Thursday, May 15, 2008
Invasion of South Belfast
This is day two of the Balmoral Show, the event when South Belfast is invaded by country people and assorted ex country people like us now trapped in Belfast. The Newsletter has vast coverage of this veritable extravaganza of farmerishness. We had a great time, Elenwe unfortunately was sick with the cold so dropped me and the boys at the show where we sat on tractors and diggers, looked at cattle, sheep, horses, rabbits, hens etc. etc. Whilst clearly not everyone’s cup of tea it was extremely good harmless fun and involved meeting various friends and some of Elenwe’s endless collection of relatives who always seem quite indulgent of my inability to remember that I am related to them. I guess if you are not from the country you do not really get it: or do townies go to sate their unfulfilled desire to be culchies as well?
Turgon @ 06:53 PM
I love the Balmoral show and the Ballymena show too.
Posted by on May 15, 2008 @ 07:24 PMEven being displaced by some 6000 miles for 16 years I still think of cutting silage and ploughing fields etc.
20 odd years ago when my then girlfriend asked me if I wanted to go to the Balmoral show, I knew she was a keeper.
Posted by on May 15, 2008 @ 08:24 PMIN fairness, the cops appeared to have done a decent job with the traffic - keeping the lisburn road pretty clear. Not sure what it was like during the day.
Never been to the show, but it certainly attracts big numbers so has to be a good thing,Posted by on May 15, 2008 @ 08:34 PMInvasion of South Belfast: Arrival of the Cattle-snatchers (?)
Posted by on May 15, 2008 @ 11:06 PMToday was my first time at the cultchie convention and it was great! Saw an egg actually coming out of a chicken, marvelled at the insane variety of stalls (McDonalds had one), chuckled at the WI’s unfortunately phallic cactus competition and went home happy.
Posted by on May 15, 2008 @ 11:10 PMI’ve never been myself, but it seems to be a great event for those who take part and attend, and there’s a good feeling about the country coming to town.
It’s interesting that the organisers are making postive noises about moving to somewhere like the Maze site as the Kings Hall complex is just too small for the biggest show of its type in Ireland - if that’s the case, then it could provide one solution for what to do with the Maze site.
Posted by on May 15, 2008 @ 11:43 PM1. Seems like a fairly grim day out for various bog-trotting types. Still - whatever floats their boat etc.
2. Cops did an excellent job - I had to drive to Derriaghy on business this afternoon at lunchtime - forgot about the show and drove down Balmoral Avenue and turned left onto the upper Lisburn Road - bugger all traffic about and the journey was probably quicker than usual. Well done PSNI.
Posted by on May 15, 2008 @ 11:59 PMDamn culchies. The M2 was backed up all the way to the junction with the M5 on Wednesday morning. It took me 60 minutes to drive into work from Whitehouse.
Posted by on May 16, 2008 @ 12:12 AMOi! Get off our land!
Posted by on May 16, 2008 @ 12:31 AM“Damn culchies. The M2 was backed up all the way to the junction with the M5 on Wednesday morning. It took me 60 minutes to drive into work from Whitehouse.”
It’s been a nightmare getting back to S Belfast from work in Holywood all week. Go examine the undercarriage of cows elsewhere!
Posted by on May 16, 2008 @ 09:22 AMAmazing; a blog where virtually everyone is in agreement. Maybe it’s because most of us aren’t so long away from the land.
Posted by on May 16, 2008 @ 05:01 PM“Today was my first time at the cultchie convention and it was great! Saw an egg actually coming out of a chicken, marvelled at the insane variety of stalls (McDonalds had one), chuckled at the WI’s unfortunately phallic cactus competition and went home happy.”
MacDonalds have posters up reminding us we are eating food, I can’t go into my person views because they’re well lawyered up.
I like the milkshakes if you get a spoon, and the fish sandwich is the only way to get a big fish-finger in a lump of bread that I know commercially.
You don’t want to start me on WI cactuses or cacti if we are being etymologically taking the greek into latin route, you just don’t.
I would in the event have to refer you to the Bishop of Portsmouth for guidance.
I think the shocked hybrid bike with disc brakes has come into its own.
I feel kind of good watching the folks going to the farm-fest, because, it seems, such a positive kind of hing if we irnore the WI’s attempt to lure us into perdition.
The egg bit doesn’t count, I checked, hens, are allowed to do that.
In Hawaii after a storm, a chicken farm got dumped into the clouds, and today, the descendants are agressive little sausages, who basically stand their ground and threaten people who look at them.
There is nothing like a third generation battery chicken on the lamb for attitude.
Wrangling the wild chicken
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Mar/28/ln/ln05p.html
It is not just West Belfast that needs wranglers to hunt down desperadoes.
G.
Posted by on May 19, 2008 @ 04:59 AM
