Pigheaded, Wildflowers,Wet and Happy!

It rained almost all day yesterday, not heavy rain but enough to keep us indoors where we sat and read and watched television and surfed the internet and ended the day fed up with life and with sore bums from sitting all the time. Perhaps, it is churlish of me to complain about the rain …

There Were Other Geese!

John said that my day had been a wild goose chase, a search in vain, and while there was a grain of truth in what he said it was far from an accurate description of the day. John had come on a record of one of our very attractive native Irish orchids, Autumn Lady's Tresses …

On Tingling Knees.

There is a small sliver of woodland a few fields away from our house, a narrow wedge between my neighbour's farmland and the railway track - now the Waterford Greenway - and I wonder how close this may be to being a remnant of a long gone landscape. There are not many trees of any …

Blue Skies and Lady’s Tresses.

This past week has been dominated by the weather, with storm Ellen on Wednesday evening/night the centre of disruption. It had come on foot of days of unsettled weather, heavy rain and gusting winds and these conditions have continued since. Gardening was disrupted prior to Ellen's arrival and difficult afterwards as the conditions continue to …

Melting Point!

It came around three this afternoon, the point when normal gardening became impossible. Not many outside of Ireland realise that Irish people melt when the temperature goes above 25C (that's 77F, Google has told me!) but it is a fact and that point was reached yesterday and today. In these days of staying at home …

Gone to Pot – or The Mid-Week Ramblings of a Tired Man.

For some reason, we both slept badly last night. We were in bed shortly before 11.30 and I awoke for the first time around 1.30a.m.; again at 2.40 – I know the times because I went to the kitchen for a drink of orange juice as my mouth was dry. I woke several other times …

A Quick Good-News Story

It has not been a pleasant time with this pandemic but there have been some good moments and it is important to make the most of them - small happinesses are to be celebrated! The restrictions brought on us by Covid 19 has meant that I have been unable to join friends in outings to …

The Pyramid on the Roundabout.

It has been a summer of wildflower good news stories, particularly so regarding orchids. There were reports of Green-winged orchids appearing on the grass verges of a housing estate in the midlands when the local authority stopped mowing. Bee orchids appeared in large numbers on roadside verges in Co. Cork, again when the grass was …

She is an Academic Bee.

She came late to education but has certainly made an impact now that she is here. Already, she has been feted in local press and on the national airwaves with a special appearance on the main evening news. We cannot begrudge her these moments in the limelight for, truth be told, she is at present …

A Day Out…No, A Day Back.

We had to break from the cocoon of the Coronavirus Covid19 on Tuesday last for we needed salt for our water-treatment system. It meant going to the Co-op store in Kilmeadan and we were a little nervous about doing this. As it turned out, we were able to place our order and pay for it …