Where did the year go?

Posted on September 21, 2011 by lindaharley

Oh dear I have been very remiss in not keeping this blog up to date. I promise I’ll try harder.
We’re starting the serious countdown to the wedding now – the date and time at Gretna Green is booked, plus our accommodation (4 poster bed honeymoon suite in a country manor), and transport.
I have my dress (bargain on eBay) and my bouquet (bespoke piece crafted by a local jeweller from old brooches, earrings etc.) Still need shoes and jacket. I keep joking that November in Scotland dictates that I need a macintosh and wellies.

The evening do is booked venue wise and bar facility wise (that’s the most important bits!) Still have to finalise food and entertainment.

So I’ll do a bit of a Bridezilla blog thing for the next few weeks, and allow myself to get a bit stressed (I believe it’s customary).

Hmmm, old new borrowed and blue – I should have a think about that, I guess.

Filed under: wedding | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

Indefinable, that’s what hootoo are

Posted on January 29, 2011 by lindaharley

Some disturbing news this week: as part of the BBC’s rationalisation (i.e. money-saving) of its online services, it is “disposing” of h2g2. It could have been worse – some sites were closed immediately, whereas this approach seems more akin to putting us in the animal rescue centre and hoping a new owner will fall in love with all our waggly quirks and big melting brown guide entries.
I’m finding it hard to be my usual positive self about this move. And who would want us? Part of hootoo’s problem has always been that it’s impossible to define. It’s not a social network, although the community aspect of it is very important, and indeed the “nicest bunch of wierdos on teh internet” has already set up its own community consortium (please follow h2g2c2 on Twitter, or search #saveh2g2) with the aim of taking over ourselves if a new home/ owner can’t be found.
It’s not a comprehensive encyclopaedia, though its been dubbed “the bastard uncle of Wikipedia”, as it predates that site but takes a different approach to recording and sharing information. The Edited Guide Entries, aiming to provide a unique guide to life, the universe, and everything, contain some gems, as does the Underguide, a repository for fiction.

view from teh back of teh HSS

Never too far

Why has the site been so important to me? Well, it’s where I met my fiance. (And my previous serious bf, come to think of it). But it’s not a dating site.
It’s where I learned to improve my writing, particularly fiction. And Vogon poetry.
It’s where I learned how to use a mark-up language.
I’ve been archiving all the stuff I’ve written over the years, a task I can only manage in small bursts as it makes me cry. All my various columns in The Post, hootoo’s weekly newspaper where I am proud to be assistant editor. My first set was Murder on the Dancefloor, tracing my dancing exploits from tap-dancing in Luxembourg, to taking up Scottish dancing, and watching my daughter follow in my pointe-shoe footsteps and transform from cute Irish dancer to leading lady.
My Rear View set took me from being a pillion passenger to learning how to ride a motorbike myself, to following Roger and the Calums heros to The Gambia to build a road.
Take it to the Max followed the exploits of training a very boisterous puppy.
Eclipse hunting took me to China, from whence came a series of Little Bea in Big China.
I’ve met friends from all over the world, from Seville to Stockholm, Reykjavik to Alphen an der Rhein, Frankfurt to Torquay…and thankfully I’m in contact with all my good friends outside hootoo.
Its hard to know what the future will bring, or how hootoo will change. But change is inevitable. It’s highly likely I wont be able to access the site from work once it loses its BBC host – and that’s OK, I don’t feel I should be jumping up and down demanding access as a right from my employer’s equipment. If we have to have ads or some sort of subscriptions, well, you don’t get much for free these days.
As Chinese New Year approaches, I am reminded of the curse “May you live in interesting times.”

Filed under: Dance, Dogs, Eclipses, Musicals | Tagged: , | 7 Comments »

So, that year in summary…

Posted on December 30, 2010 by lindaharley

Welll… I’d said it was probably the toughest year of my life. And possibly also the best. Here’s a photo montage of some of the highlights.

Including:

The Gambia, Calum’s Road, leaving in January in heavy snow, heavy laden bike, The Butcher’s Shop restaurant (where we got food poisoning), and a return to the original road on Raasay.

Severe weather conditions, but spring arriving!

Volcanic ash disruption, and alternative ways home. Prince Charles waving to me, and Meet the Meat.
New iPhone!

New abode – planes trains and automobiles.

Bad bananas and mad dogs.

Talented daughter and bf.

Pangalactic gargleblasters on 101010.

Parking fine and flat tyre.

Major work to the Beahive – shed, bathroom, boiler, furniture from IKEA, where I’m now on first name terms with the staff.

The many aspects of me – new hair, new bag, my Trilogettes, dressing up as Doc for a Back-to-the-future-a-thon, Beatrix, working out measurements in the Numbers room, balloons, bingo by the pool, dancing with Chris Hollins….and getting engaged!

I’ve ended the year 1/2 a stone lighter than I began, and I hope 2011 will be as full of adventure and fun !

Filed under: kids, Lisburn, London, new house, relationships, travel | Tagged: , , , | 4 Comments »

A Handbaaaaaaaag?????

Posted on October 16, 2010 by lindaharley

Why are women’s handbags so badly designed? Its a great concept, a receptacle for all your bits and bobs, but I cant stand the ones that hook over your arm (like The Queen has, though goodness knows what she keeps in it), and over one shoulder is back for your posture, while a rucksack is a security risk. So I like one that goes across the body. Preferably with lots of zippy pockets. And that looks smart. Do you KNOW how hard it is to meet all those criteria? I did have a fake Kipling I’d bought in China last year, but recently the wee pull tags have been falling off so I needed a replacement. And here she is:
a taupe handbag on an orange sofa

Now it’s not perfect – I love the colour and the fancy material inside, but I could do with a few more pockets for keys, make up etc.

Surely there’s a market for this!

Filed under: China, gadgets | Tagged: | 1 Comment »

Tough Year

Posted on September 29, 2010 by lindaharley

Blimey this has been one annus horribilis! Moving house is acknowledged as being stressful – I’ve done it twice in 2010. Splitting up is stressful – I’ve been dumped twice. By email.

And yet my positive side still is able to see these as steps forward, a new start, maybe a sideways move, but the next stage in the roller coaster of life.

Have just started internet dating, and Oh! My! God! I think there may be a book in this one! What a lot of weidros there are out there!shilouette of a hanging basket

Filed under: new house, relationships | 5 Comments »

One week later

Posted on August 15, 2010 by lindaharley

Last Saturday, having a bare necessities of a working loo and a fridge, I slept in the new house for the first time. So I’ve been here now one whole week.

The to-do list has shortened from eleventy-million items to a mere handful, and I’ve slept really well every night – despite the noise from the nearby planes trains and automobiles! But trains only run between 6 and 11, and planes between 6.30 and 10, so the only continuous noise is the traffic on the bypass, which is distant enough and constant enough to be almost a white noise background.

a plane landing against the setting sun

Planes and cranes

The most striking thing is how quickly I felt at home here. OK, I’ve lived in lots of different places, but I’ve lived in Belfast longer than anywhere else – East Belfast in particular. I love being so close to shops, that an Indian takeaway can find the address easily, that I can just walk across the footbridge to Victoria Park, that I can see the sunset from my back garden.
Had a real houseful on Friday – cousin Karen called in as she lives nearby, a friend M was staying the night, daughter and bf were also staying as they were heading to Dublin first thing on Saturday, AND I was looking after Max for the weekend. I was in my element with the place being full of life and chatter. Karen reminded me that it was 11 years since the France eclipse, and so we dug out the video tape of Jem’s 6th birthday in Disneyland Paris, and had a good ole reminisce…

Filed under: buildings, Dogs, Eclipses, Food, kids, new house | 2 Comments »

Eating the Elephant

Posted on August 2, 2010 by lindaharley

I remember when I moved to Luxembourg – the enormity of the whole relocating overseas was what I described as like having to eat an elephant. You look at this enormous beast of a zillion different tasks to be completed, and gasp at the staggering size and scariness.

an elephant with its trunk in the air

And I found then that the way to eat an elephant was a) cut it into bite sized chunks, and b) eat some elephant every day.

So I’m using the same approach to this house move. I’ve given myself a week transition, which allows the bathroom in the new place to be gutted and replaced. The landlords in my current rental apartment were really co-operative and allowed me to rent week by week until everything was finalised, so that was a huge help.

So. I knew the bathroom refit would be messy – I took possession on Friday and he started work on Saturday. I’m taking daily photos and they’ll be on Flickr. But I reckoned the messiest bit would be done by today, and so I booked a carpet cleaner for this afternoon (before I start bringing in some shiny new furniture). However, bathroom guy still has some messy tasks to do, including plastering, so we decided not to clean the hall/stairs and landing just yet. Carpet cleaner offered to come back next week and do the missing sections.

Bathroom suite arrived today on schedule, and all the sizes seem to be OK. I went to IKEA this afternoon to get bedroom furniture, and arrange delivery. One small snag was that one wardrobe door was out of stock, but I’m hoping that it’ll be back in tomorrow morning, and I can nip over and buy it and add to the delivery bundle for he afternoon. IKEA is delightfully “across the road”, about half a mile a way. I could just push the trolley home you know!

I missed off c) in the above list – expect some delays. Today’s tasks were mostly good, except it was bin day, and I did leave my bin (filled by previous occupants) out in time, but it wasn’t emptied and now it’ll be 2 weeks till next collection. On the phone to the council tomorrow then! And I was a bit disappointed that the carpet cleaning hadn’t totally done away with the marks left by former sofas and beds. But at least I know its clean.

I did manage to catch the recycling bus on its way past, and they gave me a replacement lid for my box and a leaflet setting out what can and cant be recycled. All good stuff!

Right, any good recipes for trunk?

Filed under: buildings, new house | Leave a comment »

Oh Yeah!

Posted on July 9, 2010 by lindaharley

“You never think” said Ash frontman Tim Wheeler tonight “when you write a song, that there’s going to be a building named after it!”

I was seeing the band for the 4th time, wearing the T shirt that I bought way back in 2004 when I interviewed them backstage in Luxembourg. They’d been around for a few years even then, and I swear they still don’t look a day over 17.

ash on stage in Belfast

Belfast has gradually recognised the need to give its tourists something to do, and so its rich musical stable has been given some kudos. And that has a new-ish home in the Oh Yeah centre, down in the hip and trendy Cathedral Quarter, all cobbled streets and arty venues. The Oh Yeah itself is dry, so I nipped across the road to the Duke of York for a quickie before the show, and wondered why I’d never been there before! What a great pub, full of life and chatter, and snugs, and pictures, and mis-matched tables!

Ash are incredible – they still have a teenage enthusiasm and energy, and they are constantly exploring new ways to be a pop-rock band. Back in 2004, they had Charlotte Hatherly with them on guitar, though they’re best known as “that 3-piece from Downpatrick”. She’s since gone solo, and tonight they had a new member, Russel, on keyboards and guitar. But they’ve also since done an A-Z alphabetical tour of Britain (what a logistical nightmare that must have been for the tour manager!) and decided that they aren’t making any more albums, just releasing singles.

It was one of those night’s when I just lurv being here, when Belfast is my favourite place in the world.

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Scraping together….

Posted on July 2, 2010 by lindaharley

…every last cent! I hope to finalise the purchase of my new house by the end of July, but without selling the joint property it’s a case of liquidising assets wherever I can find them.

This wad of cash

a wad of banknotes

used to be my motorbike (farewell dear Zucchero!), but will shortly be transformed into a sparkly new bathroom. I’m going for a monochrome theme, but just off-white, and not quite black, to soften it slightly, with a silver/pearl/grey mosaic tile as a feature border.

I know it’s a stressful thing, moving house, but I’m just hoping all the timings will work out: my bathroom guy has another project after August 4th, so I want to get him in and the old bathroom out about 10 days before that. Fingers crossed!

Filed under: buildings | Tagged: | 6 Comments »

Hole!

Posted on May 26, 2010 by lindaharley

On Saturday – a glorious day with the sun beaming down – I took a trip up to my native city to see Jem’s boyfriend Matty perform in a production penned and produced by the performing arts and music students at Magee college. Based on the Glee TV show, the event was of course called… Maglee! I’d been rather frustrated by my experience as a theatre goer to the newly refurbished Playhouse theatre: the booking of tickets had to be done online, with stern exhortations to bring along ID when collecting them, the website gave no meaningful directions and no information on car parking nearby, and once I had arrived where I thought it was, there was no sign outside to confirm that I was in the right place.

No matter, I met up with Jem at the Diamond, we had a bite to eat at the Wetherspoons on the corner (for future reference, the tables upstairs by the window are the ones to nab) and then strolled around the walls. I pointed out the chapel of St Augustine – the little church on the walls – where my parents were married and where I was christened. From there we could look down on Free Derry corner, and I was relishing giving her a little bit of both family history and political significance during our pleasant walk.

The show itself was great fun, and Matty clearly enjoys performing. Congratulatory hugs duly dispensed afterwards, I set off for the 77 mile journey home. About 5 miles outside the city, I heard a loud bang, and assumed a stone had hit the car. This was followed by a juddering sensation, and I knew as I released my grip on the steering wheel and felt the car pull to one side that I had a puncture. I pulled over safely onto a layby and surveyed my position. I have changed a tyre in the past, but not for ages, and not on this car. But I started by extracting the spare wheel and tools and thinking about how to proceed. I could see that the trim on the wheel was held on with cable ties, so I’d need something sharp to cut those. I needed help.

a hole in my tyre

Thinking fast, I called Matty. “Is your Dad still there?” I asked, since I knew his parents had been at the show. They’d be heading home on the same road that I was on, and I hoped I’d catch them before they left. Sure enough, 5 minutes later their car pulled in behind mine and switched on matching hazard lights. His Mum is a driving instructor, so knows her way around cars, while he makes guitars (how cool is that!) and had his work tool kit with him, complete with knives. In under 10 minutes he’d done the tyre change, and they volunteered to follow me for a few miles at least to make sure everything was OK. They even spotted me stop 3 miles later to close the passenger door properly, and I was enormously grateful to my knights in shining armour for their care and concern.

Filed under: Musicals, parents, travel | Leave a comment »

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