A WINTER FRIEND This article is so befitting for all of us… take time to ponder… the last statement cannot be refuted:- I FIRST STARTED READING THIS EMAIL AND WAS READING FAST UNTIL I REACHED THE THIRD SENTENCE. I STOPPED THEN AND STARTED OVER, READING SLOWER, AND THINKING ABOUT EVERY WORD… IT MAKES YOU STOP… Read more »

“Do It Now” in 2020……… “I shall pass through this world but once. Therefore any good that I can do, any kind act that I can perform for any fellow-creature, let me do it now. Let me not delay, or omit it, for I shall not pass this way again.” – These words written in… Read more »

The Little Thawby thereluctantemigrantDid you ever wish for something so hard that by the time it looked likely to come true, you weren’t so sure if you still wanted it or not?Two and half years ago when Saudi Arabia, my old home place, the UAE and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar, accusing us of funding terrorism,… Read more »

Happy Ever After, Apartby thereluctantemigrantIf someone told you that one day you and your husband would come to the conclusion that to live in two different countries, neither of which to be your home country would in actual fact be the best solution for your family.Who in their right mind would leave England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales, and… Read more »

Gardening newsletter December with Klaus. .Dear Fellow Gardeners, I have finally finished my Nuffield report. It’s such a relief to have it all completed.  The title is “The potential of growing Yacon and other Lost Crops of the Incas and Jerusalem Artichoke as crops and functional foods in Ireland”.I really think there is potential to grow… Read more »

T Dear Fellow Gardeners, Usually November is my least favourite month of the year but leading up to it was really fabulous.  I was harvesting some of the Jerusalem artichokes  last week – and they were fabulous. I grow them at the community gardens in Bundoran, Co. Donegal as well as in Co. Cork.  They… Read more »

    It’s long been the case that qualified teachers all around Ireland are struggling to secure full-time, permanent employment in Ireland.   You try looking for a full-time job as a teacher in Donegal, Roscommon or Fermanagh where the local school might have a patronage of under one hundred children and the four teachers have been… Read more »

Dear Fellow Gardeners, Time to prepare for winterPlease don’t listen to the old tale that you should dig over your garden, spread compost or manure and leave it rough over the winter.  Then the freezing and thawing will break the sods and you’ll have a lovely friable soil in spring.This actually works well in Germany and… Read more »

    Gardening with Anne McKeon There is absolutely no reason why your autumn/winter garden should not look as good, if not better, than your summer display. It’s all in the planning. By autumn and early winter your beds and borders can look worn out and generally past their ‘sell by date’, particularly if you opted… Read more »

Dear Fellow Gardeners, I can’t believe it’s already September. Since we got back from holidays a couple of weeks ago it hasn’t stopped raining.  Lough Melvin is already as high as in winter.  However, there is always the Indian summer to look forward to.  In old German it is called the Altweibersommer (Old Wife’s Summer)… Read more »