To my dismay I found that the gentleman who owns the shop, Mr. McGinty, no longer stocks my much wanted lace mats. Even though he stocks nearly everything else including tweed caps, a plethora of aran jumpers, tweed waistcoats, etc. It really is a veritable treasure trove. Except for lace mats of course.
But my disappointment was soon fogotten as we got chatting - what I had intended to be a 10 minute visit to his shop turned into a 2 hour visit! His banter and chat and knowledge of all things local made me want to hear more.
We got chatting about fitted kitchens and as we have only recently had a new kitchen fitted in Daisy Cottage and he was in the process of having a new on fitted, we had lots to chat about. We compared notes on who we used (we had used the same kitchen company) and then on to worktops so I recommended the company we used in Mountcharles for a great job well done with our granite worktop. It turns out that Mr. McGinty and his wife also own a B&B ~ the kitchen of which is being renewed ~ and he quickly brought his B&B up on the screen of his laptop for me to view. It's a beautiful house set on the shores of Lough Eske. What a location! I would imagine, given Mr. McGinty's banter and the fabulous location, many people have had happy stays with Mr. and Mrs. McGinty. The house is called 'Ardeevin' and if anyone is looking for a B&B in the Donegal Town area - just type Ardeeving B&B Donegal Town into your search engine because I can't get the link to work here.
But I felt I had to point out to Mr. McGinty that his photographs of Lough Eske on his website were not as good as my own pics of Lough Eske. We jokingly argued about this but he I think I won him over and he had me place one of my Lough Eske pics as his screensaver!
I persuaded him to pose for a pic, and after a swift comb of his already tidy hair, here is Mr. McGinty. Do call into him if you are in Donegal Town - I promise you'll enjoy the craic and maybe even pick up a very nice Aran jumper or tweed cap to take home.
After the photo taking, my phone rang and it was my husband who was back in town and ready to collect me for our trip to Daisy Cottage. He found it most amusing that 2 hours later I was still in the same shop he'd dropped me off at. However, when he parked and came into the shop, he too enjoyed a while in the company of Mr. McGinty so he understood why I had paused so long.
But the time to move on was upon us and we bade a fond farewell and left the cosy shop and stepped out into pouring rain. I popped into a Euro shop near Mr. McGinty's and bought a rather snazzy polka dot umbrella for €2. And weirdly ~ what do you think they sold in that Euro shop? Lace mats! Ok, they're not the old real lace but they're not bad (I am trying to convince myself ...). Anyway, I bought a few and will decide later.
After stopping off for a bite of lunch we headed back to the car park. On the way, we passed this little antique shop ~ into which I wanted to go but into which I could not go. And not for the usual reason that husband would be grizzling about the fact I already have way too many bits and pieces, but rather that it was closed. But the window ~ oh my, a pic of JFK and Jackie O together with, for some bizarre reason, lots of pics of our Tanaiste, Mary Coughlan all scattered amongst the items for sale. I'm not really sure what the owner was trying to convey to possible customers but it made me smile anyway.
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