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. 

 

Spring Breaks

 

Apple blossom on my tree looks promising 

Beech Grove in Eastham Woods

Bluebell Woods Eastham Country Park

A rare peaceful moment

This is the post I started at the end of April but never completed because I managed to lose all of the text. The photographs are from April - apple blossom and clematis flowers have gone now.  So cross about losing what I’d written, I’d almost decided to abandon the blog.  But wet this morning and no prospect of getting out in the garden so will catch up now. Here’s a brief summary of what I had written before it vanished:

An Easter break in Richmond, North Yorkshire. Paul, Kate, me and dogs. Muddy dog walks around pretty town and meals out in shifts always leaving one person at home dog-sitting. We gave up taking them out with us after Lara jumped up and spilt most of Paul’s Guinness during a visit to the pub on our first night.

Walking the dogs by Richmond Castle. 

A trip to Brussels at the end of April  with sister to see the band Keane.  We picked Brussels as they were playing in a smaller venue there and tickets were cheaper.  Seemed like a good excuse for a break too and planned also to see my cousin who lives there. Unfortunately she had to go off to Zurich on Granny duties but we did meet up with her daughter, now a sophisticated young woman.  Expected to see the teenager I remembered so hardly recognised her.  Time goes so quickly. The Keane concert was very good - especially since they played all the ones I knew. It was mostly wet and chilly while we were in Brussels so we spent time in shopping arcades, chocolate shops and cafes by the Grand Place.  We also went to the Musee des Beaux Arts. 

Grand Place Brussels. It didn’t rain one afternoon!

We shared a very creamy Belgian Waffle

Keane at The Cirque Royale, Brussels

I have always loved the image of this blue sky bird. Had a postcard on my wall as a student

Another favourite. Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Bruegel. Though might not be him apparently.
There’s a poem by Auden about this and how we can barely see Icarus’s little legs sticking out of the water by the boat.  Life goes on despite disaster. 

The remainder of April was spent in the garden.  I am quite pleased with the way it is looking now.  Even in this morning’s rain.

Easter Catch Up - March - ing

 

At last it has stopped raining! For the Easter weekend at least.  Yesterday I got out the garden furniture and sat in the sun for with my cup of tea for the first time.  March has been damp, muddy and, to be honest,  a bit miserable. Here’s a brief round up:

Battling mud. In the garden, on the dogs, on the kitchen floor, the skirting boards. I’m on the losing side at present. 

Enjoying the spring flowers and blossom bravely emerging despite wind and rain.  A trip to Ness Gardens with Kate yesterday cheered me up. The magnolias were in full flower.  My own little star magnolia seems to be sulking and has only produced a single bloom.  But other buds are developing so there is hope yet.

Struggling with insomnia again.  This makes me very grumpy which then affects everyone else in the household.  I tend to wake up in the early hours and struggle to get back to sleep, It goes in phases and tends to be worse this time of year. Time for a new blackout blind! If only it were that easy to fix.

Reading. If my attempts to get back to sleep (yoga breathing, counting backwards from 300, taking myself on a mental walk) fail, I read my kindle in bed.  Don’t put light on to avoid disturbing Paul though he still complains.  I tend favour classic novels in the middle of the night, mainly because you can buy them very cheaply on the Kindle.  I have just finished ‘To the Lighthouse’ and now started ‘Mrs Dalloway’ Gave up the last time I attempted any Virginia Woolf but get it now I’m a bit older. I found this article by Margaret Atwood on her reading of ‘To the Lighthouse’. It sums up my feelings well.

Writing. A bit more progress on my story.  I have set myself a very low target of a minimum of 1000 words a week. Any more than that is a bonus.  

Declutterring.  I have been watching along with Kate a programme called ‘Sort your Life Out’ with the TV presenter Stacey Solomon.  The chosen family with a very cluttered house have all their belongings laid out in categories in a warehouse and then dispose of half of them.  I am inspired and yesterday tackled the bathroom cabinet which was so full that things tended to fall out when the door was opened. Chucked out near empty bottles and stuff I’ve never used. The results are very satisfactory. Now for the rest of the house.  

That’s all for now!