NorthDownMuse

Famine Art

Derry hosted an exhibit of art tied to the Great Famine that was put together by a university in Connecticut. It closed today so I drove up to have a look. First I took Mary out for lunch and had a catch up on her ailments and those of her

Transcribe

The steering committee, which met last night, agreed to record the 90-minute meeting. My hope was this could lead to bullet point/summary minutes instead of verbatim. However, the SC still wants verbatim minutes. Having the recording meant the minutes really were verbatim instead of the 80% or so that

Bloody Sunday verdict

In 1972, during a march protesting internment (imprisonment without trial), British soldiers shot 28 unarmed civilians in Derry's Bogside. Fourteen died. Many were shot while fleeing from the soliders, some were shot while trying to help the wounded. The British government held two inquests into Bloody Sunday. The

Train Wreck

I had a meeting Monday night that was supposed to be about one thing (finalising the agenda for Thursday's steering committee) but ended up being about something else (budget matters). There are a lot of issues brewing; not looking forward to Thursday's meeting. I don'

Eileen

Last night I went to see a play with 30 neighbours! The play wasn't great--it was a farce--but it was fun to be out on a Friday night with a large group of friends. We went back to one couple's house for wine and birthday cake,

IWD

Today is International Women's Day, a Friday that I took off to use up accrued vacation time before March 31, when a new year begins for vacation purposes. So what did I do? Vacuum, clean counters, clean kitchen chairs, laundry, buy groceries, cook. Certainly an homage to the

Capernaum

While yesterday's post was bleak, the titular film suggests not bleak enough. OMG this film. The plight of stateless refugees--exploited and abused from every angle. The plight of women and girls in male-dominated societies. The plight of unwanted children in a chaotic, crumbling, violent society. The star, a

The extinction of empathy

Today I finished reading Barbara Kingsolver's latest, Unsheltered. I can't say I enjoyed it as much as her other books, but I found the conclusion highly satisfying. The story is about two families, one in the late 1800s, and the other living in modern times. The

Unquiet Graves

Tonight I went to see Unquiet Graves, about how collusion between the British military, the Northern Irish police, and loyalist paramilitaries led to the murder of more than 120 civilians in the Triangle of Death--an area near the border where the so-called Glennane Gange operated with impunity. It's

Caroline or Change, and chocolate

Wednesday night I ate at a little Mexican place before going to the theatre. Next to me were two young actors talking trade. I asked them what is the best thing to see in the West End. They both said Caroline or Change. My Steering Committee meeting Thursday night was

Brick Lane

Monday traveled to London and met with Climate Action 100+ leaders. Enjoyed dahl from my favourite curry take-out place. Tuesday we had a big meeting at HSBC in the afternoon--we were supposed to cover one topic but we covered five. Tuesday night dinner at the Culpeper [https://www.theculpeper.com]

Park Run pals

This weekend I made a list of 40 things that need doing. I got through 19 over two days, and I'm happy with that, given two long walks per day with Paddy. Saturday's morning walk was at Stormont with neighbours who walk their dog while Park

Ronnie

So this is a big batch of blog posts dating back a week. feb. 16. Went to a funeral in Derry for Ronnie Brown, Julie's dad today (Saturday). He lived an amazingly healthy 93 years, seriously ill for only the last two weeks. A retired banker, he was

Be My Valentine

I'm covering a whole week here--lack of free time means less blogging. I had a steering committee meeting Tuesday night--two days early to avoid Valentine's Day.  So Tuesdeay and Wednesday were pretty stressful. Thursday I went to Ross Auctions and bought this: I've been

Flapometer

I follow a Facebook page called Max and Paddy in the Lake District. It's about the adventures of two springers in that lovely landscape. The page's author puts up videos of them on windy days when their ears are horizontal. He calls them flapometers ("We

Bookends

Today Paddy went to a sitter and I took a bus to Derry for the Environmental Gathering, a half-day meeting of Ulster's many campaign groups, which are fighting illegal dumps, intensive animal factories, a gold mine (with arsenic and cyanide processing), illegal sand dredging, and a highway through

Who is a victim?

When I was at Queen's having a coffee with Marek, there was an exhibit on about victims of the Troubles. Each of the people pictured below lost arms, legs, eyesight to bombs. One woman had just seen a film with her boyfriend. One had just bought an ice

Freedom

One of the things I love about working from home is the freedom to structure my time as I wish. I went for a walk Wednesday with Jenny at Stormont. That was a good two hours out of the middle of the day. Here is one of many owls we

Golfing in the Rain

Yesterday morning I walked Paddy with a group of neighbourhood dogs and their humans at Stormont during the weekly Park Run. Afterward, we went to Castlereagh Hills Golf Club for a coffee. It was sunny and the golf course was packed--no parking spaces left. This inspired me to invite Marian

Minute by minutes

My second steering committee call was 31 January, from 10pm - 11:30 pm. Not a bright eyed and bushy tailed time for me. I wrote as fast as I could with an aim of providing a verbatim report. Not easy when you don't know shorthand. I spent

Stan & Ollie

I have a lot of night meetings, so my work day is often two hours in the morning, one or two hour break, three hours in the afternoon, one or two hour break, and two hours in late evening. So my days are mostly about working and walking Paddy. Tuesday

Corners of my mind

Today was a complete down day. Much needed. One of the things I've been mulling lately is my weird memory machine, which generates pictures randomly from throughout my life. They just show up unbidden at unexpected times. The older I get, the more archives to pull from, the

Banagher Glen

Before I went to London, I signed up for a 9.5 mile hike today with the NI Walking and Photography group. I haven't been out with them since maybe October and I was itching to get out for some fresh air. But the timing seemed very bad.

Mon-Fri

I know I need to kill this blog as I have so little to say. However. That would require me contacting the blog host and learning how to have access to the content in perpetuity. That's right up there with closing my account at Wells Fargo (how do

Ness Woods

Today I drove almost the whole way to Derry, meeting Julie in Ness Woods. Her two dogs and my dog had a good run then we went back to hers for tea. Then I went into Derry, where I had breakfast with Paddy on the quay. I was joined by