Mural

Another mural from Belfast, which we happened on by chance as we walked around the Cathedral Quarter (which is the cool part of the city nowadays, with a smattering of restaurants and bars).  This one was big - really big - but strangely was tucked away behind a small car park, between apartment blocks and warehouses, out of sight.  

I was lucky to get the seagull in the shot.  Pity it wasn't a dove (I'm guessing it's the dove of peace in the artwork), but there you go.  So close to being a masterpiece...again:

Belfast Mural.  Cropped to square from 35mm.  Yashica T4, HP5 on Foma 133 paper.

We're just back from another trip to see Missy in Oxford.  It was a late flight and we weren't home until midnight.  I'm a bit rusty when it comes to booking flights, since the last couple of years have been 'stay-at-home' years.  Usually I just pick the cheapest option but a late flight is a waste - it just feels like you are hanging around all day waiting for the inevitable.  An earlier start would have been better - just get up and get on with it.  

The good news is that Missy is settling in OK.  She looked tired, though.  Her halls are noisy which is good and bad.  Good in that there's always stuff going on which hopefully mitigates the fact that you are away from home and missing all of that.  Bad in that it can be difficult to get a good sleep at times, since there's always somebody blasting out music at all hours of the day and night.  If the wardens get a complaint she says they will visit and ask for it to be turned down, but it's a half-hearted request and they don't enforce it too rigorously. 

And now I'm away to develop the one and only film I shot on the trip.  It was another quick-in-quick-out visit, just two nights so there wasn't a lot of time for anything other than trying to feed Missy up as much as possible and re-stock her larder.  We've one more visit planned before the Christmas break.  I think after that we might not be needed quite as much.  The second semester is broken by Easter so it won't feel like such a long stint and by then she'll be much more comfortable with the whole Student Thing.  It's a big change for her and she is one of the younger ones, only just turning 18 at the start of the summer, so she's doing well.  She's off today on a field trip, which will keep her busy.  Something to do with trees, apparently.  Sounds good to me!