NorthDownMuse

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.

Broadchurch--OMG!

Any Broadchurch fans out there? Episode One, Season Two aired last night. If you thought you knew what was what at the end of season one, you were WRONG! After last night's show, I think I asked David 20 questions. I'm highly confused about what is

Feel my pain

Here is the question I am currently trying to muster 4,500 words to answer: "The enduring failure of States to agree on a common conceptual framework to develop the right to development has greatly affected the normative validity of the right." I have 20 pages of notes

Addendum

Yesterday I wrote that I'm getting tired of academia and want to get back into the real world. Even as I was typing, I knew that as I worked in recent years, I wanted to be a student. Grass is always greener... I wanted to go back to

Connecting dots

One of the interesting things about writing papers for a degree in business and human rights is the various things from my past that crop up. I spent part of today reading "When Corporations Rule the World," by David Korten. I heard Korten speak in Philadelphia years ago,

Tradition, Crawfordsburn style

It's not every village that has a hunt meet up at the old inn for a port before chasing hounds. Olde Inn waiters brought round mulled wine and mince meat pies. Fox hunting was made illegal in 1990, however that's no reason to stop getting out

Nolan's Christmas

I met up with Nolan in the park this morning. I brought him back a box of cigars and his face lit up like a Christmas tree. He said the last time he bought cigars in the U.S., he paid $40 for what would have cost $160 here (at

A walk in the park

We walk Maysie along Belfast Lough early every morning. We may see six or ten people out with their dogs that early. Yesterday afternoon--crisp and sunny--I walked through the park without Maysie and with my camera. Here's what I saw: I probably saw more than 150 people and

Winter patchwork

I wish I had my camera as we flew over Ireland just after sunrise this morning. There'd been a heavy frost the night before and, instead of the usual patchwork in 50 shades of green, Ireland was transformed into a beautiful winter landscape. Every field was somewhere between

At a crossroads

Literally. We drove from Parkersburg, W.Va. yesterday back to Catherine and Al Renzis' home. After a lovely breakfast this morning catching up with them, we headed to Piscataway, N.J. to have a late Christmas with David's son and daughter-in-law. Then David took me to the

Good bye 4 now

We hit the road today back to Pennsylvania. The hardest part of living in Ireland is being so far from my mom. The reality is I've seen her more in the past year than in any of the past 30 years, due to two surgeries she went through

Tripping down the lane

Mom recently donated my childhood bedroom furniture to Habitat for Humanity, with my encouragement. One of my jobs while I'm home is going through all the stuff that was in the dresser drawers. Like dozens of horsey books, hundreds of letters, report cards, horse statues, ribbons won at

Morning mass

I went to mass this morning with my mom and it was an interesting experience--especially given that I had just visited the Unitarian Universalist church in Devon where I was a member for many years. The churches are at polar opposites from each other, ideologically. I'd say the

R&R

The great thing about being at mom's is I'm not at the library reading every day (although I am behind on my research papers) and I'm not worrying about progress on the house. David and I can just relax and enjoy being with mom,

A Caroling

Last night we attended the annual concert of the a cappella choir [http://www.phsacappellachoir.com/] at Parkersburg High School. This choir travels all over the country performing and winning awards. I heard them once five years ago and couldn't wait to hear them again. They are extremely

On the road again

David came in last night from visiting his kids in New Jersey. We had a fabulous dinner with the Renzis. They can take cannellini beans, kale, and pasta and make something out of this world (they use special olive oil--the secret sauce). After a leisurely breakfast, Chief Elves Catherine and

Q&A

I went to church to see lots of old friends, then out to lunch with one friend, then some gift shopping. I love seeing so many old friends AND I'm worn out by my answers to: How do you like Ireland? What are you studying? What will you

A room with a view

Here is the view from the guest room at the Renzis' farmhouse. Springhouse and to the right one of the goat sheds. And here are the ladies that make the Renzis' amazing cheeses possible. I helped Catherine and Al set up for their holiday sale (cheese, goat milk

Social butterfly

I'm staying with my friends, the Renzis, on their goat farm in Chester Springs. David and I had our rehearsal dinner in the barn here, so this farm holds a lot of special memories. The Renzis also have a native plant nursery, so much of my gardening was

Train in vain

Train 1 took me from Helen's Bay to Belfast (where I got the bus to the airport, then flew 7 hours to Newark). Train 2 took me from Newark airport to Newark train station. Train 3 got me to Trenton. Train 4 got me to Philly. Train 5

A new world retail record

Christmas shopping happened over the course of about three hours today. I had done some power shopping in August when we toured the west of Ireland (mostly neices and nephews). Today I tore through Tesco for some lovely Christmas tins of biscuits (Cadbury's Christmas collections), then raced through