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MEANWHILE…#5
This is what I’m getting up to lately… Reading: Just finished “The Half Heroes” series by Ian W. Sainsbury. Loved it but couldn’t help feeling the third book was a little rushed at the end. Rereading Julian May’s “Saga of the Exiles” Series after 40 years. Finished book 1 The Many Coloured Land and most of the way through book 2 The Golden Torc. Every bit as good as I remembered it to be, despite some language and references that would cause a bit of a stink if it was published recently. The series is out of print and I had to buy the four novels from an online site selling second hand books. When the ban cheile saw the well thumbed books she was amazed I’d actually have books that battered. But the urge to read…
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THE KILLUMNEY INN
A quick call to the Killumney Inn on a Saturday evening in July to make sure there would be a table available and we were off and seated by 8pm. We needn't have worried about getting a table because only one other table in the restaurant was occupied and on a summer Saturday evening that seemed a little off putting.
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MEANWHILE…#4
This is what I’m getting up to lately… Reading: Not reading anything like the volume of books I should be reading since I’m in holiday mode for the past couple of weeks. Just finished Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. It’s a really satisfying twist on the whodunnit. Just started The Rise and Fall of DODO by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. A SciFi (sort of…) novel about quantum physics and magic. Watching: Not finding TV very satisfying lately. Sticking to my staple diet of Luke Cage Season 2 with a smattering of Who Do You Think You Are? – both US and UK. Jessica Biel and Liv Tyler came across as very likeable indeed. Listening To: TED Talks mostly and some Robert Thurman podcasts on Buddhism. Making: Bookmarks from stone and beads and elastic and stuff. Doing: Enjoying “pottering” – nothing…
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CHARLES FORT
How often do you get the chance to have a day out with your Grown Up Children – especially when there are no grandchildren involved? Not too often in our case and so we were delighted when last month, The Ban Chéile* and I teamed up with GUC No. 4 and No. 6 for a trip to Charles Fort near Kinsale in County Cork. It’s less than an hours drive from the country place and we just wanted a couple of hours out in the sunshine doing what tourists do. Charles Fort proved to be a great idea and since we were all armed with cameras (No. 6 is an avid photographer and blogger – paparali.com) it turned into a bit of a “shoot out” with lots of lighthearted photos of both the fantastic fort and the…
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SHOUT LOUDER THE TV CAN’T HEAR YOU
What is it about sport on TV that turns even the most mild mannered person into an aggressive expert who could singlehandedly replace every team member AND coach them from the sideline? As I write this my Ban Cheile is roaring “Oh you stupid, stupid…” at a player on a pitch miles away and in the full knowledge that only the TV can actually hear her (and me – although I’m upstairs cowering in the bedroom) and the offending ‘stupid’ sportsman is oblivious to her disapproval. I suppose in the interest of openness I should declare that I am one of those males who, much to the surprise of everyone who discovers it, cannot stand sport of any persuasion. I don’t necessarily try to make out there is anything inherently bad about it, just that I don’t…
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ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY
We are very lucky to be working in education and therefore able to take quite a few weeks off during the summer months. All of our annual leave is greedily stored up and we divide our holiday (vacation) time between a trip abroad for a few weeks and a few weeks in our little country hideaway. This combination is perfect for us because we get to chase the sun to help us de-stress and wind down, and then I chill out in the country cottage while the Ban Chéile, completes a continuous pilgrimage catching up with family and friends. Today is the final day of a little over two weeks in Cork and amidst the packing and the squeezing in the final visits for this summer, the mixed emotions of seeing another summer wind down and the…
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A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN
Sure, a little bit o’ Heaven fell from out the sky one day And nestled on the ocean in a spot so far away And when the angels found it sure it looked so sweet and fair They said suppose we leave it for it looks so peaceful there! So they sprinkled it with star dust just to make the shamrocks grow ‘Tis the only place you’ll find them no matter where you go Then they dotted it with silver to make its lakes so grand And when they had it finished sure they called it Ireland! Okay so it’s so sweet and Stage Oirish that it makes your teeth ache but it helps me sum up how I feel about my home country. The weather changes with the flick of a celestial switch (four seasons in…
