NorthDownMuse

Victoria Victoria

I had a private golf lesson today with Victoria, one of the pros at Belvoir. It was really helpful. I wish I’d had a lesson with her last summer. Among other problems, I’m using my wrists too much, and my torso is lagging my hips when I swing.

Feeling flat

I got a lift back to Belfast with trip leader David Doyle and Karen, one of the hikers. In the afternoon, I decided to go for a bike ride. Two flats later, I gave up on that idea. The last photos from the trip: me showing off my Walla Walla

Con-tent

I got a lift to Gortin Glen Park this morning with Patrick Yu, an immigrant from Hong Kong who came to study human rights law in Belfast in the 1990s due to the troubles here. Our group hiked about eight miles then we camped at the Shepherds Rest campsite, on

Weekend Preview

Friday was a boring day for me--lots of quarter-end work then David and I went out for pizza. It was an exciting day for David. After nearly five years with Lightwell, a US-based IT consulting firm, he gave his notice today. He is moving to a British IT firm that

Lord Adonis

I get my hair cut near where my friend Anne O’Dwyer lives. She told me about this place, which charges 18 pounds instead of the 30 pounds I was paying. We both have short, easy haircuts, so don’t want to shell out for the full salon experience. I

Sustainable NI

So I didn’t get the Sustainable NI job. It seems I fall short on every job I apply for because I don’t have experience in local government in Northern Ireland, or at Stormont, or in marketing, or in working with local media. I thought I’d like to

Love Island

There’s a show here called Love Island that I haven’t seen--I’m not a big fan of reality TV. I read the other day that two of the stars died recently. I decided I should see this show to understand what it’s all about. I think I

Valiant effort

This morning I got on my bike--still a bit tight from Saturday’s hike--and cycled to the leisure centre where I swim. The pool was closed for maintenance. Ugh. I was so proud of myself for finally trying to swim after two months away. It was not to be. So

DoR

This morning David and I dug out the fish pond liner and backfilled the figure-8-sized hole with rubble and dirt. I have a photo somewhere of the bloody thing, pre-removal, but I’m not able to find it ATM. The pond was in the wrong place and was unattractive. I’

Slieve Foye

I have always wanted to visit the charming village of Carlingford, just over the border sitting on the south side of Carlingford Lough. Today the group I hike with did a hike on Slieve Foye, which hovers over the village. It was a lovely day and I enjoyed meeting many

The futility of woman

I worked from 6 am until noon today--the deadline--on a job application for a job as a sustainability manager, working with councils in N.I. on sustainable development. The application was 11 pages long and broke my spirit. Trying hard to sell yourself while having a nagging feeling that you

365 OneDrive

Today I was in the thick of my quarterly writing assignments. We’ve moved from the Purcell remote server, AKA Purver, to 365 OneDrive. My friend Kyle Purcell is the founder of Purcell Communications, which runs a stable of two dozen financial writers for hire. My tired brain had to

Premature conflagration

At 5 a.m. we left our house in East Belfast to drive downtown to catch the 5:30 a.m. bus to Dublin, which takes two hours and allows mom to catch her 9:50 a.m. flight home. Customs clearance is provided in Dublin, so travellers need to

Coming up Roses

Today we got in a second round of golf at Belvoir. Mom misses playing golf and enjoys being out on the course and telling me what club to use and how to swing. Then we visited Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park, an international trial garden for commercial rose breeders.

Visits

A lot of people who wanted to see mom weren’t available when we were in Belfast before so we are playing catch up. This morning we met Anne (half of Anne and Rick, whom we visit in the winter in Naples) for brunch. She spoke sadly of how her

St. Patrick's

Today I took mom to St. Patrick’s Church in Belfast city centre. I used to be able to pull photos off the internet--but that doesn’t seem to work anymore. Here is a brief history [http://saintpatricksbelfast.org.uk/our-parish/history/] of the church. Afterward we spent probably close

Old Friends

After the Open, I drove to Derry, where we had dinner with Peggy and Sean O’Dwyer at their lovely home on a hill overlooking Derry. I forgot to take a photo this time, but took one on a visit a few years ago: Peggy cracks me up. She’s

A Day at the Irish Open

A hearty breakfast and then a quick walk through an art gallery in lovely Ramelton, then on to the golf. This was in a roundabout on the way to Ballyliffin. We had a quick look at Pollan Bay before moving on to the Ballyliffin Golf Club next door. Mom is

Donegal Day deux

We started our day with a walk on Rathmullan Beach--working up an appetite for the massive spread that is a Rathmullan breakfast. Lovely cheeses and home made granola and stewed fruit and home made breads--plus the hot breakfast. Rathmullan village with an ivy-covered ruin in the background. We drove south

Fanadical

When I left Derry in 1980, my dream always was to return to Donegal, buy a cottage, and write a book. Like many people in Ireland and the UK, I love Donegal. So I drove mom all over the place for three days to share my enthusiasm. Today started with

Tee time, Tea time

I was determined to get mom around the front nine at Belvoir Golf Club, something she enjoyed last year. So I got a tee time at 12:20 and off we went. Mom gave me her clubs earlier this year and I think I’m doing better than last year,

Shoes, golf, wine--a good day

Today is the first day I’ve taken no photos--a sure sign that we are slowing down. I made several phone calls to sort out the Derry-Donegal leg of the trip, did some chores & blogging, then mom & I went to the local mall, where we checked out two

St. Malachy's

We went to mass at one of my favourite churches. Close-up of floor. Mom was duly impressed. The ceiling is described as an upside down wedding cake. One of the altar servers had the most beautiful dark red hair. We met a woman who had cleaned at the church for

good vibes

One of the things I loved about the train trip was how much fun everyone was having. Aided by alcohol of course, but everyone came with linens, flowers, hampers, bottles of wine and had a fantastic time. Most of the women were dressed as flappers. And men in boaters and

Maynooth

I took a detour on the way from the Wicklow Mountains to Belfast to visit Maynooth College, built in the mid-1800s to be the national seminary for Ireland. I carefully wrote down directions from the hotel to Maynooth and from Maynooth to Belfast. I didn’t note where does the