Self loves that she can join Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge (CFFC) this week. She has got a gallery of rides!
Self visited Northern Ireland for the first time in April. She spent a month in an artists retreat called River Mill. The other residents were teachers, writers, photographers, film-makers. A few were from Belfast, others from England, and yet others from Dublin. What joy to be with fellow artists after three years of pandemic lockdown. We all promised to keep in touch.
In the evenings, we had dinner together, then gathered in the living room to watch Derry Girls.
Posting for Travel with Intent’s Six-Word Saturday.
Fell back a little bit on Walking Squares, but am back now. Thank you to Becky at Life of B for hosting this challenge. November has been a lot of fun, looking through archives and at other people’s Walking Squares.
Self was fortunate enough to spend time the entire month of April writing in Northern Ireland, at River Mill, near Downpatrick. One of her fellow writers, Anna, a mystery writer from Dublin, asked if self wanted to go with her to a beach nearby. Self agreed, and that is how these pictures came to be.
We arrived at Rossglass Beach at the perfect time, just before sunset. The only other people on the beach were a group of teen-agers who decided to strip down and jump into the water. The mysterious mountains in the distance are the Mountains of Mourne. There is only one word for that setting: MAGICAL.
Again, much thanks to Life of B for this month’s Squares Challenge: Walking Squares! So much fun to create a gallery of memorable walks!
In April, self finally crossed Belfast off her bucket list. She’d been wanting to go ever since she got into Game of Thrones, the HBO series. She was a huge Gendrya fan, and every time Joe Dempsie showed up in Belfast she would cheer!
She stayed at the Europa Hotel, which was fantastic, and each day she explored a different area of Belfast. One day, she went to Queen’s University and explored the botanic garden, right alongside:
Titanic Museum, Belfast
Posting for Travel with Intent’s One Word Sunday challenge
The Titanic Museum in Belfast is a must-see. It was built to the exact height of the ship itself. Self visited in April.
— Journeys with Johnbo, Lens-Artists Photo Challenge # 215
Below: the bus self took from Belfast to Downpatrick, Northern Ireland
In April, self visited NI for the first time. She did a residency at River Mill, near Downpatrick. Crushed the writing: finished her horror story/alien invasion story, The Rorqual, and completely re-wrote a few others. Placed a story while she was still there: “Residents of the Deep,” coming soon in J Journal.
The Weekend Roundup Challenge is hosted by Tom, The Backroads Traveler.
There are three parts to this challenge:
Without further ado:
Tom’s Choice: Berry
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week:
Belfast Marathon, 1 May 2022
Redwood City Annual Fourth of July Parade, 2022
Thank you to Cee Neuner and Marsha Ingrao, co-hosts of the PPAC Challenge!
I had a little free time today, so I went browsing through her archives for more public squares.
Here’s Arthur Square in Belfast, which I visited for the first time in April. Thank you to Marsha Ingrao, whose comment led me to do some googling. I found the name of the artist: Dan George. The piece is called “Spirit of Belfast” and was installed in 2009.
I went exploring down a side street (look at those curving, banner-like things, so futuristic) and found myself in the most fabulous indoor shopping center I had ever seen: very modern, gleaming with high-end shops, and not at all crowded! The curving structures are actually an art installation called “The Masts.” They are on Donegall Place. There is a better picture of them here. They were installed in 2011.
From the Wikipedia page List of Public Art in Belfast:
The theme this week of Travel with Intent’s One-Word Sunday is WALL.
Here’s the wall of self’s room at River Mill, Northern Ireland, where she spent April writing.
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