That old Irish blessing about the road rising up to meet you was uppermost in my mind as we set out from Waterford this morning.  It was overcast and slightly drizzly and we hoped it would dry up soon.

Our journey took us directly past the village of Avoca, which Lesley will recognise, I’m sure!  We thought we’d take a break there and maybe take a look around the factory.

Sadly, we timed our arrival at the same time as several coach parties – aaaagh!

We sweet talked a member of staff to take us around though and she did a great job at giving us a personal tour.  Oh, the colour!

She showed us the range of different fibres used in the mill, plus a couple which are no longer in production.

Next came the weaving shed.  This chap was weaving nine scarves at once, the warp separated by a plain thread which could be removed later.

This huge roll of warping thread was being taken to the power looms, which was our next stop.

Oh….I was hoping for something colourful.  Brown?

Well, this was better…

Aha…that was best of all!  Oooh, love that waste coming off the edges

Throughout the tour, we spotted small cards on the walls – we love the spirit; the design ethos here.

Someone here has a great eye and a sense of humour!

We’ve visited several Avoca locations already of course, so the shop wasn’t our main focus, but we took a quick look before moving on and leaving all those coach party people in the queue for the loo.

Our next stop was the Powerscourt Estate, where we looked forward to visiting the gardens.  By lunchtime, the sun had come out and we had a glorious blue-sky afternoon.  Perfect.

The house is nothing special but the gardens are remarkable.  What’s more, although there were many people here, there was still space to lose them all!

I really liked the Japanese garden, which was reminiscent of the garden Jane and Allan took us to in Florida last year, though this was definitely an “English” Japanese Garden.

Some creatures were buzzier than others.

I also loved the wet and drippy moss garden, where the water just dripped through the plants in a cool, shady corner.

There was a rather more energetic flow of water at the Powerscourt Falls, just up the road, where some were picnicking and others simply seeing how near the water they could get.

Feeling a little weary by now, we decided it was time to find what was to be the last hotel of our trip; to go and settle in and put our feet up for an hour so so before dinner.  Sadly, rather than the comfortable country house hotel we’d expected, we found ourselves at a rather faded wedding venue, with a view of what looks like a housing project rather than the lush green scenery we’d imagined.  I won’t identify it now – we are still here – but suffice to say we have cancelled tomorrow night and will head back into Dublin for the last night of our trip, where we can look forward to a last evening of craic and a fully functional bathroom.

Not only that, we read in tonight’s paper that Avoca will be sold to a US food giant.  We feel rather sad about that.