I’VE lived in the midlands for over 20 years now but once I spent a lot of time on the coast. This means that a return to the seaside is nostalgic and exciting.

A NEIGHBOUR of mine has a large garden and about 30 years ago he planted a lot of trees in it. The trees grew well, perhaps a little too well, and he became uneasy about the fact that they were starting to crowd him out. I was called in to give my opinion.

THE OTHER day Andrew and I went fishing down at the lake. The wind was from the north-east and tradition has it that fishing is hopeless in an easterly wind. The sun was also glaring down, another bad sign.

ONE OF many things that make cruising on the Shannon such a pleasure is the bird life.

IF YOU wanted to pick a year in which modern environmentalism got started you could do worse than opt for 1971.

ON WARM nights when there is little or no breeze I love to sit out late on the patio. Sometimes I read under an outside light with a glass of wine beside me.

BECAUSE OF the wintry weather during the month of May the May blossom really only came into full flower at the beginning of June.

I SPENT a good bit of last week taking groups of school kids for nature walks along the River Barrow.

I WENT down to feed the hens the other morning and my path was blocked by a fallen tree. It was a medium-sized sycamore and a couple of years ago it had been damaged by a grey squirrel.

ABOUT 10 days ago I was woken at dawn by the incessant calling of a cuckoo. Dawn is rather early at this time of year so I went back to sleep, but it was a pleasant alarm call.