getting it done!

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I’m on annual leave this week and the plan for a while had been to paint the outside of the house. I last did it 3 years ago and it probably should have been done last year but with everything going on I didn’t have much motivation or time really. Returning to work in June life became very busy for a few months.

Painting is one of those jobs that I don’t really like but get satisfaction from. There is an immediate result, you can see the benefit as you work. It’s also one of those jobs that I can do pretty well and therefore really dislike paying someone else to do! I’m convinced that I can do it almost as good as anyone I would pay.

Like last time I hired a scaffold tower. That came on Monday but at least 2 hours later than expected due to a mix up with my contact number by the hire company. With help from the boys I had it built and ready to go late on Monday afternoon.

the lower side of the house

Our house is a dormer bungalow or a story and a half as they’re also known. Most of the external walls are accessible with a small set of steps and a roller but three areas require some form of height access. A cherry picker would have been my first choice but they have become very expensive to hire and there wasn’t one available locally for this week. The scaffold is the next best option. It requires time and effort to build, move around and dismantle but once secured properly, it feels safe and secure and gives great access to the difficult to reach areas. The first year I used a ladder and that was zero fun!

shaky ladder or wobbly legs?

highest point of the house

Due to the design of the roof some sections required some “alternative” scaffolding configurations.

safer than it looks!

The chimney is a real challenge. It involves scrambling from the scaffold on to the roof itself and then wrestling with a roller or brush. I chickened out last time and it had bugged me every time I came up the drive and saw the different coloured chimney. This time though I managed to beat my fear and get it done!

look ma…no hands!

matching at last

The door has been plain white since we moved in 16 years ago but that is now changed and in dramatic fashion.

I finally finished late yesterday evening. All in it took me about 3.5 days which was quicker than expected. I’d allowed for 5 days but the grey only needed one coat. Good job too as the weather wasn’t what I’d hoped for and today and tomorrow are heavy rain both days.

job done 👌

I wrote a while back about finding motivation difficult and how I generally put things on the long finger and often give up on tasks and activities before they are finished. Last time I painted the house I found an excuse not to finish the garage and the back of the house on the first time around. This meant finishing it on evenings and days off over a period of about 2 weeks. This time I’m really pleased that I stuck at it and pushed on to get everything completed before the weather stopped me. This time the back is finished and also the garage, even the hidden bits that nobody sees! I even took time to give the window sills a second coat. It looks great and I’m really chuffed with the result 💪

The downside is the lack of cycling. I’d hoped to get out each morning for an hour but I’d underestimated how tired I would be. I managed a short spin on Monday morning before the scaffold came but rain on Tuesday morning and general tiredness on Wednesday and Thursday put paid to the other days. Today I’m aching but I have two rest days and then decent weather again on Sunday. As a bonus, now that the painting is completely finished, the rest of the month is free to get back up to fitness and get another Audax ride before the end of the month 😊

Header image by Photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels

bád eddie

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One of Donegal’s most famous landmarks and probably the most photographed, lies on Magheraclogher Beach outside Bunbeg. It’s the remains of a boat (Bád Eddie is Irish for Eddie’s boat) that ran aground in the 1970s and has sat there for almost 50 years. We’ve never been there and as it’s in serious danger of collapsing completely, we made the journey today to see it for ourselves and get some photos of our own before it disappears for good.

50 for 50

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It was my birthday last month and at 48 I am now slap bang in the middle age zone and also deep into mid-life crisis territory. One wrong step and I’ll be hunting for a girl half my age and driving fast cars that I can’t afford!

about as far as the budget will stretch!

This is the first birthday that I’ve really felt my age. I was happy at every milestone in my life but for some reason 50 feels much more ominous. Some of you who come here regularly will scoff but it feels old and I don’t like feeling old.

This topic came up on a recent trip to the barbers. She is almost exactly 10 years younger than me and while she isn’t dreading 40 she has a plan to mark it with 40 things for her 40th birthday. The conversation reminded me of personal challenges set by two friends (Eileen and Yvonne) to mark significant birthdays of their own. Inspired by these 3 ladies I have come up with my own list.

Some of these are things I’ve been thinking of for a while and some are things I’m planning to do over the next few years anyway. There are no rules and no particular order. I’ll do some together and sometimes one thing might count for more than one item on the list. I’m allowing myself until the end of 2023 so have just over 2 years but, if I don’t get them all done then no worries. The goal here is to have fun!

  • Give up social media for 1 month
  • Climb Mt Everest (walking elevation)
  • Sleep on a mountain top with no tent
  • Camp on a beach
  • Raise €5,000 for charity
  • Walk a marathon
  • Cycle the Ireland Way
  • Climb the Ulster County Tops
  • Climb the Ireland 4 Peaks
  • Midnight Skinny Dip
  • Read 5 Classic Novels
  • Gift 5 coffees to strangers
  • Carve an item from wood
  • Give flowers to 5 strangers
  • Drive the Wild Atlantic Way
  • Visit the 32 counties of Ireland
  • Take a photo of 5 strangers and get their stories
  • Run a 10K
  • Stay silent for 24hrs
  • Abseil off a cliff or tall building
  • Complete a multi day bikepacking trip
  • Complete a multi day backpacking trip
  • Take 5 photos that are worth framing
  • Learn to swim
  • Cycle from dusk to dawn
  • Kiss the Blarney Stone
  • Firewalk
  • Have acupuncture
  • Take 5 yoga lessons
  • Take 5 dance lessons
  • Volunteer for a day
  • Plant 5 trees
  • Grow a meal
  • Catch and cook a fish
  • Bake a cake
  • Visit Tory Island
  • Spend a night on Aranmore Island
  • Re-visit the Aran Islands
  • Visit Glasnevin cemetery
  • Visit the War Memorial Gardens
  • Make a pen pal
  • Send a message in a bottle
  • Make a time capsule
  • Donate blood
  • Make a memory box
  • Climb the closest 50 hills to home on MountainViews.ie
  • Go pony trekking
  • Go for a wild swim
  • Do a pier jump
  • Grow a tree from seed

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backyard camping

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Last night I finally got around to taking my first step towards a proper wild camp before the end of the summer. I bought a DD 3x3m tarp a few weeks ago and have been watching many videos about how to set it up as a summer tarp tent. Yesterday evening I finally got around to setting it up in the back garden as a trial run, to iron out any problems and test out some of my, now very old, gear.

this sleeping bag must be 20+ years old but very warm!

first time actually using this bivvy bag

Finding it more cramped than expected I’ve watched a few more videos this evening and realised that I should have set it up slightly differently and I would have had both more headroom and space to lie out.

Other things I learned last night:

  • I can still get excited about very simple things – took me ages to relax enough to actually get to sleep
  • Needing a pee at 3am is more complicated in a sleeping bag and tent!
  • Listening to heavy rain from the inside of a tent is strangely soothing when you are inside dry and warm
  • The flat bit of our garden isn’t – there’s a very slight slope that’s only noticeable when lying down
  • For a place in the middle of the country there’s a lot of noise at night.
  • I was very surprised by the amount of condensation inside the tarp this morning but the grass was soaked when I pitched which could have been the cause
  • The night air smells and feels different when sleeping outside

I’ve also learned from YouTube that a hot chocolate before bed is pretty much compulsory for expert level wild campers.

I have plans for further “proper” wild camps over the next few weeks but I definitely need to invest in a proper sleeping mat very soon, these old bones need a soft surface to lie on…..

bare bones

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Bare Bones (Temperance Brennan #6) by Kathy Reichs

From Goodreads:

It’s a summer of sizzling heat in Charlotte where Dr. Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist for the North Carolina medical examiner, looks forward to her first vacation in years. A romantic vacation. She’s almost out the door when the bones start appearing.
A newborn’s charred remains turn up in a woodstove. A small plane crashes in a North Carolina cornfield on a sunny afternoon. Both pilot and passenger are burned beyond recognition. And what is the mysterious black substance covering the bodies? Most puzzling of all are the bones discovered at a remote farm outside Charlotte. The remains seem to be of animal origin, but Tempe is shocked when she gets them to her lab.
With help from a special detective friend, Tempe must investigate a poignant and terrifying case that comes at the worst possible moment. Daughter Katy has a new boyfriend who Tempe fears may have something to hide. And important personal decisions face Tempe. Is it time for emotional commitment? Will she have the chance to find out?
Everything must wait on the bones. Why are the X rays and DNA so perplexing? Who is trying to keep Tempe from the answers? Someone is following her and Katy. That someone must be stopped before it’s too late.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cracking good story. Another change of scenery with Tempe now in her home base of North Carolina and trying to find out how Ryan and herself fit together. The story mixes a reasonably complex, but not too complicated investigation, with Tempe’s personal relations with Ryan and her daughter.

There was a nice mixture of old and new characters in this also but “Skinny” Slidell is beginning to sound an awful lot like Marino from the Kay Scarpetta stories.

The plot nips along at a steady pace, introducing twists and turns until there is a sudden rush near the end and a revelation of the details in the final chapter. It’s a fairly common plot design and one I think the author has used before, but it made for an enjoyable and engaging read.

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messenger’s legacy

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Messenger’s Legacy (Demon Cycle #3.5) by Peter V Brett

From Goodreads:

Humanity has been brought to the brink of extinction. Each night, the world is overrun by demons—bloodthirsty creatures of nightmare that have been hunting the surface for over 300 years. A scant few hamlets and half-starved city-states are all that remain of a once proud civilization, and it is only by hiding behind wards, ancient symbols with the power to repel the demons, that they survive. A handful of Messengers brave the night to keep the lines of communication open between the increasingly isolated populace.

Briar Damaj is a boy of six in the small village of Bogton. Half Krasian, the village children call him Mudboy for his dark skin. When tragedy strikes, Briar decides the town is better off without him, fleeing into the bog with nothing but his wits and a bit of herb lore to protect him.

After twenty years, Ragen Messenger has agreed to retire and pass on his route to his protégé, Arlen Bales. But for all that he’s earned the rest, he has no idea what to do with the rest of his life. When he learns Briar, the son of an old friend, is missing, Ragen is willing to risk any danger to bring him safely home.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the second novella that adds additional information to the characters involved in the main series and I’m really enjoying them. They give a chance to return to the series as well as giving interesting background and detail that would make the main books much too long and overly detailed. I wish more authors would consider doing something similar.

the colour of summer

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I’ve had a dodgy stomach for the last few days and really didn’t feel like cycling today. However, sitting around the house vegetating with YouTube wasn’t doing my head any good so I decided to head to the woods for a walk with Rosie.

I’ve always associated yellow with Spring. The majority of the early flowering plants produce yellow flowers to make them more visible to bees and flies in the low light of the early season. However, the colour of Summer seems to be purple. The profusion of purple over the last 6 weeks has been very noticeable when out and about on foot, cycling or even just driving to work. The forest today didn’t disappoint.

With the flowers come the insects. All along the tracks the constant noise of bees and flies of various species and sizes were like a chainsaw working in the background. Some of them sat still long enough for photos.

As well as all the insect activity I could hear loads of birds and even saw three deer (possibly the same deer in three different locations?) and even managed one blurry long distance photo as one of them high tailed it away from the scary human.

couldn’t be less interested in flowers or insects

wolf

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Wolf (Jack Caffrey #7) by Mo Hayder

From Goodreads:

When a vagrant—the Walking Man—finds a dog wandering alone with the words “HELP US” written on its collar, he’s sure it’s a desperate plea from someone in trouble and calls on Detective Inspector Jack Caffery to investigate. Caffery is reluctant to get involved—until the Walking Man promises new information regarding the childhood abduction of Caffery’s brother in exchange for the detective’s help tracking down the dog’s owners. Caffery has no idea who or what he is searching for, but one thing he is sure of: it’s a race against time.

Meanwhile, the Anchor-Ferrers, a wealthy local family, are fighting for their lives in their remote home ten miles away. Two men have tricked their way into the house and are holding the family for ransom. Yet as the captors’ demands become increasingly bizarre and humiliating, it becomes clear that this is more than a random crime—it’s a personal vendetta.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The series takes a bit of a side road with this book. The storyline that has been building between Jack and Flea is entirely sidelined to focus on Jack, his relationship with The Walking Man and his search for an answer to what happened to his brother. We already know the answer and it’s difficult to see Jack battling both with not knowing what happened and the eventual revelation of his own unwitting involvement.

Jack’s “crusade” is intertwined with the abduction and torture of a family. The connection is the family dog that escapes and ends up in Jack’s company courtesy of The Walking Man. This is an interesting concept and works well. The characters of Molina and Honey don’t fully work for me but are definitely integral to the story.

There is an overall feeling of sadness for Jack but never more so than in this book which also seems to be the end of his story. It’s good to bring his brother’s story to a conclusion but I would like to see him come back once again. His story has been one of the best I’ve read and I will miss it. The author has written other books that I will move on to but Jack will be hard to beat.

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rrty #2 – july – donegal 200

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We’ve just been through what qualifies as a heatwave in Ireland and Sunday was the last day of mega sunshine, high temperatures and the extended period of dry weather.

Definition: A heatwave refers to a prolonged period of abnormally hot weather which may be accompanied by high humidity. While there is no generally accepted definition of a heatwave, in Ireland it’s classified as 5 consecutive days with a maximum temperature in excess of 25 degrees Celsius”.

HSE Ireland

Sunday was also the last day available for me to complete a 200km ride to qualify for RRTY. It would also have to do double duty and count for my Metric Challenge ride for July. Due to various weak excuses I wasn’t able to fit it in earlier this month. Our wedding anniversary was the only other available day and the flag I attempted to run up for that date was mercilessly (and unsurprisingly) shot down.

Heat was going to be a challenge so I decided to set a 5am alarm and get on the road early. I also decided to do my own Donegal 200 Permanent so I wouldn’t have to drive to the start and therfore start cycling earlier. Due to a bit of faffing around with my Garmin I ended up wasting half an hour and getting started at 620am, but only 20min later than planned.

Even leaving at this time the temperature was still 13°C. It was 18°C at 8am, 20°C by 10am and 24-26°C in the afternoon. As a result it was a much more laid back ride than usual. I made sure to keep my power well down to keep my heart rate low and therefore my speed suffered a bit.

donegal bay from mountcharles pier

I also took plenty of breaks. I was going through water pretty quickly (at least 6L throughout the day) and made good use of the many shops along the route to stop and refill. My main break was at Ardara, at just under 100km, where I had my lunch in the sun outside a local service station. On my inaugural ride of this route back in October I missed this shop but amended the route shortly after to include it. It’s a definite route improvement as it’s a fully stocked shop with good toilets, a hot food deli and an indoor seating area. The indoor seating was unavailable on Sunday due to Covid restrictions but these should be lifted shortly and it will be an important refuge in colder, wetter months.

gweebarra bay and bridge

My most enjoyable break came just before the hardest climb. On my 100mile ride last month I’d noticed a large lough on the edge of Glenveagh National Park. I always had a plan to wear a wet buff under my helmet and down the back of my neck for the toughest climb up to Glenveagh as I’d be hitting it in the early afternoon. Leaving Ardara I remembered this lough and had the idea of stopping for a chance to cool my feet in the water.

cooling off at lough barra

This was my best idea ever! By the time I reached the lough (Lough Barra I discovered from the information board) my feet were hot and swollen and getting sore. Soaking them and my legs up to the knees was a beautiful relief. I splashed water over my head, down my back and arms. It was glorious. I was pretty soaked but cool and dried out quickly in the strong sunshine. There was a family there kayaking and if not for them (and the proximity to the public road) I’d have been tempted to strip off for a fully submerged dip! It took a real effort to dry off and leave but off I went with a soaking wet buff dribbling cooling water down the back of my neck.

lough veagh from the head of glenveagh

I ended up stopping twice more, in Churchill and Raphoe, to cool off in the shade, buy more water and eat more food. The heat impacted my average speed (24.2km/hr) with my 200km ridden in 8hr 16min. My usual target is sub 8hrs so I was still pleased. My total time was longer than usual too at 10hr 40min but I needed those extra stops and I enjoyed every one of them so it was all worthwhile.

heart project sculpture raphoe diamond

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