The real joy of Spring is the colour that starts to appear and banish the gray of Winter.

Gardening need not be expensive!

As a reasonably keen gardener I cannot resist a bargain, especially at this time when the likes of B&Q are offering some nice bedding plants at excellent prices. Early in the season they are great value for money, however as time goes on there are some very sad looking plants. Anyway, last Autumn I was looking for some item of hardware and (as I am usually unable to resist) took a detour through the garden section. There, sitting on the clearance trolley were three pots, each with a withered stump claiming to be hosta (Plantain lily) and priced at twenty-five pence each.

Willing to risk the loss of seventy five pence and unable to resist, I purchased them, eventually planting them out in our small front garden. Lo and behold this April saw the appearance of three Hostas. Two are especially healthy plants (yes I do have a particular interest in this type of plant!) with nice markings, as yet to be identified and one smaller one which is slowly establishing itself. Being the proud (wife thinks ‘bonkers’) owner of quite a collection of these plants it is also gratifying to notice that at least two of the three are varieties I did not previously possess. So there you go, gardening doesn’t have to be expensive…

Spring Bank Holiday

The weather this year is shaping up to be as mixed as the last two, despite what the forecasters say. Last week the park was bathed in sun in the evenings but come the weekend.... Rain!


















However rain isn't all bad it can produce some nice effects on the plants.

River Bank Collapse

No not another financial instiution gone to the wall. Rather, part of the retaining wall in the park in Ballymoney has given up the unequal struggle against the eroding effects of the river. The excessive rainfall of the past few years must have been the final straw and the wall and walkway on top have ended up in the river. Luckily no one was on the path at the time; it is a well used path.

Where did April go?

This month has just flown by. All the good intentions to get out and about, record it and do some blogging have gone by the wayside.

The apparent onset of ‘mid life crisis’ seems to have taken away any ability to concentrate and get on with things. The realisation that one is too old to be ambitious but too young to give up, grind it out and wait for the gold watch, pipe and slippers causes a significant amount of cognitive dissonance. My brain is convinced that I’m still twenty-something and all is still possible, whereas the vicious, heartless mirror in the bathroom taunts me on a daily basis with the irrefutable evidence of the inexorable passage of time.

Anyway, now that that’s off my chest, what has happened this month? The only major event happened mid month when a letter informing me of my elevation to full membership of the golf club dropped through the letterbox. My joy at being able to get out and play weekends and in the monthly competitions was tempered somewhat by the accompanying bill for additional green fees and the extra charge in addition to the joining fee already paid. Seems a lot to pay out but when counted against the amount of time spent on course, maybe it’s not such a bad deal. It can do no harm to body or spirit to get out in the fresh air and lose some of the negative effects of sitting in the car or office for the majority of the week. Needless to say I am praying for great weather this summer.

Walking the dog and trying to encourage the better half to keep to her ‘training schedule’ for the Belfast marathon (Team relay for charity) on May 4^th and starting to get the garden sorted has been the sum total for the month.

Apart from that, not a lot else happened. Really must try harder in May.

Brawn, Button, Barrichello, Brisbane... Brilliant

Congratulations to Jenson Button. After what must have been the worst winter of his sporting life JB came good and demonstrated his class by winning the first Grand Prix of the year with style. As a lifelong Formula One fan it is great to see the new team getting one over on the big boys. If Brawn, Williams, Red Bull etc can keep this up we are in for a vintage championship. Here’s hoping.

http://www.jensonbutton.com

Summer Time, The Vardon Grip and Wanderlust.

Longer evenings, better weather….. great. I shouldn’t wish my life away but the change in time is like throwing off the yoke of a long cold winter. I really feel the effects of the cold and the lack of light (SAD Syndrome) and get a real surge of optimism as the evenings stretch out.

A colleague has left a golf club propped against his desk in the office and given my addiction to that sport the driving range will have to be visited tonight to start practising in earnest, for the coming season! It’s the same every year. Despite my annual new year’s resolution to practice long and hard at the floodlit range during the winter months I still arrive in April checking my stance, re-learning the Vardon grip and trying to swing through the ball instead of hitting at it.

I’m sitting here looking down Belfast lough this morning, and whilst the sun is not ‘splitting the trees’ it is glinting off the hull of the Seacat (fast ferry from Scotland) as it makes it way up the channel to its berth in Belfast docks. A very pleasant morning all things considered.

My lifelong urge to travel comes a close second to my golfing affliction in the amount of time I spend day dreaming. A much more pleasant use of my valuable time than concentrating on boring old work related subjects! The In-tray is pretty much up to date so, roll on lunch time and lets see if BA, Aer Lingus, Easyjet etc have any deals. With the credit crunch biting, actually going to all those places may have to wait, but since planning is almost as much fun as the actual travelling I think I’ll put a dollop of icing on this rather fine day and surf the travel sites for a while.

St Patrick's Day

A day off, good weather, walk the dog and play a bit of golf.... perfect.



Took the dog for a walk in the park on Tuesday and enjoyed the feeling that spring is well on it's way with trees and flowers starting to bud. The work on putting in the new pathways is coming along nicely. No wonder people in Ballymoney were found (in a survey last year) to have the longest life expectancy in NI. With the Sustrans initiative and the new paths / cycleways etc there is no excuse not to be able to get out and enjoy our environment.

What a weekend.

Thank goodness for a day off. Last weekend was spent in Belfast and didn’t quite go as planned. After a nice afternoon on Friday we went to see ‘The Troubles according to my Da’ at the Grand Opera House. This play is an absolute scream and despite being based on a difficult time in our history manages to bring out the humour as well as the lunacy of our past. All three actors were excellent with the character ‘Fireball’ being a total hoot. Anybody who has lived in Belfast has met a Fireball; someone who knows everyones business and how the system works, or at least thinks he does!
After the theatre we had a nice stroll (the weather was very mild) and dined at a local restaurant. Unfortunately the weekend went pear shaped just as we were enjoying our coffees and planning what to do and see over the weekend. The wife went a very strange shade of green and became incapacitated with agonising stomach pains. Medical consultation and a sleepless night later things were a little better, but not much. As the theatre tickets and weekend break was part of a present for my recent birthday the wife gamely tried to make Saturday happen with a short stroll along the towpath; but to no avail (we had to abandon the walk at the Lagan weir just after looking at the big fish sculpture and the flowers netxt to it). The only silver lining to the whole situation was that we had no option but to watch the Six Nations matches! Ireland got their act together in the second half and got the right result. We can only hope that next weekend in Wales the grand slam nerves don’t get the better of them. The Welsh will be hard to beat if they are allowed to get the same sort of start as the Scots were last weekend.
Luckily things were looking up on Monday so we were able to go and see Lionel Richie in concert at the Odyssey arena. Admittedly, when the tickets were bought I went along because the wife is a fan. However, the show was excellent and well worth the effort. I’m not sure what age Lionel is but he can still put on a great show.

A complimentary pint awaits ...

Having mentioned that I was going to try and put a bit more Ballymoney into the blog I received a kind comment from Silverback (ex Ballymoney man currently enjoying the warmer climes of Florida; also the producer of a very swish blog retirement-rocks complete with video etc).

He mentioned his family's preference for Olpherts Butchers and wondered if they were still in business. As a newcomer to Ballymoney I didn't know but decided to check.

Therefore on Saturday I located Olphert butchers who it turns out are still operating in Victoria Street and had a good chat with the very pleasant and helpful staff as they sorted out my meat order for the weekend. (The meat turned out to be excellent)

When I mentioned the fact that I was in their shop primarily due to a comment from Florida via the internet by the above mentioned Silverback, the owner was 'tickled pink' as they say and stated that the next time Silverback was back in Ballymoney he should pop in and they would buy him a pint!

On a related theme I also checked out the Peppercorn restaurant and whilst unable to test the quality of their soda farls took a snap to prove it exists. In contrast to the other coffee shops in the town with large windows to entice the customer in, the Peppercorn has a rather discreet doorway and stairway to a first floor restaurant.