SATURDAY 22ND – MONDAY 1ST DECEMBER
Saturday the 22nd saw my first game of hockey for about 4 years. The club I am playing for is the 'Catholic Institute of Limerick'. The game was in Bandon, which is about 30 minutes west of Cork, just over 2 hours drive from Limerick. So we met the team at 9am Saturday morning, organised the cars, and then hit the road. We arrived in Bandon at the turf at around 11:15am, and the game got underway at midday. I sat off for the first half, and unfortunately we were trailing by 2-0 at half time. In the second half I had a run, but didn't get too many opportunities really, as I was at the wrong end of the field. We ended up getting well beaten, without scoring outselves. It was great to have a run, but unfortunately some of the basics weren't as tidy as they should have been. I guess this was to be expected after not playing for 4 years. Afterwards we went to a small after match function at a cafe / pub in Bandon itself. We stayed and watched the first half of Ireland vs Argentina, then headed off. The Irish people must be amazingly passionate about sport, because they love rugby, but I'm not sure why after watching the Irish team play over the past few weeks. I can now see just how ruthless the rugby community of New Zealand is. We arrived back home, had a nice dinner, and watched the All Blacks play Wales. On Sunday, we had quite a lazy day really, only doing things around the house. That evening we went over to Joe's house, to have dinner with Joe and Marie. It was a really nice evening, great to get out of the house. We heard a few of the try Irish myths / legends about how things in Ireland came about, such as the Giants Causeway in the far north. Monday and Tuesday were quite uneventful really. Tuesday was my last day working at the orthodontist in Limerick. They had filled the position, so I had a couple of days of cross-over with the new lady which was good. It was great to have had that work for the past 4 weeks, to keep me busy, and also to keep some money coming in while we waited for Em's first month of pay to come in. Em's working week continued as normal. I spent the rest of the week doing the last of the jobs including having new tyres put on the car, sorting out insurance so I canuse the car when I start work, and a few other things. Thursday, the 27th started with fantastic news delivered in the mail. I received a letter from the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists, to say that they recgonised my qualification, and that I was now eligible for membership which was fantastic news. All smiles here with that. So I rang Em's boss to let her know about that, and to try and get the ball rolling so I could start work as soon as possible. Friday bought with it a frosty morning, the first one for a few weeks, but the start of a run of cool mornings. Winter is really starting to arrive, even if it is a couple of days earlier than what the calender is saying. On Saturday, after a small sleep in we got up, to be greeted by a very foggy, cold, frosty morning. After beakfast we walked into town. Em wanted to get some wool to start knitting herself a nice warm scarf, and we went to the Milk markets as well for a short time. We also went christmas present shopping for me. While we were in town the fog burnt off to present a beautiful sunny day. However it only got to 6 degrees. The rest of Saturday was spent at home, doing a house work. I washed the car, but left it a bit late and the water was starting to freeze before I could dry the car, which made things a bit difficult. On Sunday, again we had a cracker frost, so we didn't feel too bad about missing out on some of the day because of a nice sleep in. After an early lunch we headed out to the Grange Stone Circle and Lough Gur. These are about 25km East of Limerick. The Grange Stone circle was built around 2100BC, and it the biggest, most well-preserved stone circle in Ireland. It was built by the Bronze Age people living around Lough Gur, and was almost certainly used for religious purposes. There was one excellent stone circle, then two smaller ones nearby. It was a great day to be there, and it was only Em and I there which was nice. From there we headed up the road a bit further to Lough Gur, which is a good sized lake in the heart of Limerick County. The lake is C-shaped, with a marsh area that would create the full circle. It was the site of a settlement around 2500BC, and there are some structures still there. It was a fantastic day to be there, beautiful sun shine, no wind, and not many people there either. They have found hundreds of artifacts from the Mesolithic and Neolithic times, including shields and other hunting implements. There were also birds there which weren't black. We think we saw a few Robins and other birds as well. After looking around for about an hour, we stopped in at a wedge tomb on the way back home, which again was dated at around 2500BC. Everything is so old. I think the age of things over here will not lose it's novalty during our time here. It was great to get out on such a beautiful winters day. At this time of year, because it is winter, there are no tourists at these places, so it means there are no cues, and not many people around which suits us just fine. In the afternoon I spoke with Em's boss Anne, who said I may or may not be starting work on Monday, but she will ring me at around 9 or 9:30am to tell me, she needed to check a couple of things first. Monday, the 1st of December. Just 24 sleeps :-) Again it is a very frosty morning, but a beautiful day here. The day I possibly may start work. I went to the bank in the morning, and it was amazingly icy outside on the foot paths and roads. I was only going 15km/hr because of the ice, and even slower in some places, because I could feel the wheels start to spin. Very treturous. I heard from Em's boss later in the morning, as I need to have another medical. They never received my first one, which I had done about 5 weeks ago. So frustrating. Given where I will be working is 40km away, it is probably a good thing I am not heading into work today, it would have been a very slow trip. So at least one more day of house duties for me. At least the end is in sight.
