Saying of the week

While listening to The Museum of Curiosity on BBC 4 yesterday

BBC - Radio 4 - Comedy - The Museum of Curiosity

I heard this quote from the Late Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury



"The church is like a swimming pool, all the noise is at the shallow end."

What a difference a week makes.

Last Monday, St Patricks day, we enjoyed a sunny day with the warmth of the sun promising us brighter days ahead. Today, Easter Monday, a biting North wind blows bringing the occasional snow and sleet shower.



I took this picture of a gorse bush in full flower last week, it was a tree we always looked out for in the run up to Easter as we boiled our eggs in water infused with the flowers to give the eggs colour. On Easter Monday we were taken down to Tullymore forest Park and we rolled our eggs down the hill.

Tollymore Forest Park Homepage | Northern Ireland Forest Service


Oh the innocence of those days some 40+ years ago - today it's a competition to see who has the most chocolate eggs!

Political incorrectness

The other week I flew to Scotland to attend a meeting at a hospital in Glasgow and on Wednesday past I had to go to a hospital in Dublin. What amazes me is the fact that from home to destination, I could get to the Scottish hospital quicker than I could to Dublin. Now admittedly I flew to Scotland and took the train to Dublin but it still seems odd that I can get to Glasgow in about 2 and a half hours. It also does not take away the incongruity of flying to Scotland for a committee meeting in the electronic age that we live in.



The meeting in Scotland was held in the Museum Suite and asking at the reception no one knew off it. Eventually on finding it I found it was a "shrine" to Lord Lister the forerunner of antisepsis. The room had an old conference table and 12 ancient leather chairs, the one free wall having old photos and documents displayed.



The other three walls had floor to ceiling display cabinets, the contents of which where obscured by paper. These where anatomical specimens dating back to 1710 from a Dr Noble but also included Lord Lister's collection. In the politically correct days in which we live it was felt that it would be too offensive to display such specimens. On asking what was going to happen to them I was informed that they could possibly be sold to the USA!

St Patrick shines

So the 17th March has come and gone, another year less to debate the denominational bent of this man,Patrick. But the day came and the sun shone.
We went for a walk along the blackhead in Whitehead-there's an Irishism for you.

http://www.walkni.com/Walk.aspx?ID=322

Took the climb up to the lighthouse and the view was spectacular across the lough