Something had to go.

I haden't noticed, but I have been a lot busyer lately (please don't compare this to sister-in-law Ruth's level of busy, that I couldn't cope with). I have too many plated to keep spinning. Course homework, Bible Class preperation, material for a month of mental health promotion in work, mentoring, praise group, taking time for fittness, Charlotte, developing new and wonderfull colds in my nose, men's fellowship, Julie, etc.
The odd thing is that if i didn't have very strong boundries about what should stay, I would have more time. But I could not do withour Charlotte climbing over me and playing prowling tigers after tea, or Julie and my 'TV dates' during the week.
Tonight was Men's Fellowship, and the craic was high. It was a good time to relax and laugh with other men of God. Oh, yes, we did have a speaker on time with God, who didn't really speak at us, but chatted to us (it's hard to lecture to just 6 people). Next month, Men's health.

and you can guess at what went.

How to fold a flag.

I sometimes look stuff up on the internet that is doubtful whether I will ever use the information or not, but sometimes you hit gold.
The British Standard for making a cup of tea (BS 6008) is not one of them.
The historical time lines of fictional people and places is not very useful.
Tombstone generator is just plain creepy.
And why I wanted to know what this guy argued about with his girlfriend, I just cannot fathom.
But learning how to fold a flag has paid off at least twice.
The most recent was last night when, before getting to the Cornerstone, one of our older boys handed me something, asking to keep it for him. In the dark, I wasn't sure what it was, so I asked. It was a crumpled up Government of Northern Ireland Flag, commonly known as either the 'Red Hand of Ulster', or the 'Ulster Flag' (untrue in both cases). I told him that I wouldn't take it unless he folded it up properly. He looked at me for a second or two, and then rolled it up in his hand. Stopping him, I told him that if he respected the flag, he would fold it up properly, and I went about teaching him. I really don't know if I was teaching him something about his cultural identity, or just messing with his head, but I liked it.




Of course, you really cannot get enough of Eric Conveys An Emotion.

To the bath

Had a nice relaxing weekend. Spent yeasterday buying shoes and making soup (my first).
Today was my turn for church. The Bible class was good, with the young people excited about a video night, but there may be war over what movie to show.
While I was away, Julie and Charlotte had a craft morning.

This afternoon we went to the sea side. It was warmer than it looked, and Charlotte enjoyed her first trip to the beach. When she sees the sea, she calls it the bath.

Making sand castles.

With Mums help.

Maybe she will be a builder....

...or a demolition expert.

Great view. The train comes out from a tunnel right under Mussenden Temple.

The cool Atlantic breeze.

The great new shoes and sand mixing experiment.


I am still totally amazed at the way people of a certain older generation cannot tell if Charlotte is a boy or girl. Dress her in pink from top to toe and they will still say 'what a lovely boy'. It even got to the stage that when a man said ' what a lovely boy' , his wife rebuked him with 'no, he's a girl'.

"Hello duck"

Saturday was spent around HamiltonsBawn with my mum.
We spent some time at Gosford Forest, with mum sitting in the car while Julie, Charlotte and myself went to the rare fowl enclosure. Charlotte went round saying 'hello duck' to anything with feathers, fully enjoying the experience. Then we went to the Dean Swift restaurant.
Set in the beautiful Forrest, looking out on to rare cattle, sheep and deer, with the tall graceful trees in the background. Sounds idyllic, yes. But no, gentle reader, because beauty was on the outside only here. We went in, to the counter and it was the Mary Celest. Not a being about. I gave a shout of 'service' to Julies disdain (northern Ireland thing), and a teen girl came out. Julie ordered while I found a table. That should of been easy, considering we were the only customers at 3pm on a Saturday, but of the 7 tables in the main area, 4 still had dirty dishes on them, and another hadn't been wiped.
Julie came with her tea and bun, while my coffee was on a promise. When it came, it was obvious that the filter coffee had only just got through the machine and I was left to decide if I shoudt drink the dark liquid, or chew.
The staff were pleasant enough, but just inept. This sis a problem in Northern Ireland. Take a beautiful place, where tourists from around the world may stumble. Open a well placed restaurant or coffee shop,a nd then staff it with the cheapest labour, regardless of ability or demeanor.
The bun was good.

Waiting

With a week off, Julie took Charlotte to Larne for a couple of days.
This left me with doing single guy stuff.

1. Pizza. Julie Cannot eat it, so this is one of the few times I can get it as take away. Really good Pizza place in Ballymoney, with real pizzas.
2. Get DVD out and watch it when I want. Managed 'Round the world in 80 days' at tea time, after evening drop-in and during breakfast. Really silly movie that will not appeal to everyone.
3. Have a boys DVD night. Granted, I can do this more often that I do, but 'hey'. Was round at Alexs to see Hitchhickers.

I did miss Julie and Charlotte, and it was great to see them when I got home today. Charlotte waited on the door step, while I was trapped behind an evil tractor (who was transporting one bail of hay in a trailer, while doing 20mph).

So she had to wait a long time to see me.