It feels like months

I posted in October, a visit to Patrick's grave made in September.  After the Nielsen's visit, Suzan and Eric Miller came to tour Northern Ireland.  We four then went on a big trip and joined 20 other Organization of Women Architects friends and family.  We first went to London for a day, to Venice for three days and then onto a big boat for a cruise of the Mediterranean. 

In this photo in front of the Basilica in the Piazza San Marco,  Darlene and Bruce were not ready and four hadn't yet come. We had a meal together and the next day boarded the MSC Divina which seemed like a floating Las Vegas hotel.  The highlight was being with old friends, getting to know many better and meeting new friends.  
The ports were good too:  Venice, Bari, Katalon near Olympia, Izmir near Ephesus, Istanbul, and Dubrovnik. 
This was a test of Ward's mobility.  He fared well and especially enjoyed the warmer weather.

The Fourth of July came and went

Some ask us if we celebrate the fourth of July.  I don't know if they know what the fourth of July means and I don't know if they consider themselves the British that we won our independence from.  Some think they too are still fighting the British occupation.  Americans who fought were former British too.

The weather is BBQ weather!  This photo is from our week in Donegal.

The 12th of July also came and went.  Unfortunately with riots this year.  Just up about six blocks above us they were so they were.   Nonsense even to the local folks.  We hope they will resume dialogue soon.  One step forward and often two steps back.  We keep hoping.

April Came and Went

Suffice to say the weather was terrific in California and we were very busy.  I'll post a photo soon to keep this Blog going.  We are back in Belfast and have overcome our jet lag.
Take a look at Jon Kennedy's Blog which he has faithfully updated some of which is our news too.
Jon Kennedy, C.S. Lewis Writer-in-Residence, The Loom

Paper Shamrock

We went to a party at the end of the day on March 17th.  The party host asked us to bring something to share in regards St Patrick's Day.  Kate McAllister, Marda's roommate from the last China trip, whipped out a wooden box.  Inside she had strips of green paper and glue sticks and she taught us all how to make these shamrocks.  We are happy to be living in the land of Saints and Scholars.  We are happy to be returning home to Berkeley for a wee while and hope the weather in Northern Ireland thaws before we return.

Chinese New Year's Eve

We went to a poetry reading today at the Ulster Museum sponsored by the wonderful John Hewitt Society and featuring Emma Must a new emerging poet and Michael Longley a world renown poet.  Ward's writing teacher Lynda Tavakoli was there and the program was chaired by our friend Bill Jeffrey.

Afterwards we took our friend New Zealander John Grant to Sun Kee restaurant for "Yim Cha" to celebrate the end of the old year and the beginning of a new one.  John has been doing a marvelous job of pastoral care within our neighborhood including calling in on us on most days.  He gets a hot cup of tea and a respite.

Rev Jack Lamb is away in Turkey this week visiting ancient holy sites which we know nothing about.  We press on building relationships and carrying on the work as it presents itself to us.  Tomorrow is Sunday and the beginning of a new week and a New Year of the Snake on the Chinese lunar calendar.  Prosperity and blessings to all.

New Year 2013

I have to embed this Video.  The London fireworks was THE BEST show.  Enjoy and happy new year.

Joyous Christmas

We discovered this poem and poet this year.  Today is the day we celebrate Christ is born! Love to all, Marda and Ward Advent 1955 by John Betjeman

The Advent wind begins to stir
With sea-like sounds in our Scotch fir,
It's dark at breakfast, dark at tea,
And in between we only see
Clouds hurrying across the sky
And rain-wet roads the wind blows dry
And branches bending to the gale
Against great skies all silver pale
The world seems travelling into space,
And travelling at a faster pace
Than in the leisured summer weather
When we and it sit out together,
For now we feel the world spin round
On some momentous journey bound -
Journey to what? to whom? to where?
The Advent bells call out 'Prepare,
Your world is journeying to the birth
Of God made Man for us on earth.'

And how, in fact, do we prepare
The great day that waits us there -
For the twenty-fifth day of December,
The birth of Christ? For some it means
An interchange of hunting scenes
On coloured cards, And I remember
Last year I sent out twenty yards,
Laid end to end, of Christmas cards
To people that I scarcely know -
They'd sent a card to me, and so
I had to send one back. Oh dear!
Is this a form of Christmas cheer?
Or is it, which is less surprising,
My pride gone in for advertising?
The only cards that really count
Are that extremely small amount
From real friends who keep in touch
And are not rich but love us much
Some ways indeed are very odd
By which we hail the birth of God.

We raise the price of things in shops,
We give plain boxes fancy tops
And lines which traders cannot sell
Thus parcell'd go extremely well
We dole out bribes we call a present
To those to whom we must be pleasant
For business reasons. Our defence is
These bribes are charged against expenses
And bring relief in Income Tax
Enough of these unworthy cracks!
'The time draws near the birth of Christ'.
A present that cannot be priced
Given two thousand years ago
Yet if God had not given so
He still would be a distant stranger
And not the Baby in the manger.

Autumn Flowers

We were in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Dublin last Saturday and the Dalias are blooming.  This emerald island has flowers all year round.

We have had a marvelous week.  Connecting with people all around town and some far away.  Around town many are recognizing us and greeting us.  Vicki is coming at the end of the month to discuss a home stay project with her students.  Roger and Inge are coming in a few weeks with Sabina and Rose. This week we are going to Portrush with Pat and Daphne for three days at the Ramada Hotel discussing Parkinson's Disease and relaxing. 

Twelfth Survived

The good news is there were no fatalities or serious injuries during the protests on the twelfth. 

This is taken from our third floor dormer in the front of our house.  Up the street is Crumlin Road Presbyterian church and the Edenderry Mill which was converted to condos.  Up beyond that about two blocks is Holy Cross Catholic church and beyond it 100 feet is the Ardoyne roundabout and then the Ardoyne shops, all less than a half mile away.

Since even the local news seemed to confuse the labels I want to clarify that the nationalists and the unionists are political identities having to do with the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, separated into two countries in 1922.  The nationalists and republicans (those wanting to be a part of the Republic of Ireland) and the unionists and loyalists (those wanting to stay with the United Kingdom) are the parallel political identities the latter feel stronger and were willing to take up arms to defend or change the outcomes.  The republican paramilitaries were the IRA and the loyalists paramilitaries were the UVF and the UDA.  The Orange Order is a fraternal organization and they hold parades from April to August with the biggest ones on the Twelfth of July commemorating King William III of Orange defeat of King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 becoming King and keeping a protestant rule since James had converted to Catholicism.  The vast majority of the people do not want to go back to "the bad old days" of The Troubles but they still hold tight to these identities which separate them.

We continue to help people embrace identities that cross over these old identities like Artist, Irish, Christian, Celtic, European, Men or Women, Human Being and Friends.

11 July - Ward's birthday

We've had a great month with the visit of Arlene and Larry Hatfield. Marda ran them around as she likes to do but we made time to sit and talk and Larry made a few drawings and painted.  This one from the beach at Downhill.

Today is 11 July and the bonfires are lit tonight as a pre-event for the twelfth of July the big holiday for the 1690 Battle of the Boyne.  We normally can't stay awake that long as it is light until 1030 and the bonfires start at midnight, it is raining, or the local party is too drunk to participate but THIS YEAR Ethel emailed and said Philip Orr is going to give a talk for the Irish School of Ecumenics at one of the bonfires so we are going along with her for an educational evening.

Will report later.

17 March 2012, St Patrick's Day

So much time has passed there is too much to say.  I got stuck because I got a new computer and the photos couldn't be accessed.  Excuses. Excuses.

I'll restart this blog with a pretty picture.  These pieces were woven from spider silk!  They were on exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  Marda went to London last month with four women from her ceramics class.  They went to the V&A Museum, the Satcchi Gallery, the new Tate Modern, the old Tate Modern, and the Ceramic Art Exhibit at the London Academy of Art.

Today is St. Patrick's Day and we did our bit by making Irish stew. True Irish stew is made with lamb.  They don't even know what corned beef is here so Irish stew is the meal for St. Paddy's Day. Peter and Martin are joining us.

Final few thoughts

The red door is ours. Now we have a doorbell too. People do drop over and we are blessed by their visits.

We have prayer time on Monday and Wednesday mornings at 7 a.m. and quiet meditation at 5 p.m. on Wednesdays. An evening visit from the Belfast L'Arche community to inaugurate the prayer room was also held this month.

We had eight days of frozen heater pipes but thankfully none burst and three people came to our rescue with space heaters. This started while Marda was away for a short jaunt to Lebanon while she got delayed in London's Heathrow airport both ways. Ward was worst for the wear and Marda returned with our friend Mui who good naturally suffered with the cold as we did.

We are enjoying the last few days of the millennium's first decade. God's blessings to all of you for 2011.

Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef

On Easter Tuesday I was invited to go down to Dublin to go to the Chester Beatty Library to see an exhibit of "Telling Images of China 15th - 20th Century" Chinese paintings from Shanghai.

This library houses historic religious books including a papyrus fragment with a part of the Bible from John's gospel in Greek from 150 AD. Remarkable.

Then we went to the Science Gallery to see the subject show. The crochet show needs some explanation. Two Australian women Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute for Figuring in Los Angeles, started this work to bring attention to the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef. The project has grown with now 3000 contributors from around the world.

Happy Easter!

Jesus Christ is risen! He is risen indeed.

I felt like a kid again when Bob, (Marian) and Tilly handed us two Easter eggs and a sweet card. Just like the Italian children in Boston who get Perugia eggs, the Irish children, us included, get Cadbury eggs.

We get Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday as holidays. The banks and many stores are closed. Today we are going to a gospel meeting at a wee Pentecostal church, and tomorrow Marda is going to Dublin to see a Chinese art exhibit.

Halfway thru January!

The snow/ice is finally gone. With short days sunrise at 8:30 am and sundown at 4:30 pm we feel like hybernating. Our car survived a drive up to the North coast thru the snow and started sputtering two days after our trip. Thank God, it didn't happen on the trip north. Diagnosis: engine running on two cylinders, so coil packs and spark plugs replaced. Runs fine now but what are coil packs?

Our trip included an overnight at Corrymeela, a visit to Portrush Presbyterian, lunch in Portrush, coffee with the Gilfillans at Downhill Hostel, and little hikes at the Giant's Causeway, Carrick a Rede, and Lion's Gate where I almost got stuck in the snow. The National Trust shop at the Giant's Causeway yielded many gifts for our houseguest to take home. Why else are we driving up to the North coast in the snow. God is gracious and everything was beautiful.

Christmas Greetings

Marda's pottery and Ward's new poem. Enjoy!
www.quonstothers.com/christmas2009.html

Merry Christmas to everyone! We've got snow and it is cold and beautiful. Goodbye to the naughties, as they called the first decade here, and Happy Joyous 2010!

Pumpkin pie

There is no Libby's canned pumpkin here. I bought a pumpkin and tonight I baked it and strained it for pie. I have also brought a pie plate back to Belfast from Berkeley as they don't sell Pyrex pie plates here. I even roasted the seeds and am peeling them to eat. While googling for a recipe I found out they are good for protein and fibre.

Birthdays

Marda here, today is the second day of my 65th year of life. Yesterday, I celebrated my 64th birthday and remember well that the Beattles memorialized this birthday long ago and many baby boomers will follow wondering how we got so old. 64 is not old, well, it is not as old as it used to be, relative to lifespan and opportunities. So do something important, keep well, enjoy your life and your celebrations.

A new tradition

2009 is well along and hope over fear is the prevailing theme. We have transitioned through the holidays to embrace the new era of uncertainty, continued conservations, and hopeful outcomes. Our holidays were quiet but joy full. We sent Christmas cards with newsletters, and packages to the States. Some arrived before Thanksgiving and others last week. All were mailed in early November.

We took an Ulster Bus tour to Killarney for five days. The scenery was beautiful and the time of year brilliant. The week before Christmas the driver said 400 people came to the hotel on ten buses of 40 each. Our bus had 22 and the hotel was quiet. The first day we visited Tralee where Ward got a new wool cap, and then Killarney where Marda bought some gifts. The second day we toured clockwise around the Dingle Peninsula and spent time at Inch strand, the Blaskets, then in Dingle. The third day we drove counterclockwise around the ring of Kerry, stopping in Waterville and Sneem and photo stops for views of the Gap of Dunloe, Muckross House and Ross Castle. Food was great and company as well. We were blessed with no rain and no crowds.

So at least while we can and while we are in Ireland we may plan to continue this tradition but the pound was weak against the Euro so while lunches were dear the set price for the tour including bus, room rate and meals at the hotel were a bargain. I suspect the price will go up next year on the tours to euro based countries.

Thankfulness

The people in here go from Halloween which includes firecrackers and fireworks straight to Christmas with decorations inside and outside the homes. Turkey is the traditional Christmas meal along with Christmas cakes which appear to be like our fruitcake and mostly homemade.

Since turkeys are just begining to show up in the markets and are costing about $50 for frozen ones we passed and found a fresh deboned stuffed chicken in a butcher shop for $7 and roasted it with mashed potatoes, peas and water chestnuts, sauted mushrooms and homemade brownies with vanilla ice cream, for our Thanksgiving meal. We were happy. I baked a pumpkin since there is no canned pumpkin to be found, and will make pumpkin pie for my next meal for eight.

I have discovered marzipan and butter stollen imported from Germany. Yum. And I recieved a hospice cookbook from a lady in the church with recipes for traybakes. This is the next project to go through these recipes and start making some up for gifts for our shutins for the holidays. Can you imagine most of these sweets are assembled and don't require baking!