NorthDownMuse

Gang blogging

When I bought a new bike after my old bike was crushed in a car accident, I learned about gang shifting. You can move up or down several gears quickly without going from gear to gear. So this is a gang blog entry. Saturday--edited a newsletter for the asylum seekers

Here We Come A-wassailing

Given that I missed last week’s choir Christmas party, I was delighted to go to choir member Monica’s house tonight for another party. We carolled up and down her block and then ate and drank a lot of wonderful food at her house (she’s an amazing cook)

Still here

I didn’t mean to disappear for a week. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I plugged away at Preventable Surprises and mainly felt bad about myself because I wasn’t very productive. The hard thing about working alone at home is you put a lot of pressure on yourself to be

Rx

After the violent coughing, aching, dizziness of Thursday through Saturday, I had a new set of symptoms Saturday night through today (Monday) of severe congestion, weakness, dizziness, inability to sleep, etc. I walked into the NHS clinic up the street and asked if they had any appointments. They had a

Bill and me

I’m reading Bill Bryson’s latest book, The Road to Little Dribbling, and enjoying it greatly. We share a fondness for this part of the world that makes reading him like chatting with a friend where you repeatedly discover similar tastes in music or cuisine. Here he is on

Cash for Ash

Also in the news are two stories highlighting what an embarrassment the ruling class of Northern Ireland is. First up is discovery that Stormont, controlled by the Democratic Unionist Party, is showering millions of pounds on a “charity” called Charter NI, run by a highly paid “former" paramilitary. As

The Real IRA

I spent yesterday, today, and most of the weekend in bed or in an armchair reading. Today I recalled something I heard on the radio while driving last week that I meant to put on the blog. There have been quite a few ugly execution-style murders in Dublin in recent

And she’s down

Tonight was the choir’s Christmas party, one of the highlights of my year. We sing, we dance, we eat lots of good food. However. Today I had a sudden onset of symptoms: coughing, aches, nausea, bone-rattling coughing, dizziness. So I missed the party. I meant to say yesterday that,

Triple play

Today was a good day for socialising. I met a friend from church for afternoon tea. She spent her working life in social services, mainly in administration, and now has a portfolio of volunteer projects. Then I went to the opening of a show at the Royal Society of Ulster

Pick your poison

Before choir last night, I attended a lecture at Queen’s by an economic historian. Because I live in a little climate change bubble--where degradation of our planet is seen as the primary threat to our future--it’s always interesting to hear from someone with an alternative doomsday scenario. Russell

Romance is not dead

After choir practice tonight, we fulfilled a request for one of the church’s members. Adam is about to propose to his fiancé. Her favourite song is Unchained Melody. (Oh, my love, my darling, I hunger for your touch...). So we sang two verses of the song into the camera

Drumroll please...

1. Steam off paper. 2. Steam and scrape off glue. 3. Sand and sponge 4. Spackle, sand, and sponge. 5. Two undercoats of paint. 6. One coat of colour. 7. Paint three rows of trim. 8. Second coat of colour. 9. Spray paint radiator cover grills and paint frame. A

Friends with Benefits

I’m pretty sure that has a naughty connotation. In this context, I’m thinking of friends who are not only thoughtful and generous but also have very good taste. My friend Marta gave me this pumpkin as a housewarming present in 1999. It’s my only Halloween decoration and

Spitballing

Today was the deadline for article ideas for the next ESG Magazine (I’ve written articles for the last two editions). After a few hours of research, here’s what I submitted: 1. You Get What You Pay For If the business world is going to move toward a 2-degree-compliant

Things that don’t work, part 2

Swimming at the leisure centre today, I noted several annoying things. Like there is no flag rope to tell you when you’re getting near the wall, which is a good way to crack your skull when you are doing back stroke. The lockers have no hooks in them, so

Jingle Mingle

To counteract the loneliness of working from home, I make myself go to MeetUps, even if I can make a very good case for staying in with a book. Tonight I went to the Midweek Mingle, had a G&T, chatted with a few people, then headed home. The

Happy Birthday, Bobbi

When I moved to Pennsylvania in 1999, Bobbi, aka Roberta Lynn, was one of the first friends I made. This was at the Unitarian Fellowship of West Chester, where she was an unofficial greeter. She used to stay with me once a week after working a night shift at a

New McDonald's

Today I treated myself to a massage. Not because of the painting, necessarily, but because I hope that getting knots out of my calf muscles will help my feet calm down so I can run. It was pure heaven. It’s painful when she puts pressure on all the little

Things that don’t work

Bill Bryson has made a career out of comparing the British and American personalities. He sees British people as being pessimistic and having low expectations (while Americans are optimistic and self-delusional). The British stoicism may explain why people here settle for a lot of things that don’t work. For

Mirror, mirror

I woke up this morning feeling really tired. Maybe because I’ve been painting for four or five days straight? Yesterday I also raked leaves, vacuumed, scrubbed the kitchen floor, went swimming, so I was properly knackered by bedtime. I’ve been letting the cats sleep in the bedroom, for

Locker room talk

I wasn’t able to swim all week because I had tape all over my back with allergy test patches. Today I got back in the pool and it felt great. Avoniel Leisure Centre (similar to a Y) is a great place to notice the contrasts between the US and

Non-holiday

It’s hard to get in the holiday mood here when it isn’t a holiday. I painted for a few hours last night and a few more hours this morning. The long stairway wall now has its first coat of yellow. I’ve decided, before I do the second

Citizen Cope

Let’s say a friend sent me a link to important information. Is that link: in an e-mail on my yahoo account? in an e-mail in my Preventable Surprises inbox? in a tweet? in a private message in Facebook? in a text message on my phone? in a Skype chat

I have a kitchen only because it came with the house

I really don’t like to cook. Today I remembered why. The other day I baked the small cooking pumpkin David bought as decoration. Today I tried to turn it into a pie. Here were just some of the obstacles: 1. Does the U.S.-purchased hand/wand blender need

Love the NHS

This morning I had a 10:40 a.m. appointment for an allergy test. I’ve had a problem since I moved here with my lips becoming inflamed and the skin around them becoming red and itchy. Hence the allergy test. Downside is it took 2 years and three months