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SWB on the power of poetry

Why I can’t stop reading poetry – By Helen McClements

July 24, 2017 by sourweebastard
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Helen Mcclements

sourweeblog

Lifestyle blogger, based in Belfast.
Likes to tell stories.
Wife, mum and collector of pets.
Never gets a moment's peace.
Gives off a lot.

🦜such a pleasure to present my handiwork to @bo 🦜such a pleasure to present my handiwork to @boylemo1961 & my friend Donna today. If you’re a resident of the #ormeauroad you may well recognise this material – it came from the windcheaters from outside Grafitti cafe, & I bought them when they closed up this year and we’re selling off some of their treasured items. Many thanks go to at @ireneboyle who let me at her sewing machine & gave me instruction. Without her help this idea would never have come to fruition! It’s always a pleasure to visit her gorgeous studio down in the #ardspeninsula. #sewing #handmade #handmadegiftsarethebest #belfast #northernireland
🏃‍♀️LOVED the #greatrossarun run in #Ardb 🏃‍♀️LOVED the #greatrossarun run in #Ardboe today, & grateful to @ormeaurunners for letting me tag along, So many kind volunteers along the picturesque 10k route, keeping us refreshed & buoyant with plenty of encouragement. 👏👏🍔🍰🧁The spread afterwards was immense as always. They are BIG fans of the #jammiejoey down this direction. 😋 Also delighted to give my new top from the #larks.runners its first spin out.
Yep. The pre-holiday diet is going EXTREMELY well. Yep. The pre-holiday diet is going EXTREMELY well. 🙄 #bakewellslice #whippyicecream #belfast #northernireland
🍓I’ve had a bumper crop of berries this summe 🍓I’ve had a bumper crop of berries this summer & have been experimenting with making syrup from the tops which would normally be put straight in the compost. 🍃🍓It’s definitely worth leaving a little bit more strawberry on the tops for extra flavour. I used 100g sugar, 150 ml water and about 150 g of strawberry tops. It was perfect added to sparkling water for a homemade cordial. 🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹🍹
📚Is it even the holidays if you don’t go to a 📚Is it even the holidays if you don’t go to a second-hand bookshop & raid the shelves? Can’t wait to start into this pile. It’s always muse a point of having a book (or three) on the go, but absolutely longing for the beach now for some bookish escapism. 🌊👙🏖️🐚
☀️Glorious summer read alert!! ⁣ ⁣ 🙏 Th ☀️Glorious summer read alert!! ⁣
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🙏 Thanks to @lucy.mangan in @guardian for the recommendation. ⁣
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📚 If you love a feisty heroine, a dah of poetry & a big dollop of bookshop shenanigans, then this is for you.⁣
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💞 It’s wry & poignant & @stephaniebutland isn’t scared to touch on the dark stuff too. Gotta keep it real…⁣
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⭐️ A cracker read ⭐️
Longest day- Rossnowlagh. #sunset #solstice #june2 Longest day- Rossnowlagh. #sunset #solstice #june21 #donegal #ireland
Earlier we ate brunch in this gem of a place on th Earlier we ate brunch in this gem of a place on the #lisburnroad . All your usual brunchy fare on offer: French toast, pancakes, Ulster fry. But cooked to perfection: generous portions & excellent service. Also delicious smoothies! 🍓🍍🍒I should have taken photographs but I didn’t because I was too hungry and if I’m really honest a little bit hung-over too. 😔 I realise this isn’t a great post, but it is a great café.#brunch #belfast #northernireland
So thrilled to have a poem published in #washingwi So thrilled to have a poem published in #washingwindowsv by Arlen House, & to have my hands on a gorgeous copy of the collection, beautifully edited by Alan Hayes & @nuala_oconnor. Nuala was also launching her last anthology ‘Menagerie’ & I particularly enjoyed her poems which featured her cats Nora & Jimmy, who sound every bit as errant as my own.🐱👹It was as also such a pleasure to get chatting to @deirdrecartmill & pick her brains for writing advice. The Irish Secretariat was, as always, a wonderful venue. #irishwriters #irishwomenwriters #poetry #arlenhouse #belfast #belfastwriters #northernireland
#Ardee in #louthireland has enlisted the help of k #Ardee in #louthireland has enlisted the help of kids to battle the dog poo wars- great initiative!! 🐶💩
Today we were in #Tullamore for an athletic event Today we were in #Tullamore for an athletic event with Georgina, so @steveygarland & I squeezed in the sunniest, friendliest & doggiest #parkrunie & so glad we did. #parkruntourism is the best way to start a weekend somewhere different & get a sense of a place. There were wildflowers & lilypads & horses watching on as we ran. Beautiful(& bloody hard as it was v humid & I had wine last night 🤢). But brilliant!! #parkrun #parkruncommunity #offaly #tullamore #grandcanaloffaly #midlandsireland #irishwolfhoundsofinstagram
📚So delighted to attend the launch of ‘Barren 📚So delighted to attend the launch of ‘Barren’ by @byddilee, in @noalibisbookstore last night. The excerpts read by Byddi last night were funny & poignant & intriguing. Can’t wait to read in the sun.☀️
Beautiful #helensbaybeach this morning! Run, stret Beautiful #helensbaybeach this morning! Run, stretch, dip. Perfect 😊☀️ Thanks to @ali741971 for her sparkling company. ✨💫🌟
🙈Here is a really boring video for you.⁣ ⁣ 🙈Here is a really boring video for you.⁣
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Well, it may look boring, but I’m actually really proud of my organisational skills here. I’m a scattered sort of a person, & spend a large proportion of my life hunting for stuff.🤯⁣
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But, when I realised my kids weren’t playing with their Lego anymore, & I found a charity looking for some so we took a bit of time over a few days to sort & get it ready to donate. 🎁⁣
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I’ve now nabbed the drawers for the kitchen area. Aesthetically pleasing it is NOT, but my anxiety levels are way down, now I know where I can find everyday items. 😀⁣
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📔Drawer 1 is for a small sewing box & my diary, which I constantly misplace. ⁣
💌Drawer 2 is tapes & cards & envelopes.⁣
✏️Drawer 3 is pens & stationery.⁣
📦Drawer 4 is for bigger packing envelopes & a few random bits. ⁣
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Taking a whole day to organise would send me looking for the gin bottle (who am I kidding, I do this anyway) but it was infinitely easier because we took the odd half hour here and there to get it done. ⁣
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In this weekend’s @guardian there was a brilliant article about this so head on over if you fancy a read. I’ll also be on @u105radio now talking about this very thing. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/may/17/sort-your-life-out-in-30-minute-chunks-how-to-make-the-most-of-a-power-half-hour #organise #powerhalfhour
In ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’, Adichie describes w In ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’, Adichie describes with lacerating spareness, the effects of starvation on the Biafran people. At least two million civilians lost their lives as a result of the conflict; many died of hunger, & many of these casualties were babies & children. @concernworldwideuk was born as a result of perilous missions to bring food & medical aid to the starving. Yesterday it was announced in Israel that a ‘basic amount of food’ could enter Gaza. Meanwhile strikes continue to hit refugee camps & a hospital in the North. ( source- BBC news). Reading Adichie, we wonder how such an atrocity could be allowed to happen back in 1967, in what was the world‘s first televised report on  famine. Now we have many means of social media to show us exactly what the people of Gaza are enduring, & still it goes on. #gaza #genocide #palestine #gazaunderattack #gazaunderfire #gazagenocide🇵🇸 #bbc #concernworldwide
☀️Smiley happy larks this morning for a trot b ☀️Smiley happy larks this morning for a trot by the sea, some yoga, led by @charlottecarsonsdlp & a quick dip. Walking on air after & grateful for every single 🙏minute.
🍎Both my girls have a Food & Nutrition practica 🍎Both my girls have a Food & Nutrition practical tomorrow. We’ve been thinking of menus & planning a meal, & with my usual ‘anti-waste’ diktat, decanting food stuffs into jars & bottles, so it doesn’t end up congealed & then binned in this heat. I grew lettuce in the garden & they’ll pluck leaves in the morning. There’s fruit aplenty & wheaten bread & fresh eggs. 🍳 I’ve loved doing this because I’ve had time off & it’s been a joy. But it’s sticking in my throat because at this moment children are being systematically starved to death in Gaza- famine imposed by a morally bankrupt Israeli government. And other signing petitions & making donations there is nothing we can do but watch the massacre & starvation unfold. I rarely put up posts like these but I can’t not when there is food being blocked at every border & desperate people are being denied access to it. It can’t continue. 🍉
☕️Usually Himself makes the coffee in the morn ☕️Usually Himself makes the coffee in the morning but sure didn’t I have to make it today as he was otherwise engaged- comforting the dog after the horror of rain. I think she’d forgotten what it was… 🌧️💧☔️
So I grew my own tulips & they were all droopy & w So I grew my own tulips & they were all droopy & wonky, but then I shoved them in with some other blooms & now that I’ve given them lots of water they have raised their little heads again & are lovely! 💐
🎓Brilliant article in @bbcnewsni on the cost of 🎓Brilliant article in @bbcnewsni on the cost of school sports gear. This is why we need to normalise swap shops and/or buying second hand, so schools can raise much needed funds & pupils can learn that it isn’t necessary to buy new all the time, if they routinely see it happening with their peer groups. 👏Big shoutout to all the teachers & learning staff who make this happen already, in addition to all their other responsibilities in schools. #secondhandkidsclothes #swapshops #schooluniformswap
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