Family, Friends and Fun

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Well we are back, and enjoying being with family and friends again, and also loving the freedom of being able to head out on our own without organising anybody or anything. Even though it is great to have a driver, cook and cleaner in India, it also requires a lot of explaining, organising and time management, so it's just been nice to just do whatever we want whenever we want. We went to the beach yesterday and we had so much space to ourselves, running up and down the beach and jumping in the admittedly, cold water, but there is so much joy in just having space. Cael was all dressed up and ready for the cold beach with his waterproof leggings, jacket and boots, but he looked very cute in them. Freedom and scope just can't be overestimated. I always felt this sense of space when i returned home from the Netherlands which was very highly populated compared to Ireland, but this sense is heightened even further after spending four months in Bangalore. The weather here though is something not to be desired. We had two non-rainy days so far and it has been very dull and grey most of the time, however this is fine for us because we have had a great four months of sunny weather in Bangalore, however everyone here at home have not had that, so are really depressed not having had any summer. I really feel like I have the best of both worlds at the moment. I do miss Bangalore and all my friends there, but have settled down very quickly to life here again. I think I could settle anywhere at this stage. Well we are off down to stay in our cottage in the country in an hour or two, and looking forward to the peace and quiet of the area and being able to see thousands of stars in the sky at night, something you don't get to see very often in a city lit up with lights.

In Clonakilty we met up with some friends of ours who are at home in Ireland on holidays for a few weeks. We headed down to the coast today to check out the beautiful views of the west cork coastline, but typically the Irish weather had other ideas, and we were lucky to be able to see each others cars which both went in convoy to the end of one of the cork peninsulas and back, with only the view of the road ahead for most of the way. Our visitors will just have to take our word for it that the west cork coastline is extremely beautiful if not covered in fog and mist. The weather allowed us a reprieve however yesterday when we went to Kinsale for the day. It is a small coastal town with a large yachting marina and a lot of pretty shops and cafes. It was very hot and sunny much to our surprise and due to the fact that I had dressed for rain and cold it meant I had to walk around in the heat with knee high boots and jeans but would have been much better served if I had worn flip flops and a dress, although with the lovely day we had, i wasn't complaining. We wandered around and then went for some lunch and took a lovely drive back home at a leisurely rate taking photo's of the beautiful scenery on our way. We then stopped off for another trip to our local beach here in Clonakilty and with much relief took my boots off to play in the sand and paddle in the water while the boys flew the kite again before dragging Cael kicking and screaming from "his beach" and heading off home.

We then spent another day and night visiting my brother and girlfriend in Myrtleville, Crosshaven (another smaller coastal town with a marina. We went to the local beach there and watched people fishing from the shore and played some catch with a rugby ball which Mike threw a bit to strongly and ended up giving me a dead arm, and maybe a bruise. We stayed there until it started to get dark and it was very relaxing and an enjoyable end of another great day......

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