1st - 9th November. Bridge, bowls, and river reflections in Enniskillen.

The police launch is about again today.They always manage to look very busy.

The Erne mooring by the shopping centre looks very bleak, when seen across the water. We usually tie up on the long end jetty, as there is just room for The Puzzler to fit there.

We can bring the trolley right to the boat at this mooring, and can then use the side doors for unloading the shopping.

Back to Broadmeadow for bowls at the Forum in the morning, followed by bridge in Enniskillen in the evening. The cygnets here are growing up fast. Andy saw them flying for the first time today.

The mooring at Riverview is our next call, for bowls at the Cathedral Hall. In the evening we have a lift to Irvinestown for bridge again. Many thanks to Jackie and Angela.

Reflections today, across the river from Riverview, are outstanding. These riverside mooring are a traditional part of life in Enniskillen.

A sleepy heron watches us go past him.

The trees are still holding their autumn colours, beside the old Erne Hospital, which closed in June. There is now a new state of the art hospital on the outskirts of Enniskillen.

Heading back across to the Round "O" in the morning, there are more reflections in the river.This stillness of water is more usually seen on canals, rather than here on the river.

Later in the day at the Round "O", the reflections move to the other side of the River Erne. A rowing eight is out for training, with their coach in attendance.

Finally, in the evening, the sun sets behind the trees of the Round "O" park.

20th - 31st October. Autumn in Enniskillen. Snakes too!

Autumn is here. We are back in Enniskillen again, looking across to the far side of the River Erne from the Riverside mooring near the library.    

More Autumn colours can be found everywhere.

The geese are happily sleeping among the fallen leaves at the Round "O".

The underneath of our back fender is falling apart, so needs attention.

Renovated fender! Sally has been at work, using some old rope for the repair, followed by a coat of blacking.

Woodcuttting among the reeds! Low water levels in the River Erne have uncovered the last fallen tree trunk here, making this possible.

We came to the Ardhowen Theatre this weekend to see The Three Irish Tenors. They were extremely good.
The early morning mist gives a ghostly look to the river.

An hour or so later clouds add character to the scene.

By Monday morning we are alone on the mooring. Those logs are coming in handy!

On Tuesday there was great interest at the Erne Shopping Centre in a live display by the Reptile Village Conservation Zoo. Andy is getting friendly with a Californian Kingsnake.

Sally held it too.

We had to be rather more careful with this Burmese Python. She is four years old now, but can eventually grow to a length of 20 feet, with a weight of 14 stone.

Rather larger than the spiders we normally find on The Puzzler, this is a Chilean Rose Tarantula.

14th - 19th October. Bowls break in Westport. Part 2.

While at the Castlecourt Hotel in Westport, all of our bowling takes place in the Dome Suite. The dome in the ceiling changes colour, so look out for it later. As the bowling mats here are laid on top of carpet then they are very slow. This means that each bowl has to be sent down the mat much faster than usual, to get it to the other end. It takes some getting used to, but is the same for everyone.

We were drawn in teams of four at the meeting on the first night. Andy is in team P in the green section, while Sally is in Red J. Sally's first game is at 9.30am on Monday. No lie-in this morning!

Andy is in action too, but not until later on.

Team Red J were pleased as this head of bowls began to develop. At this point we are holding three bowls, with the jack hidden in the middle of them, between Sally's second bowl and Marjorie's two orange ones.

Team Red J was made up of Ronnie, Marjorie, Sally and Jim Joe, our skip. We won three of our seven games this week, so we were pleased with that.

Meanwhile, Andy's team are fighting for a place in the Green finals. It all depends on this game.

With only the skips to deliver their bowls, this last end is crucial. Susan and Andrew are counting shot possibilities here for Team Green P, while Andy watches the shot. Sadly it was a drawn end, but they came a creditable second in their group.

Andrew, Marlene and Andy get together in the evening to celebrate their success.

We all enjoyed the Gala Dinner on the last evening. It has been good to get to know so many new bowling friends, as well as being with all those from Enniskillen.

14th - 19th October. Bowls break in Westport. Part 1.

Having left The Puzzler at the Round "O", we went to join our bus at the Forum, for a Bowls Break in Westport. Westport is on the West coast of Ireland, in County Mayo, so our route there took us down Glencar to Sligo, then South Westerly from there.

The clouds became quite impressive as we neared the Atlantic coast.

 We were all staying at the Castlecourt Hotel in Westport. All our bowling will be  in the Dome Suite, but there is also a swimming pool here, with sauna and jacuzzi too.

When not bowling or swimming we went out to explore the town. Carrowbeg River flows through Westport and is very picturesque.

We walked to Westport Quay, which is about two miles from the centre of town.The tide was out when we were there.

The lobster nets were piled up on the quay beside the fishing boats.

Across the bay we could see Croagh Patrick, which is 765 metres high. We met two people in the sauna at our hotel, who had just returned from climbing this mountain. They told us that it is quite difficult as the route to the top is over scree.

This crow did not mind our presence.

This hooded crow found a golf ball, and spent several minutes throwing it at stones to try and break it open. Eventually he accepted that it was not an egg!

The Greenway is a walking route along the former railway line, which skirts the south side of Westport.
The Greenway Insect Hotel was rather a contrast to our hotel! It seemed to be quite popular with its residents.

In places the path is cut through the solid rock.

Back at the other end of North Mall, the floral decorations on the bridge are still lovely, despite it being mid-October.

 As our room was at the far end of the hotel, our quickest way to bowls was outside, through the garden, where we often met this friendly cat.

We worked out that the floor area of our room at The Castlecourt Hotel was very similar to the whole floor area of The Puzzler!
Details of the bowls side of our Bowls Break will be seen soon in Part 2!

9th - 14th October. A busy weekend.

The week has flown by, with bowls and bridge to keep us busy. On Friday no-one was allowed to moor on the outside of the jetty at the Round "O". This was to leave plenty of space for the three fishermen who had been allocated this spot today for the Erne Pike Fishing Competition, which lasts for three days.

Later on Friday we sailed up to the Ardhowen Theatre for An Evening of Country with The Stars. Our favourite singer was Hugo Duncan, of Radio Ulster fame. Next day we enjoyed the view from above the Theatre, looking upstream.

Looking downstream from the same track is an interesting view of some building plots. They will have a wonderful view, once the houses are built. They are to have moorings on the river, but it will be quite a climb down to them!

As it is time for Harvest celebrations, we walked on into Enniskillen to visit St. Macartin's Cathedral, and see the harvest decorations there. This is certainly an impressive building. Songs of Praise is to be filmed here this coming week, for broadcast on November 11th, Remembrance Sunday, so we must be sure to watch it.

These flowers were arranged by the St. Macartin's Bowls Club, to make an attractive window display. Each window was decorated by a different group, and are all very good.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited St. Macartin's Cathedral, when they were in Enniskillen in June. These were their chairs for the service.

By Saturday evening there were twenty boats on the mooring at Ardhowen. Everyone had come, as we had, to see ABBA THE SHOW, featuring the tribute band, Smackee. The performance was great, with everyone on their feet to join in with the singing and dancing. Parties on the other boats went on well into the early hours, so Andy tells me. I didn't hear a thing!

We sailed back to Enniskillen quite early on Sunday, and the reflections were really good, with no other boats about yet.

When we arrived at the Round "O" there was nowhere to pull in, as all the fishing boats were there. They had to wait for the hooter at 10.30am before they could set off for their third day of the Erne Pike Fishing Competition. We pulled in beside a small cruiser to wait for a space. It was rather like Wacky Races when the hooter went, with all the outboards revving loudly, as everyone wanted to find the best fishing spots.

Once all the fishermen had departed, they were followed by two barges, as Maco and Glen set off to go through the bridge.

We moved round to the inside of the outer jetty, to leave The Puzzler in the charge of our boating friends again.