NorthDownMuse

Crawfordsburn Country Park

When I first moved here, I enjoyed walking Maysie, RIP, through Crawfordsburn Country Park down to the coast. Today I took Paddy there and we had a lovely time. It's tricky getting a photo of him when he's still. In the one below his tail is

Ross's

I'm on to the second week in November. I don't really remember what I did the first weekend. I know I've taken Paddy to dog training class two Saturdays in a row. It's time consuming but the hike in Roe Valley showed

Jon Benet

The morning after the awards, I go to a hotel for breakfast before the hour-long drive home. The hotel was hosting the all Ulster competition for traditional dance. At my Air BnB I met one of the competitors and her mum. Who informed me that: Her daughter has to have

Angel Awards

I drove to Armagh on Tuesday to attend the Ulster Architectural Heritage Awards. I always thought I was drawn to this event because I love old buildings and because I enjoy the songs by local artists commissioned for the event. The artists visit and research historic buildings and then write

Highs and lows

So the lows would be Mon-Fri and the highs weekends. That is why I don't blog much anymore. Work has become really stressful and I don't care to write about it. Nothing lethal, just the trials of learning a lot of new tricks at my age.

Paddy

This weekend I unpacked, did laundry, mowed the lawn, trimmed some of the hedge, changed summer and winter clothes around, vacuumed, and took Paddy for long walks. Two weekends out of town meant it was payback time. I wonder how many times I went up and down the stairs this

The futility of life

During the 15 years I lived in Chester Springs, I spent a great deal of my evenings and weekends returning the land to its native state. With mattocks (I went through four, bending the head of each), bow saws, a chain saw, an ax, and shovels, I removed thousands of

Return journey

Today I took mom to the airport for her morning flight. I bought a muffin and went back to the hotel, where I savoured my muffin with apple cider I bought from an orchard near Gettysburg yesterday on the trip south. For me cider has demarcated autumn the way eggnog

Home is where the addition is

The day after the wedding, we drove to Pennsylvania where we spent a week with my Aunt Kathleen. My mom and Aunt K had a high time gossping, reminiscing, arguing, laughing, telling stories. There were 10 Casey siblings at one time, now only 3, with one in California. So it

Meade’s big day

Mom and I spent the first part of the day doing a power shop at the Leesburg outlet mall. Eight pairs of shoes between us. Neither mom nor I have access to the brands available at the outlet. I bought three pairs of waterproof shoes (one hiking boots, two walking

Joy, Pain, Rugby

My day started bright and early with David giving me a lift to city centre, where I caught a 7:30 am bus to Dublin, where I caught a 12:35 pm flight to Dulles, where I met my mom then rented a car then drove 30 minutes to Leesburg,

Three weeks, one post

Like I say, I had less than 3 weeks between Paris and a flight to Dulles on Friday Oct. 4. The highlights of those 3 weeks. I played golf three times. Which was stupid because I hurt my shoulder while doing side plank in my hotel room in Paris to

Paddy

Ruler of my heart. I had a week off between mom's departure and Paris. Less than three weeks off between Paris and heading to the US for my nephew's wedding (with a trip to London in one of those weeks). So I have dog sitters walk

Viva la Visa

Today I got a biometric residence permit, signifying that I achieved Indefinite Leave to Remain, also known as a settlement visa. It took five years and maybe $7,000 and countless hours of searching for, assembling, numbering, and packaging documents about David's and my finances, living arrangments, marriage,

Climate Strike

I traveled back from Paris on a Saturday, did a lot of nothing on Sunday, then spent Mon-Weds catching up on work generated by my Paris meetings. Friday I had a coffee with Jenny, my friend from the Green Party, then we went to the Climate Strike. The young people

PRI part 5

It's Friday now. Monday was  my pre-conference day with the Climate Action 100+ steering committee, then three days of the conference. I was out for dinners four nights in a row, taking last night off. So today I was a bit weary. I was not looking forward to

PRI in Person, Part 4

Today our last meeting ended at 3:30 p.m. I went back to my hotel and thought about just chilling, reading a book, enjoying solitude. But I convinced myself that it would be a shame to let my introvert win when Paris was literally at my feet. So I

PRI Part 3

There were 1800 people at the conference, including 100+ staff. Tonight's formal dinner was at Versailles (very formal). Only about 15 staff went to that. The rest of us had dinner at Le Flow, a restaurant sitting on top of the River Seine. The photos below are  crossing

PRI in Person, Part 2

One of the highlights on Tuesday was a panel featuring five of the 10 members of the Climate Action Steering Committee, of which I am coordinator. I had never seen them in a public speaking role and they were all very impressive, conveying the range and impact of the work

PRI in Person, part 1

I arrived in Paris Sunday afternoon, Sept. 8. I took a train from Charles de Gaulle to Chatelet. Then caught the metro to my hotel. The week leading up to this trip was stressful due to a heavy workload, packing, yard work, keeping up with Paddy, getting a haircut, stockings,

Titanic

The week after mom left was mainly about catching up on work and planning my trip to Paris for PRI in Person, leaving 8 Sept. returning 14 Sept. The highlight of my pre-trip week was a Habitat for Humanity fundraiser at the Titanic Museaum. Above, the china on which dinner

Winding down

On Thursday my friend Thea collected mom and took her to Eddis's house for tea and cake, where they were joined by Christine. I was working this week so I was grateful to Eddis for providing mom with some entertainment. This is an interesting group of women, so

Helen’s Bay

When I played golf at Ballymascanlon earlier this summer, I roomed with Helen Baird, who will be lady captain next year at Helen's Bay Golf Club. My buddy Marian arranged for me to play golf today at Helen's Bay with herself, Helen, and Eileen, with my

Hitting the links

Sunday, after laundry, unpacking, and tidying up, I played 15 holes of golf at the nearby public course with mom coaching from the buggy. It was a hot day, so a bit tiring after yesterday's exertions. We also visited the garden allotments not far from the course--glads, nasturtium,

Trains, trams, buses, taxis

Today was pretty grueling. Loading two large suitcases and multiple bags in and out of: The rental car, returned with no damage, good deal as I didn't take out supplemental insurance. The Killarney train station. The train to Mallow. The train to Dublin Heuston. The tram to Dublin