away in the bag to leave the floor clear for cleaning. That is the plan, let us see if it can be realised next week.
Return home after having a cup of coffee at a public relations thing organised by the police. A charming Brasiliera chatted for about half an hour. She works as a helper for community things. She was really very pleasant.
Then wander off, wander home, things are not nice these days. It is just a bit sad, and it is hard to move things in a way that will help, let alone move things on a road to happiness.
In the evening there is a monumental cloudburst, complete with thunder and lightening over the town.
Wake early after a lousy night's sleep. All of this is not really undeserved, that one extra glass of beer yesterday was simply two to many.
Resolve to sleep on for a while, see if the situation betters. Wake up at seven, that is too early, leave it and wake at eight.
Breakfast has been done for, and the Wordle puzzle was successfully solved, despite one small oversight. Downstairs, get the mop, and wipe the stairwell from top to bottom. That is quite splendid, all is done, the stairs are cleaner. The sons rubbish is moved aside, this is sensible.
Telephone the doctor, the order for the pills is placed online. Telephone the other doctor, she will need a visit before she can place the order online. Do the trip in the car, all the way, driving gently. The business at the practice takes only two minutes, then the order is made. After the excitement visit a knife store in the same building. A man spends a long time advising on the various types of metal used in knives, all the molecular structures in ferric metals and alloys. Leave the wiser and worried about the prices.
In the local café there enjoy a large cup of coffee. Watch the cars go by.
Return home to finish the job of cleaning up the stairwell. Then go for a meal at the Thai place, and receive a phone call informing that a man wishes to repay his debts. This is pleasant, money back is always good. He arrives later, and has a meal in the Thai place as well.
After a cup of coffee decide to go to visit the artists to see how they are progressing with their exhibition. A pleasant evening is had by all.
Return for a glass of beer in the local pub.
At home now, settle down to enjoy the night.
alone
A cool morning followed by a hot day.
The cat was active in the night, it nearly fell out of the window in the dark.
That is a silly cat.
Made the bed, carried on cleaning in the kitchen and elsewhere. Some things are a bit difficult, now that the wife no longer speaks. She sulks all day when she is not working, she enjoys her gin and tonic.
The midday soup was taken in a different Thai place, the soups are not quite as good and they are a tiny bit cheaper. But the heat is really oppressive. The coffee in the cafe is very hot, Fall asleep in the seat waiting for it to cool. It is a strange day, and things have tunred strange. But hte heat is impossible, return home and just collapse in the bed, have a siesta. Even reading will not work.
And now the whole town is in uproar, Germany has defeated Hungary at soccer. That is good news for the Germans, it means that they have made good progress in the European Cup. There is the sound of cars in long lines all sounding their horns. The people leave the television set to jump into their car and to sound their horn.
parp and blare, that is the noise of the evening
At four in the morning there is a sound of crashing and banging in the stairwell, the wife is getting rpeady to go to work and the son is returning to his small flat in Bayreuth. He wants to be there in time for an early lecture. It is strange and difficult to wake, resolve to rest in bed for a while longer. Stay, and sleep until eight in the morning.
Find the house deserted, but for the cat. She begs for her breakfast, let her have it.
Make the eggs on toast, and have an avocado as well. That makes the day start pleasantly after the lively early morning. Finish editing the pictures, at least some of the way, and then take the dishes back downstairs.
Decide to clean up the kitchen whilst waiting for the parcel from Denmark. The kitchen is a many layered mess, an archeologists joy. Empty things, throw away containers of rotting things, throw away bread that has somehow turned hard as flint, so it would seem. There is no use saving things for some use in the future if that will never happen. Go downstairs and empty the tray of cat litter, ithe waste is heavy and really very smelly. Put the lot into a plastic bag and throw it into the waste bin, which is due to be collected today.
Wipe down the surfaces, at least some of them. The lamps need to be cleaned, but that is going to be too much work right now. Collate the dishclothes, all the dirty ones hidden somewher, and wash them along with the cleaning rags and the towels. It is a washing machine half full.
On the final trip down the brown parcel service delivers the package. The service is done, all is done. Take the package upstairs to the table and open it The people have used the same packaging to return the parcel. Everything is fine. There is even a small gift in the parcel. How nice.
Finish off the work in the kitchen, There is more to be done, much more.
The question is, is this fair? Why?
This morning, a pleasant warm awakening, the balcony door well opened and birdsong cominhg in with the morning's freshness.
Breakfast and read the book about the light eaters. It is a book about plant intelligence, and the constant references to baby plants disturbs. These are seedlings surely. The references to communication and reaction by plants have to be read with care, for much is unproven and the effect may not be the result of the desired cause.
Breakfast is great. Today there is an avocado, done to perfection by time.
Start fixing the pictures taken at the vernissage, that was all fun. There are even a few nice pictures among them.
The musicians received the greatest attention.
There were friends at the show and it went on until quite late.The pictures show it.
Play the game, and talk to the son.
Now, after almost six years, he has managed to get his venerable film projector going. It is an original from the middle of the last century. It works so well that it is practically to be overlooked, the first thought was that the son has become interested in birds. He found a film about swallows at the university and saved it from being dumped. He is now using this film to test the old projector that he has repaired.
The repair took a great many years.
It is now successful.
Quiet morning sounds, the birds mainly. Outside in the town there are few human sounds, it is asleep still in the early light. It will become necessary to leave the house early to enjoy these things more. The opening party for the sculptors exhibition was a success, there were many people. It was pleasant, there was a pleasant atmosphere in the slightly overcast evening. There was a long talk with a sculptor, an art teacher from a secondary school. He viewed all of the show and was impressed.
Today was early and quiet, the noisiest thing downstairs was the coffee grinder for the morning coffee and the standard breakfast of eggs on toast.
Then slowly, nastily, the misery of the day set in. There is noise and activity everywhere in the town due to the international soccer tournament that Germany is hosting this year. There is noisy music everywhere, all of the open air cafés have large screens set up on the street for people to watch as they drink.
The dizzy dissatisfied depression holds most of the day. The son comes up to repair the computer, it would be preferable if he would just tidy his things away.
The day flows by, spend time reading a book on plant intelligence.
Plants reacting directly with their surroundings, not just the Venus Flytraü
The son, unconcerned with the chores that have not been dealt with, says he urgently has to leave now. This news comes from behind his closed door, his voice displays great stress. What it is that is so urgent is unspecified, there is no need for the father to know that.
The cat has eaten half of her food, that is the result of her being fed twice, a lack of communication between father and son. The remaining food smells strongly in the corner of the kitchen. The dishwasher is full of washed dishes, since yesterday. Return upstairs, the weather outside has become colder, a cloud leaking rain is passing over the sky now. It has become slightly oppressive.
The open air exhibition in Hörlkam will start this evening. There is a duty to be there, and there is a horror of all the culture vulture art aficionados giving forth their unsolicited opinions in voices nasally raised in pitch. There is no wish to go signing books for work that is now done.
It would be more pleasant to talk to the son, but he has other things to do.
Prepare to go to the shops to buy salt and bread.
Getting up early did not help deal with the misery of waking loneliness and anger. This has become part of life as it is now and is hard to accept just like that. The problem is simply a matter of self perception and the wish to see the truth about the way one is percieved. Old and decrepit are words that spring to mind.
The weather is both beautiful and cheerful. Make breakfast at six in the morning, there is no need for any further excitement. The cat was fed in the early morning too, and a second cup of coffee was made.
The days work was dictated by the artist couples request for work on a list of their works, which had fallen behind schedule. There is to be a big opening of the exhibition tomorrow, and the list of works on sale and their prices is not yet ready. This means a whole day attempting to collate notes made the evening before and to type the words into the computer one after the next.
This takes up the beginning of the morning and the rest of the afternoon. The company is pleasant, but the work is awkward. The keyboard is strange and it is difficult to work with. It would have been better to bring up one of the personal ones, rather than trying to get used to the very cheap instrument offered. Regardless of any complaints, the work is done now.
The weather was beautiful all day, and a call from a friend asking for company in the evenings entertainment was pleasant, but there was no chance of being fit enough to start a night on the town.
It is now six minutes to eleven at night, and tiredness is dictating that it is over bedtime now.
It is now ten hours after the last post was made, it is mid morning, half past nine is the time. The bed has been made, there were no eggs for breakfast, the pills have been taken, ieverything is all in a great organised working condition. A short trip to the shops, there were eggs, avocados and apples for the next few days too. It is all done. No icecream was bought, too much of that and the old body will get fat.
There is still the kitchen to clean up, just a bit. It is mainly other peoples mess, the other people being the wife and the son and the non person cat.
The cat came up to inspect after the wife left for her work this morning. A short walk through the rooms and then back to tour the rest of the house. Cats can get lonely too.
Now, there is the kitchen to be done.
It is late now because of a game on the computer.
This day started off nicely, and it has now ended rather carelessly. The morning was spent selecting two pieces by the artists as a payment for the work done. It is hopefully worthwhile for them, it is a worthwhile way to work. Art for art, a fair exchange is no robbery. It was nice to be at the artist's studio once more.
There was still time for a bowl of soup at the Thai place, and the late afternoon was spent ironing a few trousers and shirts. That may be finished tomorrow, who knows?
Then there was that time consuming game at the computer. Now there are only a few minutes left until midnight,
remained still eoday, stayed in the room and played a game on the computer, a game related to the board game Risk. It was a waste of a day, but the strategic considerations in the game made it into a time consuming pastime.
The day is very cold and quite miserable. There were two breaks in the game to collect clothes from the washing machine and to sort and to ftold them. It was also necessary to put the socks into pairs , this is a thing that is done every few weeks.
But the day was mainly wassted, but then, why not waste a day if one can find no company to spend it with. It was not even worth looking for the company, the depressive feelings have this person again. Perhaps it would be nice to go out for a meal all alone.
It would be no harm.
Tomorrow there is an appointment at ten, and then we will see onwards.
The weather is cold, the radio commentator said that it is too cold for this time of the year.
The sound of rain in the dark is relaxing, especially when under bedclothes indoors. The door to the balcony is wide open, there is the sound of the steady downpouring on the tiles and the gurgling in the gutters. Allow the self to be relaxed and go back to sleep.
The sound of the rain outside in the early morning dawnt is relaxing still, go downstairs to the toilet. The cat is excited by the presence of a human so early, she is probably a little bit hungry. She follows back upstairs, and makes dissapointed noises as the source of cat food goes back to bed.
The sound of the rain is pleasant, it is pouring down. Decide to make breakfast, go downstairs to the kitchen and make the usual meal.Realise that a can of cat food has been opened and left upon the counter, despite there already being two opened cans in the refrigerator. These things happen as a result of a lack of communication and because of carelessnes. Feed the cat some more of the smelly chunks, she eats with a great demonstation of relish.
Upstairs, eat, and listen to the aftermath of the heavy rain which has now died down to a drizzle. There is the sound of the drips in the gutters as the residual water finds its way down off the roofs. There is still a gentle mist of rain visible in the sky against the dark green of the trees.
The day starts with the sunlight reflected from the sky, the sun is not yet up. Go downstairs to the toilet, but then return to bed, for there is no point in repeating the performance of the other day. Remain in bed until seven, then get up and go down to the bathroom, shower, then make breakfast and then return to the room. Everything is good now, all is well.
Put day clothes on and gather the documents necessary for the officials at the polling place in the sons old school. It is still early, there are few people on the streets this Sunday. The way to the polling place is clearly marked with photocopied arrows on office paper. Inside are three helpers at a table, go to the nearest. She takes the paper, says that she needs no ID, and hands over the ballot sheet. This has thiry four entries, and contains instructions saying that the voter may make one cross.
Go to the cabin, make the cross, go back to the officials and insert the folded paper in the ballot box. All is done, say goodbye.
On the street again, see that there are now quite a few people making their way to the voting place.
It was good to be early.
Go on down to the café, meeting a man driving a tuned up Landrover on the way. He is leaving his wife off at his house, we chat. The machine does not sound like a landrover, the engine issues a constant whine. It is a more modern version than the brothers, it has a turbine to load the air into the engine. The car is dressed to the hilt, as if it should cross the Sahara.
The cafe has the usual crowd of mumbling Germans in for breakfast, it will become necessary to find another place to have a coffee in. They now have a fully automated coffee maker, the coffee is now a standardised awfulness.
The day began too early, three eggs and two slices of toast and a cup of coffee were made and Wordle played before it was realised that it was not yet seven in the morning. The cat got fed too, that was in order apparently as far as the furry feline was concerned.
The pills were taken too. Then it was noticed that all of this was wrong, the time was wrong. Lay down again, and things went away to the land of nod.
A short sleep later and it was eight, a few things were sorted and the work on the pictures taken in Ireland last week was started.
There are birds outside, it is all very pleasant and so forth. They twitter and make scratching noises in the gutters. Hopefully they will remain respectful of the cat.
Pack up a copy of the blue book and bring it down to the post office. Hopefully it will be in Berlin on Tuesday, Perhaps there will be a reply, a thank-you message maybe. After the post office have a cup of coffee in the café. They are slow and bad as ever, who cares. The German voices are shrill and shouted, people seem excited about something. Stop at the church and have a telephone conversation with the son, he is at home in Bayreuth. It is now home to him, that is good.
Back at home, work on the pictures for a while longer.
Visit the gallery, they are showing photographs with brush work done on them. It is not a thing that entertains, it is arty stuff. It is not particularly good. Have a coffee with the photographers wife and the driving instructor who is also part of the town council.
Wander about and eat a portion of turkish fast food as a sort of evening meal.
The depressions are back again. Perhaps there will be some help for them sometime.
The day that starts with a long talk with the owner of the car repair place. As always, he is a chancer. He wants to charge all his costs and all his mistakes to his customer.
Give up on trying to convince him after about an hour, so what the infernal vehicle seems to be functioning. That was simply an expensive job.
At home again, start to fix the photographs taken in Ireland. There are many of them, it all takes time.
At one o'clock take the car up to visit the artists and to give them their book They are generous, as always, and so stay for a meal and get to sign one of the books for a customer who happens to turn up.
Spend time chatting, and trying to select a sculpture for payment of the work done. It is not easy.
And in the evening, chat with the argentine friend, he is an older man with a great sense of style.
The first twentyfour hours after returning home are problematic for this person. There was the early morning attempt to just get up and go, but the difficulty was where to go to. There was no time to really get involved in anything and at the same time to recover from the strain of dragging the heavy bags form the arirport to the train to the taxi and then finally upstairs. It was just a strain, it was difficult.
Everything hurts, age has taken a toll.
The day was spent relaxing, strange headaches and tinnitus taking their toll on the well being, even the Thai soup was unable to reinvigorate anything. The short vistit to the cafe just did not help.
Rested at home and enjoyed the company of the cat.
And now it is two minutes to ten, go out to the local for a beer, and an opportunity to relax again, this can not go on for ever.
The window beside the bed is like a painting giving a view out onto the side of Leitir Mor. There ia a cow and her calf in the middle distance, the calf is being fed. There is also a washing line with pegs on it stretching across the window. Apart from the pegs it is empty.
It is too early to get up yet, the bed is warm and the bags were packed yesterday.
Watch the meanwhile two cows and one calf grazing on the side of Leitir Mor amid the brambles, the thistles and the stones. The new cow is s coloured red and white. The calf is pale cream and the mother cow is dark cream coloured.
Later, get up, finish packing, and have a breakfast with the brother.
The weather outside shows the mountains across the bay lost in a morning haze.
Start to tidy up the small house, and to use the British over-styled vacuum cleaner on the floor. The brush of the machine is so badly designed that it sucks itself tight to the floor. It is a machine that not only looks stupid, it is unpleasant to use
Later, on the road to Dublin the brother leaves the motorway and drives to an enormous plant nursery, He is known there and after exchanging friendly words with the manager we walk through the many greenhouses and outdoor plats. The brother selects plants on the way, he marks them on his list and takes pictures of them with his 'phone.
He buys a rose bush for his wife.
Later, at the airport, all of the check in formalities are completed rapidly. During the security check ups the belt falls into the rollers of the conveyor. A security man sees the complaint as insubordination toward his authority, calls his superior, and they decide that all of the now suspicious baggage must be checked again.
This is not a problem, there is plenty of time.
Boarding is at seventeen fifteen and it is now fifteen forty eight.
The wind in the chimney of the small house has not abated, sometimes rumbling in the chimney, sometimes howling in the stovepipe. The wind outside is hurrying past the house, all the grasses and gorse bushes bending under this pressure. The bay outside is survaced in greay and the hills on the other side have vanished in the clouds. The brother has most probably left the house early, to meet with his fisherman friend and also to deal with the faulty boat.
Upon checking, learn that he had been out early to check on the condition of the boat, and that at some point in the dead of night he had succeeded in transmitting some of his data to the visa authorities so that they could process his application.
The wind outside is steady and the sky is grey, the island is stretched across the bay seeming to divide the sky from the waters with a dark green stripe.
After having written this yesterday, the system failed to save it because of a failure in the communications systems for mobile 'phones in Leitir Mor, near Galway. Suddenly, the machine would no longer communicate with the world at large, the horizon of information was reduced to the view of the sea, the hills across the bay, the islands and the sound of the wind in the chimney.
Yesterday was a day spent visiting, the brother introduced me to a couple of elderly architects who spoke of their achievements and worries. They were critical, and spoke of injustices. It is their way to be happy, maybe.
The day was spent that way, from a short time at a beach to a meal of fish and chips at a lonely stand in a village right in the middle of the Irish speaking area. It was all very beautiful. And the fish was fresh, and the chips well fried.
The day finished with a boat trip using a boat with a faulty motor. The motor failed half way to the island, and the sea started to leak into the boat through some badly caulked seams. It was rather frightening. The brother fiddled with the outboard engine, and it started again. There was a lrge white bucket in the boat, this was used to bail out the water, to return it to the sea where it belonged.
The island reached, the boat tied up, a small walk was undertaken. There was a family at the old schoolhouse, they lived there. The wife of the house had been to school in the building, this was before it had been turned into a holiday home. They spoke of having been at the garden show the day before, and were happy to welcome the brother, remembering his prize winning garden well.
The return journey was frightening, the motor on the boat failed again, and with much difficulty the boat was moored in the harbour.
Then, later on, there was the communication failure.
The day ended at midnight, collapsed on a strange bed in the brothers cottage. There had been time to unpack the bedclothes but not time to write these notes. That is too bad and maybe a little bits sad.
It was a long day with an early start. There had been a drive to the garden show, and another attempt to take pictures of the stand there , this all being made more difficult by the crowds of visitors to the show. It was a hot sunny day and there were many visitors.
The people were all very helpful but it was difficult to find the right moment to take a picture.
The brother held a lecture.
The journey to Galway started, took over driving before Mullingar was reached. The big car drove smoothly, and the cruise control worked well. There was little traffic on the road. There was time to cook a meal and then it
Fell asleep on a chair before the fire, and it was barely possible unpack the bedclothes from the suitcase before collapsing into bed.
It is June, and it is warmer today. The brother has left for the garden show, and the visitor has returned to Germany. All is well , the sister in law drives down to the nearest bus stop in Rathfarnham.
This short journesy to Rathfarnham was in response to an invitation to a friends place in Enniskerry. It was necessary to take a bus from Rathfarnham to Dundrum and then to take a bus number 44 to Enniskerry. The transfer in Dundrum took half an hour. There were a number of Africans at the bus stop, all dressed in warm anoraks. They apparently did not feel the warmth like the Irish, they just ignored it.
The bus driver took what change was in the purse for a fare tho go to Monastery Road in Enniskerry.
Meet the son of the family in Enniskerry by chance at the exit to the bus, and walk togethehr to the house in the midst of all the horse paddocks. The family were welcoming, sat down with them talking and talking, Help with the weeding on the terrace, a nice small job. There are two spaniels there, they are both older now. They do not remember well, but they are friendly.
A Moldavian neighbour is making a barbecue, and shares some barbecued duck. It is tasty, despite being rather muscular.
Talk and talk, drink beer and have discussions.
The brother arrives, everyone talks some more and remembers old times.
Then say goodbyes and go home with the brother.
Now, it is getting dark because the day is ending.
