2013 365 - 25

Big week here in Northern Ireland as we gear up for G8 summit down on the shores of Lough Erne, with a whole crew of world leaders  arriving. Massive security provisions were of course put in place to avoid a repeat of previous violent protests at G8 summits. Extra police drafted in, total lock down in Enniskillen, extra cells built, judges on standby, all of which proved to be completely unnecessary. I did however, think it appropriate to concentrate on the protests, at least for the first part of the week. After that, I retreated to my greenhouse in the hope of restoring some sanity.

17/06/13

I had thought about how local people wight protest about the G8 and immediately thought of the wonderful Father Ted episode about the naughty film, The Passion of St Tibulous. Particularly Ted and Dougal's approach to protesting outside the cinema on Bishop Brennan's orders. 

18/06/13

One of the really amusing aspect of the protests was the fact that the BBC were very fond of reporting about the fact that only five people were camped in the campsite designated for protestors. Even more amusing were the reports that two of these five were actually Dutch tourists who had accidentally been directed to the campsite by over-helpful police who assumed they were here to protest rather than just being on holiday. The dog who was also present got a bit of coverage too. She was from Scotland and her name was Grace.

19/06/13

And sticking with the theme of Grace the dog, I figured she must be up to something and just using the whole "I came here with my scottish owner" thing as some sort of smoke screen. Thankfully the police also had the same idea and promptly arrested her. Grace was subsequently discovered not to be a real dog but to be two anarchist midgets in a dog suit who were planning to symbolically cock their leg against David Cameron. OK - I admit I was getting desperate here and maybe made some of that up.

20/06/13

The greenhouse is really starting to take shape and I spent a wee bit more time in it this week and things were happening. The sunflowers Sarah and I had planted were beginning to flower, much to the delight of the elderly sisters who live next door. I may take one into them.

21/06/13

Got this safety tip courtesy of my dad who pointed out that having loads of bamboos sticking up out the growbags might eventually lead to me losing an eye when I'm watering and working with the plants. Luckily, being the messy and untidy person that I am, my car was full of empty plastic bottles.

22/06/13

 I hadn't planned on posting this shot of one of the sunflower buds, but there's something about it that speaks to me. The curves and colours work for me, and there's a nice quality to the light.

23/06/13

Simone Felice playing in the Black Box, Belfast this afternoon as part of the Open House Festival. This was my third time seeing Simone in concert and he was as good as ever. A talented musician and performer (he's not bad on drums either). There was something quite magical  about listening to him on a Sunday afternoon in Belfast while supping a pint or two of the black lemonade.