Wednesday 16th October 2024

Good evening from Northern Ireland.

I am staying at a country hotel which overlooks a lake to the west, and this was the view last night.

Just as well I had my camera.

Cameras.

The day began with mist and drizzle. We had agreed to meet for breakfast, late at eight. So by the time we ate, packed, checked out and were ready to go, it was getting on for nine.

We were supposed to be at the hub at half eight.

I followed Patrick along the main road before turning down a side road, across the beat bogs to the warehouse.

I had set the team one task for the morning, but the van was called away, but would be back.

Sometime.

So, we had a brew and chatted.

Once the van returned, I briefed the team on the task, and so off they went while I watched.

That done, I ran over my findings, and I said I would leave for the four hour drive to Enniskillen in the North.

I drove back to the peat bogs to take shots of the abandoned railway, now almost hidden by vegetation as it meandered across the bog, the track rustic and at various angles, but usable still, if would cause rough riding.

I programmed the hotel into my phone, and off I followed its directions: back to the motorway, then off and north through rolling countryside, passing through small picturesque, but still clearly Irish villages and towns.

The road turned and twisted, the main road north, but sometimes via a 90 degree turn after traffic lights in the middle of a market town, then back into the countryside.

I stopped at a church which I had pointed the way down a narrow country lane with a lawn growing down the middle between the tyre tracks, only to find it looked more like a dethatched house with large windows, but was locked fast anyway.

Past lunchtime, and heading further north. It rained, it stopped, I pressed on.

Into Northern Ireland, where the border is only noticeable as the speed limit is in mph in the north, and road markings as they are back on the mainland.

I turned off the main road, through lush green countryside, between trout-filled lakes. The road dipped and dived over small hills, and turning down ever smaller roads until I came to the gates of the hotel.

It had been described as a place for people of a certain age to go at weekends. Certainly, I felt like I was the youngest there.

I checked in, and was given a room on the ground floor overlooking the lake.

I've stayed at worse.

I was working away, then noticed a light coming in through the window, and it was sunset.

I grabbed my camera and went to take shots, as the wind had dropped and there were perfect reflections in the waters of the lake.

I had a coffee on my way in, sitting at the large picture windows, as the scene faded as dusk rolled in.

Jimmy arrived at half six. We had a table booked, another view of the fast fading sunset.

I bought a bottle of wine, and we ordered dinner.

Cheers.