Life on board the Queen Mary

Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016

Just a short post today. The shirt that Richard bought at the Lauren Outlet store in Kildare didn't fit him so we decided to go as soon as the mall opened this morning. After Mitzi's shortbread spree yesterday, we decided it would be safer if we took her with us. She stays in the back seat and seems quite content to be brought along.

On our way, we had to stop for some horses:

These narrow roads are something else. And we share them not only with horses but also with sheep:

I think Richard drove along for about a quarter of a mile with flocks of sheep just grazing or sitting beside the road, completely ignoring the cars. I wonder how many accidents happen in this particular stretch? The sheep have done quite a job on grazing the land around here so that it looks like a moor. 

We arrived in Kildare Village and people were already starting to stream in. We had unfortunately (and accidentally) used the receipt as kindling the other night so instead of getting cash, we were handed a gift card for the return amount. Richard insisted I use it as he says nothing in the Lauren shop in Ireland fits him. He is convinced that Irish shirts are just made smaller; he is going to have to either order them from the U.S. or wait until we go to Kilkenny in a few weeks and go to a tailor there. 

Ah but his disappointment over his shirt was quickly overcome when we went to the Tesco supermarket next door to the Village. Who knew that a man could find such joy in going to a supermarket? The prices there are very good--.69 for a packet of Scottish shortbread that would easily cost $3.99 in Arizona. And he found his beloved pre-made (not frozen) dinners so we will be having Cottage Pie for dinner tomorrow night (it was baked pizza tonight and the oven worked a treat.) We also found a printer at an excellent price; something we had had to leave behind of course. 

I was finally able to drag him out of Tesco's and we walked around Kildare Town, hoping we could get into St. Bridgid's Cathedral. No luck, it was locked. We had more success at the Carmelite White Abbey. Although a wedding would be taking place in an hour, we were able to walk around the church and admire the stained glass and the lovely wedding decorations:

Gate to the "abbey" (which is really a church, abbey is long gone)

The fellow was setting up the sound and video equipment for the wedding

When we returned to our car, which we had left in the Village parking lot, all the post-holiday shoppers were out in full force. The parking lot was now full so we were glad to get out and head back to The Mews. Our neighbors in "the big house" are having a large party tonight so we knew we would have to be home early as we had been told the driveway would be full of cars starting at 7:00. That's fine, one good thing about old Georgian houses is that they hold the sound in; you would never know folks are having a party.

We watched a thought-provoking movie called The Giver with Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges. It is described as a "social science fiction film." Richard has seen it three times and kept telling me it was a great movie. I don't particularly like science fiction so I had resisted but after seeing it tonight, I did find it a very good movie. Would we want to live in a perfect world where there are no feelings, good or bad? Where every day we were given an injection that ensured that life would be peaceful and calm. Where life was run by "the Elders" and no deviation from the norm was tolerated? It's the antithesis of 1984 but no less disturbing; part of the wonder of life is knowing what happiness and joy are, knowing the satisfaction of getting through tough times....

So those are my thoughts for tonight :)