#newislingtonmarina

[cordedshoots]

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A post shared by 🌀🐾PuliCordsAndTheCity (@mopsofmanchester)

It’s was a kinda #CalmBeforeTheStorm day on the marina yesterday #HungarianPuli #StormJorge #WheresJorge #Puli #DogsOfManchester #MagyarOfManchester #MopsOfManchester #WindyDreads #BestWoof #DogVideo #Manchester #DogsOfAncoats #pulidog #NewIslingtonMarina #NotADogDogs #AncoatsMCR #petsofinstagram #dogsofancoats #cutepets #YinYangOftheDogWorld #instadog #doglover (at New Islington Marina) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9MN1tGBsG8/?igshid=1pnoif7fncsmy

[retrobassgirl]

Chief Petty Officer Binx, keeping lookout (for rodents) on the foredeck, in spite of the hot weather ;) #blackcatsofinstagram #shipscat #canalboatempress #newislingtonmarina #catsofinstagram (at Manchester - Rochdale Canal) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1lTv6LlGqcwmfDSCHPZRJmkQMs_BpP14Ln5wg0/?igshid=1kgu5hchze3av

[sarah-theurbanwanderer]

Feel as though everything around you is the same ol', same ol' boring thing? -- Switch it up. Take a different route and see things from a different angle! -- It does much more than change your journey! . . . . #heurbanwanderer #urbanwanderer #lookupmcr #lookup #mancmade #bestofmcr #exploremcr #theenglishnorth #wearenorthern #ilovemcr #itsallaboutmanchester #igersmcr #explore_britain #magstrangeandfamiliar #manchester #manchestereveningnews #outdoorblogger #outdoorbloggers #views #photowalk #photochallenge #rochdalecanal #newislingtonmarina #ancoats #wellbeing (at New Islington Marina)

[armagio]

Metropolitan fishermans in Ancoats #sun #sunday #mcr #ilovemanchester #manchester #ancoats #newislington #newislingtonmarina #fishing (presso New Islington Marina)

[retrobassgirl]

Spring comes to New Islington ❤️ #welcometospring #newislingtonmarina #cowslips (at New Islington Marina)

[sarah-theurbanwanderer]

Hairy frost down by the Marina. -- Such a gloriously crisp day and a fab way to wake up and refresh ❄️😊 . . . . #heurbanwanderer #urbanwanderer #lookupmcr #lookup #mancmade #bestofmcr #exploremcr #theenglishnorth #wearenorthern #ilovemcr #itsallaboutmanchester #igersmcr #explore_britain #magstrangeandfamiliar #manchester #manchestereveningnews #outdoorblogger #outdoorbloggers #views #photowalk #photochallenge #rochdalecanal #newislingtonmarina #ancoats #january #frost #frozen (at New Islington)

[sarah-theurbanwanderer]

The Principal - the old Palace Hotel in full renovated glory! It might be controversial, but I think the new light sign looks good! 🙈 . . . . . . #theurbanwanderer #urbanwanderer #lookupmcr #lookup #mancmade #bestofmcr #exploremcr #theenglishnorth #wearenorthern #ilovemcr #itsallaboutmanchester #igersmcr #explore_britain #magstrangeandfamiliar #manchester #manchestereveningnews #outdoorblogger #outdoorbloggers #views #photowalk #photochallenge #rochdalecanal #newislingtonmarina #ancoats #firstdayofwinter #winter #getoutside #fitnessforfree #walk1000miles (at The Principal Manchester)

[sarah-theurbanwanderer]

Spent the day wandering from Didsbury to city centre to see the changes and developments of Oxford Road (as well as check out the charity shops!) -- Always nice to revisit the areas we used to urban wander when we first moved to the city back in 2001 🙌☔️️ -- Added another 11-ish miles to the #walk1000miles total . . . . . . #theurbanwanderer #urbanwanderer #lookupmcr #lookup #mancmade #bestofmcr #exploremcr #theenglishnorth #wearenorthern #ilovemcr #itsallaboutmanchester #igersmcr #explore_britain #magstrangeandfamiliar #manchester #manchestereveningnews #outdoorblogger #outdoorbloggers #views #photowalk #photochallenge #rochdalecanal #newislingtonmarina #ancoats #firstdayofwinter #winter #getoutside #fitnessforfree #walk1000miles (at Chester Street)

[retrobassgirl]

Water Under the Bridge

It’s early January 2017.

It’s over five months post Pride, post Manchester Pride. Pride here is a four day event in late summer. It may be feel like Midwinter now but I find the aftermath of Pride is a little like January. What appears as the highlight of the year here seems like the end of one Queer Year and the beginning of another. The firework display which marked the finale of Pride is like a noisy, glittering full stop. Thereafter all seems quiet but also restless. The Autumn and Winter has been for me a time for reflection and it set me thinking about the past year and even Pride itself.

Not far from where I now live in New Islington is a steep little bridge across the Rochdale Canal. It lies at the end of Henry Street. So much water has quite literally gone under that bridge this year and, metaphorically, in my life: Over 14 months ago I finally got married. It had been a long time coming. Transhistoried women normally dream of life changing events like that, seldom do they actually happen. Growing up with hatred and censure doesn’t exactly stop dreams of big white dresses and saying ‘I do’ to the man of your dreams. It does limit your chances though. That I found happiness and enjoyed a fairytale wedding seems a miracle; a win on the Transgender Lottery and a dream come true.

I’ve blogged so little since my big day and said almost nothing about the wedding itself. That needs to be a post on its own I think. All you need to know for now is that my marriage to Mart, my husband, was here in Manchester. It took place in the beautiful Britannia Hotel on Portland Street. My childhood dream had been to marry a Prince in a palace. Well, hopeless Teen Dream box ticked. The architecture of the Britannia Hotel is copied from a Venetian Palazzo, Il Fondaco di Turchi.

Getting married in Manchester where I first went to College was also a promise to myself and my husband that one day I would return to live there again. Like my wedding dreams, I seemed to have no hope of realising that promise. Working as a Teaching Assistant in North Wales, I did not earn enough to return; apartment rents can run at over £1,200 a month. City dwelling comes at a price; too high a price.

Opportunities are a much misunderstood concept. I barely understood them myself for so long. I had the impression that they required planning, strict control, a clear vision and single minded dedication. In my experience the truth is somewhat different. Opportunities aren’t created, neither do they respond well to control. They are fragile, ephemeral, slippery things that shape shift if you try to seize them too tightly. Opportunities can be surfed and ridden and in doing so, they lose nothing of their power. They are thermals to soar and climb with but they require courage and a leap of faith to follow.

Earlier this year I was in a crisis. Since January it had become clear that my job was making me ill. Mounting work, non-replacement of staff and an employer who seemed no longer to care lead me downhill mentally and physically. I found myself having more and more time off work. Education is also an intensely difficult profession for a transhistoried woman to work in. Transphobia abounds in spite of policies and directives to the contrary. Those who see Trans as a lifestyle choice capable of corrupting young people are very prevalent. Some colleagues made my life intensely miserable. I was tolerated, period. Tolerance is NOT acceptance, ever.

I chose a career in education because it seemed the only opportunity I would ever have to nurture and support children. They were my substitute family and I poured all my caring and compassion into what I did. When, against the odds, I got a family, motherhood and later, a husband, I still persisted in that career, doggedly adhering to a script I had written out years ago. I had promised myself that one day I would break free and work for myself. It was all about ‘UNTIL’, I would stick where I was till I had enough money, time, expertise and will to exploit a different opportunity. The only compensation was being busy. In a job I hated, it made me feel important even if undervalued.

A friend wrote: ‘Stop the glorification of busy’.

Like so many things we value it is only when you relinquish ‘busy’ that you start living. Busy has little time for others, for compassion, art or pleasure. Fitting too much into too small a space isn’t clever. Beautiful things get squashed in the process. It occurred to me that it was time to chuck the 98% of useless, busy activity and do the good stuff well. Busy people are not good at surfing opportunities. I needed a way to let go, launch myself and fly.

In April this year, events forced me into action. A number of things happened in rapid succession. A workplace that should have supported me, chose instead to support malicious, transphobically motivated complaints. Apparently intelligent, right minded and respected individuals can sometimes have huge blindspots when it comes to gender variance. It is made worse when they employ you. Sometimes you stand and fight. In the past I have done that. In the present case, when I looked around at what I had, it occurred to me that there was little of value to fight for. It seemed better to walk away with dignity. In the end it was so easy to do.

I spoke of a number of things. Walking away from my job gave me courage to revive an old idea; the one of launching my own business. So many play with that idea but never try it. I too had turned it over for many years yet ‘busy’ and lack of courage had got in the way. I have a background in catering and waitressing which has languished unused too long. A trained barista, I am passionate about good coffee. I had wanted my own Coffee Shop in Manchester but there seemed way too many of them. In any case the rents and set up costs seemed beyond my means.

Cue the Empress; a tarot card with deep relevance to me and Giovanna my new Italian friend. Both however will have to wait until my next blog.

Huggs, Jane xx

[sarah-theurbanwanderer]

Started the morning with a spattering of snow! We were hoping for more on our #morningmiles but no such luck! -- Still, it was crisp, fresh, light and slippery! I'd do it again tomorrow! I love experiencing every kind of weather on our walks 💕☔️️❄️ -- We only added an extra two minutes per mile which is not bad either in icy conditions 😁 . . . . . . #theurbanwanderer #urbanwanderer #lookupmcr #lookup #mancmade #bestofmcr #exploremcr #theenglishnorth #wearenorthern #ilovemcr #itsallaboutmanchester #igersmcr #explore_britain #magstrangeandfamiliar #manchester #manchestereveningnews #outdoorblogger #outdoorbloggers #views #photowalk #photochallenge #rochdalecanal #newislingtonmarina #ancoats #firstdayofwinter #winter #getoutside #fitnessforfree #walk1000miles #scenicbritain #splodzjanpc (at Manchester, United Kingdom)

[retrobassgirl]

Cooler Autumn evenings mean that out comes the sewing machine. Creating curtains to make Empress feel Winter Cosy and warm ❤️ #barge #houseboat #sewing #newislingtonmarina #ancoatsurbanvillage (at New Islington Marina)

[retrobassgirl]

More explorations! #lovemycat #newhome #newislingtonmarina (at New Islington Marina)