Ireland Part 1

Well where do I start? I’m back from N. Ireland after an amazing week away! We managed to fit so much into one week! It didn’t get off to a great start as our plane was cancelled and we had to get on the next one which meant a two hour delay, I managed to find some computers and logged onto the internet to kill time, so all was not lost. Our flight eventually left Liverpool at 10.45pm instead of 8.30pm and we arrived at my Auntie’s house in Armagh well after 12.00 and went straight to bed.

The following morning we took a walk round Cabragh which is where my Mum was brought up and where I remember spending lots of time as a child. We walked through the fields that my Auntie owns and made friends with some cows! We then went for a Sunday lunch at a posh restaurant, Mum, Dad and Auntie D had a four course meal, I just had the main. After lunch we visited the church at Loughgall village where the wedding was going to take place on the Thursday but more about that later. That night we were invited round to my Mum’s cousin’s house to see their son’s wedding presents. This is a tradition in Ireland apparently, people are invited to see what everyone else has bought (Mum loved this bit, she’s very nosey). So we had tea and cake and chatted till about 11.30 that night.

On the Monday we did some shopping (my favourite pastime) in a local shopping centre and had lunch there. We went home for a little rest before setting off again for Daisy Hill Hospital for dialysis. It took half an hour to get there we set off at around 5.45 and my shift started at 6.30pm, the nurses were so friendly and really professional, I was on every night before 6.45.

On the Tuesday we went to the local town (Armagh) for a little look at the local shops and in the afternoon we went to Lisburn (about a 45minute drive) to see my mum’s Auntie, who is in her 90’s. It was great to see her and she is looking really well. We spent a couple of hours with her and then headed back to my Auntie’s house where I treated my mum, dad and Auntie to a Chinese takeaway, which was delicious.

I decided on the Wednesday to take it pretty easy as the following day was going to be a hectic one with the wedding. So we had a little walk round the Mall (a green area surrounded by trees in the middle of the town where the local cricket team plays) We used to always do this when I came to Ireland as a child so it was nice to be able to do it again. In the evening I obviously headed off to Daisy hill in Newry again for dialysis which went ok although I did experience some clotting about an hour before the end, but thankfully it held out to the end of the session and I didn’t need to come off early.