The last week: Tea and more tea

My friends who wanted to have mom around for tea during her visit have realised time is running out, given we are in the final stretch of her visit. So she was busy during her last week here.

March 1, tea and buns with Fiona down the street in her amazing kitchen--created by removing a wall and two fireplaces dividing a small living room and dining room. This view is looking toward the front drive and front of the house.

This view looks to the back garden.

March 2: Neighbours Valerie and Jonathan Bill take mom for high tea at The Old Inn in Crawfordsburn, elements of which were built in the 1600s.

March 3: Derry day, visiting the O'Dwyers:

And Mary (all my photos were fuzzy, not sure why):

March 4: Morning at St. George's Market for some gift shopping. Afternoon was tea with Eddis, Patricia, Christine, Marion and Doris. No photos unfortunately. I went to the driving range with a friend so I skipped the ladies' tea.

March 5: After mass, mom went to Frances Morrow's for tea at her manor house in the hills above East Belfast. I was playing in a mixed foursome competition that day. Frances is the mother of Claire, who had mom round for dinner a few weeks ago. Here are mom, Christine and Frances.

March 6: Mom went up to Thea's to see her grandmother's handwork, exquisitely detailed crochet and tatting on very fine Irish linen. Napkins, tablecloths, runners. Thea shared an incredibly intricate blanket she's knitting for a neighbour's baby, complete with bunnies and collies. We also had tea and buns, with the three-tiered cake plates laden with goodies.

March 7: We went for our weekly swim in the morning, mom went to neighbours Michael and Faye for tea and buns in the afternoon. In the evening, out to dinner in Holywood with friends Eddis and Patricia. Here we are with our desserts.

They have both been lovely to mom and perfectly embody the spirit of Northern Ireland's famous hospitality.

March 8: Mom packed today and I rewrote a blog on UK policy on sustainability. I cut the 1160-word draft to 700 words. Because that is how I roll. Then I wrestled with a complicated formula an investor uses to aggregate implied temperature ratings for individual holdings into a portfolio-level temperature rating. The author and I have gone back and fourth four times on this. I had zero work last week and I'm working on five documents this week, including a report from our board to our 5400 signatories.

When mom and I left Fiona's on Monday, she said she wished she had taken a photo of us. So she stopped by today to do just that.

Paddy didn't want to be left out.

I asked Fiona to send me photos of her kitchen, which brings us back to the start of this post.

Mom and I at this moment are watching a show called The Piano, in which pianist Lang Lang and pop singer Mika are hidden judges of amateur pianists who play in train stations. It's really good. We also watched season 20 of Strictly Come Dancing--worth it for the costumes alone. Lots of Escape to the Chateau and Love it or List it. A few Graham Nortons. Four episodes focused on Prue Leith and her husband's new house and garden. A few episodes of game show Would I Lie to You. She also read a lot of books while she was here.

And now you are up to date. And I'm about to go to bed. I'll be up at 6 to walk the dog before driving mom to Dublin.

March 8