No Excitement and a Wee Catch Up

 No Excitement

Someone asked me today if anything exciting going on in my life. I replied that there was not and that I was glad of it.

So, definitely, no excitement to report on the blog since the last time I properly updated and that was the day we found out that quite a lot of people in the United States feel that they had not had enough of Donald Trump. Since then I deactivated ‘that’ platform and have resolved to take a break from the news.

I am also taking a Duolingo break and have been reading more. And sorting books as there are more books in this house than shelves to hold them and I have shelves enough to hold more than a thousand books. It’s going well. I’ve got as far as Proust and Pullman and both those authors are getting to stay. For now. I’ve filled three boxes for Tesco’s charity bookshelves. Keep an eye on the Ballymena store readers, it’s going upmarket.

Wee Catchup

As usual, there were visitors. Stand out was the Saturday that Martina and her children called with us. Despite it being a damp, late Autumn day the kids had a great time swinging, trampolining and feeding Clint’s calves. They are lovely children and I believe they enjoyed themselves as much as their mum used to when she was a little’un.

An evening at Ballymena Academy to see Martha and a host of incredibly talented young people in their school musical, The Addams Family. It was a great evening. Martha had two sets of grandparents, her parents and her sister to support her. Fun fact – every Martha in the school (all three of them) took part in the show.

There were two birthday suppers. Bert made both cakes. A Chocolate Guinness cake (Nigella) for Evie and a carrot and ginger cake (Hummingbird) for Dave. Both were delicious but Dave’s could have done with more ginger. Dave likes ginger.

Then we had a lovely evening at Les and Dawn's. They cooked us delicious Chinese food. And were great craic as always. A good night.

There were two trips to Belfast. St George’s Market on Remembrance Sunday. Hannah drove. We walked past City Hall just before 11 am but were too far away to spot Michelle. The second visit was by train to Botanic. I walked to the Palm House, bought some jeans in the Oxfam shop and did not buy a single book. But I did finish reading The Remains of the Day on the journey back and forth. So good.

Then the snow came. So pretty, so boring. The dogs, especially Chico, adored it and even old Judy had to get out for a jolly good sniff and a plod around. Now we are waiting to see what Storm Bert brings. Leitrim Sister messaged me to say that I should tell Bert to wind his neck in.

Strange Days

Yesterday I went to St George's Market where I met up with Leitrim Sister and Dmitri. We then went on to the Ulster Museum where the artist Liz Cullinane was holding an open afternoon. I never seem to be out of the Ulster Museum these days. I fear I am actually becoming a museum piece as I was accused of being Leitrim Sister's mother! I'm but a mere ten years older than my sister. Galling.

Bert was in Donegal so Jazzer came over to help with Pearlie and the farming. We did such a good job of it that we naturally rewarded ourselves with a few glasses of red. This morning I got up early and decided to catch up with the recycling as I'd let it mount up in the scullery. There were a few, quite a few, wine bottles. One of Pearlie's pass-remarkable carers asked if I'd been having a party. I told her that Jazzer was an alcoholic. She didn't believe me.

It's been a very funny week. Lots of family concerns. Then a funeral on Friday. Somebody I'd never met but I know her daughter. Then, that night, news of another death, a young woman, somebody I do know. Her funeral was today. I didn't go.