Cheers, everyone!
This week we hit a major milestone in the resettlement process. With the installation of our entry gates, we are moved in. The walls have been painted, the curtains have been hung, the plumbing has been repaired, we obtained health, house, and car insurance, we have a support team in place to help manage our new home, the security system was installed, our furniture is in place, and we have an Irish car. Whew! It has been a crazy four months.
Now we will move on to the more fun aspects of moving internationally with a pet during a global pandemic. We will become tourists in our adopted country and we will embark on projects to make our house truly ours, as was our place in the US. Our first tourist stop is Galway next weekend. It's on the west coast, about 90 minutes from where we live. It will be Velvet's first two nights alone in the house. Fingers crossed that she doesn't notice our absence.
We've enjoyed spectacular weather over the past week with almost no rain(!!) and abundant sunshine and warm temperatures. The blue sky seems to go on forever when it's clear. There is no rain in the forecast for the next week, ensuring that August will end on a high note.
We are learning more and more about life here in rural Ireland.
- The milk run occurs every morning at 9:30 am
- The passenger train behind us makes three daily trips to and from Dublin
- This weekend is the big peat delivery time. We've watched a steady stream of peat-laden trailers emerge from the access road adjacent to our property to deliver this very Irish fuel source to the neighbourhood. Check out the size of these tractors in the below photo!
- The swallows have returned on their semi-annual migration. Velvet is entranced by these swooping little birds. They are very fast!
My only complaint is that I am still dealing with a very painful case of sciatica. I've never had anything like this before. The pain is pretty intense and the only way to relieve it is to lie flat. I'm napping a little and am often reminded of my mother's belief that ageing is not for the faint of heart. She would enjoy living here as much as we do.
Sláinte!
