NorthDownMuse

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

Powering through Powerscourt

Today we toured the gardens at Powerscourt. The statuary was very impressive. I’m afraid my photographic composition skills aren’t up to the challenge. Sugar Loaf Mountain in the distance. Snakes on an urn: I told mom we need to stop and smell the roses. So we did. The

Time Stands Still: Downhill Demesne

I’m blogging a bit too fast and so failed to successfully publish this. It should appear after the Binevenagh hike but before mom’s visit, but it stayed in the draft folder. I’m keeping the 6-26 date on this--out of order. Whatever. This is the original blog post:

The Royal Visit

I collected mom at Dublin airport at 8 a.m and we went to a nearby restaurant for a proper breakfast before driving to the lovely wee village of Enniskerry. I regret taking no photos there--there was a lovely clock tower in the centre of the village surrounded by a

BtB part 3

Last photos from Sunday’s hike. The cliffs create thermals. All day long we watched glider planes being towed up into the air by airplanes and then let go. The gliders would do loops and were lovely to watch with their long white wings catching the sunlight. This is our

BtB part 2

I have a thing for patchworks of fields and saw some lovely quilts today. I count myself very fortunate to be in good enough kip to do this. It wasn’t an easy hike. Today, Monday, was a high stress day. I met my friend Jenny for tea--taking two hours

Binevenagh the Beautiful, part 1

We went for an amazing hike today. I’ll just feature photos during today and the next two days, during which time I mainly cleaned, polished, vacuumed, ironed, etc. in preparation for mom’s visit. Binevenagh is a long cliff face that faces Lough Foyle between Limavady and Castlerock. It

Gypsy Jazz

This evening I went with my friend Eddis to a banquet put on by the refugee association. Women from the Congo, Syria, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and elsewhere cooked the most amazing feast. It was wonderful to see these women relaxing with their families. Many of them either get a meagre

Belvoir

The pro invited his students to play 9 holes of golf this evening. I thought the 20 pound fee for the night would include instruction as we went round the course. Sadly, he walked with the first years and left the second and third years to play on their own.

Here we go again

Part of the reason I wasn’t upset about not getting the Christian Aid job was I knew there was a job coming up--a 12-month maternity cover--for Sustainable NI. The job has now been advertised and, sigh, it’s the same old mountain I have to climb. An 11-page application

Good news, bad news

My good news is I went to the consumer advice bureau, hoping for help with my tax code, issued by Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue office. At the bureau, they gave me a number to call. I found this frustrating as I had hoped to speak to a human.

Positive Pollution

David is in the states with his kids for father’s day and his birthday, which was yesterday. He will be a grandfather for a second time as of this August. His grandson favours him and his son, Ian--he’s very cute and is doing some baby modelling apparently. I’

A Wall of Worry

Here is before: When Simon was finished today, here is after: Bit closer up: This project involved five trips to the Boucher Road retail complex, half hour away; three trips to B&Q hardware, 15 minutes away; two trips to HomeBase, 15 minutes away. Simon recommended I get a

Moping & Memories

The cold I’ve had for nearly a week robs me of energy and good will, so I don’t go anywhere or talk to anyone. It’s been a long weekend. David is in the states, so I don’t even have occasional sightings of him in between work

Still alive at #5

This week I have the cold that I had back in January--heavy coughing at night and not a lot of energy during the day. I went to the pharmacist looking for something to help get the gunk out of my lungs--I think that’s what makes me cough so much

War & Peace & Profitability

The interview wasn’t easy. The toughest questions, for me, were: Explain how you would design a campaign in support of our Christmas aid appeal? Explain how you would measure whether or not each component of the campaign was successful? I am not a marketer and the job description did

Meals4Mali

Tomorrow I have an interview with Christian Aid for a job as a communications officer. I had a writing test due today--write a press release based on three documents provided. Here is my effort: "The list of plagues afflicting Mali reads like the Book of Exodus: drought, failed harvests,

Time to Read

On Tuesdays I spend an hour with two nine-year-olds at Orangefield Primary. This is my second year in this program, where students read aloud to us adults, who help with difficult words. I enjoyed the kids I had last year, this year not so much. When I go to pick