Graiguenamanagh - 1 June 2023

1 June 2023 - Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny (again!)

About 21.30 last night, the cows were being really noisy, I did wonder if one was in labour! Anyway - went to have a look - a couple of men were moving them across the road to fresh grass - they seemed very content! A cow had given birth the night before, and they still had one pregnant one - seems late to me - but what do I know!

By 22.30 - the sky had a beautiful warm orange glow - the sun sets here about 21.45 at the moment.

Tintin drove today - about two hours in total. Today was all about getting LPG! Drove from Co Kildare into Co Carlow. The scenery today has been exceptional. It’s good to see hills and trees again - and so much green - and blue sky today too.

Really strange man at Devoys, an independent next to the garage supplying LPG. Not sure if he even spoke or understood English! Anyway, we were on red light, when full we have 8 green ‘blips’ - so should have been empty. Everyone says it’s hard to know how much gas is left. We should hold 38 litres, but allowing for expansion of 20% - then should be able to load 30 litres. Even though we thought we had very little left, only took 19 litres!

Filled up with diesel at the garage next door, and was surprised to see we hadn’t filled up for 11 days - obviously haven’t been far! All through Northern Ireland though.

We were booked into Graiguenamanagh - but can’t check in until 14.00 - but have to ‘check out’ by noon - why it takes two hours for one van to drive anyway, and another to drive in - don’t know!

We were left with time to kill. Stopped off by a weir in Ballinabrannagh for a cuppa, but couldn’t settle as the carpark was quite busy - so felt we were taking up too much space. Moved up the road to a church carpark for lunch.

Did a quick shop at Aldi we saw in passing - mainly for water.

Arrived here and sat outside for a while as it’s such a nice day. About 16.00 went out for a cycle - only about 6 miles today. There were people swimming in the River Barrow, didn’t look that inviting - or judging from the sign I saw - not even allowed?

Went to visit the Duiske abbey which originated in the 13th century as the church of a Cistercian monastery, but today it is a Catholic parish church. The abbey began to deteriorate in 1536 as it was suppressed, and it gradually fell into ruin. The last tragedy occurred in 1744 when the tower collapsed into the nave. It later underwent some renovations while serving as a place of worship for the Protestant Church of Ireland, returned to the Catholic community in 1812. Duiske Abbey was fully restored in the 1980s.

Were going for a general cycle, and lady going into the woods with her dog was saying we couldn’t go in there due to steps, but explained there was a 4km loop through country lanes - so did that instead.

Once again, happy to see the cows, sheep and horses and so much space!

Tintin decided to try a quick bit of bike maintenance when I was off taking photos. I’m not surprised things get shaken around so much when driving. A while back the lid of a bottle of Persil washing liquid came off in a plastic tub in the garage - as you can imagine - that made a mess - although it did smell fresh!

Should have been a quick ride, but when we were admiring the black and white cows, a lady came out from her house next door - we then chatted for about 40 minutes - not sure if she was lonely - but very friendly nevertheless.

There are stone statues dotted around the place - think I photographed one last time we were here - about 6 weeks ago!

Then it was back to Dave for another sit out in the sun. We were accosted by a man asking about our Mobilvetta - he was looking to buy a K-yacht 80, and wanted our honest opinion. Bearing in mind he’d owned a Frankia and a Burstner feel he might feel let down by the Italian build quality. However, style wise - the Moby wins!

Had a late oven cooked tea - so good to know the gas won’t run out anytime soon.

It’s lovely listening to the weir in front of us, we don’t mind paying the €12 for the night - but just pitching up where and when we want is easier! Having said that, might struggle over this weekend finding good places to park. Ideally will try by the sea, but may have to move inland…