Well, if events from the last blog were a bit fraught (“Mainly about –not-writing) this fortnight has been long and full of obstacles. After the whirlwind of last month it all seems rather mundane but it is just as important, if not more so. It is a relief to reach the weekend and draw breath. Now, as we are retired the weekend has much less of an impact than when we both worked. Now we can wake up on Monday and think, “There’s no school today!” However there is a lot of other stuff to be settled and dealt with.

The dreaded eye appointment rolled around with the same painful aftermath. This is a worry as Jacqui has had these injections for a long time now and this is the only series where she’s had such a reaction. For 36 hours afterwards she has severe pain, photophobia and is exhausted. This is better than one time when the effects lasted six days but still very bad. However, just before last weekend we had a phone call changing an appointment for Jacqui’s pre-operative assessment. This was very welcome as she has been on the waiting list for almost two years and we were getting anxious about her next eye test for driving. She can still see fine but the older the driver the stricter the examiner can be so this will hopefully be done and healed in time.

Last week was hot – devilishly hot by Irish standards. There was a gentle breeze blowing and we opened the windows and doors. And then closed them all again. A hot bank holiday weekend is, apparently, the perfect time to slurry your fields. Especially the field next to us. It’s only small and about a quarter of it is out of bounds as it’s too close to the well but it took over four hours in the late afternoon and evening and a couple of extra tanks the next day. It was four days before we could open the windows and then the weather turned and it started to rain. Although it’s still raining intermittently there is a repeat performance this weekend too. Guess I’ll be using the tumble dryer after all.

Despite the crazy weather some plants are flourishing. We have rose bushes around the front door (very Jane Austen) and this year they are a mass of blooms. They are rather untidy as we missed the second pruning but still are a joy to see. We thought the Arum lilies were goners after the rain, cold and storms but they’ve made a sudden reappearance. It is quite a sight when it gets dark as they are luminescent and glow gently for several hours after sunset. The grasses and weeds have also been spurred into action and I’m facing a losing battle in the wood. I do what I can, choosing a small patch or tree and clearing as much as possible. We can’t use the mower when the grass is wet and there are still sudden squalls and showers every day.

The plants in the polytunnel are all coming on well with almost every tube now growing. The first beans are in and more crops will follow, hopefully before we are faced with feral plants mimicking a scene from “Little Shop of Horrors”. Jacqui has sown a range of salads and herbs so if we ever get some summer we will be well set up and disgustingly healthy. We are hoping to experiment with a wire potato cage. I tried planting a few in the orchard area a couple of years ago but they were dug up and eaten by rats before they could even sprout. Jacqui found plans for a circular cage of fine mesh wire where the seed potatoes are layered with compost and straw. It looks interesting and hopefully is rat and bird proof.

We’ve had an interesting time with the car these few weeks past. As it is getting on a bit (2012 – not unusual in Ireland) we have to take the NCT every year. This is the equivalent of the MOT in the UK but actually a bit stricter. Our exceptionally good garage, Slattery’s, always do a full service before the test and this time it finally needed part of the suspension replacing. Not cheap but still, it’s lasted a good long time especially on the awful rural roads.

They collected the car and returned it the same day and we were ready for the test until we drove down to pay the bill and there was a nasty groaning sound. We pulled into the forecourt, they had a look and the other side suspension had suddenly gone. It looked as if we would fail the test (now only two days away) but they located the part somehow, fitted it the next day and we passed. We don’t drive much now but it is a lifeline as there’s no public transport and no taxi service out here. We rely heavily on deliveries but our local shops are rarely able to offer this so it was a huge relief and thank you to all at Slattery’s. Heroes all.

Now, a follow-on to the writing scam from last time. A friend on Facebook has written about a new development. Previously the AI generated messages were full of praise for writing quality, characters and so on. A sweet cocktail of flattery, AI generated analysis and seemingly soft options tried to lure the unsuspecting into sending money for services. The new line is abuse and ridicule. The work is poor, badly written, full of errors, unoriginal and totally without merit. This can be corrected of course, by the same AI programs and for a price. Well, if any of my writing friends get one of these messages please bear in mind it is all fake. All generated by an algorithm and absolutely without merit. Thank you Joelle Taylor for highlighting this and confronting it for us all.

So we arrive at the weekend a bit wrung out and very grateful for a break from appointments, tests and officialdom generally. We have visitors in a few weeks and I really need to get my desk tidied as it’s hard to work at the moment. Here’s hoping you all have a good weekend and thank you for reading.

Jennie.