Castlewellan

Today I went for a 7 mile hike with my old hiking group--again the fruits of being back in rude health. Paddy probably did three or four miles to my one mile. Plus he went swimming. Here's the castle.

And here's a window in a Moorish tower on a hill above the castle.

We had a gorgeous day. There is nothing quite like hiking in Ireland on a lovely day. There were just over 20 of us and only one dog.

I had met some of the hikers before but some were new to me. My favourite was a woman called Caroline who teaches math. She's a big fan of TenX9, an evening of storytelling. She and I compared notes on how elusive creating writing is for both of us. And we both are in awe of Richard O'Leary and Paul Hutchinson, two of the best storytellers at TenX9.

A partial view of Paddy in the photo below. He moves so fast I don't even try to get photos of him.  

I love this photo becuase it gets a bit of the green field patchwork I love so much, with the Mourne Mountains in the distance.

At the end of the hike we went into the arboretum, where we saw this single but multi-trunked sequoia. It's Northern Ireland Tree of the Year. Because that's a thing. People vote for their favourite tree.

The gardens were multifaceted and full of blooms--tulip magnolias for instance, and the beginnings of peonies. In the photo below, Paddy kept looking at me for permission to go into the fountain. He adores water. He did not get permission and moved on. Such a good wee boy.

Also in bloom, azalea and rhododendron.

Behind the gothic gate is an azalea covered in pink blooms, a bit hard to see.

Paddy tearing about the place. One of the lovely things about the mild climate here is it is green all year round and blooms arrive early.

Love this.

After the hike I went into Castlewellan town and visited my friend Aelish's sister and brother and their lovely wee dog. Then I drove to a nearby farm and visited the family I bought Paddy from. They were thrilled to see him. I was a bit sad to see his parents. His sire is now 14 and has aged a lot in the past 18 months. But in pretty good kip for being 14 I guess. Neither of his parents were thrilled to see him--nor did they pay him any mind. Paddy likewise was only interested in chasing the stick one of the kids kept throwing for him. But the family was happy to see Paddy has buttered paws (=he's landed on his feet). And I was happy to let them know how much I adore my little buddy.

March 15