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  • Free verse

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    At my last poetry class one of my fellow students quoted Robert Frost “Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down.” I am uncomfortable writing poetry without the structure of rhyme and meter. I have made a few attempts at the form, but it often reads like…

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    Antipasto deli

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    Today I had my breakfast in a wonderful delicatessen called Antipasto on the Lisburn Road in Belfast where the BT9 cognoscenti go. Ciabatta with mortadella and spicy pecorino cheese was delicious.  The double espresso was good, and the Sicilian patron was very chatty. We talked about this and that and…

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  • Even more about apples

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    It was all going so well, or so I thought. The apple pie recipe was easy to follow, and I had decided to make the short crust pastry rather than buy ready-made. So what went wrong? Not enough water in my dough? Possibly. In any case, the dough fell apart…

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  • A wet and windy day in Belfast

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    This morning was miserable. Grey, windy and wet. I was late for the appointment with my dentist and rushed out without a jumper. Cycling quickly to avoid being late, I hadn’t charged the bike’s battery. Arriving at Antipasto for my morning’s caffeine fix I decided to leave the bike locked…

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  • PSA blood test

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    My brother, who is a young 72 year old, often gives me sound advice. Recently, he suggested I get a PSA blood test. It measures prostate-specific antigen levels to help check for prostate conditions, including enlargement or cancer. His levels had increased marginally, so his private doctor had recommended an…

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    Autumn leaves

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    My poetry classes got us thinking about the seasons and how poets have described them. I thought of Autumn Leaves sung by Edith Piaf. I hadn’t realised that one of the verses was in French… C’est une chanson, qui nous ressembleToi tu m’aimais, et je t’aimaisNous vivions tous les deux…

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  • More apples

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    1.5kg used for apple chutney, about 3 more kilos to go. Crumble or pie? I will check with Mrs Berry. She has a recipe for Double Crust Apple Pie in her book Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook (page 446). I will give that a try, although her recipe only requires 750g…

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  • Monday blues

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    Belfast has little to distract me or many others on a Monday. La Bottega and a few pubs are closed in my neighbourhood. The Ulster Museum is also closed for the day. My apple chutney is cooling, and I’m bored. What to do and where to go? Go West …the…

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  • Sainthood

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    There’s a story on the BBC website today about Father Willie Doyle, who was an army chaplain to the 16th (Irish) Division of the British army during the First World War. The reason he’s in the news is because he’s been nominated for sainthood. Having recently read Ordinary Saints by…

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  • Pool etiquette

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    My local has a pool table for a few days a week. I put my marker down to play quite often. There is definitely an air of machismo surrounding the pool table. The top dogs try to intimidate their opponents by various means. I am quite often three sheets in…

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