Driving into a poem in an electric car

An excellent night's sleep. 

Up in Doolin, and coffee chatting with Sue. Then a quick call, who reported feeling much better this morning. In fact when I talked to her later in the day, she'd popped out to the Waggon this afternoon and saw some of friends there.

A leisurely breakfast, and agog at the birdtables -- I've never seen so many goldfinches in my life.  

John took us on a long drive up the coast. All kinds of weather as we drove, and the sea in many moods. Much of the drive, on the inland side of the road the limestone pavement of the Burren, which gives the hills almost a mauve look in certain lights. Bare looking rock, gives the place an alien and bleak look, especially when the pavement goes to the sea. We stopped off at Fanore which slightly reminded me of Denmark, with its dunes and marram grass and the wild bluster of the ocean. Gorgeous place. Then along the coast to Galway bay, where stopped at the Flaggy Shore, which features in Postscript a Seamus Heaney poem Sue and John have framed on their wall.  There was a Martello tower there too, where I had a barbaric wee and we disturbed a man doing a wildlife camera shoot. John drove us inching along the little road alongside the Flaggy Shore, a strip of land between the sea and a lake with swans, and patiently crept behind two older women who hadn't heard the electric car. 

From there we had a delicious soup and a brown perhaps beer bread in Monks, at Ballyvaughn, Bally John told us means town. Then home, noticing the holes in the stone walls in the landscape to let the wind through, and the grandeur of the scenery. We're used to living by the sea, but the changes here are so entire and huge. 

Home again, and Lorraine and I went with Sue and Whiskey for a scamper around by the pier again. The cliffs to the south looking brooding and magnificent. 

In the evening John drove us to a local pub, called McGann's where we had some supper. I had two pints of exemplary Guinness to wash down my enjoyable fish and chips. Lorraine had an Irish beef stew, which had loads of beef in it, and Sue and John had a bacon and cabbage dish.

Home and soon to bed. 

Below Fanore beach, a glance inland, the Martello, Sue and Lorraine and Whiskey near the Flaggy Shore, and a stone table set for a mad hatters tea party by the side of the road.