The Kerry Cottage

Sitting here in a local supermarket cum petrol station with an attached coffee machine and free wifi plus an electricity supply on which I can recharge my iPad. This is a bonus given that we are reliant on one small portable solar panel back at the cottage. This is a snug and dry place to be this afternoon since the weather has turned rather wild, wet and windy in the past 24 hours.
Yesterday afternoon we went a good walk along the coast to visit the “blowhole”, a dramatic archaeological formation at Canglass Head where the Atlantic waves roar into a cave and burst out vertically through a big hole in the rocks. A squall had recently passed us by and we were still counting our chickens when the sky darkened and a storm came hurling in off the sea and in a matter of moments we were deluged in sheets of hail and freezing rain followed by lightning. We both had good rain jackets but neither of us had rain trousers with us and our trousers and shoes were completely awash! It’s a fortunate thing that in adverse circumstances and some way from home, we both seem to find our inner strength as it was a long chilly walk back to the cottage. Never have dry trousers and socks felt so comforting.

The photo above gives an impression of the cottage which is more or less as it was when my father bought it in the early 1970s, with the addition since of a cold water supply, kitchen sink, calor gas cooker, (archaic, smoky!) multifuel stove and an outside toilet. The mobile signal is highly sporadic and there is no internet connection.
The rain has meant less walking in the last day or so and a few more tunes on the guitar.
I have also been enjoying re-reading the wonderful memoir of life in the Blasket Islands, visible from the back door of the cottage just off the Dingle peninsula - “The Islandman” by Tomas O’Crohan. He has a lyrical turn of phrase which is so characteristic of these parts. I also managed to order a copy of “The Third Policeman” which I loved when I read it about fifty years ago now and am looking forward to settling down with that during the next rainy spell.
Apologies in advance if I am poor at responding to an comments, due to the lack of internet.