Yes today, it is when all Irish and people who have seen Riverdance or bought a U2 record celebrate all things Irish. Or Orish. Oddly enough, even though I do have some Irish blood in me, I have never felt the need to drink green Guinness or dye my hair green.
there was no parade in St Margaret's this morning. Or, there were no posters for one, and we heard no pipes and drums. So, in all probability there was no parade here.
Instead I met up with my friend Gary, and we went off twitching at Sandwich and near Canterbury. We headed to Sandwich as Jools went to Ashford for a bead fair. At Sandwich Bay we look in vain for a barn owl that had been seen about before heading to the hide for an our to watch some ducks swimming about. Then off to Bossenden to see if we could snap a Nuthatch; we baited the fallen tree and waited. And waited. Rain began to fall and what light there was got worse. We decided to call it a day and head home.
City played this afternoon, and drew away at Sunderland despite having Bunn sent off after half an hour and conceding a penalty soon after. So, a well won point in the end. We go to fight another day.
Friday morning was another cold but sunny morning. It is always good to check out of the hotel knowing that I would be home in the evening. Not much to do at work, a quick review of where we are in the project, then I go far a walk with the camera round the site to snap some of the sights as more and more turbine components arrive and are prepared to be shipped to site in Sweden.
With all deliveries on site for the week, and mostly unloaded, the office staff all had left by two in the afternoon, I thought 'bugger it' and left to. So, I packed up my stuff, got in the car and headed to the airport at Billund. I did call in at another church near to the road, and once again was lucky enough to find the door unlocked so I could get some shots. I was surprised though to find someone inside changing the brass numbers on the hymn board and seemed pleased enough with me visiting.
And then back in the car and the 20 minutes to the airport, filling the tank up on the way and then finding I have what I thought was just under three hours to kill before the flight. I have yet another burger and fries before checking in and heading to the departure lounge. First thing I notice is that the flight has been delayed an hour.
So, I read some more and people watch. The Danes seemed to be heading anywhere that wasn't Denmark and might be warm; and who could blame them? We made our way to the gate at just gone six with an expected departure time of quarter to seven. That then got put back to seven, then ten past. Seems like when it did the morning flight over, a window developed a crack and had to be changed, and that was taking longer than expected. Hence, the delay.
The plane came over at twenty past, we climbed aboard and soon taxied out and without pausing zoomed off down the runway and into the night sky. London was seven degrees warmer and drizzling, and once again the city streets did not come into view until we were about a hundred metres from the ground, the cross wind made final approach interesting, but we got down safe.
In a pleasant change, my bag was first off and I had about 50 minutes to get to Stratford to get the twenty past nine train home. Even with a change at Canning Town I got there with 15 minutes to spare, but all shops on the station had long since closed so there was little to do other than to wait on the platform for the train to arrive.
One bonus in catching the later train was that there was lots of empty seats so I got to sit and rest my eyes as Essex zoomed by and we headed through the blackness of a Kentish evening. We finally got inside the house at quarter to eleven, making it,for me,a very long day indeed. And I have to do it all again next week.....
Saturday morning, and with the promise of rain all afternoon it was up to us to make the most of the morning. After breakfast we headed down to St Margaret's Bay as there was nearly a gale blowing, but the waves were not that high, but the fresh air made you feel more alive.
Then, along to Shakespeare Beach, where the waves are usually larger, but despite the wind making it hard to stand up, the sea was not so rough. As we stood on the shingle, we could see the dark clouds rolling in, so we made our way home, via the old folks, for a nice relaxing afternoon of photography, beading and snoozing.
No comments:
Post a Comment