A King at Dawn

This is one of the "Three Kings", a trio of prominent rocks on Cullen beach. (I could write pages about the historical origins of their name, but I'll spare you that and save it for a future blip!)

I was up at 6am this morning. It wasn't just to hear the referendum result (though I'd stayed up until 2am watching coverage the count). A few weeks ago we had a lightning strike (very dramatic!). Although it didn't do much damage, the part of the roof that was hit is high up (~75ft) and hard to access. It would have needed scaffolding at considerable expense and it proved cheaper to rent a crane. It was booked to arrive first thing this morning.

Before it arrived, I headed down to the beach to watch the sun come up :)

The crane arrived on time, and I was amazed at how skillfully and dexterously the team that brought it handled this massive piece of equipment. Between them and our roofer - who spent most of the day in the basket of the crane - we not only got the lightning damage repaired, the entire roof got an overhaul with gutters cleaned, numerous lost slates replaced, inaccessible windows maintained, etc. It was a great day's work (ok, so my contribution was mainly 1) hiring the crane and 2) watching!) , really productive and enjoyable.

I went up in the crane basket at one point. It gave me a new perspective on the house, as well as great views all around. The hire was almost worth it just for that!! :)

Here's the same King, a few minutes earlier.