#FirstDate #FirstDates #FirstDatesIRL #Dating #Kilkenny #CountyGalway #CountyWicklow #CountyWexford #Porridge #Oatmeal #BoysenberryJam #Recipe #LEGO
As you know from last week’s post, I spent the last two weeks of May in California visiting family and friends. When I landed in Dublin, I was expecting to take the bus back to Kilkenny, but Jeanne was there to greet me! I was super exhausted as I am not able to sleep on a plane, but I was so excited to see her that I stayed up for the drive back to Kilkenny. While I had a great time in California, it was nice to return home with a bang.
Before I left on that trip, Jeanne purchased a used campervan. It’s a 1998 Mazda Bongo Friendee that she nicknamed Billy. Now that I was back in Ireland, she was eager to take Billy for a spin. So we spun off to Portumna, County Galway for a night. We even took Brownie with us. Linc had to stay home and make sure I wasn’t robbed.
Camping and sleeping in Billy was acceptable, but we both agreed that improvements could be made. The following weekend, we went to Charles Camping in Blessington, County Wicklow. She picked up a few odds and ends, and then we walked around the Blessington Greenway.
The best part of summer in Ireland is the fact that it stays light FOREVER! And on some of those nights, you get amazing sunsets. After having dinner with friends, we took a stroll up High Street in Kilkenny and was stunned by these colors.
A couple of weeks before we met, Jeanne was hiking Brandon Hill and met a woman named Tracy. Their conversation included dating successes and failures. Tracy mentioned that she was on an app called Hinge. She encouraged Jeanne to join, and she did. Not long after that, Jeanne and I matched and went on our first date. I am very thankful that Tracy and Jeanne met, so when Tracy invited us to hike Brandon Hill again, of course we went.
Taking advantage of the summer and Billy, we booked a trip to Norman View campground outside of Fethard-On-Sea in County Wexford. Once again we brought Brownie, and I was shocked to learn that he didn’t hate the ocean as much as I remember. He didn’t seem very comfortable with the water when I was in California. Maybe he likes colder water.
It is amazing to wake up to a sunrise when you’re camping. It is not amazing to have to answer the call of nature when there are no toilets available. I had to make do with the bushes on the left. Fortunately for Jeanne, her lifelong friends Louise and Paddy were in their campervan to the right of us. After that trip, we made sure that we would always bring a toilet with us and picked up a portable one at Aldi of all places.
When I returned from California, I brought back gifts for some of my closest friends. One of the gifts for Jeanne was a jar of Knott’s Berry Farm’s Boysenberry Jam. She really enjoyed it and showed me how I could add it to my porridge/oatmeal:
Ingredients:
- 40g Flahavan’s Oats
- 275mls of Barista Oat Drink
- 1 tablespoon of Knott’s Berry Farm’s Boysenberry Jam
- 1 teaspoon of chia seeds
Directions
- Stir oats into oat drink.
- Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes stirring continuously.
- Pour porridge into serving dish and top with jam and seeds.
