I am pleased to announce that we now have a fully double-glazed house. Over the last couple of days a couple of nice fellas from Zenith Staybrite ripped out the last of our original, thermally rubbish, steel framed windows (plus our rattly, ill-fitting front door) and replaced them with shiny lumps of uPVC. The last bit of the job involved hacking out a chunk of (steel) wall below our dining room window in order to turn it into a big, patio door. The room is now somewhat transformed.

Zenith do seem to have done a good job for us: the process from order to fitting was well within their estimated times, their fitters were quick and personable, and the product seems to be good. However, we were very much less than impressed with the salesman who originally came around: it took quite a lot of effort to get the key pieces of information we wanted: why his products are better than the competition and how much it would cost to get the job done. Eventually we had had enough with the salesman's somewhat hectoring manner and told him we weren't interested. This resulted in <3 having a frank and open exchange of views with the sales manager over the phone, which in turn resulted in a very large discount. We had already had some other quotes and knew the ballpark of prices to expect, so were confident that the discount was genuine. Basically, the quote was too good to miss, so we signed up.

Next up is the conservatory which we are expecting to have built, probably in a couple of months' time...

It's a Long Way to Tipperary

...But driving from Wantage to Sligo is also a sizeable journey (about 900 miles on road for the round trip), even when the bit between Fishguard and Rosslare involves sitting on a boat drinking coffee and we stop at Athlone for a couple of nights before doing the rest of the distance. One of <3's cousins was getting married in, so we drove over with the Youngling (who was suffering from a nasty cold) and the necessary paraphernalia to stay with the in-laws and go with them to the wedding. It made for a good trip and driving almost from corner to corner of Ireland helped me appreciate what a beautiful country it is.

Amongst other things...

• It would appear that playing "I Used to Love Her" by the Saw Doctors at an Irish wedding has a similar affect to playing "Delilah" at a Welsh do.
• There was a small swing band playing at the wedding reception (billed as "The Irish Rat Pack", which made the female singer and the Abba covers seem a bit incongruous), which provided a great opportunity for <3 and I to dust off our half-forgotten jive moves. Great fun even when we are so out of practice.
• We spotted a poster in a shopping centre in Portlaoise calling for help in finding Madeleine McCann. Well, you never know, do you?
• At the same shopping centre, we rolled up at a café just in time to get first dibs on a freshly made batch of scones to have with our tea while we fed the Youngling. Sometimes it all just works out. I am now more convinced than ever of the righteousness of my long-term ambition to run a little tea shop where scones are baked fresh throughout the day/
• Dosing the Youngling up with Calpol and/or Tixylix isn't easy, though we are starting to get the hang of it with a technique that probably has more in common with drenching sheep than holding out a spoon for a child to obediently drink from.
• There is something comical about a bunch of early-teenagers playing "Killing in the Name Of" at a charity fundraiser in Strandhill, near Sligo, particularly when the singer's voice hasn't broken.
• The coffee on the Stena Europe ferry was better than that on the Stena Express, which we took on the return journey. However, the latter was, true to its name, an hour and a half quicker, so there was less time to ponder beverage inadequacies. Plus we had fresh Wexford strawberries to eat, picked up at the side of the N11 on the way to the ferry. You pays your money and takes your choice.