Well I got up at 07:30 sharp at least half an hour before the others. Teagan happy with Santa and other presents including a Nutcracker. I was worried if my bladder would last through all the ceremonies in the church. I catheterised around 09:00 and made it over to the church on a crisp frosty morning in plenty of time for hymns at 09:45. In fact, I think I was the first person in to the church after the sacristan, Rose McEneaney. I looked at the crib, shifted this year to the south west wing of the church at the back. Also lower and easier to see. Lovely red carnations up around the altar. Two red poinsettia blossoms decorated each of the stations of the cross. Lights all lit. Incense burning in the vestibule. I was dressed in red silk tie, blue and white striped dress shirt, burgundy pattern pedlar’s zipped cardigan, steel grey woollen trousers with thin vertical stripes, black and while light F&F socks, Clark’s rubber-soled brogues, navy Bugati long coat, black and red Titleist golf cap complete with bobbin, black gloves. Walked back from mass with Eleanor Wehrly. Like days of yore. The singing before mass was slow, deliberate, good.
O, Little Town of Bethlehem
Away in a Manger
When a Child Is Born (Christine, solo)
Ding Dong
My list of intentions for these carols was; Aisling, Teagan, Rosanna, Óg; in that order. Christine did well singing through the microphone. I enjoyed the first 2 hymns which are right up my street.
There were a number of faux-pas in the choir during mass itself. The first verse of Silent Night finished correctly but I was beset by doubt afterwards about the finish of the second verse. Catherine sang the wrong words for the second refrain of O, Holy Night. I stopped singing completely. It was a mistake but it was not fatal. Fr. Duffy was late coming with the thurible from the altar to incense the crib so we sang 2 verses of Adeste Fideles before he carried out his manoeuvre and then repeated the first verse afterwards. Not the way it was planned. The incense should have come between the 2 verses in our hymn sheet.
Adeste Fideles
Silent Night
O, Holy Night
Joy to the World
My intention for the first 3 of these hymns were: Teagan, Margaret Kennard, Rebecca Crudden. Nothing for the last. I will dedicate it now to Anne whom I rang there about an hour ago. An Indian couple are moving in to stay in her house. He a chef; she a nurse. Teagan in great form in her Aladdin outfit. I took half a dozen snaps of her. Sent one to Joe and John Crudden. I e-mailed them tonight. Sent most of the photos to Aisling. She is gone to bed for over an hour. I don’t think she checked her e-mail tonight.
Brown bread, butter, cheddar, ginger preserve; tea
Fried rashers, 4 fried sausages; a banana
Turkey, ham, gravy, Brussels sprouts, celery, mash, salt, cranberry sauce; chocolate ice cream and jelly; tea and sweet biscuits
I think I will eat an orange before I go to bed, catheterise, then take Combodart
I ate a few chocolate sweets today and tonight. Rosanna cooked the dinner. I washed up. Teagan did not want to eat dinner but there were no tears. Seán Óg rang at 15:30 just when I had finished my main course of dinner. In excellent form. He is coming down to Greenore tomorrow. He more or less asked me to play golf the next day. Eamonn and Leah rang, too, soon after Óg. They are coming tomorrow. I did not need to catheterise today for the second time until 14:00. So my worries of this morning were definitely unfounded. RTE Radio 1 playing in the background now as I type on my Dell Inspiron. 23:48. Charged the fire fully in The White Elephant Lounge at 23:00. Teddy rang c 20:00. Atmosphere in the house not too bad today. Teagan lasted all day without a nap. Aisling went for a run to Templetown on the beach before dinner. Driving her mother’s new Stonic. Aisling and Teagan went over to Eleanor’s at 18:00 before that house sat down to dinner at 19:00. That’s roughly the time when I did the washing up. I sang a few hymns for Teagan this morning. Aisling did not like them but I think Teagan did. Silent Night and Away in a Manger. I took a walk in my green parka and my red and black Titleist cap after dinner c 16:15 in the twilight; down around the church and back by the top road. Carried out a full routine this morning including exercise. Passed a solid motion in the early afternoon. Catheter infrequent. To bed c 00:35 after catheter and a Combodart. Had eaten an orange c 00:00. No requests on RTE 1 Radio tonight. It was not Aenghus McNally who was spinning the records this year. Christmas music. I did not really listen.
Finished;
Belt; Brisk; Camera; Seville; John Quinn; The Memorial
Sunday
2 June 2019
21:34
Well I ate breakfast
at 09:00 and went back to bed. Got up
again and finished my morning routine; made bed, washed, catheterised, dressed
in white underwear, green expensive collared T-shirt, beige woollen socks, ox-blood
Barker brogues, steel-blue light trousers with braces and belt, Everlast
fleece: just as Óg, Lisa, Gavin, Tom, arrived c 12:00. Breezy bright morning. Óg drove Lisa and the two boys in the back
seat with me in front in his Hyundai SUV down to Gyles’ Quay. I led Lisa and the boys for a brisk walk
around my usual circuit; to the end of the pier, up around the 20 steps, back
through the wasteland behind the houses to the car park where Óg was
waiting. I took a snap of Lisa and the
two boys on the pier with her mobile phone camera. We stopped at the playground and café at
Lordship. Lisa bought me a can of Coke
and told me of her plan to visit Seville next week and Chelsea later in the
summer. Anyway I enjoyed the outing. But before the visitors left Jenkinstown I
cooked my lunch/dinner. Ron came to cut
the grass but only got the back done.
Wind increased in velocity this evening for a while and a threat of
rain. I lit the fire around 17:00. Listened to John Quinn’s documentary about
Ballyfin College in the 1950’s. Watched
golf. Rosanna gone down to Greenore to
babysit while Óg and Lisa played golf.
She has just come back there now.
21:49. Kaymer, Cantlay, Scott;
vying for the lead in The Memorial.
Wheat biscuits, sliced
banana, milk
Fried mushrooms, fried
potato, grilled white pudding made from pork and turkey, salt, tomato
ketchup; apple tart, coffee
An orange
I have a resolution
to make porridge and catheterise before I go to bed. I spent a very uncomfortable night in bed
last night. Acid early in the night and
pain at the back of my right thigh almost unbearable towards morning. Passed a small hard motion, just a malformed
pellet really, this afternoon. 700ml in
the bag last night c 01:45. < 400
this morning and this afternoon. John
Quinn asked Seamus Heaney about what he read when he was a child. Not much, I think? Certainly none of the pulp I read
insatiably. Adam Scott finished -17,
Martin Kaymer, -15; in second and third place respectively. Partick Cantlay shot a final round of 64 to
finish on -19.
Porridge made in the
microwave with 50g of oatmeal, 300ml of milk, some old boiled rice which I
added at “half-time.”
Apple juice
Took a Combodart capsule
washed down by cold water from the fridge before I went to bed and after I
catheterised
Lisa sent me 2
photos before bed time and chatted briefly on Messenger. The photo above is a selfie by Gavin.
5 grilled sausages, fried cold microwaved small potatoes left over from the other day, a fried egg, brown sauce, a champagne glass of orange/barley drink
Wheat biscuits, sliced banana, raspberries, milk
Hovis, butter, easi-slices, tea
Banana loaf, coffee (after mass)
Well I felt fat and stiff today even though I exercised this morning before I dressed. Drove over to the meeting room of the church for the Annual General Meeting of IMPERO. Door of the meeting room locked. Rose McEneaney apologised to me before 19:30 mass. But I had already scouted around yesterday and found the door of the room locked so I brought a key with me today. Dessie turned up in plenty of time; Leonard Hatrick turned up 15 minutes late. I think he had trouble with his “bag” this morning. Anyway the meeting went well and lasted nearly an hour and a half. It was well prepared. I read my article Outcaste and I thought when reading it that it would not be out of place at a more academic gathering. I really could write in 2005 and 2006. Took a few photos, too, but I have not looked at them yet. Arranged to meet Dessie on Tuesday at 12:00 at McCrystals to withdraw the money I am owed from the IMPERO account. 370 euro in there now. There will be < 100 euro left. Rosanna went down to play golf in the special competition first round at 13:45. I had to come back from the church for my reading glasses and saw her pull out when I was going in the front door. I watched the match between France and Australia this morning. Assisted by VRA France ran out 2 – 1 winners. Felt very uncomfortable this evening before mass and uneasy. A bit better now? 21:46. Fr. Stansfield assisted by Fr. Pádraig Murphy who was still speaking gobbledegook when he read some of the prayers after communion. “The men add something to the choir,” Fr. Stansfield said when he was passing by going home after mass. “Keep saying that!” I joked. Anyway Catherine was absent so the singing was more together and, I think, better than usual.
Sweet Heart of Jesus
There Is a River
There Is a Place
Sweep Over My Soul
Our God Reigns
We also sang My Lord, My God and an Amen as well as Alleluia x 2. I gave 5 euro in the yellow envelope “for the priest” and 10 euro in the buff-coloured envelope for priests’ dues. No collection at the door. Earlier in the evening I paid 7.45 euro in the shop for 1lb of Kerrygold and a banana loaf. Used the opportunity to get change of a 50 note which was all the currency I had. So I was able to “fill” the envelopes reasonably correctly. I also watered the flower pots and the hanging basket this afternoon before mass. Most of the banana loaf is already eaten. I prepared a fry this morning because there was no butter in the house. I cooked 8 or 9 Denny’s sausages this morning leaving 3 over for Rosanna. Dustin Johnston in the lead in Shinnecock Hills this morning but he had not begun to play yet today. Conditions are difficult, I think. I did not hear from Paul Smyth today? Rosanna has just now put her key in the front door. 22:02. I woke this morning to the strains of the alarm on my mobile phone at 09:00 and got out of bed immediately. 00:18. I trimmed my neck and upper lip this morning. Christine looking well and fitter than usual in summer gear, a pink T-shirt and matching fingernails.
Up c 06:00. Relaxed until 08:30 having breakfasted, made my bed, washed, exercised, dressed. Navy Lahinch golf jumper, navy slacks, polka dot navy Pringle socks, Hush Puppie rubber-soled brogues, blue Pierre Cardin shirt with thin red stripe, boxers and vest. Then set out for the clinic. An injection of 25mg of Risperdal Consta in the right “side” from Pakie around 09:15. “I left it out,” he told me beforehand. “I don’t think it makes any difference?” I replied lugubriously. Filled my tank, pumped my wheels, piddled, withdrew €100 from the ATM, shopped: in Tesco Extra. No-one else in the barber’s except the blond senior Lithuanian boss when I went in. Good haircut and beard trim from her. €10. Bought a round roast, “half-price,” for around €7.50. Also 2 smoked coli fillets for €1.50 total, half price because they were on their use-by date. Teagan played and rollicked around. She seems to be in good fettle. Teagan and Aisling left for Cabra in the early afternoon. Rosanna went out in the late evening to meet Niamh McBrearty. I bought a shorthand notebook in the shop for €1.20. Tom McCrystal friendly and the assistant helpful with my change. Forgot to buy a bulb inTesco for the bathroom off the White Elephant Lounge. The light gone in the fridge as well. Justin Thomas won the Dell Technologies by 3 from Spieth. I cooked my dinner and washed up thoroughly after including the pot I poached the fish in and the steamer I cooked the small potatoes in. Washed face in cold water and put on pyjamas. Did not light the fire nor put on the heat. Warm humid overcast weather today. Watered the flowers which are a sorry sight. 23:31. Kate’s 21st tomorrow I discovered today reading my journal for 2007. I visited Cootehall then when Kate was 11. Sent a message to Eamonn. He said he would pass on my good wishes. Niamh Crudden’s birthday today. Sent her greetings on Messenger. Received in reply news of the birth of her daughter Fiadh 3 weeks ago. Eamonn also let me know that he will be returning to Dundalk tomorrow.
·Weetabix, milk
·Corn flakes, milk
·250g of smoked coli poached in milk, steamed small potatoes, a tin of baked beans heated in a bowl in the microwave; some seedless black grapes; a single finger of KitKat
Right hip sore. Bowels inactive except for “wind.” Aisling ate some of the French bread long roll that I bought for €1 in Tesco a.m. Before she left for Dublin. Bladder trouble free. 88.7kg on Pakie’s scales this morning. Watched some of the England-v-Slovakia match. 2 – 1. Rashford scored the winner.
Never left the house all day.Prepared lunch; dinner.Washed up after dinner.Lit the fire in The White Elephant Lounge in the early afternoon.Rosanna still wrecked.She was in bed during the day for a few hours.Aisling went to Dundalk and Carlingford with Teagan.I still have trouble over urination.Much the same as the past few days.Frequency with bladder and bowel moving in unison.Read my journal for this day in 2011 and also this day in 2015.A lot of “memories” on Facebook for this day.Trouble with The Dell Inspiron.Real time scanning off.MVT (McAfee Virtual Technician) did not work for me to turn real time scanning on.Worried all night about my computer, virus, etc.Still worried until after mass tomorrow when MVT worked the oracle.Journaled this morning.20:27.
·Wheat biscuits, milk, sliced banana
·A white pan heel, a small brown heel, butter, smoked cheddar, Ballymaloe relish, ½ a blueberry muffin; tea
·Steamed Roosters, ham, baked beans in tomato sauce; a banana.Coffee later
Paul Smyth rang.He golfed with Casey and Mallon a.m.
Not in the best of form. Mood overhung by golf and iffy weather. In the event although I played inadequate golf I managed until the 18th where I hit my second shot from behind the mounds near the 13th tee with a 7-iron out of the rough. It bounced beyond the bunker to the right of the green and Paul Smyth called out that it was “alright.” However when I got as far as the green the ball was nowhere to be seen. It must have rolled on under the hedge. So what was a poor score for me turned into a NR with the last stroke of the round. I was pretty dejected on the golf course and the faux pas at the last did little to lift my mood. Anyway keyed in my result and took a shower. Forgot to pack my towel this morning so I improvised and dried myself off with a second vest I had in the bag and the shirt I wore on the golf course. I drank a bottle of RiverRock in the bar. Downed an Americano and a bar of Kit-Kat. Ate some of Brian Farrell’s crisps and more that I bought myself and emptied out of the Tayto bag onto Brian’s plate. Brian was eating egg sandwiches and drinking tea. Paul Smyth tucked into a steak sandwich. I left Paul home. Brian Snr. waved several times through the window. Sore muscle in my right buttock as usual. Apart from that I did not feel any the worse for wear after the golf. A little nervous because it was quite warm today. I drank the contents of the TUI Credit Union water bottle on the course saving the bottle of RiverRock I purchased from Ian Brennan before I went out on the course for later on in the bar. Louth lost by 7 points to Meath in Parnell Park while we were playing our round which began at 13:06. Paul 93 – 16 = 77. Brian 82 – 7 = 75. Rosanna gave me 2 baked breaded fish cakes for tea as well of some of her own because she thought it was not thoroughly cooked. Later I ate Corn Flakes and milk. Wore my dentures all day from early morning until bedtime when I brushed my gums and three remaining teeth. A first for a long time. Up early, c 07:30, to pack my golf gear and get ready. I think I ate Weetabix, sliced banana, milk; for breakfast. Drank tea too. Drove to Bellurgan Service Station where I withdrew 2x€50 notes from the service till. Crossed the mountain to The Strand. Dessie rang me at The Long Woman’s Grave to say Paul Smyth was not ready at the top of the road and he was not going over to collect him. Paul rang me in The Strand. I told him and said, “I was early this morning, I could have collected you.” Anyway Paul consulted with his father who agreed to run him down to The Strand. Paul turned up just as four of us; Pringle, Dessie, Mooney, me; sat down for breakfast soon after 10:00 at a round table for 5 towards the back of the new room on the way to the service area. €35 for 5 full breakfasts including corn flakes for Dermot Mooney and mushrooms for all. Willie Jones served the breakfasts leaving Dessie until last and gave me €15 change in two notes out of a €50 note. Good meal. An egg, a rasher, 2 large sausages, black pudding, white pudding, potato farl, soda pancake, mushrooms, tea, orange juice, red sauce, brown sauce, brown bread, butter, marmalade. Maybe the repast stood me in good stead later in the day as I laboured round the golf course? Lively meeting of Cooley Environmental and Health Group. Theme for Winter Workshop 2017 decided: “Homelessness.” I tried to get them to consider running with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals 2030 of the United Nations. But I did not get much of an audience although I used most of my oratorical powers of persuasion. But maybe my effort lacked conviction? Pringle had a report of the meeting up on the CEHG website before nightfall. A good report. He also has included a link to maps on The National Cancer Registry site. Paul left The Strand with me at around 12:00 and I took him to his home to collect his golf gear. Julie and Ella sitting eating at the table in the kitchen in sunny humour. I wished Julie well for her wedding on Saturday. Paul and I reached the club in plenty of time and booked in for golf. Entrance + 2’s + RiverRock = €8.50. The European soccer championship has started. Poland 1, Northern Ireland 0, today. England drew with Russia last night 1 – 1. Berger won the St. Jude Classic by 3 from Mickelson, Koepka, Stricker; with Dustin Johnston in 5th scoring the low round of the tournament, 63, on the last day including a chip-in eagle on a back 9 of 29, a record for the back 9. I watched some of it on Sky Sports 4. But there had been a delay, it was getting late, tiredness got the better of me.
Professor Dennis Pringle, Mentor; Paul Smyth, Chairperson; Archbishop Michael Desmond Hynes OMD PhD, Secretary; Dermot Mooney, Vice-Chairperson: pictured in The Strand, Omeath, Ireland on Sunday morning, 10 April 2016, after the meeting of Cooley Environmental and Health Group
Sunday 10 April 2016
Starting at around 13:00 with Paul Smyth and Brian Farrell I played 18 in windy conditions. Unfortunately I had an NR on the second hole but my card was marked with a score on every other hole. I took 49 for the back 9 including a penalty shot on 11 and a 7 on 18. I drove the ball very poorly on the last 3 tees. Brian returned 89 – 7 = 82 including an 8 on the last hole. Paul trying to play cagey golf retired in frustration and anger on 12. I drank my bottle of RiverRock in the bar and ate my chunky Kit-Kat. Watched Tottenham Hotspurs demolish Manchester United 3 – 0. United held their own well until the first goal went in mid-way through the second half. Then I took a shower in the locker room and changed my clothes. Felt fresh enough and relatively pain-free. Most of the people I spoke to were tired after their round due to the wind. I thought Brian who was lagging behind at the end was very tired. He did not come up to the bar because he had to take his woman, Elizabeth, to choir practice. The airport choir. I ate a dinner of beef stew, some cold smoked boiled bacon, an orange, a coffee; at home. Journalled. Watched Spieth collapse with a quadruple bogey on the par 3, 12th hole, in The Masters. He was twice in the water there. Danny Willet ran out the winner playing solid golf. I did not get to bed until long after 01:00. Ate 2 heels of brown pan toasted with butter and marmalade and a mug of tea for a late-late supper. In the morning I attended in The Strand a meeting of Cooley Environmental and Health Group starting with a fried breakfast including mushrooms at 10:00. Me, Dermot Mooney, Dennis Pringle, Dessie Hynes, Paul Smyth. €35 for 5 breakfasts. I gave a financial report and bared my emotions talking about people falling through the cracks in the services. The mentally ill, the homeless, the old, addicts, those convicted of crime. So that was chosen as the theme for Winter Workshop 2017. I took a group photo at the end and left Paul Smyth at home around 12:10. Text’d Glenda looking for the name of the Japanese girl in the photo with her. Later tonight I sent having received no reply a photo of Glenda solo to Pringle for the Cooley Enviromental and Health Group website although I had not Glenda’s specific approval. As I pointed out earlier my mood was a little overhung by the thoughts of golf but when I got the golf out of my system I felt more at ease with the world. Paul Smyth rang in apologetic mode later on this evening. As of 1 March, with all payments made and all receipts for the previous year in, the balance in CEHG’s account was ~ €1860. My handicap now is 14.4.
Up c 07:10. Shower but did not put on clean underclothes, socks, shirt. John Kidney crinkled up his nose at me in disgust in the Greek Restaurant in the evening before dinner? However I applied Paco Rabanne 1 Million a.m. Ate a continental breakfast including tea, smoked salmon, pastries. Good humoured African mademoiselle attended to me. A very intense day in the incubator-like meeting room on the 7th floor. René wanted the sliding glass doors to the balcony open; Eva wanted them shut because smoke is one of her many allergies. Presentations about 1 hour each from Maria Nyman, director of Mental Health Europe; Camille Bullot, membership officer, European Patients’ Federation; Catherine Naughton, finance officer, European Disability Federation; Henri Nickels, head of sector, equality and citizens’ rights department, Fundamental Rights Agency. Lunch 12:15 —> 13:45. Sandwiches, a glass of wine, fruit cocktail, coffee. Chat with Agnes from Belgium at lunch table. Dinner in a Greek restaurant round the corner from the hotel. “Bon soir, Mademoiselle,” “Vin blanc, s’il vous plait.” “A good choice, M’sieu.” A little curtsy? Sat beside John Kidney at the end of the table. No-one opposite. Lupe and Maths near. Also Eva (The Goddess), distressed after the row with René today? Wine, bread, salad, ice-cream/chocolate dessert, coffee. Nice and not overpowering. Took no shower, wrote no journal, straight to bed c 21:20.
Drove across the mountain on a windy and wet morning to The Strand. Breakfast with Dessie and also Dennis Pringle. No sign of Dermot Mooney. An accident on the Newry/Omeath road, Dennis told us. Dennis chaired a good meeting of Cooley Environmental and Health Group. I took a few photos and uploaded 2 of them later onto Facebook. Formatted my Canon. I drove home from Omeath the long way stopping off in the golf club where I had an Americano and a short conversation with Joe Molloy who was in the bar with his son Joseph and Larry Hughes. “Did you ever play in a cup final, Buster?” “An FAI cup final? No.” I listened to the cup final from the Aviva inattentively working on the Dell Inspiron in the sitting room. Dundalk scored in the last few minutes of extra time and ran out 1 – 0 winners over Cork City and were by all accounts the superior team. But it was close. The Pats were beaten in Drogheda in the first round of the Leinster Club Championship by Ballyboden St. Enda’s, 1 – 08 v 0 – 07. I wrote out the minutes of the TUIRMA AGM. Trouble with the Mail app on my Dell. Also e-mailed on the Acer Silvia re RENEW starting on 25 November. Got my journal up-to-date working in the sitting room. I ate boiled rice and chicken curry for tea. Supper of wheat bisks, sliced banana, milk. Trousers damp at the front and the inside of my thighs uncomfortable. Felt better when I washed my teeth, head and body and put on pyjamas. I think I lit the fire and anyway there was a good fire going in the White Elephant Lounge most of the evening. Very few people braved the elements to get out on the golf course today. Read about Gotterdammerung, the twilight of the gods, on Wikipaedia. Tried to grapple with the program of Staatsoper Unter den Linden next summer when Ekaterina Gubanova will figure in The Ring conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
Up 06:20 after a slight nightmare featuring misshapen thieves and my watch. Played 6 starting at 07:50. 5, 4, 5, 5, 6, 5 = 30. Never struck a decent approach putt. Took 3 from the edge of 13, 14, 17. 3-putted 15. Pitched with a lob wedge on 16 and 18 and 2-putted both greens. Took a shower and changed everything. 20° at 08:00. Drank a 500ml bottle of Coke sitting at the bench outside the pro shop. Chat there with Alan Dempsey who has recently retired from An Gárda and rejoined the club. Dessie rolled up. Good chat between the three of us. Laddie bore the mark where the growth on his right back thigh has been removed. I think I ate a ham sandwich for breakfast and drank 2 mugs of Barry’s Tea. Consumed corn flakes and milk for lunch. Printed on my new Dell laser printer my journal for June and mounted it in the shocking pink ring backed folder. Fried several slices of baked ham on the Tefal pan in butter. Also fried boiled turnips left over from yesterday and some of yesterday’s mash. Scoffed the lot. Washed up thoroughly. Swept the kitchen floor. Had taken a short siesta. Re-made my bed. Washed teeth and face. Donned clean white shirt sans vest, Greenore cufflinks, grey underpants, grey small-check Robbie slacks, blue suspenders, dark grey Kartel 42” jacket, dark grey socks, black Hush Puppie brogues. Wore a silver and blue biro in my shirt pocket and a silver and gold watch on my left wrist. Dessie pulled up outside the gate at 19:20 and ferried me in his small Fiat to Stephenson’s Pond. Tea and a scone with raspberry jam. Municipal Area meeting of the PPN (public participation network). Larry Magnier elected to the secretariat. He was one of 4 who stood for election: an African lady, a woman called Thompson from Omeath, John Morgan. Rosanna played 12 holes with the sisterhood. Grumpy.
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