Sunday Hiking

So, it's Tuesday evening now and it's high time I added some writing to the pictures below. On Sunday I again went along with the mountaineering club for a hike up a mountain and it was actually good weather! It was my first mountain hike with a view, and it was very cold but still a really good hike. We went up a mountain called Benbaun (all the mountains here start with the word ben, it's something to do with the Irish language). It means 'white peak' and on this occasion it was actually white. The hike took about 4 hours or so - it was steep enough going up but quite easy going down, so there were no horrific accidents like the last week. The respite from strong winds and rain meant that it was also possible to chat to the other people on the hike. The lower reaches of the mountain were very boggy - I think the majority of farmland in Ireland must be bog. It was very wet and muddy, but I managed to not fall completely into the mud. I did, however, manage to slip just where there was a sharp rock beneath the mud and know I have a huge black bruise on my hip. Then, when I finally got home, I was absolutely shattered but wanted to share my pictures anyway because it was so exciting to have clear weather!

Now it is a whole new week of working and it is already not going well. I guess it's time to get seriously into lab work, only just the thought of it makes me so tired! But, on a positive note, I submitted my first manuscript, which hopefully will be accepted and published in a scientific journal. Which will be very exciting. Only the entire process generally takes several months so it will be awhile before I know anything about it at all. I would like to say that this means a entire half of my PhD is done and dusted, but I get the feeling that that would be speaking too soon. So I guess I should just start working harder and hope that I will be done by the end of the year (lots of fingers crossed).