THE CROOKED JADES

“The Crooked Jades are on a mission to reinvent old-world music for a modern age, pushing boundaries and blurring categories with their fiery, soulful performances. Innovative, unpredictable and passionate, they bring their driving dance tunes and haunting ballads to rock clubs, festivals, traditional folk venues and concert halls across America and Europe……” So goes the blurb on their web site http://www.crookedjades.com/press.html

This band played last night at the Flowerfield Arts Centre http://www.flowerfield.org/ in Portstewart and lived up to and indeed exceeded expectations. The have just started a short tour of Ireland and will be in Belfast (29/10/08 Spiegel tent, Belfast Festival at Queens) then Bangor, Lisburn and Letterkenny. They played a variety of tunes including Bluegrass, Americana, traditional American and their own compositions (they have a new album out) and kept the adience enthralled from the first fast fiddle driven tune to the last stomping and ‘howling’ encore. I can thoroughly recommend attending one of their gigs.

Congratulations to Anthony Toner and the team at the Flowerfield for yet another success.

A little bit of TLC...

Whilst visiting someone recently I found this cactus plant languishing on a pile of cuttings . It was a rather sad looking specimen, pot bound and floppy, so feeling sorry for it I brought it back home, re-potted it and stood it in the back hall.
On return from our week away we were greeted with the glorious sight of a cactus in full flower. The colours are even more vibrant in the flesh. What had been a rather plain, bald plant, is now a riot of pink; the perfect antidote to the onset of autumn.

Home sweet home, rain and all.

Back in Ballymoney after a week in Spain. The weather on the Costa del Sol was much better than the forecast had predicted so we enjoyed a bit of golf in warm sunny conditions (not something that happened a lot in North Antrim this year). Returning home has the usual downside of having to go back to reality on Monday, however facing the long drag into Belfast seems like a dawdle compared to fighting our way through the chaos of Malaga airport this morning. I would happily recommend Easyjet based on long experience of good service and low cost. Unfortunately they seem to have lost the plot this morning. Too many flights, too few check in staff, transfer buses, etc. The bumpy flight back seemed totally in keeping. Strangely enough, after all the stress of getting here, the wind and rain seem quite comforting.

Leisure Centre

The Autumn 'urge' to do something, to get out, get fit prompted us to visit the local leisure centre, named in honour of Joey Dunlop. It has the full range of facilities, swimming pool, indoor sports, football pitches. It also has a state of the art fitness suite including sauna etc..

Causeway coast.

After a dreadful summer, the Giant's Causeway bay was looking wonderful in this snapshot. Amazing what a bit of sun can do.

Ballymoney is doing it's bit...

Ballymoney is working on reducing its carbon footprint and promoting health in the borough. This can be seen in the park along with the new cycle path and walk way that encircles the town.

More ducks!

Balymoney Ducks

Sunday morning walk in the park. The ducks were having a great time.

George Best - Gone but not be forgotten

Noticed this painted on the back of a lorry at the Portrush Airshow. George Best may have had his problems but this painting shows him in his prime and I think this is the image we should promote. It's too easy to bang on about his struggle with alcohol. If we just accept that he had an illness and remember instead that he was, at his peak, the best footballer in the world. All youngsters from Northern Ireland should aspire to reaching the sporting heights reached by George. Click on the image and be inspired.

Joey Dunlop OBE

Joey Dunlop a native of Ballymoney was arguably the greatest road racer of his generation and possibly all time. He was also a great humanitarian, driving lorry loads of aid to eastern europe during the winter when he wasn't racing. His memorial garden at the bottom of the town is well worth a visit and not just for the motorcycling fraternity. He is an inspiration to all. For more background have a look at the Armoy Armada website.

Helicopter and Lifeboat at Portrush Airshow.

Despite being effected by the bad weather the Portrush Air Show put on a great effort and those displays that were able to travel to Portrush made it an excellent event. As always the RN Air Sea Rescue demonstrated their professionalism and courage.

A career in the Royal Navy is thoroughly recommended. A blue chip organisation full of blue chip personnel. Click on the link and have a look....

A Warm Welcome in Ballymoney

A sunny day in Ballymoney. A great wee town, stop and have lunch in one of the many coffee shops.

Wee joke for today

One of the security men told me that he was hoping to cut the lawn on Saturday. He said it was only the second time this year. Apparently he was given advice by a garden centre to mix some whiskey with the first watering of the year. Turns out the grass will then come up already half cut!!

Royal Navy visits Portrush during the airshow

HMS Charger, a P2000 alongside in Portrush.

History talks in Ballymoney

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY EXPERIENCE

Local historian S Alex Blair began his new series of talks looking at many of the changes and events which took place in early 20th Century Ireland and their impact on life in Ballymoney.

A Ballymoney Presbyterian minister, the Rev DD Boyle, was the leader of Presbyterian Orangemen in North Antrim who asserted the power and strength in the Orange Order in 1904.

The result was the formation of the Independent Orange Institution and a "split" in Orangeism which still exists today. Mr Blair's very interesting talk gave a flavour of the stirring events of that momentous time, which divided families and caused much animosity in Ballymoney and District.

His next talk on 'Ireland and the First World War' and how it's effect was felt in Ballymoney, will take place on Tuesday the 25th of November 2008.

Cheaper Oil Suppliers

I would urge people who do have access to the internet to check out
www.cheapestoil.co.uk when they want to know the price of oil before
ordering and for those who do not have access to the internet they should
always phone around for the best deal.

Autumn has arrived.

Ballymoney pond flooded... Ducks ecstatic!

The water level of the pond in the Riverside Park (mid August) is now eight feet higher than normal. The safety rail is just visible and all the paths have disappeared under water. Great day for the ducks, and the rest of us. Get the wellies on and splash!

One Small Step

I recently came across a reference to the One Small Step campaign.
It seems to embody my own belief that building a new society will be achieved by everyone taking small permanent steps toward a shared future. This is a campaign we should all support.

Follow the link and have a read.
http://www.onesmallstepcampaign.org/opencontent/default.asphttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/

Welcome to Ballymoney.

On a rare sunny day in Ballymoney 2008!