It was painful to watch the Carl Frampton fight last night. He looked so small against the larger Herring and, although I know nothing about boxing, he seemed to be out of his depth from the word go. I don’t like watching boxing on television I much prefer radio and Steve Bunce commentating with such excitment as he describes every move. Frampton was at Buckingham Palace the same day as I was where we both received a MBE from Prince William and it was noticeable that he was a very popular young man amongst other recipients, they all wanted to shake his hand (me included) and I had a nice chat with his mum who was as proud as punch. He’s a great ambassador for the sport but from our point of view he is a great ambassador for Northern Ireland and I reckon he’ll use his time championing our community in many ways. More power to his elbow, thanks for all you’ve done Carl and thanks for all you will do in the future.
THE VALUE OF ZOOM
There are many plus factors to our modern living and the Internet is one. I was invited to attend a Passover service with a group of Jehovah Witnesses last week, I attended the Good Friday afternoon service at Clonard Monastery and this morning I was in Belgium at a Church of England Easter service given by the padre of St. George’s Memorial Church in Ypres, a pilgrimage church for thousands of people who visit the World War 1 battle fields every year. Sadly not in the church itself but from his front room and he was joined by a congregation from all over Europe and the UK and three families from Northern Ireland.
What an amazing journey I’ve had in only a few days and never leaving the house. Surely something special, not replacing face to face worship but opening the possibility of experiencing different services for the first time. On line classes in so many areas of life are helping people who are house bound, breathing exercises for people with problems and unable to get to hospital based sessions, they are talked through the movements which are demonstrated by a medically qualified instructor who is there to answer questions just as you would in an actual session. This will probably be a template for the future, a benefit for the patient and a positive for the NHS.
The last few days have been really lovely and a chance to get into the garden and sort things out. I am delighted that my daffodils were a great success, now I have planted dalias and lupin tubers and my seeds are all showing signs of life.
Now tomatoes loom large in my plans, lost two crops last year – I think by poisoned rain water in a plastic container – so this year they’ll have a nice fresh drink out of the tap in the garden. Fingers crossed. I am impressed with my friend Irene who has proved herself with tomatoes. Years ago I gave her three plants which she took home and planted. They thrived and she was delighted and so was I. We had updates and compared notes until the day she told me little yellow flowers had appeared and she’d pinched them off! No No, you don’t do that, those are the eventual fruit. Now she has done a brilliant thing, she has harvest seeds from shop tomatoes, planted them and has lots of healthy little plants which will give her a terrific harvest in a few months. Congratulations, you have really proved you are a really good nursery woman.
THE FABULOUS FAB FOUR
There are two women in East Belfast who are especially grateful to Trevor Kane, the entrepreneur promoter who died last month. He was an engaging man with a winning way who persuaded the big names in to come to Belfast in the 60s and they came in their droves. Biggest of all were the fab four, the Beatles who were at the top of the charts and touring the world. Trevor reckoned Belfast should see some of the action so he approached their manager Brian Epstein, said come on over and they did, twice. They’d played the Ritz in1963 but the highlight came the following year when they appeared in two sell out concerts in the King’s Hall, I know I was there and the excitement was fever pitch, It was impossible to hear them over the noise of 16,000 screaming fans both inside and outside the hall but we saw them and that was enough to dine out on for years to come – even to this every day! But for the two Belfast teenagers it went much further. Patricia told me about her day. Early that morning she joined fans at Aldergrove to greet their heroes, she and her mate got prime places on a balcony and watched them come off the BEA Viscount, acknowledge the crowd and be whisked off to Belfast for the first of two concerts.
“We were in the front row at both concerts which was amazing, I was in love with George and Pat was crazy about Paul – we were in seventh heaven.”
Not content with that up-close and personal experience with their heart throbs, Patricia and Pat decided to give them a send off next morning.
“We’d heard they were catching the early morning ‘Stand By’ flight so we got all the money we could lay hands on, got a taxi and arrived at the airport about 5.30 a.m. We were the only people there when the warm-up band arrived, Sounds Incorporated, and we had great craic with them before they moved on to the departure lounge. Then there was a sort of excitement at the entrance doors and in walked the Beatles. Our hearts were pounding as we went over to them! They stopped and talked to us, Pat kissed Paul on the cheek and I thrust an autograph book at George and he began to sign it when someone ordered them to move on as the plane was about to take off. From the other side of the barrier he shouted “Sorry love, catch” and he threw the book at me. That precious page, 57 years on reads – With love from Geor. No time to finish the autograph however half a Beatle is better than no Beatle at al!”
Another teenager in the audience was well known local photographer Chris Hill, who took photos which he sold to school friends and it was the beginning of his illustrious international career.
SCAMMING ALERT
Royal Mail have warned us to watch out for on-line fraud. These texts arrive unexpectedly to say a Royal Mail parcel is waiting for delivery and requests you click on a web site address and pay a fee. With so many of us shopping on-line, fraudsters are concentrating on targeting us so beware. In my experience if a parcel cannot be delivered to your address, the postman will leave a card asking you either to collect at a sorting office or to get in touch and arrange a new delivery date. So don’t be tempted, don’t give any details or bank information, this is what they are after. On Wednesday morning I got a phone call at 8.23 a.m. from Amazon to say my new smart phone had been dispatched and my card would be deducted £399! Phoned the bank, “Did you give any details of your account?” Absolutely not. “Then you’re OK.” I knew it was a scam but you like to be sure you’ve all your bases covered. A note on your account is wise to alert bank staff and warn them to watch out for any such movement on your precious savings.
SHINEY OR DULL?
Sometimes you’ll come across a page on the Internet which attracts your interest and so it was when I came across tips with tin foil and during Easter holidays and maybe cooking ahead for the family, tin foil is very useful. But the question is, shiny side up or dull side up? Some would say it doesn’t matter and certainly I don’t pay much attention to this quandary but in the need for factual accuracy I turned to the man at the top, chef and restauranteur Michael Deane. “When I want to reflect heat I use the foil shiny side up, roasting vegetables and slow cooking but always remove to finish naturally. To keep heat in I turn it to the shiny side for instance wrapping a joint or roast chicken etc. Hope this helps take care everyone” What about wrapping food in foil and putting it into the freezer. “I wouldn’t use it to wrap and store is it rips way to easy! If I had to it would be shiny side in!” Good advice from the top.
Another idea concerns frustrating squirrels who like to climb up to a bird seed container to have a feed, wrap the stand in foil and it’s a great deterrent.
Putting a strip of foil underneath your ironing board cover makes ironing easier and quicker; I’ve also used foil as a cleaner both on the iron, removing stubborn food stains from saucepans and on the surface of an old Aga cooker.
I HOPE YOU ARE HAVING A PEACEFUL AND PLEASANT EASTER SUNDAY AND THAT INDEED NEW LIFE AND NEW BEGINNINGS WILL SEE AN IMPROVEMENT IN ALL THE WORLDWIDE TRAUMA WE ARE EXPERIENCING AT THE MOMENT. ABOUT THIRTY YEARS AGO I ASKED AN ELDERLY MAN I RESPECTED WHAT CAN I DO TO IMPROVE THE SITUATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND? HE SAID: “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR ON EACH SIDE OF YOU, THEN WORK YOUR WAY DOWN THE STREET WITH LOVE IN YOUR HEART AND WHEN THAT’S ACHIEVED MOVE ONTO TO THE NEXT STREET AND LOVE THOSE NEIGHBOURS TOO UNTIL ALL YOU FEEL FOR THE PEOPLE OF NORTHERN IRELAND IS LOVE.” NOT EASY BUT LET’S GIVE IT A TRY.