The sun is a fickle lady and seems confused as to what she is all about today. Her complicated attitude, contagious. I have woken this morning to bright streaks of light pouring in the windows through the gaps in the white linen curtains, only to fall back asleep as she returns behind the clouds and the cottage darkens once more. She and I have played this game for a couple of hours already and while, it appears, she will continue the game for a while yet, I have excused myself from it in exchange for a cup of tea and to greet the day happily, albeit, on the slower side, regardless of her ever-changing mood.

A day of rest was precisely what our band of misfits needed yesterday. The girls and I slept in and had an easy morning curled up with our books. Kevin fixed a late breakfast of scrambled eggs with mushrooms, and we watched the rain fall from the comfort of our cozy kitchen. The fire safety guy came to replace the fire extinguishers in the cottage and put in a new carbon monoxide detector and had a nice chat with us, providing some ideas for nearby sights to check out for the remainder of our trip. We also discovered that Ellery has been taking random photos throughout our adventure. We had no idea she photographed anything, so they were an interesting find, to say the least.

We headed out in the downpour later in the afternoon to return to Dungarvan for lunch. Audra had noted a pub called Anchor the previous time we were in town. With its bright blue painted exterior, both hanging and potted flowers outside, and pretty white doors wide open in welcome, we did not hesitate to walk in. Kevin and I opted for the same late lunch of pan-seared salmon, mash and veg, and mushroom soup followed by a thick slice of apple pie with vanilla ice cream and fresh cream. Everything was wonderful but the mushroom soup was the star of the show. It was, quite frankly, divine. We all had a great laugh over the kid’s menu which touted fun selections to choose from like the “I Don’t know” for fish and chips and the “Nothing” for chicken nuggets and fries. She opted for the “Nothing” and declared it to be the best chicken she had ever tasted. After a slight delay in figuring out the peculiar exit process from the parking lot we made our way back to Youghal for groceries.

The rain still poured but we had the addition of extraordinary fog. Not the hazy, misty kind, but a full-on wall of pure white. As we came closer to Youghal, both rain and fog came to an abrupt stop, disappearing instantaneously and nary a sprinkle or bit of haze remained. Most peculiar. We made our usual Tesco stop and just like at home, picked up a variety of items that were not on the list while forgetting items we were supposed to get and returned to the cottage. Kevin and Audra backtracked to Tesco to retrieve the forgotten and came home with games. We spent the evening with mugs of tea, ginger biscuits, and hoots of laughter as we played a variety of different games, staying up much later than intended. It was perfect and exactly what I was hoping for on this trip; my family all together, full of joy and smiles, having a stellar time in the simple company of each other. Game night was probably everyone’s favorite part of the day for different reasons. Ellery, because she came out the winner of the most complicated game called Selfish, Audra because we played her favorite card game, Go Fish, and Kevin because he loves games in general and he was hoping for the same as me; an evening filled with joy in the company of family. Perhaps the sun felt excluded from game night and wanted to join in on the fun as she is still indulging in peek-a-boo this morning. Despite the finicky weather, I am filled with light this morning and ready for whatever adventures may come to pass, but only after I finish my cup of tea.

Colección de Ellery