Mittens RIP

Posted on September 7, 2009 by lindaharley

Well we said our goodbyes today to a family treasure – Mittens the cat. She’d reached the supremely ripe old age of 24 (which is about 150 in human years) and at times seemed to be immortal. Every time we left her at the kennels, the woman there enquired what we’d like done should the inevitable happen while we were away…

…and every time we came back to find her hale and hearty, mewing loudly every time she reckoned it was time to eat (every hour on the hour if she’d had her way!)

Max and Mittens share the sofa

Max and Mittens share the sofa

She and Max worked out how to share living quarters – he was as curious as a puppy can be about this strange smelling and moving creature – she’d just bat him on the nose if he got too close. He’d get jealous if she jumped onto someone’s knee – she just purred triumphantly.

I know Roger will miss her enormously: he’d had her since she was a kitten, and that amounts to almost half his life! She used to snuggle into him when he wasn’t feeling well, and even though I’m not really a cat person, even I enjoyed her purring rubbing around my legs. I know my son Harry will miss her very much too – he always made a point of giving her plenty of attention when he visited.

Max and Mittens share the water

Max and Mittens share the water

I left Rog to say his goodbyes at the vets this morning. She’d gone downhill rapidly over the weekend, not able to eat or drink, and falling over each time she tried to stand up or walk. We couldn’t just sit back and watch as all her internal organs failed, so agreed that a painless end was what this dignified lady deserved.

And I took Max outside for a walk while the deed was done. When I turned back round the corner and saw Rog in tears with the empty cat basket I knew just how deep his loss was. There’s certainly a Mittens-shaped hole in our lives today.

Harry gives Mitts her Christmas present

Harry gives Mitts her Christmas present

Bye bye Mitzi, it was lovely knowing you.

Filed under: cats | 4 Comments »

Beijing’s Olympic Village

Posted on September 5, 2009 by lindaharley

It was so good in China to be able to see the very very old as well as the brand spanking new.  I’m a huge fan of modern architecture, and one of the highlights of last year’s Olympics had been marveling at the structures that had been erected for the event.  So I was thrilled to be seeing the Birds Nest Stadium and the bubble swimming pool building up close and personal.

The village is a huge draw for lots of school parties, and Roger and I were charmed when a group of young schoolgirls, aged about 8 or 9, chorused “Hello!” in unison to us, and then giggled behind their hands when we replied.

The usual touts and vendors were there, and though a glass model of the birds nest was tempting, we resisted.

Filed under: buildings, China | Leave a comment »

Golden Anniversary

Posted on September 4, 2009 by lindaharley

Well it’s all over! All the organising and planning finally played out, and we had a rather wonderful family get together. Bit of a last minute hiccup in the DVDs: the so-called pro that I’d given the tapes to ages ago (as well as a large sum of money) produced, with less than a week to go, some poor quality disks that had to be redone (and even then, still weren’t working properly). I had a long cry, a loud scream, and then set about making the disks at least look good. I bought from PC World, for £15, some software that could use existing photos and turn them into labels for the actual disks themselves, as well as inserts for the boxes. And I have to say, when I was finished (last thing on Saturday night before the do…) the result was quite impressive! And anyway, it’s the boxes they’ll be showing to their friends, more than the actual contents.

The song went better than I could have hoped for. Everyone agreed to join in (even teenage boys who rightly pointed out that it was cheesy and stupid). Dr Drama waved her magic theatrical wand and sorted out harmonies and intros, and absolutely vetoed use of tambourine (too Sally Army). We were just getting ready to perform, using the ruse that I was going to recite a pome, when the photographer arrived! We hastily stashed the guitar behind the sofa, posed outside for photos, and then waited for him to leave, while my Dad kept topping up his whisky glass….

Mum, dad, cake and song

Mum, dad, cake and song

Eventually we got to perform, Mum and Dad were suitably gob-smacked and teary-eyed, and we all hugged and laughed.

Filed under: parents | Leave a comment »

Summer Palace

Posted on August 23, 2009 by lindaharley

This beautiful collection of buildings set around a large lake was the peaceful summer retreat of the Emperor and his family. It was a favourite haunt of Dowager Cixi, who reputedly built the folly of the marble boat with money that had been intended for the Chinese navy. The 900m Long Gallery is decorated with colourful paintings, and noisy sweet corn vendors yell their sales pitch. The lake is peppered with a variety of boating activities.

Filed under: China, video | Leave a comment »

Godspell

Posted on August 20, 2009 by lindaharley

J has been working her little socks off for, well, most of the year really, towards MT4UTH’s production of Godspell. This was a bit different to the usual “Musical in a Weekend” projects that they do – firstly they had a whole 6 days to rehearse this one, and secondly, it was being staged in Belfast’s iconic Grand Opera House. J was particularly chuffed that she got her picture in some of the local papers, on the eve of her 16th birthday.

Jem leaping over cars in a single bound

Jem leaping over cars in a single bound

My sister and her family accompanied me, and we had seats in my favourite row at the front of the Upper Circle. We were in pretty good form as we’d been quaffing champagne all afternoon to celebrate her getting her PhD. <hic>

J really does shine when she dances! She was in the front row for most of the numbers, her big smile reaching right up to the Gods. Aly described her as looking as if what she was doing was just THE most wonderful thing she’d ever been asked to do.

She also made a very good plague 🙂

Filed under: belfast, Dance, Musicals | Leave a comment »

Temple of Heaven

Posted on August 13, 2009 by lindaharley

The Temple of Heaven, Tiantan, is a classic Ming-dynasty building, a picture in stone of ancient Chinese cosmogony,is a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design. Well, that’s what my guidebook says anyway. I was very taken by the huge numbers of locals out doing a variety of exercises in the grounds: retirement age is quite low in BJ, and so the residents relish the socialising aspect of these communal activities.

Back in its heyday, the temple was used once a year, to pray for the harvest at the Winter Solstice, requiring 3 days of fasting in advance by the Emperor. It’s an incredible circular building, made entirely of wood without any nails, painted in dazzling colours. We particularly loved the tale of the sacreligious caterpillar, who was struck by lightning as it reached for a golden ball in the roof of the building in 1889, when it was struck by lightning, causing a fire which destroyed the building. 32 unfortunate court officials were executed for allowing this to happen!

Filed under: China | 2 Comments »

Forbidden City, Beijing

Posted on August 11, 2009 by lindaharley

We’d lost a bit of time in getting here, not least due to Beijing’s notorious traffic congestion, and so our meander through the succession of colourful rooms and marvellous treasures was speedier than such riches really warranted. But my what a glorious building.

We’d started at the back entrance, and worked our way forward until we reached the vast square familiar from The Last Emperor, emerging finally under Mao’s portrait at Tian’anmen – Heavenly Peace Gate.

Filed under: China | 1 Comment »

The Great Wall

Posted on August 10, 2009 by lindaharley

It’s 4,000 miles long, but no, you can’t see it from space. But you can see the moon from here, if the conditions are right! Conditions were…well, rather misty on our visit. But it was the last site we visited in China, so the weather had to be endured, and actually, the mistiness probably adds to the atmosphere.

I think every one of us on the tour was visibly moved by actually being here. The wall is well over 2,000 years old, and is yet another reminder of China’s turbulent past: an astounding feat of engineering to construct this massive wall on top of a mountain, to keep out invaders.  Nowadays it is possibly the main tourist attraction – I know when we were looking at different itineraries we felt we really couldn’t go all the way to China and NOT see the wall.

The dancing bit came about cos I’d asked another tour member to video me walking on the wall, but a few of our happy band had gathered at that point, and were shouting out to me to dance down. So I never like to disappoint an audience!

It’s tough work walking on the wall – there are some very steep sections, and the steps are uneven, so you have to be very careful where you tread.

The hard sell from the gauntlet of souvenir shop owners, lined up one behind the other on a narrow path as you exited the cable car, was the most intense I’d come across in China. They waved their Tshirts and chopsticks and called out “One dolla, one dolla”. Of course nothing cost one dollar, this was just to make you stop and look, although that didn’t prevent one particularly pedantic Englishman in front of me trying to explain the intricacies of the foreign exchange market to a wizened old woman intent on making a sale…

Filed under: China | Leave a comment »

Tastefest

Posted on August 8, 2009 by lindaharley

Tastefest

Nursing a slight hangover today, after a visit last night to the Tastefest, in Botanic Gardens.  This event’s been going for years – when I was going through old photos and videos recently I came across one of Harry’s birthday parties that we had there.  A group of restaurants, both from NI and this year also guest restaurants from Chicago, set up stalls and serve sample dishes in exchange for tokens, while there’s live music and entertainment provided.

We arrived during the set of The Illegals, with Eurovision’s Niamh Kavanagh on vocals, and they did a pretty good job.  The sun shone, and we tried some salt chili squid from Uluru, and a ribeye in a bun from No 27 Talbot St.  The band finished at about 7, and then there was not a lot happening on stage for over an hour 😦   The DJ had a sort of dancing contest for the littl’uns, but it really was far too tame for what surely was the primetime Friday evening slot.  Never mind, I tried a piece of salmon in an Irish whisky glaze (too mustardy) and then got chatting to Jimmy Bannos, from Heaven on Seven, Chicago, who has the most drop dead sexy accent, and who sold us his Muffalletta sandwich, containing provolone cheese and mortadello, with an olive salsa.  God that was tasty!

The next band was Rumours of Fleetwood Mac, but they seemed to concentrate on lesser known songs, in some cases not even by the Mac!  Oh and Albatross, which fair enough is a Mac song, but hardly one to get the crowd going.  I found one of the delicatessens that was selling off its prosecco, and then I had a little shot glass of banoffee pannacotta with a gingerbread crunch topping from Restaurant 23 in Warrenpoint.

All in all, a fun Friday night.  Top marks to the food, but a “could do better” on the music front.

Filed under: Food | Leave a comment »

Terracotta Warriors

Posted on August 7, 2009 by lindaharley

This has got to be the world’s most impressive archaeology project!  Situated just outside the city of Xi’an (home to a mere 5 m people), this huge tomb was only discovered in the mid 1970s.  The sheer volume of work that was involved in cataloguing and recording all the pieces, and then putting them back together again and putting on display, is staggering, and what is even more amazing is that this is only the tip of the iceberg.  Each figure is individually carved, so they each have unique features.  The soldiers have their hair in a bun on the right, whilst the kneeling archers have their hair to the left, to make it easier to extract arrows.

My video starts in the factory where they make souvenir copy figures.

Sadly, both Roger and I were feeling a bit under the weather for this visit, and spent a lot of time sheltering from the harshly bright sunshine and elbowing crowds in the delightfully cool tea house, where some ginseng oolong eased my upset tum.

Filed under: China | Leave a comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »
View Mobile Site