NorthDownMuse

Sailortown

As if digging a few dozen holes and pulling out yards of ivy wasn’t enough fun, I then walked one hour into the city yesterday so I could go on a two-hour walking tour at 4 p.m. I must be mad. The walking tour was to learn about

Rowallane Part 2

More from Rowallane: I spent part of yesterday and most of today working in the garden. One of the tricks to creating a lovely garden is understanding how to mix colours and textures in such a way that you get four season interest. I have to admit my approach is

GBBO sighting!

Today I did ParkRun--the timed 5K run offered every Saturday in parks around the UK and Ireland. On my run was none other than Andrew Smyth, one of the finalists on Great British Bakeoff two years ago. I didn’t have a camera--or the nerve to ask him for a

The Wife

At some point this week I watched the film The Wife starring Glenn Close. In the film her husband is a writer who wins the Nobel Prize. While publicly thanking her for being his muse and boon companion, he never gave her co-authorship credit, odd given that she essentially wrote

The dirt on Northern Ireland

If I were a real journalist, I’d write something like this: In 2007, all parties in Northern Ireland but one supported appointing an independent environmental regulator. The environmental secretary at the time, Arlene Foster, prevented the necessary motion from coming up for a vote. (Arlene is in deep doo

Byline time

My article on last week’s utility conference ran today in the Belfast Telegraph. Several important paragraphs were deleted for space and an inserted paragraph was garbled by editors. Ah the memories! I was a journalist for 12 years and used to have pitched battles with editors who ruined my

The 58 shots

Last Friday was my first golf tournament, although tournament is an exaggeration. The Women in Golf members were invited to see who got the farthest in 60 shots. My friend Liz made it around nine holes in 58 shots. In 61 shots, I made it to the edge of the

The 39 Steps

Today was my first meeting with the neighbourhood book club. We read the book titled above. The consensus was that the book was “of its time.” The plot twists and turns involved coincidences that were not credible. But it was hugely popular in the first half of the Twentieth Century

Creative advertising

I saw a guy the other day walking down Botanic Avenue with a sandwich board. The copy on the sandwich board was asking people to consider becoming foster parents. The language got your attention--unfortunately I didn’t write it down. I’m also increasingly seeing this advert about contributing factors

The Flight of the Earls

I am now updating the blog well into the future. Thinking back to this day, my big accomplishment was extracting my winter clothes and shoes from the various cubbyholes where they spend the summer and inserting them into the closet and drawers recently vacated by summer clothes, which then get

The Brilliant O'Briain

Yesterday’s conference was at the Culloden Hotel & Spa, which looks like this: It has a lovely view of Belfast Lough. OK, now that that’s out of the way... Today, I decided I’m not sick anymore and went for a run this morning, worked on my utility

Energy Future

I attended a conference from 9-2 today on the future of the energy market in Northern Ireland. I took notes furiously the whole time because I’m writing up the event for the Belfast Telegraph. It’s a good opportunity for me to get a byline but I’m annoyed

Subpar

I haven’t been feeling my best for nearly two weeks. Mostly OK during the day but terrible sore throats at night. I haven’t been running or swimming. I played golf once last week but I haven’t played so far this week. I haven’t been to swing

By the Seaside

Oh I do love to be beside the seaside. Yesterday I took the train to Portrush and had lunch with Swing Belfast dancer Maria, who lives there, and Rhoda, another Swing Belfast dancer from Antrim. We ate in what used to be the Portstewart golf club and is now an

BCGC

Yesterday I went to see the Belfast Community Gospel Choir. The woman who runs it, Marie, is all about the joy. Bringing joy into people’s lives. She’s very good at it. In between the choir’s joyful songs, she mixes it up with the audience. She met Mary,

Autumn Flair, part two

Yesterday I saw a film after I walked around the autumn fair for a while. First, some of the entries in the flower arranging contest: I should have noted the judges’ comments on each entry. The judges are very big on whether the top and bottom are in proper proportion

Autumn Flair

This post is dedicated to my mom, who has made so many families happy down the years by smocking an outfit to be worn by the family’s youngest member. These dresses, gowns, bonnets, and little boy overalls became heirlooms in many families, preserved for future generations. What a gift

The Truth Commissioner

The book I finished recently was about four men. The titular figure leads a panel that hears from combatants during the Troubles. The other three men are combatants. The combatants are given immunity in return for their honest recollection of their role in a murder or murders. The idea is

Make-up movies

I don’t think I’ve been to a film since I was in the states. This week I saw three. Tuesday I saw Black 47, which takes place in 1847 Connemara during the famine. It is in reality a western, with a soldier returning to Ireland to take bloody

Say on Pay

I have a lot to say on pay today. First regarding the Northern Ireland General Assembly, which hasn’t been in session since January 2017. The Sinn Fein-Democratic Unionist coalition collapsed when SF called out the DUP on its corrupt cash-for-ash scheme, supposedly a green energy scheme, however the main

TAL

Today’s highlight was a long walk during which I listened to a This American Life podcast. I have long wanted to master the art of listening to podcasts on my phone. I wouldn’t say I have mastered it. I have an app on the phone where I can

Grey Abbey

Today is European Heritage Open Day, when a lot of things that aren’t usually open to the public open their doors. And a lot of places that ARE open to the public jump on the bandwagon to pump up their traffic. The pdf for this event lists 300 properties

GBBO2018

I woke up with cold symptoms and so laid low today. Luckily, I have good entertainment. I’m reading a really good book, The Truth Commissioner, and the fabulous Great British Bake Off is back on, as is Extra Slice, where a group of comedians sift through the events of

Lovely Belvoir

I played golf by myself on Monday and played with two friends today. I played much better on Monday. I think it’s something about being able to focus and not being distracted by chatting with friends. That’s my excuse anyhow. Today there was a busload of Americans playing

Hello Plastic!

I recently signed up for Hello Fresh, which delivers a box to your door every week with six meals--three recipes, two portions each. I’ve signed up for the first three weeks--with some attractive discounts. After that, my guess is I’ll go with once per month. It isn’t