An Interesting Day

Today I met up  with Grannymar for a coffee and a stroll around the Castle Grounds in Antrim. It's been six years since we had a real life meeting and there's been a lot of water under the bridge since then but my fellow blogger hadn't changed a bit. One of the very many great things about blogfriends is that many years can go by but you still pick up just where you left off.

On the way home I called with two of Matty's oldest friends, sisters-in-law who live next door to each other. Both are doing great and that was good to see. I also got to meet one of the sweetest and most lovable toddlers I've come across in a long time.

I got home later than I expected to find Bert in a fainting condition, weak from hunger and wondering had I brought home anything to eat. He always asks this whenever I've been out for more than an hour. There are two things he has yet to absorb and they are firstly, when I go out to meet people socially food shopping never enters my head and secondly, there is always lots of food in the house. He never asked me a single question about my day just lamented that all he'd had to eat since breakfast was an egg and a slice of wheaten bread. There was no other food in the house.

Of course he was wrong about this. There were the usual staples, bread, beans, tinned fish, home made rhubarb tart, cauliflower cheese etc. I took him by the hand and pointed at the big door under the fridge.

See this Bert. It's not just a big box to hold the fridge up. If you open the door and pull these drawers out there are all sorts of things in there.

He said,

I would never think of looking in there.

He got quite excited about some fish fingers and a bag of frozen peas so I left him to it. Then he was off out to his music night and left me to dine on my own which was fine as I'd eaten at Anna's just before I got home. Another reason why food shopping wasn't on my mind.

But before I thought of food I started a rhubarb wine and bottled a damson and blackcurrant. It was when I was pulling frozen rhubarb out of the big chest freezer that I noticed a few boxes of dinnerish stuff and pulled one out at random with no notion of what it might be. Whatever it was I reckoned it might go well with pasta. So that was my dinner, A bit of pasta languishing in the store cupboard, lying in an almost empty packet, the dubious thing from the depths of the freezer and the dregs at the bottom of the damson and blackcurrant wine flagon. It turned out to be chicken and mushrooms in tomato sauce and it wasn't bad at all. And I got to feel virtuous by 'using things up'. Bert would rather have died of hunger than eat it. I wonder if that is why he is thin and I am not.

A Visit To Asia Supermarket

My young friend and fellow blogger Hails loves Korean food and the last time we were in Belfast we visited Cafe Arirang on Botanic Avenue. Hails was more than pleased with it and I was glad of her advice as to what would be good to eat as she was familiar with all the dishes on offer. As she should be having spent quite a few years living in South Korea.

I asked her if she'd ever visited the Asia Supermarket on the Ormeau Road. She hadn't so we made a plan to go as soon as we could. Today was that day and as we neared it I said,

You're going to dance with joy when you see this place.

And her feet were jigging before we even got inside. She could smell the lovely spicy aroma as we approached the door.

Of course she knew what everything was. When we left Hails was loaded with ingredients and I'd got a few bits and pieces myself. I idly enquired what her plans for the evening were and she answered,

Cooking Korean food!

Of course. Silly question.

At Cafe Arirang I had 만두 and I didn't catch what Hails had but it came with 김치 and she polished it off with much enjoyment.

만두 - mandu or steamed dumplings

김치 - kimchi or fermented cabbage

When I got home Bert raided my shopping bag as usual and fell to the dried seaweed and kimchi with gusto. We had to decant the kimchi into a Kilner jar as we feared its pungency would affect everything else in the fridge. Apparently in Korea people have dedicated kimchi fridges but that is because they make a years supply at one go.

So what did Nellybert have for supper? We had bacon, spuds and peas although Bert did have a side of kimchi with his.

Protests and Birthdays

Yesterday I went out protesting with Hails from Coffee Helps. It's been a while since I attended such an event. The last time we were all chanting Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, Out, Out, Out!  On that occasion I got my picture on the front page of the Irish News so, needless to say, on Saturday, I dressed with care and made sure I combed my hair. It was a good day. I caught up with Hayley, met some new people and ate Korean food at Cafe Arirang. The protest went well too. About a thousand people turned up which isn't bad for Belfast on a freezing cold January day.

When I got home I found that Bert hadn't as much as lifted a spoon but he had made some great progress playing Stardust on his clarinet. I was too tired to bother with anything so watched a Meryl Streep film and went to bed reasonably early with the Guardian. But before I retired I researched 30 minute clean up on Google. For Kerry Sister is up in the North and she'd be visiting the next day and was keen to see my new private sitting room. And due to the massive clearing out I've been doing there were boxes and boxes of hoardy stuff sitting there and it was all a bit of a mess.

Happy Birthday Brendan. Photograph by Patricia Uí Mhuircheartaigh

This morning I bounced out of bed at a quarter to eight, let all the domestic animals out for a pee in the snow, made coffee, buttered malt loaf and went back to bed for another read of the Guardian. Forty minutes later I bounced back out of bed and started on my 30 minute clean up. I thought it might take a wee bit longer than thirty minutes. First off was put on the laundry, then I had to take a laundry basket and gather up all the clutter. I filled three laundry baskets and this did not include the boxes of Pearlie's old aprons, Bert's old toys and all the birthday cards he received since he was one year old and The Sash His Father Wore. And Johnny's white gloves and all the ribbons that were tied to the ceremonial sword. Bert says I can give the ribbons to Martha and Evie to tie up their bonny brown hair. So darling grandchilder you may look forward to receiving a bunch of ribbons colours red, white, blue, purple and orange.

I did manage to do everything on the 30 minute clean up list and was just wiping the last drip off the floor with my Whizz mop when the Kerry car pulled into the yard and it had only taken me 94 minutes.

All to the good though for the Kerry Sister and myself were able to relax in my clutter free and private sitting room while Bert and the Kerry Man tramped up Slemish in the snow. It was the Kerry Man's birthday and tramping up icy mountains is just the sort of birthday outing he enjoys. Before they left I gave him a lovely present - two bags of County Antrim's finest turf. He was delighted. Who wouldn't be?

A History

My sister wrote this. It is worth sharing.

The Evil Wolf

An old Cherokee told his grandson, "My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth." The boy thought about it and asked, "Grandfather, which wolf wins?" The old man quietly replied, "The one you feed."

Found, read and appreciated at Brighid's place.

Something I've noticed is that the Evil Wolf clamours for food in the wee small hours. Far better to get up, make a cup of tea, read something restful than to lie there fretting and feeding one's Evil Wolf pecks of bitter nourishment.

Highly Recommended

I have stumbled upon this wonderful, intelligent and darkly funny blog. It is called Hyperbole and a Half.

The blog's creator Allie Brosh has an amazing artistic talent and twisted, honest way of looking at the world. This is one of my favourite posts. I LOVE those dog pictures. Hell I love that dog. Even though she is retarded.

I'd show you one of those doggy pictures but I'm too afraid. Allie keeps a Copyright Monster and it has slavering jaws and big sharp teeth.

A Journey Worth Reading About

Hails on horseback in Outer Mongolia

Coffee Helps is one of the best blogs that I've ever had the pleasure of reading and it's author Hails is one of the most genuine, decent and sweetest bloggers that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. And I've met some!

Hails is also a modest soul and I know her well enough to be certain that she'll be 'SCARLEH' reading this.

Why do I appreciate her writing so much? It's this. I first found her blog by simply googling for Cullybackey. I was struck by this young girl who made an excellent story out of scraping her car on a gatepost, as she drove out of her little rented house in Pottinger Street, while on her way to a job that was not fulfilling her in the slightest amount. I identified with Hails. I lived in Cullybackey, I scraped cars and I knew only too well the boredom of an unsatisfactory job.

Hails moved on, she went travelling, she fell in love, got her heart broke, picked herself up, went travelling again. She carved out a whole new life, learned to love pickled cabbage and found herself a brilliant career. All the while she kept on sharing, writing, inspiring and entertaining.

Imagine it. Finding a blog that starts in Pottinger Street and ends up in Outer Mongolia! And she's not done yet. Hails - you're my hero.

Suffering Grandmas!

I am greatly maligned.

Firstly my youngest daughter informs the entire world that I might know what snot tastes like. As if!

Then the oldest daughter photoshops my thumb to make it look as big as a house. She must have done for there's no way my digit could ever look that gigantic.

Miss Martha

The Blogmeet Of Doom

Firstly, I have to say that the title of this post is a just a leetle misleading, as last night's coffee & shortbread-fuelled blogmeet was a very pleasant occasion indeed.

After I had established, although not entirely to my satisfaction, the romantic status of all young persons present, we proceeded to discuss recent murders, slaughters and massacres and as a result convinced young Hails that she was very well off out of it.

Then we moved on to the amusing stuff, tales of global warming, bluebells, pilgrimages, naked men and religion. The evening flew by.

And speaking of flying - Ed never mentioned helicopters once! Talk about hiding your light under a bucket.

Thanks to Grannymar, S.E.V.E.N., the aforementioned Ed and Hails for a great night. And thanks to Hannah for not mortifying me at all with tales of my shortcomings.

Bunny Girls

I hadn't a spare minute to blog this past weekend because I was cleaning and baking and walking and stuff. And Mel was over. And Ganching.

Inspired by Ganching's recent hosting of an 'awesome' birthday tea, I fell 'til a marathon scone, cake and bun-making session helped by Miss Mel and Miss Hannah. While I was supervising the oven and making the sandwich fillings, they decorated the cup cakes. I think you'll have to agree that their efforts were both tasteful and restrained.

Ganching was most impressed. She agreed that it was an 'awesome' spread and said as much. Although she did add that at her birthday tea, she didn't expect the guests to actually prepare the food.

More Friday Thirteenth

Getting a parking ticket was not the only interesting thing that happened on Friday 13^th. Later that evening I courageously ventured over to Dunsilly to meet and eat with some fellow bloggers. Although I’ve encountered Ed and Dave previously, it was my first time meeting Sharon, Wendy, Ciaran, Davy and, Grannymar. Sadly Ed had to leave early in order to meet up with TLG. Even more tragically Grannymar nabbed the very toyboy I’d spent the entire evening frightening flattering about his amazing resemblance to Prince William.

And The Nominations Are...

I see the Irish Blog Awards are on the go again. I see someone's nominated me. Thanks m'lord.

Now I'm going to take the opportunity to canvass for another blog. Party Down And Go Fuck Yourself was first brought to my notice by S.E.V.E.N. but since then I've spotted the address scrawled on an iron post in Ballymena's Peoples Park. It's the first time I've ever come across a blog being promoted in this way, but then, I have to admit, I don't get out that much.

Party Down And Go Fuck Yourself is a total disgrace. Your mother won't like it one bit. Unless your mother happens to be me. After reading it you will never be able to eat a boiled egg without coming over all peculiar. It's also the funniest and most poignant blog this year and it loves dogs.

It's certainly going to get my vote for best newcomer and popculture blog.

Mel & Co

I got a bit of a boost in my readership recently thanks to Father Tony et al. This gave me the kick up the arse I sorely needed to tidy up and revamp my blogroll. A few new links have been added, a few defunct ones removed.

It was definitely time to get Mel on there. After all Nellybert reared her from a chick. Her real parents would probably say we corrupted but we'd argue that, apart from hugs, we never laid a finger on the girl.

This post is classic. Who else but Mel could handle the dismissal of two hookers in riding gear with such panache. Bless.

Golden Rules Are Made To Be Broken

One of the golden rules of blogging is that you must never do it when you have drink taken. Ganching says so for one. But then she would, for she has a terrible down on alcohol altogether.

So it’s funny that just the other night I sat down and wrote a very irreverent post about a visit to my Daddy’s grave whilst in my cups. And lo and behold as a result of that very post I have got a gay following and a Post of the Week award. I couldn’t be more pleased.

When I first got the comments that pointed to the link to Father Tony’s blog I was a bit shocked. But only because the local parish priest in Antrim is called Father Tony. Or so Matty says. I wouldn’t know. I checked it out with her and she was horrified that the priest was reading my blog. I wondered how it could have come about. Does Father Tony Devlin trawl the net for mentions? I wouldn’t be a bit surprised. Did my Cousin the Headmaster tell him about it? Everyone knows that Catholic schoolteachers and priests work closely together. Was it something to do with Ed? He’s very well-connected to the clergy and is currently, I understand, roadying for Northern Ireland Cardinals, somewhere in Europe?

I haven’t told Matty yet that Father Devlin is probably not reading this blog. She’ll be very relieved. And Father Devlin, if you are, don’t let on. Don’t be saying to Matty after Mass,

How’s Nelly keeping then? Tell her I was asking after her. It’s a quare while since I seen her at confession.

That would nearly be as bad as the time my Cousin the Businessman sidled up to me at a funeral and said, “How’s Nelly?” And it was at yet another funeral (only time I ever see my cousins these days) when The Headmaster outed himself as a blog-reader. Really. You’d wonder where they all get the time.

This post has been written in stone cold sobriety.

Arte y Pico Awards

Yayyyy! According to D@ve at d@\/ e’s bl@\/\/g Nellybert is An Institution! We love it.

Nelly's Garden was one of the first Northern Irish blogs I ever read and still do read. It's a blog which is nearly like what might be called an institution, definitely an addictive read. Nelly's one of the few bloggers that I've met in real life and hopefully will meet again soon, maybe the next accompanied by Bert.

So before getting on to the part where I pass on the compliment - the rules are:

1. Pick five blogs that you consider deserve the award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of the Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

So, without further ado, I present the Arte y Pico Award to...

DietGirl
What can I say about Shauna? Just this - she is an inspiration. Despite it's title, her blog is not really a diet blog at all. It tells the story of how an Australian girl, halved her weight, doubled her confidence, got fit and healthy, moved to Scotland, fell in love, got married, went kick-boxing, kept on enjoying her food, climbed mountains and wrote a book. Did I say how, during all this, she never once got 'up herself'? One of the most life-affirming blogs on the internet.

Waiter Rant
Waiter Rant is wise beyond his years. He's only a young thing but because he's a waiter he feels his age. He is a natural philosopher, a good guy and a dog lover. I always get a frisson of pleasure when I see he has updated his blog. He too, has got the book deal and I feel his blog might be coming to the end of its natural life. If that's the case I'll miss him.

Ronni's Rants
Ronni hails from Texas. She's a lady near my own age and she is one of the most honest, bravest bloggers I've ever read. She blogs her way through tragedy and joy. Sadly there has been more of the former than the latter these past months. Ronni keeps on going. She is formidable.

The Musings of Mel
Mel's is a very new blog but it looks very promising. I know Mel personally and she is one of the nicest, sweetest nutters you could ever hope to meet. Her blog reflects that too. And as you know I do like to encourage new talent.

The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure
The Blog of Hannah, who gives a rather different slant on life at Nellybert's, or Thailand, or wherever she happens to be. No harm in a bit of benign nepotism is there? I just wish she'd pay more attention to grammar. But you know mothers - we're never satisfied.

And that's it. There are more I'd like to have chosen. There are some that I'd have included only they've been chosen before so I'll spread the love onwards and outwards.

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mel's got a blog!

Way Matty!

Matty's story 'My First Job' was featured by Ronni Bennett at Time Goes By. Matty was totally delighted. Thanks to Grannymar for the nod and the encouragement. Here's the link.

She was even more excited when Len from Down Memory Lane asked to use the piece in his Antrim Guardian column. After all hardly any of her mates use the internet but they all take a scally at the local paper.

Matty says we're not to forget about Ganching who has always been very encouraging of our mother's writing right from she first began.

There'll be another piece from Matty soon.

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The title 'Way Matty!' was inspired by a conversation with a very old friend a very long time ago. She was telling me about this expression. She explained,

It's what some men in America and Canada say when one of them does something the rest of them think is really good. They'll say to the wally who did the clever thing, Hey! Way to go! and if they're real dickheads they'll just say Way!

Ballymena Blogmeet

This past week I’ve been having strange dreams, anxiety dreams. Dreams where I’m late for important interviews, dreams where I’ve got assignments and just as I’m ready to hand it in I realise I’ve missed an essential part of it. I’ve been waking up in a muck sweat panicking and then I realise it’s not really happening and still I feel on edge the whole of the day. So what’s up? What am I worrying about? Could it be that I’ve got a blog date? With Hails?

But Hails you say - but Hails is lovely! Hails is a total honeybun, a real sweetiepie!

Hmmm… If you’d been thrashed as thoroughly, frequently and humiliatingly at Scrabulous as I’ve been by Hails you might think again. She might seem like a pussycat but I know her as a ruthless, unpitying destroyer.

But that was then.

Hannah and I thoroughly enjoyed our morning with the lovely Hails. She’s a great girl and great crack. She’s off on an adventure soon so we’ll wish her all the best. And thanks to the magic of the internet Coffee Helps will still be with us.

Godspeed Hails. See you when you get back.

She threatens promises that she’s still going to keep murdering me at Scrabulous but one of these days…

Blogmeet

On Saturday, Hannah and I took the train to Belfast to meet some fellow bloggers. The meeting was so top secret that even Han and I didn’t know who we’d be meeting or where the meeting was. But fate smiled on us and we literally ‘bumped into’ our fellow conspiratorial whisperers at 1pm in S………

After an hour or so one of our number proposed that we regroup in a hostelry near Randalstown! Some might argue (and did) that this inn wasn’t a beagle’s gowl off Tannaghmore and it wasn’t that far away from two of County Antrim’s leading mental hospitals either. There were more than a few of the patients in the R..... I.. enjoying a lovely meal and Christmas day out with their parents/carers.

Owing to the secrecy surrounding this event there are no photographs. Instead here are a couple of snaps of some of the other diners we came across.

Three patients from the Idiot Savant ward at H....... Hospital enjoying a day out. God love them.

Nursing staff from the Idiot Savant ward at H....... Hospital pretending to enjoy themselves whilst out with their charges. It's not an easy job they do. Money wouldn't pay you.

I Had A Dream (I Woke Up Screaming)

Can you guess which fellow blogger I dreamed about last night? Semi-nudity (theirs) was involved.

Clue: I have actually met this blogger.