Writing this now Friday afternoon sat at the table at the bottom of the garden the view looking out over the bay. The sun is bright enough for it to be difficult to find the icon on the screen of the laptop. The sea in front of me is silver with light but there are black clouds over Rosskerrig and I guess you would describe the weather as mixed.This time yesterday we were driving home from lunch in The Good Things Café. It was still raining although it was not as intense as it had been earlier in the day. Every stream that flowed out into the bay was engorged with water, brown spumes driving down from the hills and spilling out over the rocks and into the sea.

The Good Things Café has been going ten years this summer. I am not sure that we went the first year it opened but we have been there at least twice over the last nine years. Part of the enjoyment of it has been taking the kids there and watching how they have grown into the menu. When we first went we would quietly ask for a plate of pasta and tomato sauce to keep them happy. This summer they have been asking if we would be going to lunch there and yesterday they were tucking into the fish soup, gazpacho and pizza.

I had a starter of crab tart and then a squid stew with red wine. The squid was great, a deep dark intense with squid that will have been cooked for many hours. The family had to restrain me from licking the bowl.

After that it was a chocolate mousse, meraungues and icecream and then goodbye until next year. Unfortunately I seem to have bought myself out of the books that they have on their shelves.

When we got home we sat out the rain for another half hour and then it stopped and we were left with a warm hard breeze coming in from the sea. The water around the pier was coloured a rust red now from the soil brought down from the hills. Some of the boats were lying low in the water and we could see the water sloshing around in their bellies.

Galen and I motored out to Montbretia. That was at least two inches of water in the bottom of her and we spent half an hour pumping her out.

Some of the buckets in the garden were almost full with water so hard it had come down the previous two days.