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  <a href="/blog/blog/6156335/ailsa-craig-the-birth-of-a-song">Ailsa Craig: The Birth of a Song</a>&nbsp;
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<p><em>I was walking one evening along the North Down coast</em></p>
<p><em>And as I walked I was thinking </em></p>
<p><em>Of the one I loved the most.</em></p>
<p><em>As the sun set on Bangor, far across the waves,</em></p>
<p><em>Dark against the horizon</em></p>
<p><em>I glimpsed Ailsa Craig.</em></p>
<p><em>&nbsp;</em></p>
<p><em>On the night of my returning</em></p>
<p><em>To the land where I was born</em></p>
<p><em>The gulls cried till morning</em></p>
<p><em>Trying to chase me from the shore.</em></p>
<p><em>I had no thought of leaving till the end of my days</em></p>
<p><em>Then across the horizon</em></p>
<p><em>I saw Ailsa Craig.</em></p>
<p><em>&nbsp;</em></p>
<p><em>Where is my love tonight,</em></p>
<p><em>Where has he gone?</em></p>
<p><em>He moved beyond my sight</em></p>
<p><em>To</em>…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/blog/blog/6156335/ailsa-craig-the-birth-of-a-song">Read more</a></span></div>
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    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2013-04-11T12:00:00-12:00" title="April 11, 2013 12:00">04/11/2013</span></p>

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  <a href="/blog/blog/6156334/the-journey-of-making-twenty-miles-from-home">The Journey of Making &#39;Twenty Miles from Home&#39;</a>&nbsp;
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>The Journey of Making ‘Twenty Miles from Home’</strong></p>
<p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong><em>The Title</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>&nbsp;</em></strong></p>
<p>The title <em>Twenty Miles from Home </em>is intended to conjure a journey. The perception of the listener directs its meaning; you have been on a long journey and are in the final stretch on your way home (my perception), or you are far from home, or you have nearly made it but not quite. ‘Home’ is a very emotive word and concept.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The songs on the album were written at home in County Down, Northern Ireland and in Wiltshire. Eight of the twelve…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/blog/blog/6156334/the-journey-of-making-twenty-miles-from-home">Read more</a></span></div>
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    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2013-03-25T12:00:00-12:00" title="March 25, 2013 12:00">03/25/2013</span></p>

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  <a href="/blog/blog/6156333/the-road-goes-ever-on-and-on">The Road Goes Ever On and On</a>&nbsp;
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<p><strong>The Road Goes Ever On and On</strong></p>
<p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong></strong></p>
<p><em>The Road goes ever on and on</em></p>
<p><em>Down from the door where it began.</em></p>
<p><em>Now far ahead the Road has gone,</em></p>
<p><em>And I must follow, if I can,</em></p>
<p><em>Pursuing it with eager feet,</em></p>
<p><em>Until it joins some larger way</em></p>
<p><em>Where many paths and errands meet.</em></p>
<p><em>And whither then? I cannot say.</em></p>
<p><em>&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>J.R.R Tolkien, <em>The Lord of the Rings</em>, Book I, Chapter I</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>As 2013 begins I am quite awed and bewildered by the way in which I seem to have found myself on a road which has no junctions, and simply have to follow it. I…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/blog/blog/6156333/the-road-goes-ever-on-and-on">Read more</a></span></div>
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    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2013-01-04T12:00:00-12:00" title="January 04, 2013 12:00">01/04/2013</span></p>

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  <a href="/blog/blog/6156332/vampire-bites-and-autumn-leaves">Vampire Bites and Autumn Leaves</a>&nbsp;
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<p><strong>Painting by Joanne Robinson.</strong></p>
<p>We are passing from autumn into winter. Today in the Queen’s University of Belfast the autumn leaves hid the double yellow lines all around Carmel Street. It’s 13 years since I graduated from my Master of Arts degree and I was there to meet my former tutor and former classmate, both long time friends. The place has changed a lot… the old stacks has been replaced with an even bigger library, ten times the size of the library in the Newton Park campus of Bath Spa University…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/blog/blog/6156332/vampire-bites-and-autumn-leaves">Read more</a></span></div>
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    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2012-11-07T12:00:00-12:00" title="November 07, 2012 12:00">11/07/2012</span></p>

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  <a href="/blog/blog/6156331/what-support-means-to-me">What Support Means to Me...</a>&nbsp;
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<p><strong>What ‘Support’ Means to Me…</strong></p>
<p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>The lovely Keelie Fiorino is writing a piece about support networks for people with chronic diseases or for those caring for people with chronic diseases. She asked for contributions. This is mine.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><em>A Chord of Three Strands</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>&nbsp;</em></strong></p>
<p><em>If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! ... Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.</em></p>
<p>Ecclesiastes 4:10-11</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The ancient…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/blog/blog/6156331/what-support-means-to-me">Read more</a></span></div>
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    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2012-05-10T12:00:00-12:00" title="May 10, 2012 12:00">05/10/2012</span></p>

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  <a href="/blog/blog/6156330/ave-verum-corpus">Ave Verum Corpus</a>&nbsp;
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<p><strong>Ave Verum Corpus</strong></p>
<p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>How old was I when we first met? You know, I can’t even remember now. To me there was always something timeless about you:&nbsp; when I remember you now you are always ageless, just as you have passed from the confines of aging.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>I was young, anyway. I was young and in need of help. Having been trained by a Bach soprano to be a Bach soprano (although I have never been a true devotee of the Baroque), I now had a spot of bother with my voice, i.e. it had stopped working after years of…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/blog/blog/6156330/ave-verum-corpus">Read more</a></span></div>
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    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2012-01-25T12:00:00-12:00" title="January 25, 2012 12:00">01/25/2012</span></p>

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  <a href="/blog/blog/6156329/the-rhododendron">The Rhododendron</a>&nbsp;
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<p><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Rhododendron &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp; In the days before I wandered the world I lived in a place where there were gardens by the sea. In my garden there were sweet peas and hydrangeas and gladioli, and above all else there was a particularly beautiful rhododendron that bloomed every spring. For the rest of the year it overshadowed the flowerbed, a shelter for flora and fauna. Then one day there was a fire in the garden. It swallowed the cheery…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/blog/blog/6156329/the-rhododendron">Read more</a></span></div>
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    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2012-01-24T12:00:00-12:00" title="January 24, 2012 12:00">01/24/2012</span></p>

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  <a href="/blog/blog/6156328/a-cotswolds-odyssey">A Cotswolds Odyssey</a>&nbsp;
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<p>Today my houseguest and friend, Dom, and I went to the village of Castle Combe. It was like going back in time 400 years. The sun was setting over the river, the English cream tea was perfect then when we get home Dom told me about how in the pub next door a woman confided to him that she is hiring a hit man to take out her former fiancé. Seriously. Welcome to the Cotswolds and welcome to Eve’s life 2011/2012 – a time and a place where anything could happen.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>It’s funny how being somewhere so beautiful…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/blog/blog/6156328/a-cotswolds-odyssey">Read more</a></span></div>
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    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2011-12-17T12:00:00-12:00" title="December 17, 2011 12:00">12/17/2011</span></p>

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  <a href="/blog/blog/6156327/ungelic-is-us-learn-a-little-bit-of-old-english-here">Ungelic Is Us.... learn a little bit of Old English here!</a>&nbsp;
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<p><strong>Ungelic Is Us</strong></p>
<p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><em>Leodum is minum swylce him mon lac gife; </em></p>
<p><em>willað hy hine aþecgan, gif he on þreat cymeð. </em></p>
<p><em>Ungelic is us. </em></p>
<p><em>Wulf is on iege, ic on oþerre. </em></p>
<p><em>&nbsp;</em></p>
<p><em>&nbsp;</em></p>
<p>This is the first stanza of Wulf and Eadwacer. It is found in the 10<sup>th</sup> century Exeter book and is one of the oldest surviving poems in English, and perhaps my favourite. It tells the story of two lovers separated by tribal differences, warfare and hatred. If you say ‘ungelic is us’ (oonyehleek is ooss) it sounds like ‘unlike is us’ in modern…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/blog/blog/6156327/ungelic-is-us-learn-a-little-bit-of-old-english-here">Read more</a></span></div>
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    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2011-08-24T12:00:00-12:00" title="August 24, 2011 12:00">08/24/2011</span></p>

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  <a href="/blog/blog/6156326/too-much-carrot-and-not-enough-potato">Too Much Carrot and Not Enough Potato</a>&nbsp;
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<p><strong>Too Much Carrot and Not Enough Potato</strong></p>
<p><em>An Experience of Auto Immune Diseases in Youth</em></p>
<p><em>&nbsp;</em>I lifted the lid on the hospital dinner. The smell was nauseating and yet familiar. It was the same smell as I smelled nearly 31 years ago at the age of four when I came out of a diabetic coma. Today I am in the same hospital but my IV is not filled with insulin. It has a drug called RoActemra in it (tocilizumab is the generic name, but too hard to pronounce when you’re asked what medication you’re taking). This drug is…</p><span class="read-more pdf__hide"><a href="/blog/blog/6156326/too-much-carrot-and-not-enough-potato">Read more</a></span></div>
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    <p class="post-info"><span data-time="2011-07-18T12:00:00-12:00" title="July 18, 2011 12:00">07/18/2011</span></p>

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