NorthDownMuse

Portadown to Poynzpass

Yesterday we cycled along the Newry canal from Portadown to Poynzpass and back. This was a MeetUp event with three other cyclists. Photo from internet: Windy day--after 24 miles, I was quite happy to crawl into the car. So Poynzpass is named for Charles Poynz, who was granted 500 acres

Get into the Groove

In the 1980s and 1990s, I would have spent a fair amount of time in dance clubs. Madonna’s Into the Groove (Extended Party Mix) was one of my favs. Last night I went to hear a funk band, Manukahunney, in Belfast, which did a great job of covering a

Tower Power

This is the Tower of London from Tower Bridge. Ditto: St. Katharine Docks. I imagine some of these boats showed up in the Panama Papers: If you Google St. Katharine Docks and click images you’ll see much more interesting photos than the one I took. The Shard: 4-9

No rest

Last week I submitted three quarterly performance files, part of my freelance gig. Today one more. I must be terribly wicked since I can’t seem to rest. Walking across Tower Bridge is really cool. Nice views: Another angle: 4-8

Big Day, Long Day

I left the house at 5 a.m., arriving at the airport by 5:45 (after parking and taking shuttle) for a 6:55 flight. Arrive London 8:15 am. First interview at 11:30 am. Second interview at 4 pm. Took a 9:45 pm flight back to Belfast,

Interview prep

The other day I whined about being a Luddite in a techie world. But to my credit I bought my airfare online for tomorrow’s flight to London and printed my boarding passes; bought my RT train ticket online from Gatwick to London and printed the receipt; reserved a parking

Back on top of the world

Is this blog beginning to sound like the writings of a bipolar person? Then again, aren’t we all a bit bipolar. Today I had lunch at Belvoir Golf Club with four choir members: Violet (lady captain at the golf club); her partner Anne (partner as in long-time civil partner--no

Diatribe

I’m taking a break from posting photos to bitch about two things that totally tick me off. One is related to my sense that I need to be on various social media platforms. As a writer, I should be showing my wares on Twitter--home to such talented writers!--and

Derry Detour

Friday I very spontaneously split town and headed over the Glenshane Pass to Derry, site of my misspent youth. Over the coming week, I’ll be slogging away on my quarterly writing assignment, and on Thursday I’ll be in London for interviews. So this Friday through today was all

Ask and ye shall receive...

My readers have complained that I haven’t posted enough photos. So I’m in photo-overdrive. My bike ride concludes with a trip through the city then up the Comber Greenway through East Belfast to my house. This is the gable end of a row-house along the Lagan as I

No foolin'

Just more photos of the Lagan trip. Much of the towpath looks like this. Northern Ireland is dotted with manor houses such as this one, Drum House, once owned by Lord this or Marquis that, who were granted the land or sold it for a pittance by the king, who

180

Today I got two requests for interviews, so I’m doing a 180 on yesterday’s strategy. It’s important to be flexible, right? Whatever. Back to the loveliness of the Lagan. Info on the towpath: "The Lagan Towpath takes the walker along the river and canal system through

Bridge over troubled water

To my right is Shaw’s Bridge, now a pedestrian bridge. To my left is the bridge carrying the ring road (a beltway around East Belfast). Underneath it, you can see gates for kayakers who run the rapids here. And here are some kayakers: I get a bit anxious whenever

Lollygagging on the Lagan

We had beautiful weather all of last week, yet each day I stayed indoors working away at my job search. Saturday we wallpapered, Sunday I sang at church (I’m usually at church from 11am-1:30pm) then we had dinner with friends. Dinner with friends here lasts from 5-8:30.

1916: It’s complicated

The Easter Rising of 1916 was commemorated in Dublin yesterday and today upon its centenary. Yesterday, "hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of Dublin for the largest public spectacle in the history of the State,” one newspaper said. Commemorated, not celebrated, mind you. There’s a great

Tremble, Tremble, Tremble

The church I belong to is more traditionally Christian than any church I’ve joined (I’m excluding the Catholic churches of my childhood, which I didn’t join). As such, the choir sang on Good Friday and today. One of the Good Friday songs was: "Were you there

Finally...

Today we wallpapered the study. I tried and failed to get someone out to put up the wallpaper, so David relented and helped me put it up. The room looks great, but I want to get the furniture in and the diplomas up before I take any photos. Last Saturday

Happy Birthday to Mom

Yesterday was my mom’s birthday. I got to chat with her in the morning before she drove six hours to my sister’s for the Easter weekend. I’m glad she’ll get to be with all of her grandkids for the long weekend. Here’s herself at Bangor’

Ups and downs

After I posted yesterday’s whine, I realised it may not look too good to complain about your job prospects while showing pictures of the bar you went to. The truth is I remain optimistic that one of my applications will pay off. I’ve had two interviews in two

Catch up

The Triodos trip consumed most of my time last week. This week I’m trying to catch up on e-mails and churn out some applications. My reward was to go out for a drink tonight at the Duke of York as part of a Meet Up gathering. There were probably

Reuben

We had a baptism at church on Sunday. A lesbian couple had their son Reuben dedicated and it was a wonderful service. I wish I took a photo. Reuben is the most adorable little boy and he melts my heart whenever I see him. He came to the church with

350 Velocette

I love BBC Radio Ulster because it captures the small-town nature of living in Northern Ireland as well as the general friendliness of the people. Listeners have a close relationship with the presenters and have no problem calling in to report a loose dog running near a busy street or

Belfast Tempest

Before yesterday’s lecture, I got chatting with a man who was very excited about the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, which will be marked in April. One of the reasons I go to events like this are the interesting people you meet. So cities around the world are

The Outlier

I went to my final Imagination Festival event today, which looked at income inequality. I’ve read quite a bit on this, so I didn’t learn much. The chart below is one of the reasons I don’t want to live in the U.S. It plots income inequality

Bristol Boats

I worked so hard on my presentation and the trip to Bristol was so tiring that today was a down day. The only concrete thing I can recall accomplishing was writing a letter to my friend Lola and a card to Emily and Catherine. Laundry, dishes, vet. That kind of