NorthDownMuse

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

King of the Ring

Today was our big day, touring the famous Ring of Kerry. Our tour guide was John O'Neill, self-described king of the ring. He was a great storyteller, had us in stitches during the first part of the trip. Stop one was a bog museum, with the turf cutter&

An evening stroll, part 2

The problem with this bloc importation is that the photos are too small. So I'll import one again. August 22

An evening stroll

Our hotel was across the street from Killarney National Park. So I took a walk this evening to Muckross Abbey and then along the lake to Muckross House. I've found a new gizmo that lets me upload 9 photos at once, so happy days. Uploading photos on this

Killarney Blarney

I postponed our Ring of Kerry trip by one day to get the better weather. Today, instead we started with a boat tour on Lough Leane, starting out from Ross's Castle, made picturesque by Cromwell's bombwells. We had a hilarious boat captain/tour guide. zMom on

Muckross House

Today we had horrible weather so we decamped from Dingle to Killarney. I took only one photo today, at the same beach I shot two days ago. This time I stuck myself in it. The wind was whipping with gusto. So I drove back to Killarney and we had a

Dingle 2

We drove around Dingle Peninsula today. First stop was Penny's Pottery in Ventry. Lovely stuff. Incredible how many talented people are concentrated in this corner of Ireland. Do lovely places produce or attract all of these talents? Next we stopped at the famine cottages. Mom didn't

Dingle

Mom arrived Monday 19 August around 7:30 a.m. We took a shuttle bus to Heuston station in Dublin, where we only just caught the 9:30 a.m. train to Killarney, just over 3 hours. Then on a shuttle bus to the Gleneagles Hotel, where I rented a

Visitors Part IV

In the three weeks before mom arrived, I was in Derry two weekends in a row. First to visit Julie, whom I haven't seen in a long time. And second to attend her mother Hilda's 90th birthday. Hilda has four children, nine grandchildren, and one great

Visitors, part three

I was in London July 15-17, then a few days off, then my third visitor arrived, Kylelane Purcell. I took no photos, she took lots. She's making them into a photo album, but that doesn't work for blog purposes. She came to me from Germany, where

Visitors, part two

After finishing the visa application, I resumed shoveling gravel into a wheelbarrow and humping it to the back garden, where I used it to create a border garden (covering exposed dirt that Paddy was tracking into the house). Roughly 1.75 tonnes. Not kidding. Probably 35 wheelbarrow loads. Then I

Settlement Visa

I spent most of the month of June applying for my settlement visa, which I can apply for during a 28-day window as the 5th anniversary of my arrival in the UK approaches. First I had to take a Life in the UK test. Then fill out a 20-page online

Brick Lane

On my last trip to London I took lots of photos of Brick Lane that I never elevated. So here goes: This store is called Cereal KillerJune visit to London, whenever that was.

11th Night

July 11 is when they light the bonfires, in advance of the July 12 celebration of the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne. So beginning in maybe March or April, Protestant lads in loyalist areas start building bonfires. Which means open spaces get turned into garbage dumps. I cannot

A Night in November

... Is a play by Marie Jones, an East Belfast playwrite. I saw it recently and it blew me away. It's about a blue collar worker from East Belfast who loves nothing better than trying to humiliate his boss, who is Catholic and whom he resents for being promoted.

Ester

While I was in Ballymascanlon, my friend Ester the sculptor was at the house minding Paddy. She had some pieces in a show at Culloden Hotel. I went one weekend and  so can share two of her three pieces. The nuns, another artist, were called Soul Sisters. There were quite

Ballymascanlon

One of June's highlights was a weekend trip to Ballymascanlon for two rounds of golf, 36 holes. I've never played that much golf before. I played better on day two, so back-to-back golf is probably a good idea. On day two I was in a foursome,

Visitors Part One

My cousins Joanne and Candy and Candy's husband Dave visited at the end of May, early June. We went to a pub the night they arrived. Natch. Second day was Mount Stewart and Castle Ward. Candy is a master gardener and was in her element. Third day was