Steampunk railway and medieval monastry

Over the weekend during the summer the Downpatrick Railway Museum will be running steamtrain journeys to Inch Abbey. Do yourself a favour and go for a ride. Take a picnic with you. Dress up if you can. You will not spend a more chilled, more fabulous afternoon, away from the madding crowd.

Ridiculously idyllic…. 

Steamrailway followed by a dander in the wildflower filled lanes of Inch Abbey

If you have discovered a place NICER than Ireland on a summer's day i would have to say to you that you have probably found heaven. I always maintain that it is impossible to imagine winter at the height of summer and vice versa and today was no exception. Butterflies and pretty coloured flowers, people relaxed, lying about in the sunshine… i have loved every age i have been. Although i must admit the age i have always truly felt i was was around 40. I no longer have anything to prove to anyone and at this stage of my life being who i am just comes quite happily to me. I no longer crave the adrenaline rush, but at the same time i still enjoy doing meaningful things. It sort of adds up as life without the drama. It is a relief.

There is not a lovelier view in the universe...

I have never understood the concept of competition. I was with a friend yesterday in the ruins of Inch Abbey. Visiting ruins is always good. It puts life in perspective. It is also very picturesque. I was saying you know the really weird thing about men, especially, is that they are always in competition with you. At my age i have come to realise that men feel terribly threatened by strong women. I think they feel threatened by strong anything. I can only hope that my sons will not turn out this way. I also do not understand people who feel threatened by competence. This is why, in general, organisations are filled with incompetent people. There is definitely a flaw in a system where the mediocre is rewarded. I don't mind people being mediocre, but mediocrity coupled with hierarchy usually results in crippling fear. Then, depending on how neurotic the individual in charge is, or how weak, or how filled with the mediocre an organisation is, the rot sets in. I have seen it happen over and over again. I just think, how come people are so compelled to making the same mistakes the world over?

This is the Achilles Heel in the system of hierarchy. This is why the inverted pyramid - because that is what it is really - the inverted pyramid - where one individual determines the fate of everyone else - is so flawed. It is an impossible burden for one person to bear. Or ever a few people. It is a completely illogical system.

Hence, the ruins.

Spot the Oisin

Oisin played with the two younger boys. We just continued chatting. Sometimes we were just quiet. Sometimes we made observations.

In the dining car 

Later we had tea in the dining car at Inch Abbey station.

In our Harry Potter carriage

The view outside

It's like we died and went to Sodor

Honestly they even had the geranium filled pots!

And the water tower!

Thanks to Oisin and Ghin i now know things about things i would have never known about if i did not have sons. I know something about engines and trains and railways. I know something about planes. I know something about Transformers. I know something about Minecraft. I remember the first time Oisin got into steamtrains, specifically into Thomas the Tank engine. I did not think there could be anything more boring in the world. I was drenched in tears of boredom when i went to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum's vehicular collection. Arrrgh!!!! I would say to myself as he and his friends ran around excitedly shouting at the various sized trains. Then over the years i began to appreciate trains. I began to understand what a tank engine was and why Gordon was so snooty. How these things worked. Why they were so fascinating. We took many train rides on steamtrains. To Dublin. To Larne. To Lisburn. In Donegal. Now I am dragging them to steamtrains. Because i have had two sons i have entered an entirely new world which i would have never gone to otherwise.

Selfies on a sunny day

Ah the return of the selfie. My selfie. It feels oddly nice you know after taking all that time off.

Four process editing

I've now used this for my blog's background. Thank you everything. Life is an adventure. It would be a pity to have missed it.