Dark & Stormy

It's another dark & stormy night in Annagassan, and that's not the rum & ginger variety. The onshore breeze has been blowing up for days, but tonight it's gale force and grey clouds have settled in. White caps ahoy, not a good time to cross the Irish Sea. Funny, trying to remember last April... The yellow fields are in bloom, the days are longer but there's no sign of anything resembling warmth at all. In fact, most days are still in the single digits... Clare has been in bed with tonsilitus and I had flu a few days ago. We need to soak up some foreign sunshine, but we're pretty unlikely to find that in northern Italy next weekend...
Yes, it's all been go go go since our trip to Paris. The morning after we got back (at 2am), Clare was back at the airport at 8am. What the? Went via Heathrow to Shanghai on Virgin Atlantic. But unfortunately the Visas for China were not quite in order, so they had to go on to Hong Kong (damn shame), and because of Rugby 7's week, the only hotel they could find was a luxury place at the airport, so no complaints from Clare! They finally flew back into China, did a factory inspection (did not pass muster), stayed in more luxury hotels, etc. The work side of things ended up being fairly easy as inspection plans changed and there was a local public holiday. So finally back to Shanghai where Clare went off to find eggs benedict on the Bund, and she found them (at M On the Bund) and took a river trip. Then flew back to Heathrow on Sunday morning (1 week after Paris), where all the local & European flights were in complete turmoil due to 2 hours of snow that morning (down to 1 runway). So another night at Heathrow, then back into Belfast at midday Monday. We had dinner at a Dundalk pub on Monday night, then Clare went off to Cork where more work awaited... Had enough yet?
In the meantime, we're working on a new 'ticket' lodging system at my work in Dublin (HP), so everyone has been working very hard. A few more people have been heading to the local pub for a quick tipple after work, but I avoid going there if I'm driving (which is generally far better in the evening rush than the morning).
So this weekend will be quiet. Might have a sleep in, read the Guardian, maybe feed some ducks, etc. Bye all.