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  • Poetry classes

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    Week 3 of poetry classes at the Crescent Arts Centre. The theme has been the autumn and winter seasons. Five out of our group volunteered to read out their poems on that theme, including myself. Ann read her longish poem Bringing in the Sheaves that she had been working on…

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  • Umberto D.

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    La Bottega has an Italian film night on November 1st. They will be showing De Sica’s Umberto D. Unfortunately,  I can’t make it. I have a prior engagement, my niece’s newborn daughter’s Christening. But I was curious enough to watch the film at home. The film is beautifully shot in black…

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  • Books out of print

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    I read an interesting review of Len Deighton’s Action Cook Book in the Guardian newspaper, or it could have been the Observer. Apparently he illustrated the cooking method himself. My better half has been looking online for a copy to no avail. eBay to the rescue….at a cost.

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  • Samhain

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    We are approaching the Celtic New Year festival or Samhain. Ancient pagan festivals were often adopted by Christians such as Halloween, the eve of All Saints Day. Children go trick or treating, although I don’t know anyone who would perform a trick rather than hand over a few sweets. My…

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  • Under pressure

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    We noticed a drop in the water pressure over the last two days. We thought it might have had something to do with the boiler, but it occurred to us that there could have been a burst mains water pipe in our street. This morning we checked with our neighbour,…

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  • Seasonal prompts

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    To get us started, the leader of our poetry classes, Stephanie Conn, has given us an autumnal theme and its associations. I have written two rhymes on that theme, A Bumper Crop and Conkered. You can find these on the Latest Draft Odes page.

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    Art auctions

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    I enjoy browsing the lots on online auction websites. Locally, Ross’s has a good reputation for prominent artists’ work. Artists such as: William Conor, Marky Robinson, and Charles McCaulay are often up for auction. Even prints and catalogues come up for bidding at affordable prices. I bought a watercolour some…

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  • Pastry

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    I have brought two packets of ready-made pastry: short crust and puff pastry. Apple pie,  apple crumble, fruit compote, apple sauce… I will be a bit bored with apples sometime soon. I think I might just freeze some apple compote and have done with it

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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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