June 2009
1st June holiday. Very hot weather (27c). Colin painted a garden bench and rotivated the remaining part of the vegetable garden. Chris dug up the weeds around my mother's bridge. Had another Bar-B-Que followed by more chess games. In the afternoon Colin and Chris brushed off the leaves on the bridge and painted it. Colin and Chris had a smashing time today! Colin broke my cultivator and Chris smashed up my pontoon.
2nd Very hot day (28c). Travelled up to Dublin. Arrived around 11.00 am. Visited Dublin Zoo for 2 hours. Afterwards went to DIT and gave a presentation on my research proposal "Does the creation of a Virtual Learning Environment, containing e-learning initiatives, enhance student learning?". Left around 5.00 pm. Colin, Chris, Mum and Nancy went to Athlone and took a river trip.
3rd Took Colin and Chris back to Knock airport around lunchtime. Sorcha's Junior Cert examinations have started.
5th Back to reality the temperature plummented to 12 c.
6th Temperature recovered to 15c. Went to Boyle and bought a new car - a blue Nissan Tiida. Afterwards celebrated by having a tea and a cake at the quaint bridge cafe, in Boyle.
12th Our broody hen has produced two chicks.
13th Picked up our new car. Slightly shorter in length but much roomier. It has air conditioning - a new for me, but no temperature gauge. Also has no back wiper! It is very economical on petrol and I estimate that a tankful will take me over four hundred kilometres.
14th Imelda's Aunt May died today(R.I.P.)
16th Imelda and I went to Aunt May's wake.
18th End of Sorcha's Junior Cert Examinations.
22nd Milly gave birth to two kids. Took about half-a-hour. A white male and a black female. Mad Molly (Milly's sister) seems scared to death of them and if they totter towards her she runs a mile! I am hoping that familarity will eventually calm her down.
23rd Passed the first year of my MSC in Applied eLearning (which automatically gives me a Post grad in Applied eLearning).
13th - 26th We have had a run of dry and very warm weather ranging from 21 - 25c. Temperatures in the Tropical Greenhouse were reaching 45 - 50c.
26th Rained this morning. Michael Jackson died late last night! Took Sorcha to the dentist at Tuam to check on her brace. Naughty girl hadn't been using her elastic bands so it was a waste of time.
27th Hot morning. Melly drove me to Athlone to catch the 10.30 am coach to Dublin Airport. Arrived around 1.00 pm. Caught an afternoon flight to Gatwick Airport. Arrived around 5.00 pm. Ate fish and chips at the airport and then caught an airport bus to the Holiday Inn. Watched TV.
28th Got up at 4.00 am and caught the local bus to Gatwick Airport. Met up with Derek at the Check-in Desk. Derek tried to smuggle his toothpaste through the departure gates, but got stopped! Afterwards had an English breakfast. The flight took off around 6.30 am. Half-way through our flight they unexpectly served us "English breakfast". Arrived at Preveza Airport around noon. Caught a taxi to Nidri (cost €50). Found our boat Saracen on the Quayside. Had some drinks in the afternoon. Temperature about 28c. Filled the boat up with water. Ate at a restaurant at night. Afterwards watched some Greek dancers on the waterfront.
29th Spent a relaxing day in Nidri. Went to the Internet cafe at noon. I prepared the boat. Ate at a restaurant in the evening.
30th Left the quayside at noon. Temperature around 30c. Motored and sailed our way to Abelike Bay. Anchored and took a rope to the tree. Motor appeared to be giving some problems. Took dinghy to shore at 5.00 pm. Walked to Vathi and had a cake and drink at a local bar. Afterwards ate at a local restaurant. Kept taking wrong turns on our return journey and probably walked twice the distance. On the final slope to the bay, Derek decided to show off by doing a back flip - fairly pathetic attempt as he landed on his bum with his legs splayed in the air. Tried to tell me afterwards that he slipped! Watch "In Bruges" on DVD at 10.00pm.