NorthDownMuse

Fat Beehive

Is the name of the design firm we hired to redesign our website. I spent 3 hours in a meeting with them today in London. Very impressed by the research they did and the proposal they laid out. Their offices were in Shoreditch, a very hip area. The street they

On the coast

Talysarn is surrounded by slate tailings. I took some photos but they didn't come out too well. I started my last day in Wales with a drive to Criccieth, a lovely seaside town. I had a look at Criccieth Castle then headed down a coastal path, with Porthmadog

Y Garn, Foel Goch

My day began with a drive from Talysarn to Rhyd Ddu to Beddgelert before returning to Craflwyn Hall to meet today's hikers. The drive, on a one-lane, windy road, was lovely. Above, a fence made of slate. Below, a ruin. Once at Craflwyn, I met the rambling club

Bodnant Gardens

My 3-night stay at Craflwyn Hall ended this morning. I had signed on for two days of hiking with HF Holidays. I was very impressed with the leader, the accommodation, the food, and the choice of hikes each day. Today I’m doing my own thing and tomorrow I’ve

Mt. Snowdon

Much better weather today and, after a hearty breakfast, we headed up Mt. Snowdon. A 9-mile hike up and down (or around 25,000 steps according to our guide). Lovely views on the way up. We started at Pen y Pass, a pass created by the team of hikers who

A proper soaking

I open my window to the view below. It’s strange to arrive somewhere in the night and not know what your surroundings look like. Quite lovely really. And here's the table where we pack our lunches: Our hike today started and ended in Betws-y-Coed, which I can

Lock out

I figured I needed to leave at 2:30 pm today to catch my 6 pm flight today (bus into town, shuttle bus to airport, arrive 2 hours early). I had a lot of things going on with work, but I thought I’d be OK, even though I hadn’

Pre-trip pressure

Tuesday through Thursday have been all about work (and Paddy). Lots going on. I leave tomorrow for a five-day hiking holiday in Wales, followed by two nights in London for work. I need to pack and do 100 other things before I leave  (fix the eyeglasses that Paddy chewed so

Ballycastle Escape

My friend Marian invited me up to Ballycastle today for a round of golf. Having beavered away for three days, I jumped at the opportunity. It was a tough course, as this hole, the Chasm, implies. But also a beautiful course, with beaches and Ballycastle to the north and Fairhead

Lyra McKee

On Thursday night, a 29-year-old journalist was shot and killed in the Creggan in Derry by a member of the New IRA. When the 'old' IRA laid down arms as part of the ceasefire, several rump factions came together as the New IRA to keep the fight going.

Buckle down

So today I started a new project. A year or so ago I stripped wallpaper on the ground floor and on the long wall up to the second floor. The goal is to replace wallpaper painted the dreaded magnolia beige with bright yellow walls. Above is the wall from the

Blogging breakdown

So two weeks to catch up on. Mainly due to work and Paddy taking most of my energy. A few highlights: Sunday, April 7, hiked at Slieve Croob in the Dromara hills north of the Mourne Mountains. It was a lovely hike and lots of lambs and calves in the

The World’s Wife

Tonight I went to Seamus Heaney's Homeplace to hear three Northern Irish actresses do readings of Carol Ann Duffy's collection of poems:  The World's Wife. One of the actresses was Bronagh Gallagher (best known to me as one of the singers in The Commitments)

West Belfast and the Middle East

Wednesday through Friday of last week is a bit of a blur so I'll return to murals. In Catholic West Belfast we have murals celebrating the PLO. So it follows that in Protestant West Belfast we have Israeli flags and murals. The Catholics from West Belfast have been

Six inches

Tonight I went to an event launching the awards program for the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society. They very cleverly commission songwriters to write songs about historic buildings. The songwriters visit the buildings and do some research until they find the hook they need. Two singers performed songs from the last

Green wash

I read an April Fool's article today about how Donald Trump was going to issue green bonds to build the border wall and put solar panels on it. It was written by Climate Bonds Initiative, the leading proponent of the green bond market. Humour for green finance nerds

More murals

Today's highlight was playing golf with Marian in Bangor. So more murals: The beginning of the tour focused on murals done as part of an annual mural festival, when artists from around the world are invited to come to Belfast and given walls to paint. The mural above

Mural musings

I took a 3-hour walking tour of murals today. One of the themes was how positive images are replacing sectarian murals in Protestant West Belfast--the Shankill area. The mural above replaced those shown below, with hooded gunmen in one of the murals. There are still plenty of sectarian murals, but

Ticket takers

The Steering Committee met this week, so my week was really about producing a lot of materials in support of the meeting. When I was in London, I needed a ticket for the DLR, a train that connects London City Airport to downtown. I tried buying at the machine but

No Stone Unturned

Tonight I saw the third in a trilogy of documentaries about Troubles atrocities. This one was about the Loughinisland massacre. A gunman bursts into a bar in the middle of nowhere where about 15 men are watching Ireland play Italy in football. The gunman kills seven of them. In the

Kiki Dee

I went to swing dance tonight because they were having a 70s and 80s social--a lot of people dressed like hippies, which I think of as more 60s. One woman was favouring Madonna, one guy had a glam rock wig. I wore my school blazer and a tie--trying to look

Happy Birthday Betty!

Today's my mom's birthday. I celebrated it by spending some time looking at summer vacation options yesterday for mom and I. As usual, I was quickly overwhelmed by the choices. I think I will employ a travel agent to help me with logistics--not my forte. I&

Home away from home

I wont' be going to London in April because my boss will be in Japan and China the first half of the month and I'll be on a holiday later in the month. Details to come. I will be there in late May for PRI's

Graham and Liza

Last Saturday I drove to Derry, listening to BBC Radio 2 in both directions. Graham Norton kept me company in the morning and Liza Tarbuck in the evening. I find them both so enjoyable that I didn't want to get out of the car. They both have a

Canary Wharf

Today I had meetings at Canary Wharf, which is a collection of highrise office buildings on an island. It's like a giant office park inside the city--with a population of well dressed, powerful people. It reeks of privilege. Two men walked by me in a restaurant wearing expensive