Mount Congreve – A Walk with the Camera

There comes a time to put things behind one, to forget about it and move on. Yesterday, it was ten weeks since I had a hip-replacement operation and, naturally enough I suppose, it has dominated my thoughts in the intervening time. After six weeks the surgeon told me all was well and that I could …

Teacher Are the Worst Pupils!

Easter is the time when teachers’ unions hold their annual conferences and reports are dominating the news programmes today and will pop up again all this week. This, and a post on Facebook, brought to mind some reflections from my time as a teacher and one attitude which has remained with me since retirement. It …

The Sweetness of Doing Nothing!

There is no garden without work! Gardens do not simply happen; they are the result of our interventions, our planning and designs, our labour and maintenance and, though most will take the attitude that doing what you enjoy, what is your pastime and hobby, is not work in the usual sense of the word, it …

Summer was on a Thursday!

It has been said that we don’t have a climate in Ireland, only weather, as conditions change so quickly from one day to the next. Yes, a day of sunshine will have us dashing to the seaside, dusting off the barbeques to burn a few sausages and stocking up on beer and ice-cream. The threat …

Gardens – Switzerland

It is obvious to me now that I have had a blinkered view of the floral treasures of Switzerland. For me Switzerland has always been a destination for mountain walking, to see wildflowers in their natural setting, to walk the alpine meadows and the mountain tops to search out such delights as their famous Edelweiss, …

All going great. Thanks!

I have become tired of myself, of my thoughts, of my words, of trotting out the same old, same old litany on every occasion I open my mouth. I have become a misery-guts. A kindly put question, though let’s face it generally a socially required opening line rather than one put with genuine concern, of …

The Watched Kettle Does Boil Eventually!

No doubt, you will have had the experience of your eyes falling on a plant and then your jaw drops; your mouth opens; you oooh and aaaaah; you go weak at the knees, your heart flutters; you wonder - just for a very brief moment before morals regain the upper hand - that if you …

A Garden Can Be Anywhere!

We live in an age of concern about the wholesomeness of our food, about the widespread use of pesticides and artificial fertilisers, about food miles, the use of preservatives, artificial additives and colourants. We are aware of the industrialisation of food production and processing, the erosion of seasonality as food is now available to us …

Island Gardens

We attach a certain magic to islands, as we do to other remote natural areas – mountains, remote seashores and the like. We regard them as special places, places apart, places where we may be in more intimate contact with nature, places of beauty, of wildness, of ruggedness, of challenge and of success against the …

Getting Out and About

There are simple things which add enormously to the enjoyment of life - to see a wild mink run across the road in front of me the other day, to hear and see four buzzards high in the sky above me and then to have two raucous ravens, obviously discussing some matter of contention between …