At last the countryside is springing into life once again. Wild garlic is in full flush all along the roadside here in East Cork. 

OH MY goodness, the weather would drive you to the drink. I am often at a loss to know what to cook for supper, one minute there is thunder and lightning and flash floods, within half an hour one could be searching for a deck chair to enjoy the scorching sun.

NOTED breeders Peter and Marion O’Connell won their eighth Simmental championship of 2006 at Clonmel Show — an outstanding achievement for their Raceview herd at Knoppogue, Mallow, which has also won seven interbreed championships.