Lonely rock climber

Yesterday's freezing fog had cleared and the cold was much less intense by the time we left Carl's neighbours' place after our enjoyable dinner party, and there was actually some heat in the sun when I opened the door this afternoon. The now-familiar sky of all-over blue was there again, the light was bright and crisp, and off I went a-blipping.

I'd intended going down to Dún Laoghaire harbour, but I've blipped around there a bit too often perhaps. So I headed for Dalkey instead and took the turn which leads up to Killiney Hill. The car park was packed, and there were scads of people out and about with their dogs and their children. I took a different path to the one I'd usually take, and that's when I first realised that the frosty weather was far from over. This path is shaded by trees, and was quite icy because the sun hadn't been on it. It was also directly exposed to what breeze there was, and it was a cold one. Still, it was wonderfully clear and forty minutes or so spent walking both on and off the path was an enjoyable, if cold, experience.

Walking off the path I found my way to the edge of Dalkey Quarry. I knew its reputation as a favourite haunt for rock climbers to get in a bit of practice, and sure enough there were a few in evidence, including this guy. He seemed to be dangerously alone at first glance, but it turned out that two figures high above him were pals and helpers. Even wrapped up suitably for the cold, I don't think I'd fancy this (even though I do have an absailing experience buried in my life history from a time I went with a work group on an 'adventure' weekend).

The rest of the day was ridiculously lazy. If my client had only got her act together it would have been an ideal opportunity to get really stuck in to work on her quarterly magazine, but she's behind yet again in getting material to me. That means that the coming week is going to be a busy, busy one.