NorthDownMuse

Maureen's hydrangea

This is Maureen, who lives around the corner. This is her hydrangea bush, which her father planted 45 years ago. The picture doesn't do it justice. The hydrangea colors here are amazing. Some surreal blues, vibrant pinks, maroon, you name it. Maureen's house, and Trudy'

Ireland in bloom

Flower boxes at The Old Inn Foxglove in the glen A driveway up the street Trudy's cottage A random hydrangea 7/14

World Cup Cuisine

I have been gleefully unobservant of capitalization style in my headlines. Some are all cap, some are sentence-style cap. After decades of obeisance to the grammar gods and the keepers of consistency, I write with reckless abandon. Yes, we writers are a wild bunch once you remove our restraining rails.

A day I have dreaded

The 12th of July marks the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne, the 1690 battle north of Dublin between the Dutch King William of Orange (half of the William and Mary couple known to all Virginians) and the Catholic King James II. King William won, which was a major

Running is so weird

At my mom's there is a loop in McDonough Park that I decided I would do twice. It took 44 minutes and I did it every other day. I was liberated from the treadmill at Aurora and loving my freedom--running very slowly at first and faster when I

B&B History Lesson

Yesterday at the B&B in Derry I had an interesting conversation with the proprietor, Thomas. He spent a considerable amount of time in the U.S. working for Fruit of the Loom. He talked about being in training in a factory in Alabama in the 1970s where 90%

Derry Day Deux

The day began with a run downhill from Rosemount, through city centre onto the Peace Bridge. I ran along Lough Foyle for miles then retraced my steps. It was a gorgeous day and the city shone like a polished diamond. It makes me so happy to see the city reclaimed

Dearest Derry

I took a spontaneous trip to Derry to see an old friend who is in hospice. As it turned out, she wasn't up for a visitor, understandable given the ebb and flow of her energy level. I did pack in quite a few other visits over two days

Mournes, p4

At the top of Slieve Donard, we met a man who had just completed the six peaks [http://www.sixpeakschallenge.co.uk/] challenge. He kindly posed for a photo to mark the occasion. Once we headed back down, the hike got more challenging. Thunder, lightning, rain, and hail were our

Mournes, p3

See that line going down into the saddle and up the far mountain? That is the amazing Mourne Wall. From Wiki: "It was built between 1904 and 1922 by the Belfast Water Commissioners to enclose the water catchment in the Mournes. "The wall was crafted from natural granite

Mournes, p2

One of the things I missed this spring was the blooming of various loved plants in my Chester Springs gardens. The volume and variety of blooms in Ulster has definitely assuaged my loss. Foxglove was blooming along the trail to Slieve Donard--purple and white. Below I'm looking back

Mournes, p1

I spent my first full day back (Friday) doing not much of anything. I think I took her highness for two long walks along the coastal path. It was lovely to see so many things in bloom, roses, foxglove, hydrangeas. For the next three days I'll feature photos

Allentown, Johnstown, Anytown

Billy Joel wrote a 1980s song about the decline of Allentown. I haven't been in Allentown in a while, but I was in Johnstown, much of which is composed of empty steel mills. Here are a few photos from Johnstown taken from the train: I didn't

My friend the hoarder

In addition to being a poet, Roberta Lynn is a self-described hoarder. She can justify it--she's a very active e-bay seller. So she buys a lot of stuff at Goodwill (say a $3.95 dog statue that she sells for $15). All that stuff fills every nook and

Bye Subie

When I came into the kitchen this morning, mom was wearing a cute pink and white golf shirt. I told her how much I liked it. She told me I bought it for her. I said: "I have such good taste. I wonder where I got that from?"

Vanguard and anti-abortion protesters

I was in Parkersburg's largest bank today to meet with someone regarding my dad's trust. I could hear the man in the conference room next to me asking for help investing money. I had this sudden vision of anti-abortion protesters trying to get women to not

A poem about rain

My friend Roberta Lynn, a poet, sent me the following: Irish Weather by Tess Gallagher Rain squalls cast sideways, the droplets visible like wheat grains sprayed from the combine. As suddenly, sunshine. If a person behaved this way we'd call them neurotic. Given weather, we gust and plunder

Travel anxiety

Travel makes me anxious because I've never been that good at being on time. I have missed planes and been the last person on the plane, so I have grounds for my fears. I always think the drive to the airport and finding parking and getting through security

The U.K. comes through

The FedEx truck brought me back my passport today. Twenty-six days after the U.K. got my 135-page visa application, I have my spouse visa, good until March 2017. As Dr. Seuss said: Oh the places I will go!

Fathers and sons

I found a new show I like--Storage Wars. Ivy's sense of humor cracks me up. I find the father-son team interesting and entertaining. American Restoration and Pawn Stars also have father-son teams. I didn't have a brother, so I never saw this dynamic. And to all

Food porn

I'm averaging cooking dinner once a week--which is a lot for me. First dish was quinoa, spinach, feta bake. Second was potatoes, kale, and queso fresca. Third was portabellos stuffed with quinoa, topped with tomato and queso fresco and served on bed of kale cooked with fresh spring

Half a Yellow Sun

My reading material has progressed from the horrors of China from the 1920s to the 1970s to the horrors of Nigeria in the 1960s. This book is about the establishment of Biafra, a state within Nigeria created after atrocities a muslim tribe committed against another tribe that was predominantly Christian--but

Secret sauce

My friend Hema stopped by the other night and I pumped her for information regarding a spicy vegetable dish she made when we visited recently. One of the secret ingredients is a paste made of garlic and ginger. You put equal amounts of each in a food processor with some

USA USA USA

They played so much better against Portugal than Ghana. I was so sorry they couldn't eke out a victory. 6/22

Making the grade

The big news in the local paper is about the high school football stadium. A booster club talked the school board into a $1.1 million renovation of the stadium. The booster club would raise $600,000. You know where this is going, right? The cost has soared past $2