-
Continue reading →: Balancing the books
We are witnessing violent protests in France and Albania on our TV screens. French students are up in arms about underfunded schools in the state system. Albanian protesters are trying to oust their Prime Minister over corruption scandals. If you accept that the state has a difficult job to prioritise…
-
Continue reading →: Autumn leaves
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…
-
Continue reading →: More apples
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…
-
Continue reading →: Monday blues
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…
-
Continue reading →: Sainthood
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…
-
Continue reading →: Gaelic football
Along the Lisburn Road there have been blue and yellow flags attached to lampposts for the last week or two. I thought it might have been in support of Ukraine, but it was the colours of a local GAA club, Saint Brigid’s. They had made it to the Country Antrim…
-
Continue reading →: A bumper crop of apples
We have two apple trees at each corner at the end of our garden. The one on the left was packed with apples this year, probably because of the warmer than average temperatures. The tree on the right is taller and more exposed. It’s apples wwre less plentiful, but much…
-
Continue reading →: Antipodean rugby
I got up at six o’clock this morning to watch the second game in the Bledisloe Cup series between Australia and New Zealand. The All Blacks are a tough team to beat and they proved their worth in the first half by running in 7 tries against the Wallabies 3.…
-
Continue reading →: Where does the time go?
I am a regular at La Bottega, a classy Italian restaurant on the Lisburn Road in Belfast. I enjoy nothing more than sitting at the bar drinking my espresso and chatting with the other caffeine fans. Today, I have sat on the same barstool since about midday for two and…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
