Welcome to a week in the country

with Dr Catherine Keena, Teagasc countryside management specialist

Look out for clusters of bright scarlet red berries of honeysuckle, found on top of twisted stems hanging from trees or shrubs above the body of the hedge, where the plant has scrambled up to the light to flower earlier in the year. The berries are eaten by birds such as coal tits.

Honeysuckle will grow from berries or cuttings but the best way is to peg a stem to the ground while still attached to the parent plant and it will sprout roots, which can be cut off and transplanted. Also known as woodbine, honeysuckle is part of our native Irish biodiversity.

Our Old Armchair

By Paddy Egan

A furniture van called to our homestead today

The driver appeared as if gone astray

As he read out the invoice with business like care

Then he announced he was here with our new armchair

The time it has come to replace this old throne

T’was a haven of comfort where ideas were grown

T’was a place to relax for meditation and prayer

And stretch weary limbs on that ancient old chair

It had character and charm, but t’was no work of art

It had its identity, which was there from the start

There were two when it came, an identical pair

Like husband and wife were those faithful old chairs

For years they remained each side of the fire

After a hard day at work it was a heartfelt desire

To lie back for a nap and forget all our cares

Like a king in his castle on those comfy old chairs.

When the winter months came it was cosy and warm

Like a harbour of refuge from tempest and storm

After a laborious day it helped the body repair

And we forgot all our troubles in on our priceless old chair

Now the years have rolled by and it’s showing its age

We must move with the times and start a new page

It served us so well with comfort and care

Now a chapter has closed for that lovely old chair

It’s been moved out to the shed to take a well-earned rest

It has already been chosen by a bird for her nest

She’ll build a new home of straw, mud and hair

And hatch out her brood on my faithful old chair

In this week’s Meet the Maker, Maria Moynihan talks to Tipperary-based illustrator Bea Van der Zwaag from Fleur & Mimi

The number in euros it costs for a water cremation, known as resomation or alkaline hydrolysis -

see Water Wishes

Katherine O’Leary

If you don’t have enough space in your kitchen, then it’s time to take a look at your cupboards and drawers. Organise one cupboard or drawer at a time. Get rid of the things that are never used. Move seldom used items out of the easiest to reach places such as eye level shelves and so on. Things that you use often should be placed at the front and be easily accessed without moving or lifting anything else. Stack dishes of the same kind and size together. Drinking glasses and mugs can be stored behind each other as the front ones will be used first. Space in the kitchen cupboards is valuable. It is not about how much space you have but more about how well you use that space. Remember the first time you stocked those shelves, you had more than enough space.