NorthDownMuse

Impressions

I am aware that this blog reflects the intellectual laziness of "here's what I did today" rather than here's what I learned, or observed, or laughted at. I usually do it well past the posted date, so just remember my daily itinerary more than

Tight in the bud

Early last spring, a clutch of forget me nots sprouted in my garden, a gift from Eddis. This year, I can see that the plants have naturalised and I will have a bumper crop of the little blue flowers when the time comes. I can't wait! They come

The pen isn’t faster than the sword

Today was my first steering committee meeting--maybe 25 people on a call for 90 minutes. My job was to take minutes for 90 minutes. I was going to do it on my laptop but, just before the meeting was to begin, Word shifted into some format that shrunk my pages

Pet Power

Tonight I went into the city for the TenX9 storytelling evening. The theme was pets. The stories were wonderful, a reminder of all the joy, comfort, companionship, laughter, and grief pets bring into our lives. Richard O'Leary told of burying his pet chicken Danny in a Kellogg'

She persisted

One of my most important duties is organizing two meetings per month of the Climate Action 100+ steering committee. Lots of pre-planning meetings and a big agenda packet that needs to go out to 45 people around the world before the bi-monthly meetings. I worked from 9:15 am to

Winter marina

I began Saturday with a list of 20 things I wanted to get done this weekend. I got about half done today. Not bad. I walked Paddy off lead on the coastal path, and he was a very good boy. Then we went to Bangor to visit Hillary, former owner

CELDF

Tonight I went to a lecture at Queen's University given by two lawyers from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. It blew my doors off. They walked us through why state and federal powers prevent municipalities from legislating in opposition to fracking, massive hog farms, toxic waste incinerators,

The Favourite

I began seeing ads for this film on Facebook back in October. I Could Not Wait to see it. Olivia Coleman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone. I think the problem with such a long period of anticipation is, how does anything live up to your expectations? Despite being busier than

Murphy and Pepe

I've fallen in with the crowd at Tullycarnett Park, where I walk Paddy at 8 a.m. through the week. One of the guys is called Simon and he walks with three rescue dogs, Milo, Murphy, and Charlie. Today he told me Murphy's story. Seems Simon&

Mary Poppins Returns

Emily Blunt. Wow. Talk about star power. Star power as in the women I remember from my youth--beautiful, multi-talented, funny, charming. Audrey Hepburn, Julie Andrews, Judy Garland, Barbra Steisand, Doris Day. The kind of actresses you can't take your eyes off of. Emily owned that film. I loved

Year in Review

I think I used to write things called Year in Review for Vanguard. Today I'm scanning through my 2018 calendar before I toss it. January, a week in Barcelona. Followed by 2 weeks of severe cold/flu? February. Edinburgh dance weekend. Headed to US in mid-Feb. March. Returned

Good Grief

Last year I lost four people who were significant in my life. Mrs. Walker, whose ponies and horses I rode when I first came to Ireland. I adored her for her 100% commitment to her horses (and dogs). Then my Uncle Bill, who was one of the few positive male

Spoilt rotten

My mom spoils me when I'm home--I'm allowed to pay for nothing and she gives me whatever I can fit in my suitcase. Today my friend Ann spoiled me. A lovely lunch at Avoca. Then a concert at the Black Box--the Henry sisters, three sisters from

And we’re off

Last year started in Barcelona, giving me a feeling the year would involve a lot of travel, and it did. This year the pace is being set by my new job. Wednesday I went through more than 100 emails. Thursday I was on three conference calls, one of which was

Cruising altitude

The New Year began at 30,000 feet. Or whatever height you fly at over the Atlantic. I flew from Columbus to Newark yesterday, then onto Dublin after 4.5 hours in Newark. Given changing time zones, I don't know how you define midnight or where I was

Ending the year in high gear

I can never sleep the night before I travel. I opened my computer around 4 am today thinking of how I hadn't checked in for my noon flight today. Yesterday I was very focused on how to get to the airport--another long story. This morning I wasn'

Because I Said So

Which is a film starring Diane Keaton about her relationship with her three daughters. Mom and I watched it tonight on her Fire. It was pretty good. I’m hoping mom sees that the Fire gives her opportunities to control what and when she watches, instead of being at the

Crackers

Once upon a time, a cracker was a derogatory term for someone from the south. Maybe it is still, not sure. Now there are things called cracker plants, which break natural gas down into component parts (by cracking it). The resulting chemicals are used to manufacture various plastics. When we

Bobbi

Today was the annual trip to Morgantown to visit my old friend Bobbi. She is my only transgender friend but that is the least interesting thing about her. She collects coins. Bricks. Blouses (more than 400). She sells at Valu It, an indoor flea market. And on eBay. She buys

Sinking feeling

There’s been some post-Christmas shopping, lots of food, laughter, many hours spent learning how to use the Fire tablet. It’s really cool that you can ask Alexa to play music, to set a timer, to tell a joke. I think she’s a brilliant addition to any home

so this is christmas

I don’t remember much about Christmas eve--all of my posts are written well past the posted date. I did think it odd that I have zero excitement about Christmas, which I guess is the norm as you get older. Once upon a time, I couldn’t sleep for the

The gospels according to Casey

I went to mass with mom this morning. Then I drove over to Marietta for the UU service. It was interesting to contrast the messages. At mass, the priest was asking us to let God in so that we might experience peace and joy. At the UU service, the pain

Guilt guilt guilt

Mom and I do a fair amount of shopping while I’m here. We go to Gabe’s each visit--it’s like a cheaper version of TJ Maxx. Today I got a lovely green coat. I chose it based on how it fit, the length of the coat, how it

Baby Nash

Wednesday was travel. David drove me to city centre, then the bus to Dublin, long wait, flight to Toronto (watched Black Panther, Sherlock Gnomes, McQueen), long wait, flight to Columbus, no wait, my mom and the woman who cleans her house and the woman’s husband were my greeting party.

Scrooged

My main focus in recent weeks has been work, Paddy, and getting Christmas shopping done. Decorating the house has just not happened. I put some of my mom’s smocked Christmas stockings on the barn box--hardly decking the halls. No Christmas tree. No garlands. No nothin. Tomorrow I leave for