Rural Rhymes

Agricultural contractor Eoghan Byrne recently shared this poem on his Facebook page after fighting a long battle with the pigeons in his shed. I think it’s safe to say that many of us will relate!

Pigeon

“Victory, sweet victory!”

Rejoice, all those of moral fortitude

For without bloodshed the winged foe has been vanquished

And the battlefield has fallen still.

Repent! All ye who would bear arms.

Repent! All ye who would surrender.

Strategy has triumphed,

The artillery of those who would wreak havoc has been disarmed.

There may be still more battles to be fought anew,

There may be still more just and worthy causes to defend,

But now in this instant,

As night falls upon a sodden October eve

Peace again reigns perpetually.

Picture of the week

How much? Tady Mullaney all set for Elphin mart.

Home Management Tip

Katherine O’Leary

There is a lot of talk about energy saving. While every little saving adds up, some are miniscule, so it is important to be informed. Which magazine took four different mobile phone brands of the same age and charged them in three different ways – overnight for seven hours, when the phone dropped to 20% battery, allowing the phone to charge to 100%, and when the phone dropped to 30%, allowing it to charge to 80% full. The findings were that leaving your mobile phone plugged in overnight costs slightly more than charging it as you need it. The actual finding was that it cost an extra 46c/year to leave the mobile phone plugged in overnight. So keeping everything in perspective, maybe it is not something to stress about in the home after all.

Growing wild

with Dr Catherine Keena, Teagasc countryside management specialist

Blackberries.

Look for the last of the blackberries, each one a collection of small black drupes or druplets, with its own seed. While coming to the end of a long season of blackberries, it is still possible to see blossoms and green, red and black fruit at different stages of ripeness on the same arching briar. According to folklore, blackberries shouldn’t be eaten after hallowen when the púca spits on them. The saying ‘ní fiú sméar san fhomhair é (it’s not worth an autumn blackberry) refers to later blackberries. Likely to be the first wild food you picked and tasted, blackberries are part of our native Irish biodiversity.

Tweet of the week

Quote of the week

We were to stick with Garda Mark Connaughton on the lead bike. The other three bikes would clear the road – gardaí Fiona Moran, Dave O’Connell and Louie Phillips. They were already doing their magic.

Katherine O’Leary.

Number of the week: 14

The number of key locations across Derry City at which the Halloween festival will be celebrated.

Living Life.