NorthDownMuse

Mount St. Michael, Menack

On HF Holidays, you arrive on a Saturday, hike Sunday and Monday, have a rest day on Tuesday, and hike Wednesday through Friday. On my rest day, I was going to write postcards, go to the post office, visit the Tate St. Ives and read for a bit--something I never

Porthleven

Today I did the shortest hike, which was 5.5 miles. Partly because it ended in Porthleven, which the other two did not. And partly because a week in London, a day in Penzance and a 9.5 mile hike yesterday caught up with me. Here is the trip description:

Mussel point

Each day HF Holidays offers three hikes. Today's were 6 miles, 9 miles, 11 miles, each along the Cornish coast, but dropping down to the coast at different points. I took the middle distance hike. As we hiked out of St. Ives to an inland path, I got

Mazey Day

At the end of a very long day yesterday, I climbed a steep hill to my AirBnB (got lost and bothered and called the Air BnB host to get re-combobulated). Then climbed many stairs with my three heavy bags--around 10 pm. My reward--the view from my window of Penzance harbour

Brutalism at the Barbican

After I finished a punchlist relating to the sovereign bonds project (essentially passing a list of tasks on to OG to deal with while I'm gone), Rachael and I cycled to the Barbican to see a very large exhibit of post-war modernist art in Britain. A lot of

London Life, part two

Wednesday I went to the office and caught up with a lot of people, including my successor at Climate Action 100+. In the afternoon, a group of us went to an exhibit on the Bank of England's role in slavery. It was very interesting, and I think a

London life

Monday 20 June I got up at 4:30, took a cab to the airport and flew to London, where I got the light rail to east London. I walked 10 minutes and arrived just in time for the 9:10 a.m. start of an all day conference. What

Work in progress

The week before I left town for London + Cornwall, I undertook a new gardening project. My friend Valerie came over to consult on whether I should buy a pair of urns and a bench at Ross Auctions for the back of the garden. While she was there, I commented on

Stevie the hedgehog

In the Tuesday competition, I had a very good round, with the result that my handicap was cut a full point. I'm down to 33.7, or 10 points down from a year ago. I also had a massage on Tuesday and I think that is the reason

Week in review

Tuesday, weekly golf competition, did OK--points in the mid-30s under Stableford system. Friday was Lady Captains Day--played about the same. My handicap fell a half point after each round. Friday night was Lady Captain's dinner. Here we all were before dinner. Saturday I went to Wilson's

From tea to tee

The irises are now in the front garden--not fun digging each hole as I need to go down 10-12 inces to the landscape fabric level and cut a hole in it for each iris. Cow parsley also planted. The poppies not in yet as I'm dithering on where

Platinum Party at the Palace

Saturday morning--dog walking at Stormont. Followed by a long walk with my friend Marek at Cairnwoods. I think my big accomplishment of the afternoon was moving summer and winter clothes around. An annoying biannual ritual. At 6pm and 10pm I visited a neighbour's dogs to let them out.

Edenmore

Friday I played golf at a course near Moira called Edenmore. It's a very long course with open fairways (good) and slopey greens (bad). Above all, it was beautifull, surrounded by farms. My course is a city course, surrounded by housing, so a different vibe. The club house

The elusive poppy

Today is the beginning of a four day weekend--a bank holiday with a bonus day off to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee--70 years on the throne. The day began at 6 am with a long walk for Paddy. At 8 am I was on the road to Carryduff

How does your garden grow?

This post is mainly for mom. I try to keep her on top of all matters of importance, like what is blooming in my garden. First I need to share the latest addition to my kitchen: The end of my counter has always been a bit sloppy--too many bits and

Picturesque pup

When I'm bored at work--often--I take a minute to photograph my gorgeous dog, who often is imploring me to throw his ball. Or lounging in the spot I thought would be my favourite nook in the house. He came in one day with a forget me not on

Donaghadee Match

Ever since I recovered from Covid, I have spent much of my spare time either playing golf or practicing at the driving range to prepare for inter-club team match play. Tuesday of this week was the regular  ladies competition at Shandon--I didn't do well. Then Thursday was the

Love where you live

Saturday was my fourth round of golf since Monday and it was a killer--4.5 hours on a very long, hilly course with lots of bunkers. I was playing at Donaghadee with a neighbour. We are both vying for a place on the Challenge Cup team. I thought we were

Good golf

As I mentioned, I won Monday's round, I think partly because it was a holiday and there weren't many entries. I took Tuesday off work to recover my equilibrium from the long weekend. I played in the weekly competition at 4pm on Tuesday and scored enough

Surprise!!!

Sunday I got Paddy out for a very early walk, then met a fellow Shandon golfer at the golf club at 9:30 a.m. We drove to a neighbourhood near the marathon route then waited about 45 minutes until the two runners on our two relay teams appeared. On

Ireland v Scotland

We'll get to that (the six nations women's rugby final). This is the first of two posts about a marathon weekend--in more than one sense. Monday is a bank holiday so this post is Fri-Sat. Next will be Sun-Mon. I'm glad we got that

Sixty, the new 40

What can I say, I don't feel 60. I should qualify that--my knees feel at least 60. But the rest of me hasn't bought into this entering a new decade concept. I took the day off and went for a hike with three neighbours. Valerie drove

Golf golf more golf

Thursday April 21 I suddenly felt better after a week of mainly lethargy. I celebrated by going to a driving range and hitting balls. Friday I tested myself and I was negative. I celebrated by playing 12 holes before work--David walked Paddy. Saturday I did a bunch of chores then

A hopping Easter

Only in a very literal sense--I have had ups and downs. I felt a bit brighter on Saturday, and maybe did a bit too much--mainly mowing and weeding. Followed by making a difficult lasagna (Liza Tarbuck was on so I wanted to cook while listening to her, but the strength

My turn

Tuesday was Pretty in Pink day--our weekly golf competition doubled as a fundraiser for breast cancer. I played with Ali and Paula (on the right). Paula is my golf coach's wife and it is interesting to watch her play because she does everything I'm supposed to