Fiacre Banks

@xFiacre (14217)

Ireland

Joined myLot 10 years ago

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

Discussions (252)

Fiacre Banks's Discussions

The Italians have a phrase for it.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 28 Aug

At 1.30 this morning I was suddenly wakened but by what I do not know: I suspect it was a dream rather than a loud bang and I haven’t been asleep since. It’s now 1.30 in the afternoon. I do dislike this kind of disruption and...

5 responses •

6 people

Somebody’s getting married.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 27 Aug

I’m rather pleased with this begonia that I have grown. What isn’t pleasing me today is that the front pages of the newspapers are swooning and blethering about some swiftly woman getting engaged to be married. I think she’s...

12 responses •

13 people

A luncheon success.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 24 Aug

Lunch was enjoyed at a Japanese restaurant today and it was a delight. Our daughter who lives in Scotland is visiting so it was good to take her somewhere agreeable. I had grilled salmon teppanyaki and it really was very good....

5 responses •

7 people

My heart aches.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 23 Aug

A song just popped up my playlist and the opening lines left me weak at the knees and with a gut full of nostalgia. If @maluse were still around she’d comment “Oh you and your nostalgia!” I miss Maluse. The words from Mentissa...

5 responses •

7 people

Naked flying.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 22 Aug

Twice this week the news has reported on the naked antics of aircraft crew - I await the inevitable third. The first was a pilot who was found drunk with no sign of his clothes, wandering around a hotel in Cape Verde, 36 hours...

9 responses •

8 people

A sad street.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 20 Aug

It has become my daily habit to check the deaths column on line. It’s not out of idle, morbid curiosity - it’s because every day I come across someone I have known or a member of their family. Today not only was there a familiar...

6 responses •

7 people

Do you have innocent looking feet?

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 19 Aug

I noted this morning as I washed them, that my feet look quite innocent. Now I generally don’t like feet, particularly the feet of other people and can’t bear to touch anyone else’s feet, nor have anyone touch mine. No pedis for...

5 responses •

5 people

Trotting.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 19 Aug

Ten more sleeps before I trot off to the delightful county of Cork for a week’s sojourn to mark the occasion of my wife’s forty first wedding anniversary. And mine. It’s also her birthday. Staying with travelling, I got no sleep...

4 responses •

5 people

So now you know some essential Greek.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 19 Aug

I never really grew up, as some here have concluded. I still giggle when people break wind in public and I smirk if anyone refers to the French towns of Brest or Condom, or to the Italian town of Bra. So bite me - I’m Fiacre....

8 responses •

9 people

Bed is beautiful.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 18 Aug

Isn’t it so good to be able to fall into a clean bed at the end of a too busy day, a bed dressed in freshly laundered sheets that are cold and starchy? I love that feeling, especially when there are no more responsibilities to be...

9 responses •

10 people

Dog shoot.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 15 Aug

When my family moved from our home in the bush in Malawi to live in a city we were very conscious of stray dogs, and worried about them. In the bush we cohabited alongside lions, hyenas, baboons and the occasional elephant, but so...

6 responses •

7 people

I might have gone mad.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 14 Aug

My garden is awash with mist this morning after the torrid heat of yesterday. I’ve woken into it from a bizarre dream in which Rebekah, wife of Isaac in the Old Testament story, was making a sleeping bag. It was extremely well...

6 responses •

7 people

A fine day indeed.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 13 Aug

We lallygagged up to Cranny falls this sweet afternoon, stopping often along the way to admire butterflies, sheep, dragonflies and the view below us. When we got home I prepared chicken satay then settled with my wife in the...

3 responses •

5 people

Long time no see.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 12 Aug

I messaged my Scottish brother today to wish him a happy birthday. I didn’t know where he was: he has the options of Scotland, Normandy, Hong Kong or Ho Chi Minh city - he’s usually in one of those. Sometimes elsewhere. But he...

4 responses •

5 people

Lack-lustre night out.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 10 Aug

We went out for a meal this evening and it was disappointing but I have only myself to blame - I know that restaurant experiences are rarely worth the money. The menu was alright, but there was nothing on it I couldn’t have made...

7 responses •

7 people

Interest rates just got cut.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 7 Aug

Some folk, notably reporters, are getting somewhat aroused by the fact that the Bank of England has cut its interest rate to 4% from 4.25%. Bless them. For me that’s good and bad. I have a mortgage whose rate is fixed for two...

4 responses •

6 people

The crazies are still at it.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 7 Aug

A more or less empty car park at the supermarket and this is how she parks!! No excuses. And she just got out and walked away not noticing!! It’s a good thing I remembered to bring my portable judgement seat with me today: it...

8 responses •

9 people

Down with zoos.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 7 Aug

When I ascend the throne by popular demand I will begin a phased closure of all zoos. Step one will be the prohibition of the import/export of exotic animals, and zoos will not be allowed to replenish their stock as animals die...

7 responses •

8 people

Unwanted pet solution.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 4 Aug

Did you read about how Aalborg zoo in Denmark wants to feed its captive carnivores? It is advertising for members of the public to donate their unwanted pets!! They only accept healthy pets (rabbits, chickens, guinea pigs etc)...

12 responses •

13 people

Oh Stella you silly girl.

Fiacre Banks @xFiacre (14217) • Ireland 4 Aug

Stella is a girl with whom I studied French in university. I met up with her in Paris when we both lived there and swapped stories about truly embarrassing things we said as we tried out our French in real life situations. On...

5 responses •

6 people