Born in Yorkshire, 1945. Had a happy childhood – sorry about that! No ‘mispers’ there!Mary Irvine’s Greek Blog: Some tips on eating out
Have been away for a couple of weeks. Needed some sunshine. Remember sun? It’s a great yellow ball in the sky… Did rather a lot of over-eating, mostly in private homes. If the Greeks like you they ply you with food. Come to think of it, they ply all guests with food so maybe I’m […]
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Friday, March 28, 2014 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine’s Blog: Moving to Greece
Moving to Greece Before leaving for my year’s sojourn in Greece I had fixed up temporary accommodation in Piraeus. A garconerie belonging to the grandmother of some friends who lived in Perama – Anna and Vassilis, their daughters, Rania and Natasha, and their son Simos. They owned a taverna and I had met them through […]
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Saturday, March 1, 2014 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Ivine’s Blog: Greek Classical Tour – Part the Third
Epidauros always puts me in mind of an Easter I spent there with Esther and family. It’s memorable for two reasons. The first was the guest of honour, the old Yiayia, who was ‘forgetful’. She needed close watching as she stuffed food into her mouth indiscriminately. The Easter eggs went in, shell and all. Chocolates […]
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Wednesday, January 29, 2014 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine’s Blog: Why is Australia not being condemned worldwide for its Human Rights abuse?
If there is anyone out there who can give me a rational, acceptable answer to the above I should be most grateful. However my brain cannot conceive of an answer that would in any way justify the treatment of the indigenous population of Australia by that country’s government and, it appears, a large percentage of […]
Monday, January 20, 2014 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine’s Greek Classical Tour Part Two
A surprise package thudded through my letter box recently. It was a photocopy of the diary Abi faithfully (insofar as she wrote it up, not that it was a faithful account. Am sure we didn’t spend all that time in bars) kept every night of the Classical Tour we had embarked on together. Something I’d […]
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Tuesday, January 7, 2014 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine Writer: Tribute to Margaret Harrison
Long time, no write…at least here! Seems a long time but doesn’t time pass quickly when you’re having fun…or not. Very disappointed not to be able to attend the Bearpit Brothers’ CD launch at the Glad Cafe (Nov 24th) but inability to drive due to ‘dizzy’ spells – and no, they were not artificially induced […]
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Tuesday, December 17, 2013 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine – more Greek memoirs
Hi there, Am back – if only briefly. After writing, editing, selecting, editing, proofreading, waiting for the printing The Alexandria Writers’ Group have finally got round to launching their latest collection ‘A Miscellany’. It’s dedicated to our oldest member, 95 year old Margaret Harrison whose life story I am presently researching. There was a ‘spare’ […]
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Saturday, November 16, 2013 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine : Story Being Published in Greek
Busy, busy, busy! Or, as they say in Greece, πολλή δουλειά (literally ‘lots of work’). Have started writing a biography of a local celebrity and am trawling archives, interviewing, recording, telephoning – fortunately have a degree in History/research so I think I know what I’m doing. Others might beg to differ or even comment did […]
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Thursday, October 31, 2013 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine: Another Musical Interlude
Music Out in the Sticks Sunday night (29th Sept) I went to church. Nothing unusual there you may think. No, except that people who know me will realise this was not to attend a service! There must be another reason. There was! It was to spend an hour listening to classical music – my tastes […]
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Thursday, October 10, 2013 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine – Poetry
A Break from Greece for a Poetic Interlude Not a Poet I don’t consider myself a poet in any respect but the first piece I had published was a poem. I don’t have a TV – too afraid of day-time television although I tell people I can’t afford the licence. However, I do trawl through […]
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Sunday, September 29, 2013 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Mary Irvine’s Classical Tour of Greece – Part One
An Armchair Classical Tour in Parts – Part the First Hi there, I believe I promised I would take you on a Classical Tour of Greece. I’ve been on two organised tours, one very basic – as in accommodation, guide and restricted to the central part of Greece and one more up-market, i.e. more expensive, […]
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Saturday, September 21, 2013 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Scottish Encounters: Mary Irvine
An Atmospheric Cruise on Loch Lomond I recently went on an evening cruise on Loch Lomond – my first venture on the Loch in any kind of boat – organised jointly by the Friends of Loch Lomond and Trossachs and the Lennox Literary Society. It had been throwing (not the first word that sprang to […]
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Friday, September 13, 2013 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Greek Heritage and The Elgin Marbles Petition by Mary Irvine, Writer and Philhellene
The Elgin Marbles The Elgin Marbles – more correctly the Parthenon marbles (Tα Μάρμαρα του Παρθενώνα) according to the British Museum – less emotive methinks, a varied collection of sculptures, architectural features, inscriptions, were ‘obtained’ by Lord Elgin during the early nineteenth century. Dates differ according to which source one accesses! He reportedly purchased them […]
Tuesday, September 3, 2013 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Love of Live Music in Glasgow and Greece by Mary Irvine
A Musical Interlude in Glasgow I had promised a polemic on the Elgin marbles next. It’s all ready and will be with you soon. In the meantime… I have been listening online to Jim Byrne singing his own compositions. I mentioned to Pat that I liked them. She kindly invited me to join her at […]
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Wednesday, August 28, 2013 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
Athens – by Mary Irvine
Home is where the heart is Hi there,First of all I must give a general apology to any of my Greek friends if I err at any time with the Greek translations! I really am spoilt for choice in writing about Greece so I’ve decided to concentrate on specific places – one at a time. […]
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Friday, August 23, 2013 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
And now, for something more readable. Garden Wildlife in Greece by Mary Irvine
And now, for something more readable!Hello again,That’s for anyone who actually read the last offering… But hello anyway. Garden Wildlife Apart from the dog and five cats – give or take three of the latter at any one time – there was so much life in the garden. Spiders, ants, beetles, butterflies and assorted ‘unknown’ […]
Sunday, August 18, 2013 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
And now, for something different – Blog 2 Experimental Writing by Mary Irvine
Hi there, Although I had written many academic essays/dissertations/articles it was several years after retirement before I began writing creatively. I love the freedom to experimenting with different styles. The following, written during the Uni course, explains why… A Personal Odyssey lacks imagination comment on upper junior school report re story writing has an over […]
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A Love Affair With Greece by Mary Irvine
My love affair with Greece began at a very young age when my father thrilled me with the myths, legends and history of ancient times. I dreamed of visiting these exotic places and walking in the steps of Odysseus, Theseus, Socrates, Agamemnon. The names were endless. To see the stadium at Olympia, the Charioteer at […]
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Tuesday, August 13, 2013 | Filed under: Mary Irvine: Writer and Philhellene
