Thanks Alice - from me to you!

A gift from Alice in Wonderland.

Firstly, I wanted to thank Alice over at her beautiful site for this lovely gift she gave to me the other evening.  I cannot tell you how surprised I was to receive anything from anyone,  and I appreciate it immensely.  It has boosted my spirits and made me think I can do this.

The other thing is to tell my readers (?) seven things about myself that they don't already know.  I haven't really posted anything about myself at all on this blog, thinking who'd be interested in my boring details, but here goes:

1) I'm doing a course on world literature that I absolutely love, its only one morning a week, but it's really interesting.

2) I like this blogging and hope to get addicted.

3) I don't like romantic films or novels.

4) I used to think Al Pacino was georgeous.

5) I need to lose about a stone and a half but hate dieting, but keep trying.

6) I love live theatre.

7) I'm a closet Daniel O'Donnell fan.

I'm not really able to link seven new bloggers yet, as I'm not very experienced with these type of blogs, and I'm still getting to know my way around this, so I'll need to be excused from that part of the rules for a little while.  As for staying 'awesome', I'm not sure I've even arrived there yet, but thankyou Alice for thinking of me.

Remembering the fall of the Berlin wall.

Today, twenty years ago the Berlin wall fell. I remember it well, and can recall how pieces of the Berlin wall went on sale on ebay. I don't know if what they were selling was actually pieces of the wall, but the scenes on our television screens will always be remembered by most of us old enough to remember that far back. But Berlin as a city has more history than simply a wall coming down, and two sides of a divided Berlin trying desperately to come together after the cold war.

As tourists we went on a walking tour of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp located just out side that city.

It was first used as a concentration camp by the Nazis, and then as a gulag by the soviets. In the later part of the war, ovens were also used there.

Berlin is a beautiful city. The Brandenburg gate is particularly beautiful at night when it is lit up, and some of the scenes I remember from twenty years ago showed people streaming through the gate from east to west.

Check point Charlie now is a bit of tourist fun, it is manned by students who will give you a stamped fake pass to get through the gate, provided you give them something like ten pound sterling, you can get your photo taken there too, and take a look at what remains of the wall, which isn't a lot. I was told that the Germans did want any memorablia from the wall remaining after it fell, which is a pity, so now there isn't much of the wall left to see at the 'checkpoint'. It is a very interesting city, with boat tours along the river, and historical tours including the many walking tours organised from the Brandenburg gate each morning during the summer. We couldn't see everything there was to see here on a one week trip and hope to go back again to see and experience the things we didn't get to see on our last trip and to enjoy some of that German hospitality and good food.

The writing on the front gate of the camp says 'Work will set you free', which of course it didn't in that place. The only way out for the prisoners was through the ovens, a horrible testament to mans' inhumanity to man.

A wet day near Enniskillen.

James Ellroy talks about his style of writing.

The signed book.

To Kate. James Ellroy.

James Ellroy talks about his new book, 'Blood is a rover'.

James Ellroy in Belfast.

Last night we were at the Waterfront Hall, in Belfast to hear James Ellroy talk about his new book, and talk about it and lots of other stuff, he did, and did very well. He is a great orator, and knew how to work a room. This was in the main auditorium rather than the small theatre they have there, and while it was not full, there was definitely a good crowd turnout to hear him, on a very wet, cold and miserable Saturday night. One guy who asked a question on 'Dudley Smith' a character in one of Ellroy's books, and who was Irish and born in Dublin, told us that he had travelled up from that city to hear and meet Ellroy. I also heard French speaking people behind me who had come to the talk.

The evenings format was a reading then a discussion with a local author and questions and answers from the floor. A stage was set with two chairs and small table with some water, and a podium from which Ellroy spoke, and was introduced by David from No Allibi's bookstore.

Far too much happened in one evening to be covered in one post, so I'll blog more about this, and have more pictures and a couple of small short videos too.

Out of sight is not out of mind...

A grand-daughter in Dubai

Always thinking of you, always proud of you, and we will always love you.

Flu jab ....

Today we went and got the flu jab. I was really not all that happy about going, but the attitude 'better safe than sorry' won through!

The nurse said, if your arm gets red, simply put a little cream on it. One of my husbands' work colleagues got the jab, and the swelling went all the way up to his shoulder, so I'm hoping my arm doesn't get as bad as that.

We got the jab in the first batch of patients our doctor notified. It was open surgery. As advertised, doctors surgeries are staying open to accomodate the amount of people who will be getting the swine flu jab. We also got the normal winter flu jabs a few weeks back. I know some people who got the jabs both together, and their arm was a mess. So I decided we'd do it in stages, and get one at a time.

So far so good, my arm is not swollen, only tingly, and feels a little heavy. The nurse said that is how it would be, and that tomorrow it could feel as though someone punched you on it. (!) What ever the situation, I'm glad we got it, its done now. Hopefully it will ward off the infection.