NorthDownMuse

Fairhead

I’m skipping back to photos from my hike. In the distance is Rathlin Island, a great place to see puffins, guillemots, fulmars and other seabirds. I was trying to be clever here but I didn’t capture how far down the water entered this break in the cliff. Whereas

Barney and Rosy

For my birthday, David got us tickets to Belfast Bred, a foodie tour put on by a professional actor. Said actor is dressed as a chef and has a painted white face and blue lips. The idea is that he was a chef on the Titanic and, due to global

Luck of the Irish

I had a perfect day. First I listened to Chris Evans on BBC Radio 2 as I drove to Ballycastle for a day-long hike. Today’s guests included Don McLean and Mary Berry, among others. Don performed Starry Starry Night--a gorgeous song. As I drove through Ballycastle, I saw a

I Can Walk Under Ladders

I attend swing dance class on Thursday nights. Afterward, people go to a nearby pub to dance some more. I thought I’d go with them tonight as a precursor to my birthday tomorrow. However, the band doesn’t start until 10:30 pm and the class ended at 9:

Isle of Dogs

I went to see this tonight. I was thinking dogs + animation, what could go wrong? Of course it was a lot darker than I expected. I wonder if it was an allegory? Could the dogs represent immigrants? Politicians breed fear of immigrants the way the Japanese leader bred fear of

Kim K

I watched a BBC show tonight about how young women are chasing the Kim Kardashian look. This means having silicone injected into your lips and fat taken off your waist and inserted into your butt. They showed a woman’s heavily tattooed bum cut open and the surgeon filling it

Rhodies

Today I signed up for a garden tour at Mount Stewart. We started with the gardener in charge of the Italian garden, who was accompanied by an Irish wolfhound. She was killing time until the head gardener was available. He told us about this rhododendron, which was found by a

Walled Off

I spent yesterday and half of today cleaning and gardening. Having been out of town so much, I find I have quite a backlog of chores. Bathroom drains, dandelions, dried cat vomit in the conservatory, you name it. Today was a gorgeous sunny warm day--not much in evidence of late.

Reading list

Recent books: Do Not Say We Have Nothing. Devastating, lyrical, poetic account of three generations of musicians surviving the various disastrous and violent reforms of Twentieth Century China. Children of the Revolution. Sad, poignant story of an Ethiopian immigrant eking out a living in a poor Washington, D.C. neighbourhood

Time to move on

Last summer Preventable Surprises hired a new CEO, David Murray, allowing the founder of the organisation, Raj, to step into a role as chair, replacing my Kentish Town hostess, Carolyn, who recently moved on to other volunteer assignments. David announced this week that he is leaving in July, after a

Father Ted

And tonight’s delectable treat was a Q&A with Graham Linehan, creator of Father Ted, The IT Crowd, Black Books, Little Britain, among others. He spoke at length about the creative process of developing sitcoms. His preferred method is working with another person--the case for Father Ted, which

I Daniel Blake

As part of the Belfast Film Festival, tonight I went to see a Q&A with Ken Loach, director of I Daniel Blake, an angry film about the Tory government’s austerity program and how it dehumanises and degrades vulnerable people. Loach has made films for 50 years about

Windrush

Sunday was brunch with my friend Sophie and dinner with Eddis and two of her friends. Monday was helping David and Stuart move to Craigavon, followed by a long visit with Ann O’Dwyer. By the time I got home Monday night, I had a wicked sore throat and went

The Day it all Began

Tonight I went to my first Belfast Film Festival event, a documentary about the beginning of the civil rights movement in Derry. A march on 5 October 1968 was the kick-off for a civil rights campaign that quickly morphed into The Troubles as the Unionists refused to give in to

Grind

I’m doing catch up well in the future, I can’t really remember Thursday and Friday. I know I put in two days for Preventable Surprises and filed four performance reports for T.Rowe Price. In lieu of any recollection of these days, I’ll post a photo of

Down day

On the trip back, I did a headcount of how many people I talked to during the week--either a quick chat or a proper catch up. Grand total: 48. Of those 22 were funeral related--cousins, cousin spouses, cousin children. The next largest group was 15 at church. Then five former

Belfast Bound

Lunch with two more Vanguard friends today then the long trek north. I caught an Amtrak train at 1:30 pm in Paoli, Penn. Then I hot footed it from Penn Station to Grand Central Station to catch another train north to Beacon, N.Y. Google said it would take

Friendlies and Fiction

Yesterday I enjoyed a service at Main Line Unitarian Church, which I attended for more than a decade. I talked to many people with whom I worked on committees, skied on the annual ski trip, or traveled to service projects and protests. I have such love for the people there--they

Trainspotting

I had a great time with Laura and Phil talking about families. Laura’s, Phil’s, mine. Because of my own experiences, I’m really interested in how families function, or don’t, given the endless possible combinations of personalities. They sent me on my way this morning to Suburban

Family time

When you have only one sibling, and you aren’t on speaking terms with said sibling, it’s great to compensate with quality time with your cousins. Last night, I had dinner with the DC cousins, Joanne Casey, her sister Candy, and her brothers Tom and Riley. Interesting folk all.

Grey hair

This afternoon I had to take a Greyhound bus from the Port Authority to Atlantic City. I spent the morning on things like who will get me from A to B, and from B to C, and C to D while I’m in Paoli. Lucky for me I have

5 & Dime

Today started with Carlos and I walking through Prospect Park, which is on their doorstep in Brooklyn. This arch is dedicated to the defenders of the Union. It reminds me of something you’d see in Russia or Paris. Here’s a picture from the park. It’s odd to

Norwegian

Norwegian Air is the new discount carrier with cheap flights from Belfast to Stewart, NY. As I board, I see this sticker on the stairway: It was a good reminder of the hypocrisy of being a climate activist and flying to the US twice in two months. I paid a

Sweating the details

I am trying to nail down the logistics for the trip to the US, which begins tomorrow. This is work that will continue while I’m in the US. I’m flying in and out of Stewart, NY. Job one is getting to my friend’s apartment in Brooklyn (shuttle

Diary Dilemma

I had a long chat today with my friend Jenny, retired Queen’s professor (urban planning) and Green Party organiser. She was telling me about visiting her mother in a care home in England and how little space her mother has. This prompted her to reconsider the two cardboard boxes