NorthDownMuse

Gobbins Two

Why is it called The Gobbins? "Shut yer gob” means shut your mouth. The Gobbins is near the mouth of Belfast Lough. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British isles--Ben meaning sharp rocks. Our guide thinks “ben” became “bin,” denoting the sharp rocks at the mouth of

The Gobbins

I did nothing today b/c I was so tired from swing dance lessons. So I’ll get a jump on tomorrow, when I spent the day at The Gobbins, an engineered coastal walk. I took this photo on the walk from the Ballycarry train station to Islandmagee, which isn’

Shim Sham

I spent today in Portrush, a seaside town on the North Antrim coast, complete with arcade games, pizza shops, ice cream, and places selling plastic buckets and shovels. It’s like the Ventnor or Margate of my childhood. I took three swing dance classes--six count, shim sham, and eight count.

Tee Time

I played Tuesday and Friday this week. Today I played with only one other person and I really enjoyed it, partly because we are well matched and partly because the game goes so much faster. I tried to capture how beautiful the course is, but these photos don’t do

The Grapes of Wrath

As I’m sure I’ve mentioned, we have a grapevine in the catservatory (a glassed-in room that is covered in fur and cat litter due to the residents). For the second time this summer, I’ve filled a bucket with grapes that are rotting and/or covered with a

Big Sick

When I played golf yesterday, my phone fell out of my golf bag on the course somewhere. Luckily, someone picked it up and left it in at the bar. It rained consistently today, so I wasn’t eager to get on my bike and cycle 20 minutes to Belvoir to

BBC Ulster

So part of the BBC’s remit is to provide local programming in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Never has a corporate strategy been so well suited for its audience. Northern Ireland people love their towns, their sports teams, their gardens, their history, their veterans, just everything contained in the

Rose Garden

Today was a day of balancing checking accounts (I have two in the US and one here), having a plumber visit, doing laundry etc etc. So more rose photos! There was a non-rose garden this year: 7-31

Barefoot

David is away for a week of painting in Wexford at the very southern tip of the republic. He took me to church this morning on his way out of town and I took the bus home. The heavens opened while I was on the bus--violent, noisy rain. By the

The Antiques Roadshow

...was filmed today at Stormont, the seat of Northern Ireland’s assembly. Since it’s just up the road, we decided to go. David grew up watching the show with his grandmother, so he wanted to be part of the excitement. We took an Edwardian clock made by Muirhead and

The Allotments

If the small patch of garden you tend at your place of residence is insufficient, you can always rent an allotment. There are several allotments near me, one near the top of the hill I live on. I love it up there--dozens of neatly tended gardens overflowing with berry bushes,

Clubbing

So I played golf again today, the first time I’ve played twice in one week. The other women have a rescue club, or a hybrid, that seems to work magic on the fairways. I called the pro shop to see what a rescue club costs. I was told £160.

Copy desk

Today I edited an academic article for a professor at Queen’s University who specialises in competition law. My editors at Vanguard would find it hysterically funny that I’m editing academic work. I wouldn’t say my writing is sloppy, but I would say I don’t have a

Golf with the Girls

I played nine holes today with two woman who each have three children. And that is all they talked about. As we walked up each fairway, they compared notes on where their kids went to school (undergrad and grad) and where they go on vacations, etc. while I kept my

Luxury

The luxury of being fetched low by a hangover is the necessity of sitting still. Which means I finished one book (A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing--hated it) and started another (Doughnut Economics; Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist). I enjoy reading but generally I’m too tired

Swing dance

Of the three days captured here, the only highlight worth remembering was the Mystery Messaround. I take swing dance lessons once a week, if I can make it, with Swing Belfast. Once a month they have a dance at a tennis club that has a small dance floor. It’s

Whereas...

Below is an excerpt of the model resolution I drafted today aimed at utilities. The idea is to get activist investors (Catholic nuns, Sierra Club, public pensions) to file this resolution at utility companies, so it will be voted on at next year’s annual general meetings. "WHEREAS: The

Horn Head

So these are the last of my photos from our Donegal diversion. I took this at Horn Head, with views across to Doagh Peninsula. This is looking in the opposite direction: I took mom up here once and it was sheeting rain, so we saw nothing. We had lunch in

Dunes

Saturday was music in Letterkenny, a walk on Rathmullan Beach, and a drive around Fanad Peninsula. Sunday was Fanad beach and lighthouse and a cycle along Glen Lough followed by a fantastic dinner in the town of Glen. Then a concert in Letterkenny, which I believe I was too knackered

Hitchhiker’s Guide

Across Lough Swilly from the lighthouse is Dunaff Head on the Inishowen Peninsula, in the distance. Donegal is nothing but a series of headlands jutting into the Atlantic. Between and within the headlands are nestled some of the most gorgeous beaches in the world. Here’s a better look at

To the Lighthouse!

So, a great way to start the day, walking along a beach at the top of Fanad Head. I was positively giddy the whole time I was on this beach, although it doesn’t show. One of the great things about beaches here is how good they smell. In the

Donegal Dreamin'

We made a spur of the moment decision this morning to go to Donegal for the weekend. We began the afternoon shopping in Letterkenny and listening to the buskers--there was a busking festival on. Every couple of yards there would be someone on tin whistle, ukelele, concertina, fiddle, saxophone--one kid

County Donegal

When I left Ireland for America, I dreamed of one day moving to County Donegal, buying a wee cottage, and writing a novel. Today, I worked on a summary of last month’s online dialogue--trying to make sense of 340 comments made during the dialogue and 70 more made in

AirCoach

Mom & I took the AirCoach to Dublin, where we parted after I managed to get mom into the wrong line (Aer Lingus when she’s flying United). I get a bit panicky when I travel--or when I’m helping someone else travel. When I see a long line, I

Wimbledon

I had to spend much of Tuesday and Wednesday working. Luckily, Wimbledon was on, which kept mom entertained. We went out for dinner Tuesday night at Daft Eddy’s. The town in the distance is Whiterock. From where we sat, there was a great view of the sailboats at Strangford