We woke up on Sunday morning to sun and glorious blue skies. After some quick consulting with the all-knowing Google, we decided to take a road trip.
The weather was perfect for driving, and as we were heading to the midlands and not the beach, most of the traffic was going in the other direction. We were even in such a good mood that when the googlemap directions turned out to have been written by blind monkeys and were abandoned in favour of my internal satnav, we were still smiling.
It was a day on which there were many reasons to smile.
The first day this year that the birkies have been worn outside without risk of frostbite, for one!
Wow…I need a pedicure.
The drive (eventually) brought us to what is traditionally known as “culchieland” by those in Dublin….and by a lot of people outside it as well. County Offaly has been the butt end of jokes for countless years. Most involve sheep or having an extra finger/toe. Our current Taoiseach (Prime minister) is known as BIFFO (Big Ignorant F***er From Offaly). It’s quite a gorgeous place though, for all the slagging off we give it. 40 shades of green doesn’t even come close. It’s also home to one of the last remaining distilleries in Ireland.
Yes, dear readers, I drove all the way to see whiskey on my sunny Sunday.
Not that there were many objections from HusBeast, who even deigned to pose for a photo.
The Tullamore Dew distillery was in the building behind him for most of it’s life, but was recently moved out in favour of this “modernisation” malarkey. The building has been turned into a heritage centre, and while it’s very much geared up for TransAtlantic tourists, it was an interesting way to spend an hour or so. There are displays about the history of the town, whiskey making, and some nice bits of old kit
like this bottlefiller, which was manned by an amazingly creepy looking waxwork of a bottlefiller operator.
At the end of our wander around, we headed downstairs to the bar that’s not really a bar. It used to be a working bar at some stage in the past, and now sits empty and forlorn looking in between busloads of tourists. We had a sample of Tullamore Dew, which is not my favourite whiskey by a long shot, I must admit. It’s good in cocktails and fab in Irish coffees, but I prefer my whiskey without an umbrella in it. Irish mist has been associated with big hair and shoulderpads and other pinnacles of 80’s fashion in my head since childhood, and it turns out that it’s actually a nice drink too.
Naturally, we had to take home a souvenier. Ahem.
It’s a bottle of Heritage, which is their special distillation. When it’s gone, it’s gone - that kind of deeley. No idea what it tastes like, as the nearest pub didn’t actually have any Tullamore Dew at all. Not the smartest marketing strategy, I feel.
Since then, I’ve mostly been knitting. The Tangled Yoke is flying along.
Flying for me, at least. The body section is done, sleeve one is done, and sleeve two is coming along nicely. Once that’s finished, it’s on to the slightly complicated part. This is actually the first Interweave Knits pattern that I’ve knitted (as opposed to queuing and never getting around to knitting) and I’m getting into the swing of their pattern-writing style nicely.
If that wasn’t enough, I’ve also had the dyepot going. I’ve posted off a custom order today, and I’ve been working on something new to boot. Here’s a sneek preview
More to come soon!
