Wednesday

Van & Edna.

It has been a rainy, dark, and gloomy day. I only went outside to put the rubbish bin out and feed my birds. I bought the wrong bird food a few days ago. I got sunflower hearts, but the sparrows will not touch them. So, I had to get a bag of suet pellets yesterday which they like. In a pot inside my kitchen window, I noticed that a hyacinth has started to grow again. With all the doom and gloom in the world these days any sign of new life is appreciated. I’ll take a photo of it to show you when it flowers. While I was doing the washing up, I listened to a compilation CD which I had not played before. I particularly enjoyed hearing Beth Gibbons and Damien Rice, two people I have not really paid attention to before. It was Edna O’Brien’s 90^th birthday yesterday. She is an Irish treasure and probably Ireland's greatest living writer. The news of her birthday brought back happy memories of Van Morrison’s 2014 Lit Up Inside evening at the Lyric Theatre in London when Edna read the lyrics of Madame George. A friend filmed it and I have shared it below if you have not seen it before.

Grave Of Siegfried Sassoon.

It was dark today by 4.00. I started thinking about future possible bike rides. There is a village about 12 miles away called Mells. When I looked on Wikipedia, I saw that the famous war poet Siegfried Sassoon is buried in the churchyard there. I ended up spending about an hour reading about him and his family. He lived at Heytesbury House, not far away. That might make an interesting little blog if I took my camera along and took a few pics. I would need a nice sunny day though. I will bear it in mind for maybe after Christmas. The big sporting event for me this weekend will be Mayo playing Dublin in the All-Ireland football final. I hope Mayo can do it this year. My late brother Paul was a big fan of Mayo. It is 69 years since they last lifted the Sam Maguire trophy. Even in Chicago Mayo fans are getting excited (See photo) I'll let you know the result.

Chicago Mayo Fans.