Goodbye, July!

 Cheers, everyone!

The title of this blog should tell you how I'm feeling these days. July was a particularly cruel month for us. I won't bore you with the details but it left me very discouraged and defeated. 

I have a very unfortunate, lifelong habit of berating myself for the things that remain undone instead of finding joy in the things that I've completed. This has followed me across the Atlantic. No matter how many tasks get ticked off the To Do list, I fret over the ones that didn't. We have accomplished so much in three months! During a global pandemic. At our ages. In a country where we know nobody and the citizens are just emerging from a soul-sucking lockdown. They, too, are feeling drained and looking for something about which to be optimistic. 

I am grateful that we found some solace on the last day of this month. We returned our rental car! We signed the paperwork to lease an Audi Q4 e-Tron, an electric car that will be significantly more affordable here than our beloved Saabs. This both introduces us to the era of electric cars and allows us to begin to build a credit history in Ireland. So, a good end to a bad month. The photo below is from our drive down to Limerick today to pick up the car. 

Velvet Jane is adapting so well to her new home! She has lots of perches where she can sit or lie down to watch the birds. There aren't any squirrels here (that we've seen), but she is loving the stairs and the space, zooming through the house like a kitten on catnip. 

We continued to by stymied by the number and variety of day-to-day fees and taxes that are imposed on Irish residents. We recently learned that viewers of cable TV must apply for a TV license and renew it annually. That left me shaking my head in complete bewilderment. 

Our house painting is complete, as is the follow-on sweeping and mopping to remove the dust from sanding. We have finally begun to place furniture in [potentially] permanent places.  The process of unpacking continues, although the number of unopened boxes is small. Curtains are going up, our gate is being installed in a few weeks, same with our home security system, and eventually we will begin to introduce colour in the form of artwork that we loved in our Virginia home. 

95% done, 5% to go. 

Sláinte!

Happy Independence Day!

 Cheers, everyone!

Today is July 4th, Independence Day in America, and Sunday in Ireland. I love fireworks and will miss them tonight. Fingers crossed that we'll see some via a streaming service tomorrow. I hope that everyone who reads this post has a chance to celebrate in their favourite way. 

Summer is in full bloom here and I'm craving summer foods. My first issue was finding hot dogs and pickle relish. Apparently hot dogs are seasonal items but they eventually appeared on the shelves. I made my own pickle relish and was really pleased with it. Now, I am trying to hunt down Crisco to make a pie. It's stone fruit season here and I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and start rolling crust. My backup plan is a rustic plum tart, made from Jus-Rol puff pastry sheets. 

Our house painting is finally finished! The amount of dust from sanding is amazing. Much cleaning is needed before we can start placing our furniture in its intended space. We've been here for more than two months and our house still looks like we just moved in yesterday, except with prettier colors. I'm looking forward to having this behind us. 

Our imaginations are beginning to wander as we survey our yards. We aren't used to having this much space and it's allowing us to consider things we never could have in Virginia. My top two wants are a stone labyrinth and a gazebo in the back yard. I find walking labyrinths to be so comforting. The idea of having one in my back yard is exciting. Below is a photo of the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, one of my favourite places. The gazebo would be a lovely reading nook on warm days. Finding tradesmen has been an enormous challenge. During the Covid lockdown, so many projects were put on hold. Now, as we gradually emerge, the providers of carpentry, stonework, painting, etc. are overwhelmed with requests. It's good for them to catch up on the lost work due to the pandemic.  

We have faced some unexpected sad turns over the past two weeks.  

I developed some sciatica on my right side. I've never had it before and am surprised by how much it hurts. I went to our GP, who dispensed some pain killers that make me sick to my stomach. So I'm stretching every day in an effort to tamp down the pain and eventually end this. 

I learned this week that a friend of mine from America is critically ill. I've spent a lot of time contemplating what I would do in her situation. She is so stoic. I pray for relief for her. 

After working diligently to obtain exemptions from import fees for our cars, we learned that it will cost €4,600 (about $5,000) annually to register our two daily driver cars. Ireland is aggressively moving to a zero carbon output from cars, which we support. We just didn't expect to have to support it with so much taxation. We will likely ship them back to the US, where our Swedish team of mechanics have buyers lined up for them. That is a bit of consolation for a larger loss. Then we'll purchase an electric vehicle, a whole new world for us. 

We continue to fall in love with this beautiful country. We met more neighbours this week. They told us about when they shook hands with former President Obama when he visited Moneygall, a village about five minutes away from us. They were so excited! They stood in line for more than 12 hours to get tickets to meet the Obamas. Maura said that Mrs. Obama was "a real lady", someone she could speak to for hours. I do enjoy the warmth that Ireland feels toward America and Americans. 

Happy Fourth!

Sláinte!