June – Colleges, Changes and Afghan Carpets

During May and June, I attended events from various colleges, from film history to film future, crafts and war, and started a course in law.

We went to a local college open day as my husband trained with them previously. We saw the finished works which included animated short films, sculpture, photography, printing and design. They had a barbecue party to celebrate the end of the year.

I joined a focus group run by one of my past colleges, IADT, for a talk online about films and what films we would like to see. I don’t attend a lot of films, but Dune was an obvious set to mention. We agreed that something based on an existing IP (intellectual property) has many advantages.


I attended a talk in Trinity College about film history. Professor Michael Aronson is visiting from America and is setting up a network of research material about cinemas. He encourages film students to research the history of a local cinema and add that work to the network. One student said she wanted to find out the name of a movie theatre proprietor. Her last name was known, her married name, Mrs. Jake Smith. At the time women were called Mrs. (surname) in published materials. By researching through Ancestry.com the young lady was able to discover the proprietor’s first name, Agnes.
In Ireland, an obvious and important cinema was the Savoy on what’s now O’Connell St. This was rebuilt after the country’s change to the Irish Free State, and every decision from where to buy curtains to how many people to employ, was a politically charged issue.


I visited an exhibition of stunning rugs woven by women in Afghanistan, complete with film clips of the changing times there, from the start of the last century to today. These were compiled by one of the Trinity College departments, the School of Religion, Theology and Peace Studies. The women crafters reflected what they saw around them, which sadly, included war materials and army transports. Also a fantastical beast like a camel, the Buraq.

I spent an afternoon walking around town taking photos as the day was sunny. I enjoyed lunch al fresco at Collins Barracks, now the Museum of Decorative Arts and History. Coffee and a toasted sandwich of goats’ cheese, honey, and walnut on sourdough bread in the parade square was quite decorative!

I had further meetings with the friends who want to publish books on Kindle. They are nearly at the publish stage but not quite. They are so full of enthusiasm that I always feel energised after chatting.

I attended the launch of the summer edition of Tolka literary magazine. Very nice, wine and readings. This was held in Books Upstairs, the oldest independent bookshop in Dublin. One contributor who read from her work was Julia Merican who lives in London.

We had local and European elections, so not leading to a change of government, but it does show the parties the depth of their support.

I test drove a new van and while it doesn’t suit me completely, it fits in my driveway and would do my work. I bought it. This is three years old and lightly used – by a sparky, it looks like. The most sustainable vehicle is one which is already on the road.


The old van which I bought new in 2001 was a trade-in, we’re sad to see it go, but it’s in such good condition, the garage staff are talking about putting it in the Nissan museum. The problem I had with it was lack of parts over the past couple of years; as I maintained it so well, the exhaust tested zero for particulate matter last year. Diesel is now 10% biofuel in Ireland, and a fuel additive called Bluestar cleans the engine and exhaust as you drive. A serious problem for me was that vans have been made wider every year, and anything newer would not fit in my or my clients’ driveways.

I signed up for a course with the Law Society of Ireland again, this one is in Environmental, Social and Governance, or ESG, law. Continuing professional training is extremely important and has been made more so by the influx of new and forthcoming EU laws in the ESG field.


This month I am making A Dog For Lockdown free to download from 19 – 22 July.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08H2C4K46

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H2C4K46

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