While I'm on the topic ...of signs, here's another I snapped the other day. Helen's Bay is the next town over from Crawfordsburn. Houses here are way out of our price range. When I first walked up Helen's Bay beach and saw a sign, I made this assumption that
My favourite sign Having shared one of Belfast's dirty secrets yesterday, I'm uploading my favourite sign. The stereotypical Belfast personality is gregarious, funny, good craic. The sign is pointing out that Belfast people are this way despite the weather. If they are so happy when it's gray
The things I haven't wanted to say It is easy to find good things to say about Belfast and to ignore the distasteful stuff. But the bad stuff doesn't go away. David and I got lost recently and ended up on Twadell Avenue, where the Orange Order is manning a protest camp. The Orange Order
NI Railways When we move to our house, I'll be taking the bus instead of the train to get into the city. I'll miss the trains because they are clean, punctual, warm, and they have a bathroom. You don't always need a bathroom on a 30
Catch up The morning was spent on house-related chores. The afternoon on catching up on e-mail, laundry, etc. One of the things I enjoy here is reading The Guardian, a Manchester-based liberal newspaper. Today I read a very long piece [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/14/-sp-western-model-broken-pankaj-mishra] about the problems
Ready for the Oscars I bought a fancy dress to wear to David's company Christmas dinner, only to discover the dinner would be casual. I will be returning the dress shortly, as closet space will not be ample at our new address. I had David take a photo of it, so I&
Burns Baby Burns Freed from my academic duties, I was able to focus on the house today. David and I visited a warehouse in Coleraine, where we selected a granite countertop. We looked at lights at three stores and bought six lights. Two to go. We also looked at flooring options at B&
Finish line I just filed my sixth paper with more than three hours to spare. It is such a relief to have these assignments behind me. One paper was on Ferguson--basically asking why police never learn from past experience. I don't have a short answer to the question. The most
Our house, in the middle of our street ...was our castle and our keep. A bit of Madness there. As in the band Madness sang that song. Anyway, I was at the house for a few hours today meeting with Kevin, the electrician, and Ian. Here's our water line going in to replace the lead pipe.
The bridge When we move to Belfast, I will miss walking down to Belfast Lough through Crawfordsburn glen every morning. I get to pass under the bridge designed by Charles Lanyon, who developed my favorite building at Queen's. I haven't walked Maysie much lately, but when I do,
Good news & bad news We met with the builder today. He said we can't move in on Jan. 31 because the house won't be livable. This isn't a surprise because there is still so much to do. We've made several decisions that have added to the
...Your tired, your hungry, your poor... My friend, Carlos, posted an article on Facebook about four low-income students [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/opinion/the-cruel-waste-of-americas-tech-talent.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0] who made an underwater robot and won a NASA-sponsored contest. The film "Spare Parts" tells their Cinderella tale. But the movie
The house that Ian built (This post was supposed to run before the post titled "Window on my marriage." I didn't hit publish when I was done writing, so this post is running out of sequence). We went by the house this morning. Around mid-November I posted a series called "
A window on my marriage When we did our walk-through of the house yesterday, Barry the plumber arrived. He is the most upbeat, sunny person I've met since I've been here--and I've met a lot of sunny people. Anyway, we are replacing all the radiators, not something originally planned
Rory in all his glory I spent the morning on fund commentaries and then met two friends from high school for lunch. On the way, I finally snapped a mural I've been meaning to upload. Another angle: I think that's my favorite building in the background. This mural is on the
Charlie & Milo I spent from 6 a.m.-noon uploading my fourth paper to Queen's website then working on quarterly fund commentaries--my freelance gig that keeps my checking account from disappearing. Then I went to Ross Auctions to spend said money. I got a Kashmir rug and two Waterford-like decanters.
Whamogram I went for a mammogram yesterday at a mobile unit in Newtonards. Every interaction with health care here is eye opening. Three examples. 1. I didn't fill out a single piece of paper. The receptionist asked to see my appointment letter and asked for my phone number. The
Housing update On the way to the wedding on Friday, we stopped by the house. It is a big hot mess. Trenches dug through the dining room floor for the gas line and for water/sewage pipes. Half the kitchen floor torn up. Holes being knocked out of the brick wall dividing
David's duties If it isn't clear by now, all I do is read, write, eat, and sleep (the wedding was a fun exception). David makes this possible by cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and walking the dog. I couldn't be doing what I'm doing if he weren&
Blasphemy Our minister, Rev. Chris Hudson, gave a fascinating sermon today about the history of blasphemy laws in Great Britain and Ireland. The shorthand version is that Britain removed its laws after the nation was outraged by the jailing of an ailing atheist pamphleteer, who died shortly after serving his term.
The Bangor boys After yesterday's drinking and dancing, I needed fresh air, so I walked Maysie today. It was so nice to see Joe, who has Parkinson's disease and seems quite frail, but is out walking in all weather. And the Bangor boys--George and Alan. George is originally from
A couple, a cathedral, a castle David's co-worker Conor got married today to Orlaith (pronounced Orla). The wedding was at St. Macartan's Cathedral in Monaghan. My photography skills weren't up to the challenge, so the photos below are from the internet. From the outside: From the altar looking back; From
In good company A librarian told me today that there are about 1,600 students in Queen's library every hour, on average. The library is open 24 hours a day. Between 8,000 and 9,000 students come in every day (some of them are leaving and coming back, so those
Balmy Belfast I never pay attention to weather forecasts. And I've never learned how to translate celsius into fahrenheit. All I know is I don't need gloves or a hat. The weather here seems to be in the 40s and 50s a lot. After last winter--the most miserable
What Casey giveth, she taketh away While Christmas shopping for David, I found a vintage Guernsey wool sweater made in Guernsey and never worn. While most sweaters in the charity shop are 5 pounds ($8), this was 30 pounds. My mother knits, so I know a good sweater when I see it and I bought it.