Easter holidays and visit home to Ireland

My Easter holidays got off to a really nice start two weeks ago with a picnic at Woodbury Common, consisting of lemonade and strawberries amongst other yummy things. The weather was so beautiful, about 22° and it was really peaceful. I had planned on reading a bit as I have recently started the Shadowing Carnegie programme at work, but it was just too warm and sunny, so instead I dozed and listened to the new Mountain Goats album All Eternals Deck, which I am already in love with.

I spent the first few days of the following week working on my dissertation. I got another 3000 words written and some charts done so felt pretty productive. My plan to submit it by the end of May doesn't look like it is going to happen, but I have until September so am not going to stress unduly. My questionnaire is already showing some rather interesting results and viewpoints so that is pretty cool.

On Friday Rik and I flew from Exeter to Dublin. We met with my good friend Sarah and her Dad for a spot of lunch at Eddie Rockets (yum) and then wandered Dublin a little; visiting the Birkenstock shop and the National Museum. I am not a huge lover of Dublin, but I do like visiting from time to time and there is no doubt that it has a lot to offer.

The next few days were spent relaxing in Birr and photographing our cats (just noticed that the majority of photos from the trip are of cats!) Went for a lovely walk in Portumna Forest Park on the Sunday morning and visited the monastic ruins at Clonmacnoise afterwards. In Portumna we saw red squirrels playing in the woods and lots and lots of fallow deer.

Rik flew back on Monday and I spent the next few days catching up with family and old school friends, reading in the garden and generally enjoying being off work. I also cleared out my wardrobe and presses (cupboards) and donated two bin bags full of clothes to a charity shop. I had already finished the first of my Carnegie Books, White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick, a book I found well-written and atmospheric although without any depth of character, and so started The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff. I went on to finish this on the train back from the airport yesterday and really enjoyed it, if a little guiltily.

It was really nice to escape everything for a week, but also good to come back yesterday. The weather was amazingly warm when I got off the plane in Exeter. It actually reminded me of my first trip to a really warm climate when I was 19. When I stepped off the plane in Majorca I could not believe it could be that warm. Exeter was not quite to that level, but still lovely. We had some great thunder showers in the afternoon too and watched some Gilmore Girls and Harry Potter 6 in the evening.

Not quite sure what today has in store. I have already made blueberry pancakes for breakfast (yet again) and think I will go for a run shortly. The podrunner podcasts were recommended to me as a great way of getting into running (I have always been crap at it) so I am planning on starting that. We may also rent HP7a tonight. It's so nice to have tomorrow off work too and only a three day week ahead. Next weekend we are planning a visit to Cornwall, but for now it is time to enjoy the sunshine...