front garden: before and after

Our front garden was quite a site. The whole house is rather neglected by our landlady which is a shame because it could be wonderful if properly looked after. When I came back in August and directed the taxi driver to the house he said, "Are you sure?" The hedge was overgrown and the garden full of rubbish! The boys trimmed the hedge back to a more respectable length during the winter and I do my best to keep the rubbish picked up (the wind seems to blow it all right in our gate). But with the warmer weather things had gotten somewhat out of hand. So first, a trip to the £ Shop where I spent £3 on supplies:This is the garden beforehand:

And this is it after:
We don't have any sort of a rake to get up the dead leaves and I've put about as much work into it as I really want to already. But still, I think it's a vast improvement!
I cleared one big bin bag of rubbish and two of weeds. I aerated the soil by hand and planted flower seeds along the path and under the windows. It was the very end of the planting season and we're moving out at the end of August so we'll see if anything comes up/if we get to see them bloom. But it is a very satisfying thing to have accomplished anyway. And I have a very satisfied feeling going in and out now!

I think the garden would be so lovely if the rocks were taken out and grass planted, the hedge tended to, lavender and other lovely plants grown in the borders and a lovely bench away in the back added in. If all the improvements I've imagined for this house were carried out it would be such a lovely, cozy home...

to be explosively healed

This second week of April has been an absolutely crazy one!

I participated in two different prayer rooms, one of which I coordinated. I had an article posted on the 24-7 Ireland website. I handed in two of my four final assignments, one of which was pretty much entirely written between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.

So, I'm a bit behind with my poetry month project. This week's poem is another that I've posted about before:

They say that for years Belfast was backwards

and it's great now to see some progress.

So I guess we can look forward to taking boxes

from the earth. I guess that ambulances

will leave the dying back amidst the rubble

to be explosively healed. Given time,

one hundred thousand particles of glass

will create impossible patterns in the air

before coalescing into the clarity

of a window. Through which, a reassembled head

will look out and admire the shy young man

taking his bomb from the building and driving home.

~ Alan Gillis

This week I've had several conversations about the Troubles with different groups of people. Some who were retelling stories they heard from their parents. Some who grew up in the midst of it all. Some, those who were my age, caught in between the two perspectives.

There was a great program on the BBC this week about the time that Mother Teresa and a few of her Sisters lived in West Belfast. They were there for about 18 months during the height of the troubles, in the early 70s. It's a very different thing to read about horrific things than it is to see them on tv.

Anyway, all of that to say that this poem in some way expresses the kinds of prayers that I've been praying for Belfast. That the Lord would bring healing and set things back to rights again.

wednesday is the new saturday

Now that I've finished the ICT class I was required to do for my course I don't have to be at college until 2:30 in the afternoon. This is bliss! The same is true on Monday but I usually set Monday mornings aside to do any school work due in during the week. And now that I've started working I don't always have Saturday off, so Wednesday has become my new Saturday. Except for the hour and half I'm in class I spend it doing things like taking pictures of the beautiful flowering tree outside my window. (This is surprisingly challenging because the windows are not clean and they do not open.)

I'm so thankful for this tree! Charlotte, my home town, is absolutely covered with flowering trees and bushes and gardens definitely all spring and to a lesser extent all year long. Having a flowering tree right outside my window helps me feel more at home here, and it has beautiful red leaves in the fall.

I also do things like make big lunches, and then document them by taking pictures. I also baked a cake. A strange cake. A rosemary and olive oil cake. My feelings on this cake are undecided... I do not have any pictures of it because it took longer than expected baking and I had to rush out the door as soon as it came out of the oven as waiting for it had made me late for class.
After my class I head over to Starbucks. Wednesday afternoons are when my knitting group meets. This particular Wednesday was the launch of their new branding. Look at the fabulous new cups! It was also momentous because I discovered a new amazing combination; chai tea and caramel waffles. Y-U-M!!!
Once I sat down to knit I realised that my pattern had not made it into my knitting bag... thank goodness for free wi-fi and ravelry. I was able to pull the pattern up on my iPod and I successfully turned the heel on my first sock.
From knitting group I went over to Boojum's on Botanic to meet my lovely friend Laura for dinner. Boojums is a burrito bar. A burrito bar that actually bears no small resemblance to places like Qdoba and Chipotle. A burrito bar in Belfast. This. Is. A. Big. Deal. The whole time I lived in England myself and my American friend Rosie were desperate for Mexican food. It just wasn't available. But here in Belfast, they have burritos! It was a happy evening.
After Burritos I had home group, it was a lovely way to round out a lovely day, with old and new friends and some good, solid Lenten reflections.

Normally my Wednesday's aren't quite so full. And despite the cold and wind and rain, and the fact that my boots seem to no longer be water proof, it was a good day!

i laughed when i saw him in spite of myself

It was snowing and I was all dressed up in Christmassy clothes and I just couldn't resist! Don't mind the poor webcamera work or how big it makes my nose look!

walking in a winter wonderland

Tonight I got all dressed up in Christmassy colors (that's my new hat, which I made... nbd) and went out to sing in a Christmas choir. It was snowing and lovely. Then, as I walked home in the thickly falling snow, I passed Christmas carollers and was given a present (ok, the present was a tract, but it's big and pretty and fancy) and a mince pie. I sang all the way home (Winter Wonderland with James Taylor and We Wish You a Merry Christmas with Raffi) and was absolutely covered in snow. It was fantastic!!!

Remember, the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing LOUD for all to hear!

This is a little ditty I made up last week when I was out in the falling snow for the first time this year:

Snow, SNow, SNOw, SNOW!

Snow on my cheeks and snow on my nose

Snow on my eyelashes, fingers, and toes.

Slipping and sliding around on the ice,

Winter and Christmas are so jolly nice!

well the weather outside is frightful

Last night I laid out two pairs of thermals, a pair of knee socks and a pair of big wool socks, a tank top, a pair of jeans, my wellies, and a big wool sweater. This morning I added a long sleeved t-shirt and a third pair of socks and laid all the clothes on the radiator while I showered. I dried my hair, put it in braided pigtails, and used the hair dryer to warm up my boots. I had two pairs of gloves at the ready, a scarf, bobble hat, and waterproof coat with a hood. I packed a lunch and filled a thermos with hot tea. My nursery school had a trip to the farm planned.

I waddled to school in all my layers with sore feet because the socks made my feet too big for the wellies. All of this only to find out that the trip was canceled for fear of being snowed in at the farm.

thankful

A few things I'm thankful for all mixed up and in random order.

I'm thankful to be in Belfast.

I'm thankful for skype.

I'm thankful for new additions to the family, especially this little guy.

I'm thankful for Turkey soup!

I'm thankful for pretty Christmas/Thanksgiving bunting.
I'm thankful for winter sunshine and chrysanthemums.
I'm thankful for apple cinnamon candles.
I'm thankful that I learned how to knit this year.

I'm thankful for a lovely little early Christmas present for myself in the way of a knitting kit from Ysolda.

I'm thankful for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with wonderful friends!
I'm thankful for friends, new and old.
I'm thankful for candles, and autumn leaves.
I'm thankful my first turkey was a success.

I'm thankful for my plaid flannel dress.

I'm thankful for cranberry sauce.

I'm thankful for Jesus and his love and care for me.

I'm thankful for movies and books and music.

I'm thankful for facebook.

I'm thankful for snow.

I'm thankful for sunsets.

I'm thankful for poetry.

I'm thankful that being thankful makes me feel so happy.

Last night I had the unexpected experience of visiting Dr. Ian Paisley's church and hearing him preach. In many ways it was a surreal experience. All of the women wore hats (because women should keep their heads covered). The Bibles were in the Authorised Version (the only true translation). The language used from the pulpit was largely inaccessible for anyone under the age of 60.

I had tagged along with a friend who was going as a part of her master's course. It was me and about 15 other people studying conflict resolution and reconciliation. We were invited to speak to Dr. Paisley after the service. There was a marked difference in his manner and his speech when he was no longer in the pulpit. He greeted everyone and shook our hands. It was possible to understand what he was saying. He was friendly and accommodating. It was obvious that just as Northern Ireland has come a long way since the troubles, Dr. Paisley has come a long way from "Ulster says no." It was also obvious that just as Northern Ireland still has a ways to go, Dr. Paisley does as well. My prayer for him is that he would know the grace and love of Jesus and find peace in himself.

all hedgie and hoggie

One of my favourite things about my course is my placement. I'm working in a nursery school on Thursdays and Fridays and I love it. (A nursery school is for three and four year olds and is the year before children go to primary school.)

On Friday my class took a trip to Belvior Forest Park, one of my favourite places in Belfast. They've been learning about Autumn and nocturnal animals and hibernation so it was perfect! We had a guide who led us around and did wonderful sensory activities with the children like having them close their eyes and listen to the sound of the forest and collecting bits of leaves to stick on a little piece of cardboard shaped like an artist's palette to show off the colours of Autumn. We saw a deserted Badger's sett and a California Redwood which is the tallest tree in the forest, and also saw the bamboo grove where the hedgehogs make their winter nest.

It's so fun learning about British animals! (I am such a dork!)

I am also learning lots of wonderful new children's songs. Some of the songs are the same, like Twinkle, Twinkle. Some of the songs have the same lyrics but a different melody, like Baa, Baa Black Sheep. Some have whole new sections added on like 10 in the Bed. And some are completely new. My favourite of this week is sung to the tune of Two Little Blackbirds Sitting on a Hill.

"Two little hedgehogs sitting by the shed

One named Marybel and one named Fred.

Curl up Marybel, curl up Fred

Two little hedgehogs sitting by the shed.

Two little hedgehogs sitting by the shed

One named Marybel and one named Fred.

Peekaboo Marybel, peekaboo Fred

Two little hedgehogs sitting by the shed."

miscellany

1) I wish Andrew Bird and/or The Decemberists would come to Belfast.

2) When the curtains are closed it makes my room feel like a tent.

3) I spend a lot of time getting over myself.

4) I've been entering Jordan Cereal's Frusli Fruiti Fun contest every week. Haven't won of the big prizes, but you can win up to three cereal bars each week. My first six just came in the mail.

5) I'm loving Jason Upton's new CD, Live in Dublin

6) I had a cold last week during my fall break and so spent a good amount of time watching tv online, Big Bang Theory anyone?

7) It's a good idea to pay close attention to what you're buying at Asian markets. I have no idea what I bought, but I know it's not lentils.

8) Pumpkin pancakes are one of my new favourite things.

9) It is now quite dark at roughly 5pm.

10) God is crying out over Ireland like a Father longing for his runaway child to come home.

Just sayin'

a plea for pumpkin

It's October! Can you believe it? The year was going quite slowly for me until August, and now, all of a sudden, it's October. Goodness!This is the view out my bedroom window. I think the grey sky, red leaves, orange brick looks very nice framed by my faded blue curtains. Fall is definitely here, in all it's force. It's getting colder, raining more often, the days are growing shorter. Not gradually mind you, all of a sudden it went from getting dark at 8pm to getting dark at 7pm. Just this week, when I wake up at "half six" it's dark outside.

This has left me craving hearty, warming food. Earthy root vegetables and pumpkin. Mostly pumpkin. Pumpkin bread and chocolate pumpkin muffins and those new pumpkin spice hershey's kisses (which, ironically, I've never had but I still want them!). Only one problem, you can't get pumpkin here. At least not canned pumpkin. And while I have one can of pumpkin left from last year, I'm hoarding it for Thanksgiving. I suppose I could buy a pumpkin, saw some at the market this morning, I'm not sure I want it bad enough to deseed, carve out, roast, and mash in order to make my own pumpkin puree... Not yet anyway.

I've been scouring asian markets and international food shops in hopes I may find some here. I did find teriyaki sauce and cornmeal and large bags of kidney beans, but no canned pumpkin.

So I sent out a plea on facebook: I will very happily trade any requested British goods for pumpkin products from the US!!!

In happier news, bananas are quite easy to get here. Tomorrow I'm making banana bread and chocolate chip banana muffins. That'll have to do!

this week

In the last seven days...

1) I enrolled and started school.

2) I purchased, and received, my course books.

3) I finished knitting a hat and a blanket and began a new project.

4) I started looking for work.

5) I registered for a National Insurance number. (The UK equivalent of a SSN.)

6) I went to a knitting group for the first time.

7) I had dinner at a friend's house.

8) I watched five movies, including South Pacific and Casablanca for the first time.

9) I opened a British bank account.

10) I booked a trip to Dundee next weekend and a trip to London the following.

11) I received, and set up, my printer.

12) I made a collage on a small notice/bulletin board for my room.

13) I visited my first wool/yarn shop in Belfast.

14) I went to the Linen Hall Library for the first time and was overwhelmed by their Irish section.

15) I've renewed friendships and begun to make some new ones.

16) I got caught in a heavy rainstorm and soaked my TOMS so that it took a couple days for them to dry out.

17) I had my first skype conversation on my new computer.

18) I did laundry.

19) I registered at the Doctors and applied for my medical card.

20) I played with legos and puzzles and painted a portrait of one of my classmates.

And at the end of it all I'm tired!

i'm here!

I have made it to Belfast!

After a car ride, two flights, several gate changes, an Auntie Anne's pretzel and lemonade, Starbucks' Passion Tea Lemonade and chocolate muffin, lugging three 50 lb. suitcases and a backpack across an ocean, a bus ride, and a taxi ride I arrived at my old/new house on Tuesday afternoon.

I have unpacked both the things I brought with me and the things I left here. I've made a list of things I need from Ikea, mostly curtains as the blinds in my room are broken. So I'm doing pretty well on the settling in phase. Although my body seems to be having a more than usually difficult time adjusting to the new time zone. Normally I'm just really tired for a few days, but this time I've been waking up at odd times, exhausted during random times of the day and just generally feeling "poorly." I think this is because I was running myself ragged the last few weeks at home and I'm sure that a little rest and TLC will have me right as rain in a few days. It's just a bummer cause I wanna go and do but I know that I need to rest...

On Wednesday I went in to the college to pay the remainder of my tuition. It was a funny meeting because I've been here before and already know where things are and have a cell phone, etc. So she was pretty much like, just let me know if you need anything and welcome! Next Friday is my official enrollment day. This is when I will meet my tutors and the others on my course and take care of a bunch of admin things like getting my student id and the letters I need to open a bank account, find a job, etc. (So a lot like orientation for us Americans.)

Until then I have plenty of time to keep trying to get my body used to being in this time zone, settle in, and catch up with friends. The weather has been lovely and cool. It's a little overcast today and we might see some rain this weekend. Perfect!

I guess that's all. I have some pictures of my last few days in the States to post soon...

forty four

You know how people have lucky numbers? Well, I have two, of a sort, 11 and 44. Sometimes it's 444, but most of the time it's 44. They're not so much lucky numbers as numbers that have special meaning to me. Sometimes they're just an encouragement, they say, "Keep going you're on the right path." Or they'll say, "Pay attention to this." They've even been used to help me make some course corrections. Anyway, 44 popped up in countless ways this summer. Here are three of them from a few of the books I read:

'"Go, dogs. Go! The light is green now."' - Go, Dog. Go! pg 44

'"I am sure," she said, "that every one of us here will be gratified to learn that after four weeks of unremitting effort and patience on the part of our friend the goose, she now has something to show for it. The goslings have arrived. May I offer my sincere congratulations!"' - Charlotte's Web pg 44

"She glanced back. For a few seconds they look silently into each other's eyes, and the distant and impossible suddenly became near, possible, and inevitable. . . . . . . ." - War and Peace pg 1144

On August 4th, I received an email from the British Consulate letting me know that my visa had been issued. It arrived the next day. I'm leaving for Belfast on August 23rd (Monday!) and I know that I have two years there...

All that seemed distant and impossible suddenly became near, possible, and inevitable.

I can hardly stand it (and I can't wait to be done with the packing, although I wish I didn't have to say goodbye to so many wonderful people) and waking up in a plane over Irish fields on Tuesday morning cannot come soon enough!

i've been missing Belfast

So here are a couple things that cheered me up...

listening to Belfast radio at Feile FM.

and this... classic!

progress

They say that for years Belfast was backwards

and it's great now to see some progress.

So I guess we can look forward to taking boxes

from the earth. I guess that ambulances

will leave the dying back amidst the rubble

to be explosively healed. Given time,

one hundred thousand particles of glass

will create impossible patterns in the air

before coalescing into the clarity

of a window. Through which, a reassembled head

will look out and admire the shy young man

taking his bomb from the building and driving home.

~ Alan Gillis

a long one

I usually try to keep my posts short and sweet but this one, well I have a feeling it's going to be a doozy! This is an update on the last month-and-a-half of my life... with pictures!

So, I went to Wales for Christmas. I had such a lovely time with my friend Beth and her family and our friends Frances and Alana! There was snow and ice on the ground when I arrived but it all melted before Christmas. We watched movies and read and talked and cooked and ate and went for walks and enjoyed being together. It was fantastic! This is Beth, Frances, and Alana on a walk around the estuary near Beth's house.

On Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) we went to the Gower Peninsula where we admired the beautiful South Wales coast, got caught in a rain storm, and climbed up and down cliffs. Lovely!
I spent New Years with friends from Guildford and 24-7 at some cabins in the New Forest near Southampton. We shared a meal together and shared stories and sang a rousing rendition of Auld Lang Syne at midnight before sending a lantern off to the heavens with our hopes and dreams for 2010. Then we all went back in side and I played my first game of poker ever. Also, I won!

From Southampton I went to London to visit my lovely friend Kirstin. She got engaged over Christmas and I'm the maid of honor so we spent most of our time flipping through wedding magazines and laughing and trying on wedding dresses. (Well, Kirstin did and I took pictures.) We managed to squeeze in plenty of (mostly window) shopping and a trip to St. Paul's Cathedral. Also, we had a lovely engagement celebration dinner where I, at 27 and for the first time in my life, got drunk. (But don't tell my mom.) Not too drunk, I could still walk (slowly, in 3" heels!) and didn't have a hangover (having nursed a glass of water all night, and I don't think I forgot anything that happened. No, I remember all to well that all I could manage to do was laugh and say, "I am horribly drunk!" (Quoting the woman in the wheelchair on Notting Hill.) It started snowing while we were eating and all through our walk home and through the night.
It snowed so much that the airports were closed and I couldn't get home. I didn't mind as all the alcohol and rich food had made my stomach a bit angry at me. I did finally get back to Belfast two days, an hour long taxi ride, a night in Southampton, four cancelled flights, and a bus ride from Dublin later! Ireland was so beautiful covered in snow!

After all of that I only had three and a half days left in Northern Ireland. They were filled with a party, lunches and coffees with friends, packing, farewell dinners, roommate banter, and lots of packing. Oh, also a trip to Belvior (that's pronounced beaver, don't ask me why) Forest Park and some packing. This is a view of the Belfast hills from the Park.
And me, taken by Helen, watching Sam and his nephews playing in the snow. (Look at that little double chin... too much lovely holiday food!)
I got back to Charlotte on January 12th. My layover in JFK was extended from 3 to 6+ hours so I managed to read the entirety of Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. Perfect sort of book for that situation! Since being home I've taken up knitting and I'm loving it! I've also learned how to drive a stick shift (aka manual transmission for you Brits). (That's three new things I've learned to do this year: play poker, knit, and drive stick. Four if you count learning how to be drunk, but we won't talk about that anymore!)

This is my tested and tried method for learning how to drive stick:

1) move to a foreign country and give your lovely car to your sister.

2) return to your country of origin when said sister is out of state at university. (Having your brother leave his (horrid) car at home while he is also out of state at university is key here.)

3) receive one lesson from your dad, equal parts helpful and bewildering.

4) clean the car.

5) do some research online and print instructions from several different "how to" websites

6) make a few CDs

7) take car, CDs, and instructions to a (mostly) empty parking lot and practice starting from a complete stop until you can do it (most of the time) without stalling. Then take a spin around the neighborhood.

8) After an hour or two, or when you feel confident, take a trip up the road to Target.

And that is how I learned to drive stick. Hand brake starts were learned in an emergency situation involving a sloped parking space. Also, renaming the car helps. Naming things aids in attachment, that's why farmers don't name animals they will later slaughter. I named the car Alphonso as it reminds me of a sleazy Italian.

I've returned to my former life of nannying and enjoying the convenience of life in the States and planning and plotting how to return to Ireland.

Been giving a lot of thought to story and how to make my life into the kind of story I want it to tell. (Inspiration on this topic having come from Don Miller's book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, The Brother's Bloom, and most recently Beth Moore's Bible study on Esther and Adri.) I found out today that the course I was interested in in Belfast is already full for the coming academic year. So the knocking continues. The big question at the minute is, do I stick with the "where" or the "what?"

So, I guess that's it.

Oh, wait, one more thing... On Tuesday I went with my sister and brother-in-law to her ultrasound appointment and we got to see baby Will! He was so cute! They (unexpectedly) did a 3D ultrasound and we got to see him waving and playing with his feet and covering his face so we couldn't get a good picture and pouting when the technician jiggled Laura's stomach so he would move his hands. Absolutely adorable!!! Can't wait to meet the little guy in real life!

So, besides the fact that I am so totally excited about this final season of LOST (especially after the premiere on Tuesday!!!), I think that really is it!

snow

Today, well this morning, we had snow! These are pictures taken on our walk to church.

Our front garden.

Freezing!

A wee little windowsill snow man!

graveyard

The Palm House in the Botanic Gardens

one good thing

about going home in January...

There's a giant hot water tank and I can lie in on cold mornings without fear of a cold shower!

a happy list!

So here are a few things that have made me happy or excited in the last few days:

1) I found a copy of a book I've been wanting to read for a while for cheap in a charity shop. I love short stories, especially Irish short stories!

2) My new iPod came in the mail this morning. There's a big difference between 4gb and 8gb! I loaded it up with lots of music, so I thought, to find that it's only half full. Brilliant! So happy to have (portable) music back in my life!

3) Hiding in my electronics drawer I now have a bag of chocolate. Thanks Mom!

4) The wonderful Rosie made me this beautiful bag for my birthday. It's so lovely!!! And next to it, on the mantle, you can see the cans of pumpkin she sent me too! Pumpkin bars just in time for Thanksgiving! Yeah!!!

5) Thanks to a tutorial on youtube and a trip to Boots and some focused work my eyebrows have received some much needed attention. (It's hard to see the full effect here because of the lighting, but take my word for it that they are looking loads better.)

6) Just found out that LOST returns on February 2nd!

7) I absolutely loved the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy, Holidaze. A bit emotional in a happy, holiday-ie sort of way.

8) We have some sunshine today! This is always to be celebrated in the British Isles during the winter.