November

Last few blooms rescued from the garden

Only Cyclamen survived the frosts

Seed heads are pretty too

And there’s always the houseplants

November has been generally dull. Here are a few things I have been doing to cheer me up during this, my least favourite month  of year.

Watching films

I went by myself to the cinema in Storyhouse to see Small Things Like These with Cillian Murphy who also produced it. It’s the film of the short novel by Claire Keegan and it was excellent as is the novel. Someone I know from writing group grew up in Tuam in Co Galway and remembers children from the Bon Secours convent home coming to his school. He recognised very well the way the local community turned a blind eye to how children were mistreated there, because no one dared challenge the church. This film wasn’t about Tuam and it isn’t a true story but is based on real events. And scarily set in the 1980 which doesn’t seem that long ago to me. 

I didn’t go to the cinema to see ‘Joy’, another recent film. Luckily it was released on Netflix fairly swiftly so we watched last weekend - all of us including Kate.  It tells the story of IVF with a focus on Jean Purdy, the embryologist who is less well known than Steptoe and Edwards.  Another excellent cast with Bill Nighy who I love as Steptoe. This film has a particular significance for us as without the work of these pioneers Kate would not exist. About 26 years ago we were getting ready for a final cycle of IVF after three failed attempts. I wasn’t expecting it to succeed and was amazed when it did. We went to Bourn Hall, the clinic in Cambridgeshire which was set up by Edwards and Steptoe. So we have a lot to thank them for. It was a good film - I liked the way it portrayed the couples desperate for a child. Remember that so well. Spent some time reliving my experience of it all by rereading diary entries of that time and sharing them with Kate. 

Suzanna Clarke at Women’s Prize Event 

I am trying to get used to the idea of going to films and plays by myself.  Lots of other friends do it but I tend to feel a bit self conscious and lonely. And I like talking about whatever I see afterwards.  Paul would go with me but we are in the unfortunate situation of being unable to leave the house at the same time unless we take the dogs with us - Alfie cannot be left unsupervised because of his epilepsy. 

Anyway I did go to this interview with the writer of ‘Piranesi’ in Storyhouse by myself.  I even asked a question.  It was very good so I’m glad I made the effort. Although quite a reserved person, she spoke very eloquently about her writing. And I got her to sign my copy of ‘Piranesi’.

Lizzie the Musical

On a damp Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago Kate and I took the tram to a little theatre not far from Piccadilly station in Manchester.  We saw a very loud production of a musical based on the story of Lizzie Borden, a young woman accused of murdering her father and stepmother in nineteenth century Massachusetts.  It was similar in style to Six the Musical which Kate loves with an all female cast and a live band. Here’s a clip. Lizzie the Musical Good fun though my ears were ringing when we came out. 

Wild Weaving

Last weekend I signed up for a Wild Weaving workshop.  I am not skilled at craft activities and did require my teacher’s assistance with my little basket pictured below.  It is very little and a bit wonky as I kept getting my blanket stitch wrong and changing the direction of my working.  An entertaining way to spend a morning nevertheless.

My little basket on a coaster

Apart from these distractions life has been uneventful with usual damp dog walks, bit of clearing up in the garden and too much time doing what I am doing now, watching Paul watching football. Lara the puppy likes to follow the ball on the TV, attempting to eat it.

Reading Round Up

 

There are still a few roses in bloom

Some variety of nettle I think. Good ground cover

My Beauty Berry shrub looks spectacular this year

Some dahlias holding on

And a final flush of flowers from the Salvia Hotlipa

One cosmos survived the autumn wind and rain 

I love my Passionflower 

Only one of the Nerine Bowdeni Bulbs has flowered.

Beautiful autumn colour on the Acer.

It has been a quiet month so a good opportunity to add a books post.  It’s nearly a year since my last one so I’ll do a summary of what I have read since then.  I don’t keep terribly good records and compiled this with the help of my library checkout history.  I’ll use the marks out of 10 method so I don’t have to write about them all. 

Classics

I’ve read a few purchased cheaply for the Kindle. 

Virginia Woolf To the Lighthouse 8,  Mrs Dalloway 8. 

Discussed in earlier post.  

Charlotte Brontë Villette 9 I read this on my trip to Brussels. I’d always thought that Villette was a girls’ name. Turns out it’s the name Bronte used for Brussels and that some of this novel is based on her experiences.  I love the character of the vain teacher Paul Emanuel. 

Charles Dickens ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ 9  I especially loved its portrayal of the French Revolution and the sinister knitting women.

‘Cold Comfort Farm’ Stella Gibbons 6  It’s supposed to be a comic classic. I found the heroine,  Flora, smug and irritating. 

Historical Fiction

Elizabeth MacNeal ‘The Doll Factory’ 7  Had been highly recommended. Didn’t love it though the ending was dramatic.

Stacey Hall ‘The Familiars’7; About the Pendle Witches.  The title is misleading as the story isn’t really about the familiar spirits. 

 Zadie Smith ‘The Fraud’ 5  I had high hopes for this but in the end did not finish it. Ashamed to say I found it boring. Maybe too highbrow for me these days.

Bookclub

Viktoria Lloyd-Barker ‘All the Little Bird Hearts’ 8. I liked this story about a toxic friendship between the narrator who is on the autism spectrum and her new neighbour.

 J. G. Farrell ‘Troubles’  8 A reread for me of this book set in a decaying  country house hotel in the 1920s. Well written and an insight into life at that time for a privileged section of the population.  The decay of the house is a metaphor for the decline in their way of life. 

Suzanna Clarke ‘Piranesi’ 10 Reread. I have written before about how much I love this book. Chose it when it was my turn at Bookclub and I was pleased when most people liked it. The writer is coming to speak at the local theatre soon about her new book. I hope it matches up. 

Raynor Winn ‘The Salt Path’ 6 Reread. Only skimmed.  True story of couple who have become homeless walking a coastal path.  Got a bit repetitive I thought and I didn’t like the writer’s style.

Bruce Chatwin ‘On Black Hill’  8  An affectionate portrayal of twin brothers who live on a farm on the Welsh border.  Covers many years and is better at the beginning.  Thought it drifted a little at the end.

Crime Fiction etc.

I like a fairly undemanding page turner for plane and train journeys and so have read a few of these this year. Best was:

Liz Nugent ‘Strange Sally Diamond’ 10 I loved this.  Probably best described as a psychological thriller with a great central character.  Reminded me Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is completely Fine.’  Trigger warning though as contains scenes about child abuse. 

Liz Nugent ‘Skin Deep’  6 An earlier book. Not as good as Sally Diamond. 

Gillian Flynn ‘Dark Places’ 7.  By the writer of ‘Gone Girl’.  Got me through a plane journey. Ok

Simon McCleave ‘The Chester Killings’ 5 Local writer who has churned out a whole series of these undemanding reads each set in a different location around here or North Wales.  Kind of travel guide meets detective story. Not for me. 

Others

‘Birnam Wood’ Eleanor Catton 7  Set in New Zealand so read it when I went there. Named after group of eco-warriors  who cultivate neglected land - so like the wood in ‘Macbeth’  what is growing ‘moves’  Has an ecological/mystery message.   Disappointing ending. 

‘You Are Here’ David Nichols 7. By the writer of ‘One Day’.  Vaguely entertaining and humorous but ultimately predictable romance between awkward 40 year olds.  His books a bit samey.

Colm Toibin ‘Long Island’ 9 A continuation of the story of Eilish, the heroine of his earlier novel ‘Brooklyn’.  I liked this a lot but was disappointed with the ending. 

Niall Williams ‘This is Happiness’ 8 Gentle story about the coming of electricity to a village in the west of Ireland.  I wanted to like it more as Niall was the tutor of the course in Greece I attended in September.  The writing is beautiful but the pace was a bit slow for me. 

Audiobooks

I keep trying and ‘borrow’ these from the library but they are always ‘returned’ before I finish.   I got part of the way through Sebastian Barry’s The Secret Scripture’ on a long car journey.  Somehow either fall asleep and then don’t know where I am up to or just stop listening unintentionally and get lost in my own thoughts. The experience is not the same as reading from print.  I have a friend who now consumes all her fiction in this way. (That was the word she used) It wasn’t the book - I liked it and will borrow a print copy. I wish I could get into audiobooks - easier on the eye and neck too. 

I am currently reading Paul Murray’s ‘The Bee Sting’ which I note I said I was about to read about a year ago.  I had to wait for my Paul to finish and it took him forever.  It is very long - I am about half way and liked it more at the beginning than I do now. But very readable. 

That’s it for now.  I have counted up and have read 21 books in just under a year.  So it’s about two a month. Not a terribly impressive total.  I don’t set targets though. Makes no sense when books vary so much in length and complexity. And reading is for pleasure and not something which you do because you should like exercise classes or number of steps taken.

September Sun

 On this, the last day of September, I am in a woolly jumper looking out on my very wet garden.  Summer is definitely over now.  There have been some lovely golden September days between the showers though and I escaped for week in Greece at the beginning of the month.  I travelled by myself to the island of Kalymnos just off Kos to take part in a Writers’ Festival.  It was a bit of a trek - flight+ ferry+scary taxi ride along a stunning but very windy coast road with a driver who was texting en route. 

View from my apartment 

I joined seven other writers (not sure I can call myself that) at Harry’s Paradise in the town of Emporeios.  It really was a kind of paradise with a shady bougainvillea filled  garden, excellent healthy home cooked food and a resident kitten called Lucky Shrimp. The writing festival consisted of a storytelling workshop with an evening performance of our stories on the roof of the building as the sun went down.  This was  quite an experience - terrifying but exhilarating too.  Then we had three days of creative writing tuition from Niall Williams who is a very wise and engaging teacher.  It was because of my previous attendance at writing workshop in Co Clare back in 2017 that I signed up again.  His wife Christine was also very supportive providing one to one advice, very useful for me with my procrastination and self-doubt about my writing. 

Harry’s Paradise

It was a very international gathering. I was the only member of the group who lived in England.  One of the writers was from Belfast,  two from Australia, three from the US and one Canadian who currently living in Portugal.  Some of the writers were quite experienced and one had written nonfiction books for children.  We got to know each other very well in a short space of time as we had to work together on  storytelling and we were encouraged to recount tales from our own lives,  So it was good that we all got along well and I felt comfortable sharing my writing.  One evening we went on a boat trip along the coast and to another island. It really was idyllic with glorious scenery and a beautiful sunset.  

 I returned home from Greece and then had a few days away last week with Paul and the doggies. We went to Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast, where we used to go when we lived in East Anglia. A few days of English seaside - eating fish and chips, walks by the sea and catching up with old friends. Paul took some arty pictures with his fancy new camera.  

Home again now and back to my garden which has been a bit neglected recently.  Harvested the borlotti beans (not before Alfie gobbled some from the plant and then vomited - lovely). I am enjoying the dahlias and late flowering perennials.  I am also very pleased with my apples.  It’s the first time my tree has produced any fruit. Some of them are huge!  And they taste good too. - the variety is Red Devil and the flesh is tinged slightly pink. Below is one big apple.  And it’s the only Big Apple I have experienced this September as I missed out on a sisters’ gathering in New York because it unfortunately clashed with the Greek trip.  Oh well - can’t complain. It’s been a lovely September. 

August is a Wicked Month

 Well not really. This title is a tribute to Edna O’Brien who died at the end of July aged 93.  I remember reading her book August is a Wicked Month and The Country Girls books as a teenager and thinking I was very sophisticated. 

The highlight of an otherwise quiet August was a trip to Nice with Kate.  It was blazing hot there, over 30C everyday.  I just about coped with the help of some factor 50, a hat and an afternoon nap in the air-conditioned apartment. Nice is a great place to visit.

Posting this unfinished account late. Will let the picture speak for themselves.

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July

8

 It struck me reading back through the blog that my monthly posts are a bit samey.  This is not surprising as I am not that adventurous.  Since I retired this is how I spend my time roughly in order of priority/preference. 

Reading

Gardening

Writing

Walking dogs 

Occasional exercise - a’dance’ class and yoga.

I spend more time than I intend on ‘screens’, and am always shocked when my weekly screen time appears.  Some of that includes reading online articles and reviews and gardening advice on YouTube which is ok I suppose. I check the news and weather and email far too often and need to break the habit. Most emails are from companies trying to sell me something anyway. And I waste time doing games - Wordle, Crosswordle and, my current favourite, When Taken, where you have to identify where and  to when a photograph was taken. 

There are things I used to do that I now do less of.  Housework for a start.  Pointless activity. Yesterday, for example, I thought I ought to Vax the lounge carpet which was filthy - the water in the tank was black when I emptied it.  Then this morning I was planting some things in the garden and the puppy was assisting by digging alongside me.  And stupidly I’d left the doors open so next thing I knew there were muddy paw marks over my clean carpet. Generally I keep the kitchen clean and only do dusting and vacuuming if someone visits. I don’t cook much either - leave that to Paul who is much better than me and enjoys it. 

This month has been quiet -  so lots of the things on the list above. Mostly gardening - I am very pleased with my sweet pea this year.  We used to have a great display of sweet pea back in Ballyronan - probably because cool damp weather suits them. The scent reminds me of my mother.  She’d pick them and put them in a vase in our hall. So I’ve put some in the little Tyrone Crystal vase which belonged to her and it is sitting on the shelf just above the sink so I can smell them when I wash up. 

Both Paul and I have July birthdays. His present was a fancy new camera - I made a contribution.  Some of the garden photographs above were taken with it, others with my not very high spec phone.  You can probably guess which are his. I was very happy with my presents:  a new Roberts’ radio from Kate and Paul -  he also bought me an alpine trough and a copy of Colm Toibin’s new novel Long Island. No big celebrations - just a nice meal at home cooked by Paul. Then Kate and I went on an outing to RHS Tatton Park flower show the weekend after my birthday. I loved that and have lots of new garden ideas. 

That’s it for now,  I had originally planned to write a book post.  That’ll wait til next time. 

Summer at last!

Well we waited long enough.  The last few days have been perfect summer days, the sort they promise in the advertisements.  I’ve picked my own raspberries for breakfast, and we’ve eaten lunch and dinner in the garden shaded by the blossom of the rambling rose.  The garden is looking at its best - greener and lusher than usual because of all the rain.  I have spent a lot of time gardening recently. Yesterday I spent most of the day planting up the new raised beds at Kate’s house.  We are very lucky to have a cousin who lives nearby who was able to build these for us at a reasonable price.  Her square of astroturf was a bit depressing before. It should look better once the bedding plants I added get going.

Since my last post I been on a trip to Northern Ireland - a family gathering for my brother in law’s 60th birthday.  We spent the first evening in Belfast - Kate and her boyfriend flew over with me and we met other members of the family in the Crown Liquor Salon.  I’d never been there before and it is beautiful inside. I lived in Belfast briefly in the 1980s when I did my teacher training course so know some parts of the city, the bit round the university and the main shopping street, Royal Avenue, which you had to access through security gates then. You certainly couldn’t go into  City Hall.  Now it has all changed.  There was an international food fair going on there that Saturday and we sat in the sun which amazingly shone that day eating paella.  Then we went inside the building which has an impressive foyer with domed ceiling and lots of stained glass windows. My photograph doesn’t do it justice.  

We stayed in an Airbnb in Ballyhackamore, which according to our host is one of the best areas to live in Belfast.  It certainly has lots of bars and restaurants.  We had a good meal at Cyprus Avenue which is named probably not because of the location but for the Van Morrison song for this is the area of Belfast where he grew up. The next morning I was awake early, much earlier than the rest of the family,  I decided to walk a mile up the road to Stormont Castle, the NI government building.  (At least there is a government now after years of walk outs and sulking.)  Another place I have never actually seen before.  I didn’t see much of it that morning either: the estate is open to the public but not until 9am.  I gave up as it was starting to rain and we were needed in Dromore to prepare for the birthday party. The rain cleared up later and it was a lovely afternoon. 

The next day we headed out for a family walk to Tullymore Forest Park where part of The Game of Thrones was filmed.  Never having watched it, this meant nothing to me but there was a beautiful riverside walk and a waterfall to admire. Then we went to the Newcastle - yes there’s a Newcastle in NI too - for a walk along the promenade and an ice-cream. 

Home then to Paul and doggies who had been left behind and back to a quieter few weeks.