Knowth
Sunday
What a glorious day. We have been so lucky with the weather.
We got up packed down, had showers and breakfast and
off we went to Knowth for the second visit. I was so
excited to be back there especially as the weather would
allow for peaceful warm sketching. There was a problem
with us spending time there as strictly speaking you
are only allowed an hour and that has to be with a guide
but because I had pre-arranged it, the main office accepted
and we were let in. Knowth has such an amazing energy.
Very powerful and gentle with it. When we spoke with
one of the guides there, she said how she had grown up
in the area and had always loved it at Knowth. She absolutely
loved working here and having the opportunity to be here
nearly every day.
I really enjoyed our time at Knowth. We could have stayed
longer but the sun was so hot it wasn’t advisable to sit
out in it all day. I loved sketching. I no longer worry
about it being perfectly correct and just enjoy the process.
Being a perfectionist has always stopped me drawing as
I was never OK with the outcome. Tina has taught me about
proportions so I just play with it. We stayed and had lunch
and then said our goodbyes.
We then went to see Dowth henge which was amazing. Very
large and set in beautiful countryside. The walk on the
thick lush grass was gorgeous. The sun made the whole experience
such a pleasure. The henge is massive in a nearly round
shape with two openings possibly aligned to the summer
sunrise (?) The space inside the henge is expansive and
open whilst the banks of the henge hold and contain the
space. The henge banks were covered with vibrant yellow
gorse and trees. I could have stayed there for longer to.
It’s so nice to be in the beautiful countryside. The trees
here are really beautiful especially the beach, the queen
of trees. The place was very much like a meadow, gentle
and enchanting.
Then we drove off to the Baltry Stones which took some
finding but we got there in the end. Two stones by the
coast, at the start of the Boyne River. One stone was absolutely
huge and pointed to the summer solstice sunrise point out
at sea. This was the first place introduced in our brilliant
book ‘The Land of the Setting Sun’ and it was to be the
last place for us. The stones were set on private land
with cows in the field so we didn’t stay long. We went
back to where we had parked the van and had tea, toast
and marmalade before leaving for the campsite down south,
near Dublin so that Linda could get to the port early tomorrow
morning.
The road systems aren’t very easy to follow as names of
roads don’t match the OS map and road sizes on the maps
don’t always match with the reality. We got to the campsite
about 6pm. In the brochure and on the website, this campsite
sells itself very well as being a lovely place on a gorgeous
beach etc etc. When we arrived we were met with a site
on the beach surrounded by houses, mobile homes and lots
of people. There was a car and motorbikes on the beach.
My first reaction was to want to turn around and leave
but we didn’t have much choice as we needed to be near
Dublin so we continued and set ourselves up at the campsite.
The owner was very nice and as time went on and the numbers
of people died down, it actually became quite nice. We
parked up with our back doors to the sea. It is lovely
to be next to the sea again. The owner had pointed out
someone else who was going to the port in the morning.
So I went to see if they would be up for taking Linda which
they were. That’s fantastic as it means we don’t have to
go to town really early with her and she gets a lift straight
there. It turned out that they were going back to the UK
because their aunt had died who they were very close to.
It’s strange as we keep meeting people on this journey
who’ve had death touch them recently. This is the first
time Linda has really stopped since Suzie’s death and the
numbness is wearing off a bit so she’s been really feeling
it. At the restaurant on my birthday, the owner was saying
how ten people had died last year that were close to him
and that he had realized how precious and short life actually
is. The exact words we had been saying. Suzie’s death has
highlighted just this – life is too short to be battling
with yourself. Enjoy and appreciate. We had our last dinner
together and made plans for tomorrow morning. Linda had
to be packed up and ready by 6.15am. What a lovely day
for her to end her journey on. She appreciated us loads
for looking after her.
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