Stuck to the wall next to my computer (thank heavens for blu-tack!) is a picture postcard of a painting of Margaret, Countess of Blessington, by Sir Thomas Lawrence. Knowing the name of our temporary home town, she had seen it and thought of us.
This newsy card (for she fills the back with all sorts of tidbits written with a real ink pen) was followed by the requisite Christmas card (also handwritten), an anniversary card (she remembers! Well, she was my bridesmaid) and a birthday card, also full of purple-inked news.
There are a few things we will finish up once home: there is the borrowed video of Braveheart, filmed just up the road and at Trim castle; there is a bit of writing and rewriting, blog posts and article research; and there are a couple of books about the lives of people who lived here, the one being a contemporary, well-researched book on the families of Blessington (The Blessington Estate 1667-1908, by Kathy Trant), and one a period piece, called appropriately enough, The Most Gorgeous Lady Blessington. I note with a smile that the frontispiece is exactly the same as the portrait next to me.
