Nelly's Garden

 It’s not that I dislike Christmas shopping - for what could be nicer than giving someone a gift that pleases them. No, that’s the part I lo...

 Are you feeling Christmassy yet? I can’t say I am. Not properly. But this year, instead of brushing the thought aside the way I usually do,...

  Hannah asked me to go with her to the garden centre; she wanted to buy some houseplants. It’s the first time she’s shown any real interest...

I’m writing this while listening to the brilliant fiddler Colm Mac Con Iomaire, who I had the pleasure of hearing perform at Seamus Heaney H...

 Two little posts from October 2005. Mum was still around then, as was George. Also, where have all the street drinkers gone? They must all ...

 These days it seems I never have enough time to read. What keeps me from it? At night it is the need to sleep; during the day, everything d...

Just over a week ago, Zoë and I travelled to London for Jonny’s funeral. We caught the first flight out of Belfast International to Stansted...

It was just over a year ago that Bert took over baking the family birthday cakes, and I was only too happy to let him. Our system was simple...

  Unposed pictures are always the best. This one must be from the late ’80s or very early ’90s, around Christmas time. Daddy has just come i...

  Just easing myself back into blogging after the longest break ever. Since my last post, I spent five days in London with our newly widowed...

  Stuck The photograph was taken in Leitrim about ten years ago at a large gathering of family and friends, marking a special birthday and a...

Our last remaining kunekune pig died a few days ago, at the age of fifteen. Nellybert are no longer pigkeepers. We won’t be getting any more...

I used to think my mother would live to be over 90, but it was not to be. She did have what’s often described as a good innings , a cricketi...

Twenty years ago, there was a lot going on. I was working, and Bert had a job too. We were in the middle of fixing up this house while also...

 For years, a pair of spotted flycatchers raised brood after brood in a nest above our front door. The nest was perfect, overlooking an exp...

An opium poppy sport that self-seeded. I love these surprises. Last night, I had decided that I would take the train to Belfast. Knowing it ...

My plan to use this blog as an aide-mémoire hasn’t progressed as well as I’d hoped. It’s been twelve days since my last post, and although n...

 This is a summer activity. Most evenings - especially damp ones with a light mizzle of rain - I step outside to see what the molluscs are...

Aftermath of last Sunday's fire Last Sunday evening, I was getting ready for bed when I heard loud cracking and banging noises. My...

So, Ballymena is at it again . And this time, far too close to where my family live. Once more, we’re in ‘whatever you say, say nothing’ te...