Monthly Archives: February 2021

ship of destiny

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Ship of Destiny (Liveship Traders #3) by Robin Hobb

From Goodreads:

As Bingtown slides toward disaster, clan matriarch Ronica Vestrit, branded a traitor, searches for a way to bring the city’s inhabitants together against a momentous threat. Meanwhile, Althea Vestrit, unaware of what has befallen Bingtown and her family, continues her perilous quest to track down and recover her liveship, the “Vivacia, “from the ruthless pirate Kennit.
Bold though it is, Althea’s scheme may be in vain. For her beloved “Vivacia “will face the most terrible confrontation of all as the secret of the liveships is revealed. It is a truth so shattering, it may destroy the “Vivacia “and all who love her, including Althea’s nephew, whose life already hangs in the balance.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Over the years there are a small number of fantasy series that have stuck with me. This is one of them. It stands out as one of the most original and richly written stories I’ve read. The author has created a new world full of amazing characters and novel twists on old themes.

This last book brings all the Liveship strands together in a fantastic conclusion. The author’s ability to take a significant number of storylines and detailed characters, weave them together in a complicated and interconnected story without losing the reader is amazing and incredibly enjoyable. If this is one of the best series I’ve read then this is definitely one of the very best books I’ve read.

This is the final installment in the trilogy but it is a part of a much larger story. Although it’s a self contained trilogy it also doesn’t have to end here. Although this series can be read as stand alone it does have references to the Six Duchies and has impacts on the Farseer and Fitz story that continues in the next set of books. There are connections and references that enrich this story if you’ve read the original Farseer Trilogy so I’d recommend reading them first and also reading this Liveship trilogy as part of the overall story.

Header image by Ricardo Esquivel from Pexels

half marathon

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I’ve always enjoyed going for a walk, preferably in the hills which isn’t possible at the minute, but find walking anywhere relaxing and enjoyable. Since Covid in January I’ve been using walking, alongside cycling, as a means to get my fitness back to a good level. I have steadily increased my distance and frequency and have also started carrying a weighted backpack.

Yesterday I completed my longest walk since 2012 by walking 21.5km which is very slightly over a half marathon. I was also carrying a 4.5kg bag plus food and water which added approx 1kg for the first 10K.

I’ve only ever walked further than this twice before and both times in 2012. I was training for the Bluestack Challenge walk which I completed in September 2012. This was 30km through the Bluestack Mountains along part of The Bluestack Way for charity. That is my longest walk with a 25km training walk the week before the event being the next.

I’m not sure how far I want to push the distance but it would be nice to beat that 30k record.

strange sheep that looked like a mini llama
short lunch in the lee of a hedge out of the bitter wind
i didn’t risk it!
click image to view on strava

where’s the border?

I live in Donegal in the North West of Ireland and very close to the border with Northern Ireland (approx 3km) and now therefore an EU border with the UK. As part of the drawn out negotiations between the UK and EU there won’t be a hard border thereby preserving the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.

As part of a discussion on Facebook a few days ago Paul of 36×25 asked me how we know where the border is. On most maps the international border is marked by a dark line.

© strava

The RoI/NI border follows the original and long established historic county borders. Anyone living close to the border has an almost instinctual knowledge of the border location as it’s an integral part of daily life. However, for visitors to the area it can be very vague.

Major roads will usually have very obvious signs crossing the border in either direction.

ni ➡ roi
roi ➡ ni

The majority of the approximately 300 crossings are on minor, sometimes very rural roads where the border crossing is much more subtle. In the walk above I crossed into NI for a short section and took the photos below to show the most common crossing.

roi ➡ ni
ni ➡ roi

The actual border is usually clearly seen by a change in tarmac where the two road agencies meet.

The red and white paint on the poles and road are for the Tyrone GAA team. There is a strong GAA rivalry between Donegal and Tyrone as next door neighbours and often contenders for the Ulster Championship.

Donal and Seamus are sitting in their local bar in Donegal watching England playing football. Seamus turns to Donal and asks him “would you ever consider supporting England?”. Donal thought for a few minutes before answering “Never….well, maybe…..if they were playing against Tyrone!”

Header image by Pixabay from Pexels

memories

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On yesterday’s bike ride I went through the small village of Ardstraw, Co. Tyrone. I was last here in 1995 when I bought my one and only motorbike from George Millar Motorcycles. Sadly the man himself died just over 2 years ago and the business is now closed up.

The motorbike was a small 100cc Kawasaki trail style road legal bike similar to this one:

That bike allowed me to start my first proper job after leaving college. It was with the Forest Service of Northern Ireland, based in Ballymena taking data measurements and foliage samples from research plots. The plots were spread out through a number of forest sites so I had to have my own transport. I’d already failed my driving test once but I could drive a motorbike on an L plate.

I have a number of great memories from that bike.

  • Trying to teach myself how to drive it with zero experience, doing an accidental wheelie up the side of Mum and Dad’s and throwing myself off by flipping the bike! My first road rash.
  • Driving it to Ballymena for the first time, going over Glenshane Pass flat out at 30mph in February and damn near freezing myself to death.
  • Driving it in the mountains of Antrim in the snow and sliding it all over the roads like a dirt star.
  • Travelling home to Donegal from Ballymena in the middle of the Garvaghy Road protests when lots of Protestant villages were barricaded and closed off across Northern Ireland. I picked my way using the Nationalist and Unionist flags to work out where it was safe to take my Donegal reg bike.
  • Spending my lunch breaks tearing round the forest tracks like a madman and thinking I was cool as fuck.

I spent the rest of the ride reminiscing what it was like to be 22 again and feeling indestructible. Nice memories.

Header image: logo for “Sons of Anarchy” from FX.

january 2021 review

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  • started the month and year on the summit of Errigal at dawn
  • walked 128km over 26 activities
  • cycled 205km over 4 activities
  • longest walk 9.1km
  • longest cycle 105km
  • contracted and recovered from Covid19
  • laid off as part of Lockdown Ireland v3.0
  • 4 days of snow towards the end of the month
  • finished the month with a family walk and a visit to Mackle’s at long last
january in photos

Header image by Olya Kobruseva from Pexels