… especially because of this morning’s slog into Belfast, which involved
1) getting stuck behind a tractor & trailer doing 30mph all the way from Strabane to Omagh, without a hope of me passing him.
2) crawling down the M1 around Lisburn for 40 minutes - due to an accident, fair enough, but the electronic signs just displayed ‘Delays’ and not the reason for them.
Both of which incidents made me too late to catch the park&ride bus anyway, so I ended up coming all the way into the city centre. I was amused, about 20 minutes after getting into the office, to see the lorry I’d been behind on the slow M1 stretch coming down the street outside my window…

I did a lot of driving last weekend too, though for more enjoyable reasons than just commuting. We had visitors for the first time in absolutely ages, which meant that a) we had to clean the house up thoroughly (except for our bedroom and the spare bedroom, which remain very untidy and covered in clothes) and b) we got to go places we don’t normally even though they’re not that far away…

I’ve known Tara for about 11 years online, and it was great to meet her. Yes, of course, she might have been weird and/or an axe murderer - as might I - but as she put it, if I had managed to successfully maintain a persona for 11 years, I would’ve deserved to axe-murder her.

Anyway, she and her fiance arrived on my birthday (last Thursday) for which I’d made cherry upside-down cake after spending the morning cleaning out the study so I could put the spare mattress down. They brought us wine all the way from New York state! (Lucas Vineyards - a Tug Boat red, and a Cayuga white.) I’d cooked roast chicken & the trimmings for dinner, so we had a good one with some other wine and a lot of chat.

Friday I took them up to Derry and showed them round the Guildhall and the walls and the murals, and met Marion for lunch (since she knew Tara too). We went back into Derry in the evening for my birthday dinner - Italian at a Bring-Your-Own-Bottle place to which we took the NY wine.

On Saturday, I made Colin get up early against his natural inclination, and we drove off into Donegal. We managed to track down the stone circle about 5 or 6 miles from home, which was pretty damn impressive, but was guarded by a lot of noisy sheep and a rather evil-eyed billy goat. After that, we headed on a long drive up round the northwest coast to bits I’d never even been to before, despite them not being that far away. The highlight was the Glenveagh national park - I’d like to go back and visit the castle there, definitely.

Saturday evening, Tara and Nick cooked for us - Caribbean Cola Chicken with pineapple-coconut rice, which was even better than it sounds. And I really should write down the recipe so I can make it myself some day… We had another late night, this time with a game of Monopoly (I won).

They left on Sunday to head up to the Causeway Coast, and took a wombat with them. But that’s another story…

I really enjoyed having guests though, not just because I had to get the house clean! Plus, Colin and I have decided that we really should Do Things on the weekend, and go places. I’m hoping to head up to the Medieval and Game fair in Antrim this Sunday - lots of falcons and hawks for me to ooh over! Although it will mean more driving… maybe I can get Colin to drive some of the way.

1 Comment to “… fed up of driving”

1. Lauren — July 7, 2009 @ 7:23 pm
   

   Fun and somewhat random connection - if you look at the map of where the vineyard is, it’s across the lake and down a bit from where I went to college.