Why are they giving us sports news, or weather forecasts? Did he really just read out a list of pre-election poll percentages?  Haven’t they heard David Bowie is dead? A few years ago I caught my first glimpse of the man for a few years and thought Jaysus if Bowie is starting to look old… Read more »

You might not think it but the best time to do certain jobs in the garden is winter. Admittedly there’s not much to encourage one outdoors, the prospect of dislocating a shoulder slipping on the deck or patio is usually sufficient deterrent. But if you can brave it there is no better time to do… Read more »

We have all seen enough of it by now to know that, for the most part, Facebook is utter nonsense. The painstakingly concocted profiles, the staging,  the presentation of a fictitiously idyllic version of oneself. Not to mention the relentless recirculation of hopeless self-help drivel. But every so often in the blizzard of baloney comes… Read more »

I have been asked to design and build a garden for the Syrian refugee centre at the former Hazel Hotel in Monasterevin. The centre currently houses forty refugees who in the next week will be moving onto other centres in Cork and Kerry to begin  the next stage of their assimilation. The next influx of… Read more »

We all share the landscape.  Some parts of it are more private than others, your back garden is away from the public gaze and you are free to treat it in whatever fashion you fancy. Inevitably you want it to be pleasing; pleasant to look at and engaging to be in. In engaging with public… Read more »

We need to talk about your shed. In a manner similar to that of the deck and the sandstone patio, Celtic Tiger hivemind syndrome continued full throttle when it came to the shed.  Historians will cite the years between 2001 and 2007 as the golden era of the timber garden shed. An uninitiated visitor would… Read more »

Next up on the Honour Roll of former Celtic Tiger All-Stars due a reunion tour would have to be the Sandstone patio. Suffering from credibility issues every bit as debilitating as those of the deck the lesser spotted sandstone patio has not been heard of since 2006 when it was effectively banished from civilised society… Read more »

The poor, unfortunate, much maligned deck. It is customary to chastise it mercilessly in a time honoured tradition stretching back as far as 2004 when it made its triumphant appearance in Ireland. It promised so much, for ten minutes it looked so cool and made us feel all Scandinavian.  We Can Get So Much More… Read more »

We’re all about the mindfulness now. Are you inhabiting the now, are you here? Are you focused on what you are doing right now, relinquishing all thought and preoccupation with the past and the future? We are encouraged to savour each moment whatever that moment is composed of, however unpleasant we might have traditionally considered… Read more »

Regular readers will know by now that a prime concern of mine is the dearth of sincere human interaction created and reinforced by our built environment. I have touched on the grim reality that most of us live in a version of a suburban environment that differs little from the seventy year old prototype. It… Read more »