Fiacre Banks

@xFiacre (15487)

Ireland

Joined myLot 11 years ago

An Irishman who has called many places home, enjoys whiskey in moderation and reads Dostoyevsky frequently.

Discussions (185)

Fiacre Banks's Discussions

Government to the rescue.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 27 Oct

All our governments are caught between raising revenue to pay for defence, education, health etc and trying to ease the cost of living for ordinary folk - an impossible tightrope to walk. Now the British government has decided...

5 responses •

5 people

Vindicated and justified.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 26 Oct

I’m feeling quite smug today, and justifiably so. Some have mocked my stockpiling of emergency rations in case of some sort of emergency - storms, war, snow, plague etc. I have been putting away tinned food etc but I’m not...

4 responses •

4 people

Who are Fred and Dorothy?

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 25 Oct

The giving of names to animals is a strange one, but one we find sort of natural and necessary, helping to form a bond between animal and ‘owner’. Our current cat is named Spoon, and in the past we’ve had Christopher, Jasper,...

5 responses •

4 people

Old pieces.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 24 Oct

Just before my unexpected flying visit to Rome I happened across this little lady in a second hand shop in town. I’ve been looking for this sort of a bookcase for a while now and this is a good solid one with no woodworm. Now the...

7 responses •

7 people

Always Delhi (long account of long meander)

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 24 Oct

It all started in the 1960s when my father began enthusing about an Irish woman (Dervla Murphy) riding a bicycle from Dublin to Delhi. By ‘all’ I mean my developing pre-occupation with India, not all in the absolute sense; my...

1 response •

1 person

Ah, Rome.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 21 Oct

Rome’s being washed by heavy rain today but that’s ok. We’ll cafe hop. I had no option but to start last night’s repast with a little saucer of olives, oil and delicious bread, while awaiting the starter of a deep fried zucchino...

9 responses •

8 people

Take it right up the janiculum sir.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 18 Oct

Some of you will know from the title of this little report where I am, and you’ll perhaps think to yourselves, “Oh that’s nice for him”. Others may be somewhat alarmed, assuming that I’ve been undergoing an intimate and...

5 responses •

6 people

Discombobulated, but in a good way.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 16 Oct

There was a fireball sun hanging low in the cloudless autumn sky early this morning. It was a cold sun. I couldn’t see it because it was hidden behind the garage wall, but it was sending its rays into the garden through the now...

3 responses •

4 people

A gentler rhythm is called for.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 12 Oct

A thick mist and a heavy drizzle where what I stepped into this morning at 8:30 on the promenade leading out of town along the coast. There was a moderate swell in the sea and it was in close to the shore, but only splashing onto...

4 responses •

5 people

Where do you go to my lovely?

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 11 Oct

For a while I sat in the car by the shore this morning with my daughter. The sun shone from beyond grey clouds and somehow shimmered on the cold water. I was drinking a wretched coffee - flat white from a machine in a gas...

5 responses •

4 people

Today has started and will continue till midnight.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 8 Oct

My nose was cold when I woke this morning. Autumn air had crept into the bedroom through the open window, and it had brought with it the gardeny smell of decaying leaves. The temperature was just above freezing when I stepped...

6 responses •

8 people

All’s well in Fiacrestan.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 8 Oct

There’s a cold but searingly bright sun shining over cloudless Larne this morning and the word “refulgent” comes to mind. The otherwise silent garden is awash with the chirping of a robin or two and the loud laughter of the end...

3 responses •

3 people

A necessary evil.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 8 Oct

A pleasant autumn is spoiled for me each year because October is when I need to renew my house insurance. I receive a new quote for the coming year from my current insurer about 2 weeks ahead of the due date, and if I’m happy...

3 responses •

4 people

Accounting for the day.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 6 Oct

A long time ago swimming lifted me right out of a fearful depression. Then it fixed my back, and now I’ve returned to it. I’ve spoken here about getting what they call “Grumpy old man membership” of the public pool that gets me...

5 responses •

6 people

When you’re weary.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 2 Oct

I drove my wife to the airport yesterday morning at 5.30, well before sun up. On the way back things changed. The sun was still invisible, but its influence of light and heat was starting to make itself felt. I noticed the eastern...

7 responses •

6 people

October laundry.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 1 Oct

It has been good to feel some lower temperatures at last. Over the hot summer months it felt like it would never be cold again. Last night the air temperature dropped to 4C (39F) and I luxuriated in it. This afternoon we’re back...

6 responses •

8 people

Ireland under rain.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 29 Sep

The sun is still a few hours away from rising and the soft refreshing rain that's beating down on Larne reminds me that life is sweet and it's for living. I have the bedroom window thrown open so that I can hear the waters of...

5 responses •

5 people

October sadness.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 29 Sep

@Ambiepam just asked us what we liked about October. I told her I like European cities in fall, with fallen leaves and warm, cozy cafes. Proper hot chocolate in Bertillon’s in Paris. And of course as I thought about that October...

6 responses •

5 people

Good days.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 29 Sep

I definitely enjoy more good days than bad, and am overflowing with gratitude for it. Bad days happen, but there’s always the promise of help to get through them, and the sure and certain hope of a future where there is “no more...

4 responses •

4 people

Today is yesterday’s tomorrow.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (15487) • Ireland 28 Sep

Christmas Eve a few years ago, pre-covid, I was nearly in tears. Nostalgia does that to me, it lays me low. Lazy atmosphere in a Tuesday morning café. Lazy and slow, air heavy with coffee grinds and the winter sunshine outside...

3 responses •

4 people