Author: Chatter

Why do you blog?

Started off in a place I worked.

It was a Housing Association with many complexes throughout Northern Ireland. There was a monthly magazine and I did a column with all the news from headquarters and the different dwellings.

Eventually I started writing short stories and was thrilled with the response

When I had my children I didn’t have time, university took up most of my time too, but one day I noticed an appeal for writers and I thought I’d have a go.

It was so successful that I was asked to contribute more, which I did.

So I think what keeps me blogging is the feedback. If no one was reading my blogs I probably wouldn’t be writing. My video blog on Twitter has had over 60,000 views. It’s the story of my growing up in NI from 1949 – 1979.

So I guess I write because there’s always someone who’ll read it and that spurs me on. I’m also quite opinionated so like to have a view on all that’s going on. 🤭

Hope somebody reads this lol

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGEmIJkH7JYUZU_wXt6IGpM3NXauRzatP&feature=shared

Interview someone — a friend, another blogger, your mother, the mailman — and write a post based on their responses.

I decided to interview my younger self aged 19.

Where do you think you’ll be in 50 years?

Gosh that’s old. I don’t want to think about getting old. Don’t want to think much about the future.

Are you happy with your life ?

Not really I didn’t work hard enough at school so like a lot of my friend’s didn’t make university and I’m working as a Clerical officer in the Civil Service.

Do you get on with your parents?

No not really. I’m seeing a Protestant boy at the moment and my parents don’t approve. We have to keep our meetings secret or there are all sorts of rows. I left home when I was 16 and now live in the city.

What are your interests? Don’t really have any. Like pop music and going to see the big groups coming over from England.

What do you think of the situation in NI at the moment?

It’s very sad and quite frightening. Lying in bed at night, hearing gun shots, explosions and seeing rows of houses burnt out.

Will you stay here?

I’m not sure. Despite everything I love my family and wouldn’t like to leave them.

How do you survive on your own?

I get £27 per month and I live in a hostel at the moment which is £2 per week and that includes food. The nuns are quite strict though.

Ok thanks for talking to me.

Note. I did go to university when I was 50. Married the Protestant( with parents approval) stayed in Belfast. Had 2 children and four grandchildren and got well past the grand old age of 50. lol

How are you feeling right now?

Didn’t expect that when my hubby went off to play golf yesterday he would do something to his knee that has left him in excruciating pain.

No sleep last night and now we are in A&E waiting in minor injuries for triage, though I have doubts it’s a minor injury.

So I’m feeling anxious.

You never know what’s in front of you.

Diagnosed with torn meniscus.

Home with painkillers and then probably an op.

Feeling a bit less anxious now he’s had a diagnosis.

What daily habit do you have that improves your quality of life?

I try to have a walk most days.

I’m lucky to have beautiful areas to walk in. Walking is good for the body and for the mind, taking in the views, the scenery and the wild life. I always have my iPhone camera ready to capture anything interesting.

Even if I feel tired, once I get my walking shoes on and walk for a few miles, I feel rejuvenated and ready to take on the more mundane tasks.

I write a diary on Facebook every evening for my followers and my walk always gives me something to write about and to show my photos.

A habit I will try and keep up for as long as I’m able.

What was the last thing you searched for online? Why were you looking for it?

After watching Wicked Little Letters on Netflix I checked online to find out if this was a film based on a real life happening.

Olivia Coleman is excellent in the role as Edith Swan, a repressed daughter who resorts to sending nasty letters to her neighbours and blames it on her neighbour Rose Gooding. If you don’t like bad language, don’t watch lol 😜

I discovered it is indeed based on a true story.

What is the true story behind Wicked Little Letters?

Wicked Little Letters is based on the real-life hate mail scandal, also known as the “Littlehampton letters,

set in the1930’s and involved four court cases and three prison sentences over almost three years. Edith Swan and Rose Gooding were neighbors living in Littlehampton.

I had thought the use of such bad language was a modern phenomenon but I was proved wrong.

So that was my last search online and it turned out to be very informative.

It also reminded me how real life trolls on social media can fire abuse at people with whom they disagree but unlike Edith they never get caught.

What TV shows did you watch as a kid?

Unless you lived in the UK and are over 65 you will not have heard of the children’s shows I watched as a child.

When I look back I realise how innocent we were in those days. Shows like Bill and Ben, the flower pot men and their friend Little Weed. Could you even imagine today’s toddlers watching? No special effects, just a few visible strings, added to the simplicity of the production.

Another favourite was the Wooden Tops and I can hardly keep a straight face telling you that they were a family of clothes pegs. Were the writers of children’s programmes on something in the fifties or where they just so confined to the resources they had.

However in our naivety in the fifties we loved the programmes and our favourite time was when my dad turned on the ancient black and white tv and we had 15 mins of flower pots talking to each other.

Maybe it’s time to bring them back. 😂

https://youtu.be/9JKKWJqFpBQ?feature=shared

What’s your favorite time of day?

By afternoon the aches and pains have subsided. I’m fully awake and have had a surge of energy.

I can choose how I spent the afternoon. A walk, lunch with friends. Housework 😡?

Usually a walk along the Lough. Home and watch a movie or read a book but normally a scroll through Twitter to catch up with the news and the gossip.

By that time I’m winding down. Tired and the aches and pains are gradually returning.

The life of a pensioner ☺️

What’s your favorite recipe?

Ingredients: Quantities will depend on how many you are serving.

Cooked chicken cut into pieces

Smoked salmon cut into pieces

Pasta

A carton of double cream

Butter

Parsley

On a frying pan melt a good chunk of butter and add chicken and salmon. Cook until salmon turns pink. Add cream and stir.

Cook pasta, drain and add to pan. Cook over a low heat stirring until well mixed.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and pepper.

Serve with fresh bread. 🥖

Enjoy.

Tell us about the last thing you got excited about.

That was yesterday. My grandson got his GCSEs results. Had been waiting for early morning for the call. A combination of A’s and B’s means he’s back to school for another two years.

I’m excited for his future. Will he be a solicitor like his brother or will he enter the caring profession like his sister who is studying Occupational therapy?

At the moment law seems to be the option.

So I’m excited for his future and I know whichever path he chooses he will be successful.

His sister brought him a basket of goodies to celebrate. 🥳

How would you design the city of the future?

What are peace lines?

‘The separation barriers in Northern Ireland that separate predominantly Irish republican or nationalist Catholic neighbourhoods from predominantly British loyalist or unionist Protestant neighbourhoods. They have been built at urban interface areas in Belfast and elsewhere.’

Coming from a divided city like Belfast where there are peace lines of almost 42 miles, my vision for a city of the future would be a city where all citizens integrated, regardless of religion or culture.

I can’t even fathom why they are called peace lines, as rather than keeping the peace, they drive communities further apart. My future city would do away with Catholic and Protestant housing and look to a future generation to heal the divide.

My city of the future would also see beautiful architecture from days gone by restored and maintained and an end to the many glass boxes and soulless buildings we have today.

My city of the future would be carless allowing citizens to breathe fresh air while shopping. Planting trees and wildflowers for ambiance and outside eating areas although the weather here doesn’t always allow for that.

However it is what it is and I love my city with all its peculiarities. It’s been my home since the sixties and I don’t think I could live anywhere else.