Drumroll, part two

Sticking with the chronology:

Monday: train trip after work to Derry to have dinner with niece Kate and her husband Andrew, who were visiting the Maiden City for Halloween. It was great to hear about their wedding this summer, their new house, new jobs, and their weeklong tour of Ireland.

Tuesday: More trick or treaters than candy, sadly.

Wednesday: Went to see Burnt Out with the wonderful Kerry Quinn, highlighting the many ill effects of bonfire culture, including harassment and intimidation of neighbours.

Thursday: Haircut. After work went to see Fingernails, starring wonderful Jesse Buckley and dreamy Riz Ahmed.

Friday: Went into town first for lunch with Ben, grandson of an old friend in Pennsylvania. Did I mention I was out to brunch with him a week ago? He's doing a foundation year at Queen's. Then I saw eight short films produced in N.I., of incredibly high calibre. Favourite was an animation called Stan by Me. But also The Golden West by the team who did An Irish Goodbye--its a Celtic Western with a dark twist at the end.

Saturday: Paddy to Redburn then waited all day for the carpenter.

Sunday: Who came on Sunday, the day before he left with his partner for a birthday trip to Zanzibar. He was very good to fit me in. Once he hung the eight shelves in my new storage area, I set to work using them. First, this is what my dining room has looked like since mid July:

On Sunday I moved all the stuff above to the new room. Drumroll please...

The room holds two bikes, a lawnmower (on the left, folded in on itself), four pieces of dog agility equipment, tools, a ladder, a box of firewood, paint cans, a carpet cleaner, rakes, brooms, shovels, Christmas china, shoes and a big tin of dog food. Behind me is a door to the outside and next to the door is a warm water tap. So I can wash my muddy dog and dry him in this room. I am Living the Life! Given all the rain we've had in recent weeks, the tap has come in very handy.

I should note that in Ireland we don't have garages, full attics or full basements. I have two triangular crawl spaces, or lofts, which hold a lot of clothes, luggage and bits and bobs. But this new space takes the place of the two-car garage and other spaces which, on reflection, only encourage the accumulation of stuff.

30 Oct - 5 Nov