If you didn’t get to read Beer Chronicles part 1 (which was posted originally under a different title), please message me. So, 17th March 2020, St Patrick’s Day, a day when all the parades in Ireland, north and south were cancelled and pubs in the Republic shut. We really had the luck of the Irish that day, our test results came back negative, and for the first time since coming back we slept a full night. However, spare a thought for Martin and our colleague. While we tested negative for the virus on Tuesday, the CDC advised their hotel to … Continue reading The Beer Chronicles Part 2 written 20 March 2020

Isolationism: Isolationism is a category of foreign policies institutionalised by leaders who assert that nations’ best interests are best served by keeping the affairs of other countries at a distance. (Thanks Wikipedia for your basic but useful definition) Russian roulette: a lethal game of chance in which a player places a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against their head, and pulls the trigger, in the hope that the round does not reach the barrel of the gun and therefore fire. To run the gauntlet: is to take part in a form of corporal punishment … Continue reading The Beer Chronicles Part 1 Written 17 March 2020

When you fall off a bike or a horse the advice is to get back on immediately so that there isn’t the loss of nerve. For Eleanor 4 years ago, she didn’t have that luxury. She fell off a horse and was rushed to hospital to have a CT scan, MRI scan and X Ray and an overnight stay in the children’s ward courtesy of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. Thankfully she made a full recovery but she made it clear that horses were my thing. More details were on the blog from 11 September 2016 when there was another … Continue reading Back in the saddle.