NorthDownMuse

Conservatory

The people who bought Marshall’s house next door want to build an extension that will come right to the property line. They want to take down the hedge between our properties. That is what one side of our conservatory looks onto. Looking onto a fence isn’t as attractive.

Sunday Blues

I don’t believe I’ve mentioned that I left All Souls, where I sang in the choir for two years. There was a long list of reasons, chiefly my dislike for the minister. His rambling sermons made no sense to me and he treated my friends rather shabbily after

“Freedom"

While I’m on the topic of cocaine, I just watched a documentary about George Michael that was written and directed by George Michael shortly before his untimely death after a lifetime of drug and alcohol abuse. Nowhere in the 1.5-hour documentary (incl commercials) did he mention his drug

Gordon Ramsay on cocaine

Today I wrote up my last two funds. Each had 1, 3, and 5-year commentaries and both were international funds, requiring both sector and regional analysis. In other words mind-numbing data work. To get through it, I put BBC radio on, something I rarely do. There was a series of

Poems and prayers and promises

My old friend Lola has connected me with a friend of hers who plans to visit Ireland next year. Her friend is a poet and I’ve become increasingly aware of how prevalent poetry is in life here. I’ve recently mentioned the lecture by Fintan O’Toole dedicated to

Maths, myths, and a museum

Monday and Tuesday were just numbers, numbers, numbers. I’m sorting data for an analysis of proxy voting by the 10 largest investors in U.S utilities. Working with three databases, none of them perfect, to achieve apples and apples comparisons. As if that weren’t enough fun, I’m

Trees & Poetry

This weekend was Mount Stewart Conversations--three days of talks by authors, journalists, political scientists, etc. at lovely Mount Stewart. The first presentation we went to was by Oxford literature professor Fiona Stafford, who has written a book called the Long, Long Life of Trees. She grew up near a forest

Half measures

Last night I had dinner with nine of my golfing buddies at lovely Belvoir. I miss golf and I miss my buddies. In good time I hope to get back to both. Many of them are continuing to play at other clubs that don’t have joining fees, unlike Belvoir,

Fintan O'Toole

My rapid recount of the week failed to note its highlight. I trekked into Queen’s Wednesday to hear the John Hewitt Society lecture by Fintan O’Toole, a brilliant writer, thinker, political commentator, playwright, columnist, etc. I love his column in the Irish Times and withstood the shingles pain

La Doulou continues

Saturday Oct. 7. David is back from touring Ireland with his daughter, so I have access to a car, not that I’m eager to drive. He took me to a garden centre, where we had lunch and walked through the greenhouses. Sunday Oct. 8. I read a few short

The Person in Pain: Daudet’s La Doulou

When I’m not well, I find the day is something to get through so I can take my meds and go to bed. And so Monday & Tuesday slid by unremarked. I woke up Wednesday feeling better and so took the bus into town and walked 20 minutes to

Patient

So being impatient means I’m not a good patient. David’s gone for a week with the car so I’m stuck in a house in pain with no visitors. Of course this opens up vistas of possibilities for productivity. I’m reading a good book, something I don’

Bad news

Sunday night I felt a pinch in my hip, which I attributed to Saturday’s Parkrun. Monday, the pain spread to my back and, by the evening, I had a rash. Tuesday, more pain, more rash, called the doctor. Wednesday I was diagnosed with shingles. Shingles!! I guess I’m

The Weir

I went to see a play tonight by Conor McPherson called The Weir. It didn’t leave much of an impression on me. Five people in a pub telling ghost stories. It’s ultimately about loneliness and how lonely people find companionship in a boozy pub evening. I think Ann

Siege Museum

Is in the Apprentice Boys Association headquarters. The Apprentice Boys are famous for shutting the gates of the Derry walls as the forces of the Catholic King James II approached. I am not certain I got the story straight--standing in museum galleries reading placard after placard, with history delivered in

Baggage

When you get on the Belfast-Derry bus, you put your bags in an exterior luggage compartment in the undercarriage. The bus stops maybe six times between Belfast and Derry. Each time the driver presses a button, an exterior door to the compartment opens, leaving passengers pull their bags out, then

Foyle 400, part two

I should say the reason I’m covering the event in such detail is for my mother’s benefit. She wanted to see lots of pictures. Here’s me with Stuart Eakin, IT manager at a bank in Leeds and apparently a very good golfer. He missed receiving the league

Foyle’s 400th

Today was the annual former pupil’s association dinner for my high school, Foyle College in Derry. This being the 400th anniversary of the school’s founding, it was a big deal, starting at 7 pm and finishing, many speeches and musical numbers later, around midnight. It was held at

Clothes horse

This week I mostly worked and slept. I’m fighting a cold so I’m lying low. Each day I spend some time changing around winter & summer clothes. It takes a long time because: a) I have too many clothes. b) I have too little room, so said clothes

Across the street

I adore the mules of Ireland. Unfortunately I had switched from my digital camera to my phone by now, and the phone can’t seem to light things properly. I loved the expression on this guy’s face. I’d describe the expression as curious and friendly. Today I drove

Beagle’s birthday

Today began with the Muckish hike then in Dunfanaghy I ran into an old school mate, Richard Bigger, whose nickname was always Beagle. I don’t know why. Turns out tomorrow is his and his twin brother Donald's birthday. I was invited to a brief dinner party in

Pig’s Back

Muckish is the Irish word for pig’s back. Muckish Mountain has a big flat top with an altitude marker in the middle, a giant rock cairn at one end and a metal cross at the other. All the way at the right you can see the rock cairn, the

Donegal

I don’t remember what I did on Friday--I remember going out to lunch with Eddis and dinner with David, but that’s about it. So I’m going to start with photos from this weekend. Sunday morning was gorgeous so I hiked up Muckish Mountain. This photo is from

Multi media

Today was a travel day, followed by my efforts to get my weekend organised. After two nights at home, my plan is to go to a music festival in Dunfanaghy in north Donegal. I used Facebook messenger, texts, e-mails, and WhatsApp to check in with various people to see who

Ladies Bathing Pond

I tried arranging a meeting with another woman who handles communications/social media for a climate group. She suggested I meet her at Kentish Town train station, we’d take a bus to Hampstead Heath and then walk to the Ladies Bathing Pond for a swim, then have dinner. Why