Vacationing in Ireland - The Good, the Bad, and the Constant Rain

     Mike says it was my idea to go to Ireland.  I say he didn't need much convincing.  It was great fun in the planning stages and less so in the execution.  So come along with us on our cold, rainy holiday.

We're off.

     We left Philly in the afternoon and arrived in Dublin the next day at the crack of dawn.  We decided to stay in center city in an apartment instead of a hotel.  Our landlord accepted Paypal and credit cards, but he made it known that he preferred cash.  This, combined with the view from our living room window, made me question what we had gotten into.

An ugly view, located right next to an elevated commuter rail line, a few blocks from a night club that blasted dance music till 3:00 a.m. - win, win, win! 

        
     Mike said it would be fine since our landlord had a decent reputation on VRBO since 2012.  The apartment was directly across the street from the fire station and emergency squad and the police department.
     "Who would try monkey business a few feet from the police station?" he asked.
     Mike was right.  The landlord was a nice guy.  We got a discount for paying cash, and our host waived the security deposit.  The apartment was clean and bug free.  The view was par for the course in the city and didn't indicate that the situation was unsafe.  As far as the noise goes - we wanted to stay in center city, a few blocks from Trinity College during the week of partying before classes begin.  We had to own that one.
     We pushed hard the first day figuring we would go to bed early and wake up adjusted to the time difference.  We walked for hours inspecting the neighborhood.

Mike at Ha'penny Bridge
This is a pedestrian bridge over the River Liffey built in 1816.

I suppose every town has duck boats.  They make you wear Viking hats with horns on this tour.

Streets are mobbed until 10:00 or 11:00 at night.

This is a beautiful mall at St. Stephen's Green.  There is a supermarket in the basement.  

View of a Church Just Off Grafton Street 
Grafton Street is a pedestrian street with shops, restaurants, and live entertainment.  The weather looks pleasant, doesn't it?  It wasn't long after this that the temperatures dropped and the skies opened up for the next six days.  They say the Irish left Ireland because of the potato famine and oppressive English rule.  I say the crappy weather drove them out. 

   

     We decided to have fish and chips for dinner on our first night.

I know you can identify the fish and the fries.  The green stuff is mushy peas.  They were tasty.

Sláinte!

   

     Was it the pint of Harp?  Was it the fried food or the exhaustion?  The next two days were spent alternately sleeping and visiting the bathroom.  The craic (Irish for fun or good times) improved, but the weather didn't.
     Mike didn't like the food, and I didn't like the weather.  The one thing we couldn't complain about was the people.  From the cabbie who didn't want to accept any money for driving us to a doctor's office to the little, old lady who asked if she could point us in the right direction because we had a lost look, they were just so nice.
   
         
       
   
     

Making a Walking Stick

     There are two ways to make a walking stick.  This first method (aka the easy way) is to grab a bow saw, go to the woods and find a fairly straight sapling, cut it down, trim it to the required length also removing any branches, and walk out of the woods employing the newly created stick as a aide for balance, a weapon against aggressive Hainesport turkeys, or a tool for clearing away spider webs and low hanging branches.  Or you can do it the hard way.  That's usually my way.
     The hard way begins in the same manner as the easy way.  One goes to the woods and finds an appropriate sapling and cuts it down.  The rest of the process occurs at home.

I brought home two saplings.  One was chosen, and one became firewood.  The stick is longer than it needs to be.  It will be cut to the correct length after the wood thoroughly dries.

I sawed off all the branches as close to the trunk as possible.  These knotty places will look nice on the finished product.

I began scraping away the bark.  There are two layers of bark.

When the wood is freshly cut, the layers peel up easily.

Once started, the bark was easy to peel off.

I left bark around each end.  This prevents the wood from splitting as it dries.  I cut the stick in fall.  I leaned it against the wall in the shed and forgot about it until the following summer.  

I cut the stick to a length that I liked - 55 and 1/4 inches.  I drilled a hole with a 1/4 inch inch drill bit through the center of the stick, 11 and 3/4 inches down from the top.  I sanded with 120 and 220 grit sandpaper.  I applied a coat of wood stain and three coats of polyurethane.  Between coats of polyurethane, I sanded with 400 grit sandpaper.  Finally, I  put a 7/8 - 1 inch chair tip on the bottom end. 

Mike has a walking stick with a leather thong looped through it.  I decided to weave a black cord with a silver heart charm.  Then I personalized my walking stick with some alphabet beads.  The hard way turned out pretty, don't you think?

   

Clueless

     Mike likes his feet to be smooth.  I've been in the habit of putting foot files into his Christmas stocking.  He recently announced that these old stand-bys are not doing the job.  What he really needs (he says) is a device we saw advertised on television - a battery operated, rolling drum file called Amopé.

Old School

The Latest in Callus Grinding

     We were in the check out line at Bed, Bath, & Beyond when Mike bolted toward the back of the store.
     "Where are you headed," I called in his direction.
     "I'm going to get that pedi-file," he yelled back.
     At that point, so was everyone else in the store.

It Won't Eat or Drink

     You might as well stock up.  After all, it won't eat or drink.  That was Mom's advice whenever things like toilet paper, laundry detergent. or bars of soap went on sale.  Storing things that would never spoil would cost nothing and would save money in the long run.
     The other day, I was able to share Mom's wisdom with the guys at Lippincott's Supply.  The week previous, I dug the moss from between the patio blocks, and now I had to replace a lot of sand.  I wasn't sure how much polymeric patio sand to buy, so I decided, "Just give me both bags.  I'll save the excess for the future.  It won't eat or drink."
     That was a new one on those fellows.  After sharing a good laugh, they told me how to use the product.  Mike and I left with about three times as much sand as we needed.
     Here's how to refill the spaces between patio blocks after you dig out weeds, moss, and most of the original sand.

This type of block is best "grouted" with polymeric sand.  The product does not work well on interlocking pavers.  Polymeric sand is sand plus additives.  When water is added, the polymers cause the sand to harden.  The hardened sand resists weed growth better than plain sand.  Ants can't build mounds through it.  Also, it won't wash out in heavy rains.  You can see that most of the original sand came out with the moss that had been growing between the blocks for the past couple of years.  Note to self: Don't let things get so out of hand in the future.  I have been fighting moss in the summer.  I recently learned that moss is an evergreen that will thrive whenever there is sufficient moisture.  Summer is the least favorable season for moss since the weather can be hot and dry.  I plan to fight the regrowth of patio moss by applying a bleach solution year round.  

Mike used a trowel to pour the polymeric sand into the deepest joints.

I went behind Mike with a broom, sweeping the product into the cracks.  After the joints were full, we swept up the excess sand.  We were left with a fine white powder which you can see at the back of the patio in this picture.  

After sweeping the product into the joints and removing any excess, use a blower on the lowest setting to blow away the fine dust on the paver surface. 

Finally, mist the surface three times.  The first misting is done from a height of four feet.  Just dampen the whole surface.  Wait 3 minutes and mist again from a height of two feet.  Use the mist to push any particles toward the joints.  Don't use too much water.  Too much is when water puddles in the joints.  You want the water to be absorbed into the joint to the point just before it puddles.  Wait about 5 minutes and mist for the third time - again, no puddling in the joints.  Too much water causes the binding agents to wash away.  If that happens, these agents usually float on the paver surface and turn the surface cloudy white.   

All the sand in this step was gone.  Now it's back.

The sand is back.  All joints are filled uniformly.  The sand comes in five colors, and we used gray.  Though it's not completely dry, the driest areas have developed a hard shell.  The pavers don't have a cloudy white haze, so we must have done something right.     

     There are some other things to consider when using polymeric sand.  Be sure the patio is dry when you start.  If there has been rain recently, let the patio dry for 2-3 days.  Check the weather forecast to be sure there won't be any rain for a couple of days after you finish your project.  As they say (though Mom never used this one), timing is everything.