Norway In Monochrome

Mid term came around and we set off on our first roadtrip in our new car  - a quick post-Easter trip to the northern reaches of Donegal. After a crazy GPS guided trip through the backwoods of Cavan and Fermanagh we reached our destination and stayed in a nice modern hostel at the base of Mount Errigal. 

View From Errigal Hostel

The plan was to base ourselves as close as possible to the Glenveagh National Park and it most definitely wasn't family camping weather, so the hostel ticked all the boxes.

Errigal Hostel

 The wet in Donegal is a special kind of wet and it rained for our entire trip and snowed for some of it. In Donegal, the wet gets in. We caught glimpses of the snow-covered peaks around us but spent most of the time driving the coastline or cooking/eating back at the hostel. Despite the weather, we'll definitely be back. 

The scenery is spectacular when the cloud breaks and some of the beaches were in the most picturesque settings I've seen anywhere. 

Mount Errigal in Winter. 

The shoulder to shoulder contours of its snow-covered summit left for the imagination to join the dots on as it had been dunked upside down in a bucket of cloud. 

One day we'll come back to see Errigal's outline against a bright, brilliant blue sky. We may even tackle the climb. All things are possible with some determination and a favourable wind.  

Donegal = Norway In Monochrome

 

Very Chilly Near Lough Swilly

 I made an announcement on a big decision I'd made recently to the girls in this café in Letterkenny. It was received warmly with a kiss and a big hug of support. We regularly underestimate the maturity of our children's outlook on life and I'm definitely guilty of overthinking when trying to predict their reactions. I think we may be reaching a tipping point where our children have learned enough (or perhaps they're still sufficiently unlearned and unencumbered by society's hand-me-downs) to start teaching the adults a thing or two.

Glenveagh National Park Visitors Centre

Exploring The Grounds Of Glenveagh Castle

The Entrance Hallway Of Glenveagh Castle

The Entrance Hallway Of Glenveagh Castle

The Machine Is Telling Us Something

A Brief Break In The Weather

We made our way home via Sligo, knocking in to that old drapery store we normally visit when in the town in the hope of scoring some unicorn / faery livery for the ladies, but no joy. We had a magnificent supper in the Sweet Beat Café (highly recommended) in the town and then made our leisurely way home. 

Hoovers Don't Chew

The year began with the usual new year's resolutions to eat less decadent food (indeed less food in general) and get more active....

These noble ambitions were followed by the usual ignoble lapses when faced with genetically targeted temptations.

Even allowing for the genetic bias we wear on our waistline, home-made bread can be the most decadent of foods. You know the half panicked half regretful whump sound a hoover makes when it has inadvertently swallowed something larger than what it was designed for, for example a plum stone, a small ping pong ball or a teddy's cloth shoe? If you were to record that sound and play it back slowed down so that it lasted fifteen minutes (or say 5...) that would be the ambient backdrop accompanying the dispensing of this defenceless, barely cooled "24 hour bread" loaf. In our house we hoover down hot bread loaves is what I'm saying. Obviously vacuum cleaners don't salivate in expectation of over-indulgence, planned or otherwise. They don't smother these objects with butter in preparation. Hoovers don't chew or involuntarily emit satisfied mmmmms or corporeal grunts as they ingest.  But aside from these trivial differences (and the lack of an audible whump sound) the end result is the same - the large formerly outside item has become a large inside item, sitting dishevelled in the bag wondering what just happened.

Speaking of what just happened, weekends in January were occupied with an unplanned car hunt due to a similarly unplanned write off of the bat mobile (back breaking edition). But we scored a comfortable and sturdy motor so it was worth the daily pitched battles with the insurance company, the hire car people and those shameless car salesmen who swear by the Lynx effect as a selling strategy.

We also celebrated a tenth birthday. This was the "Birthday of the Shelf" that quickly became the birthday of the dress and the trip to Paris. In anticipation of her birthday, D cleverly observed that as part of the celebrations for their 40th birthdays, both her parents had taken an extended city break. Her logic, which we couldn't argue with, was that while 10 is not generally considered a milestone birthday, 10 is a number which is technically a multiple of 10 and if we were to be fair about things that her tenth birthday celebrations should also include a city break. And she'd reeeeally love to see Paris. What could you possibly do with that information / willful emotional manipulation other than start pricing flights?  There was also Pistachio cake from Dolce Sicily (more timestretched whumping noises).....

Bronte, chantily pistachio cream

..... And some much anticipated sushi. 

Followed by a trip next door to the now defunct Walton's :(

The shelf

More hiking....

....And completely un-staged mountaineering drama

Then the snow came 

and out came the retro head gear

Amateur face painting

A private viewing of the Unfunny Bunny

Sugar Freckles

Easter fell on April 1st

Cloudy With A Chance Of Gnocchi

Hurrah for holidays and the luxury of investing more hours than you could normally justify or afford to build a meal from the ground up. I'd been promising the girls I'd cook gnocchi since we had a delicious plate of it on holidays a year and a half ago and I foolishly boasted that I'd made it before (....once). When D stuck her request up on the board in the kitchen, I knew my days were numbered. This is a dish with a long family history - it was the culinary backdrop to a proposal as gaeilge in an Italian restaurant in Paris many years ago. "Gnocchi gnocchi yum yum" the waiter said as he delivered the matching plates of steaming deliciousness to our table.

Metadata: when I tried rotating the photo the highly unstable flour-cloud sprinkled powdery rain all over my keyboard. So I've saved you the hassle by leaving it as it is. 

Saddle or Summit

Spent a couple of days over mid-term on a camping trip to the county Down. The goal of the trip was spend a ten pound sterling note I had in my wallet for years AND to climb Slieve Donard, at 850m the highest peak in all of Ulster. 

First, as always with us....

....pre-nutrition.

 Rostrevor

This explains D's expression. Such a talented mammy. 

Camspite Reading

Tollymore Forest Park

Tollymore Forest Park

Foley's Bridge

 Foley's Bridge

In Out Of The Cold

So hard to keep kids entertained. You'd never think 9 and 8..

 The Leg Warmers, The Unicorn Lit From Within

Cashing In The Chips

After a rough night's sleep in the tent was remedied by a top notch breakfast of bacon, pancakes and maple syrup in the best cafe in Newcastle we were up for the challenge. There are several paths up Slieve Donard. We chose the route via the Glen River.

Trail Head at Slieve Donard

Taken by a man with a bad knee

 On The Trail

Quick Lie Down

Where The Mountains Of Mourne....

Making Sure To Get The New Boots In The Photo

We didn't quite make it to the summit on the day (we made it to the Saddle ~650m elevation) but we'll be back. At 6 hours this was by far the longest duration walk we've been on as a family. Given the majority of those 6 hours was spent either working the legs on some pretty steep climbing on rough terrain or working the knees on the way down (if you don't count the half an hour hiding from the wind and atin' ba-mozza-cuke sangidges agin de wall), that's a pretty impressive outing by any standards. Very proud of *all* the girls' determination to push on and get to the Saddle as the wind howled and the backs sweated. D determinedly led the way on the final leg and was the first to touch the Mourne Wall at the Saddle.

The Saddle - as high as we got but how proud are we?

The 8th Wonder-Esque Mourne Wall

Lunch On The Leeward Side (with the summit in sight just above the clouds)

Difene The Goddess Of Hillwalking Questions Her Calling

 S only does dramatic descents

Another Quick Lie Down

To celebrate our day's achievements we sought out the best pizza place in town for some post-nutritional...

 (Moral) Victory Pizza

The girls have committed to returning in the Spring for another try when the days and their legs get a bit longer and after they've done some training over the Winter. We'll keep ye posted. 

Bloody Bridge after breakfast the next morning

This really sums up the highs and lows of our adventure

Coffee Humour

From the mind of an eight year old.