Garth arrived on 18th at 05:30 and with him came the first snow of the year and freezing temperatures. After Breakfast in the travelodge it was of to Maria’s to get the dart into Dublin.
Off the DART and a cold busy Dublin awaited us. A quick walk around the city centre with a visit to HMV and the Post Office on O’Connell Street, which was pretty much the original building.
Cold and hungry off we went in search of food, Flo had decided on Davy Byrne’s on Duke St, so in we went 2 pints of the black stuff where ordered, unfortunately Flo was driving, we also managed to order some food.
Heavy Snow and freezing roads put an end to our road biking so up to the Leadmines we went Marty, Garth and myself. Lots of snow and not too cold after some time in the Mines we rode to the coastal path and into Bangor for coffee, Garth went on home while Marty and I went to Groomsport via the coastal path.
As expected Christmas Day arrived on time, and Garth was busting to rid himself of excess energy so he rode the Ards 10 mile TT in a time of 30:04 not bad on a mountain bike. It was a perfect morning bright, cold, dry and no wind, Garth was 10th. Just to add icing on the cake we saw a King Fisher .
Back home a quick change of cloths and of to the Douglas’s for Dinner. Arriving about 1:00pm to a warm welcome and a non stop photo session with Mark and his new lens, while Lisa tried to suffocate me while she applied layer after layer of nail varnish.
Fiona and John produced a fantastic meal with some help from Kathleen’s cranberry sauce, it was great to catch up with everyone as it had been two years since are last encounter.
Back home we had a quite night in and at last had time to open our presents, rounding of an excellent day.
Boxing Day what could we do? Well it was another nice bright cold day and the Boxing Day Trial was on so off we went. Some things never change and the Ards Clubs Trial did not disappoint mant sections where the same or at least similar to what I have ridden in the distant past. It was great to catch up with many people I haven’t seen for some years. We even seen Eddie Irvine!
Well that’s Christmas over and done with, 5:30 am start to take Garth to Dublin Airport for his flight to Boston, even Lotti had to come. Got shot of Garth without too much fuss and took Lotti to Tymon Park for a walk and a much needed toilet break. A short drive and we arrived at Harry and Kaths, surprisingly Kath was missing!! but Flo Sr and Harry where up and read for us, some chat and a cup of tea later and Kath appeared. Then it was time for the drive home.
Heavy, heavy frost on Monday (28th) so walked Lotti to the flood gates via Londonderry Park.
It’s finally here Old Years Night with the added bonus of a partial lunar eclipse, and guess what the sky was actually clear so we saw the eclipse in full and even got some photos of it. It’s been a good year for us sky watching armatures we saw the International Space Station, and at Castle Espie Jupiter and it’s moons where seen in there full glory.
Now watching the Hootenanny and waiting the big Finish/Restart.