Laragh

We just placed the kind of Chinese takeout order where 1. my mate messaged me to see if the order had got garbled and then 2. felt compelled to give us a dish on the house that actually featured vegetables and protein.

Just tried out a little joik at the reindeer and they ran away (hopefully to be fed in which case surely that means I did it right)

If there is justice in this world

The slow march of capitalism #animalcrossing #chessington

At least it means the Animal Crossing Tom Nook spirit is alive and well

Chessington world of adventures. Capitalism has done me in and we aren’t even inside yet.

Yeah - I can’t believe when ROW voting was introduced I thought it was so fab giving more fans a chance to be involved, rather than the real outcome which is me deciding not to vote moving forward.

I know Duo has always been a bit shite and I was never planning on relying on it but knowing it’s all ai now does make new units feel a bit futile.

And I realize, a bit like how I feel about voting in Eurovision nowadays. It’s all an utter waste of time.

So good, isn’t it. Wishing I’d taken a copy with me to Ireland but post-trip reading will have to do.

Photo of the cover of McCarthy’s Bar (a no.1 bestseller). The author is standing outside a red and black Irish pub - McCarthy’s Bar - about to raise his hat. He is very middle aged English man. There is a dog at his feet and a nun drinking a pint of stout to his right. I am still very sad that he died.

Settling down with one of my favourite books

I’m just endlessly perplexed about what time of year it is. All I know is it doesn’t feel like 1st August.

Ooooh nice!!!

Yep! Luckily too far away for me. The tension between wanting to go and supporting a spoons.

Wait there’s a Peter Cushing Wetherspoons??

A photo of a chalkboard wall with the words don’t be afraid in pre painted caps, a word per line in huge font with room for chalkboard messages. There are lots of messages. Don’t be afraid being what seamus notably said to his wife on his deathbed

Seamus Heaney exhibition in Dublin was a great reminder that Seamus Heaney goes hard

Still not convinced about the Dublin hotel but love that its location meant I now know about Misery Hill

Being in Co Clare I realized that we never watch Going to America so that Father Ted is still alive. If Ted is still alive then maybe there is a different timeline where the writers aren’t awful.

Karst landscape. Big flat limestone broken up with deep channels. Scraggy plants. Blue sky to the left, clouds to the right.

Finally made it the the Burren and yeah. It was so worth it.

Ah the struggle of being in Father Ted country

Oh wait Irish music every night doesn’t mean good Irish music.

Driving from Ardamine to Ennis. Based on how many times my aunt has told me to watch the roads 😬😬😬

A gravelled track (Kenny’s Borough) with some very tropical looking plants either side, and blue sky ahead.

Gorgeous in Ardamine today

Yeah it’s a funny old mix of airlines at Gatwick. I love how Ryanair makes EasyJet look luxe 😂

All put to rights through an amazing late lunch with fam and the loan of a guitar, map, knitting gubbins, binoculars (and half a loaf of Shankill finest sourdough) before setting off to the sea.

Slightly perplexing Ryanair flight - 1 hour 15 min delay due to military zone activation (on LGW DUB???) capped off with a temporarily mislaid suitcase (kiddo’s “ah we’ll just go to Dunne’s suddenly taking on dreadful irony).

Oh no I think the swifts are migrating already :’(

Trading prns (and carbon credits) does feel very much like a solution that is very on brand for this timeline.

Yay, well done Pete 🥰

No problem! Yep, it's good that this is introduced as a first step. It'll be interesting to see how the fees pan out and what incentives come in as time goes on.

Welcome to the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility rolling out in the UK this year