New (not golf) Balls Please


A bloggee has complained (politely) about the emphasis on golf in recent posts. Well Newcastle is mostly about golf so I am only semi apologetic. But I will refrain from mentioning my round this morning on yet another glorious day-no need to chronicle my two birdies, my failure to lose a ball, my stunning drive on the 2nd and the lack of offensive, irritating and unsympathetic characters to immortalise in purple prose. Huttonian will actually be doing other things as from tomorrow as we have a visit from American in-laws and our middle daughter and American husband. They have been here before and look forward to re-visiting places like Mario’s with his mouth watering steaks, The Harbour Inn with its pool table, Mackens, opposite the Harbour Inn once a strongly ‘Protestant/Unionist drinking establishment but now it offers Irish music I suspect the new ownership digs with a left rather than a right foot. And it also has pool-rather an endangered pastime across the water as more and more pubs abandon their tables to make way for more eating space.

So that takes care of the middle son-in law together with satisfying his twitching needs. The middle daughter may also be similarly satisfied. Strangford Lough is mostly birds not to mention Dundrum Bay and Murlough. His mother is into stately homes and castles. We have lot of them –one at Dundrum built by good King John and knocked about a bit by Oliver Cromwell. Houses and gardens galore: Castle Ward, Mount Stewart, Rowallane. And other excitements: Exploris at Portaferry, Tropical Butterflies at Seaforde, (Why come to Norn Iron to see Tropical Butterflies-Colorado must be stuffed with them?) And of course the towering Mournes, full of good walks and lovely, long, lingering climbs for enjoyable cardiac arrests. Where better to be thus arrested than on top of Slieve Binion or Slieve Donard with its wide vistas south to the Dublin Mountains, North to Belfast, West to Newry, East to Cumbria and other places you don’t really want to visit and having seen them from 850 metres you don’t need to.

How about the American father? What can we offer him to compensate for three weeks away from the US of A ?

Golf. .  ¶ 12:50 PM