A STROLL IN THE GARDEN - ANTHONY GINN AND KATHLEEN MCLAUGHLIN

Anthony Ginn and Kathleen McLaughlin from Moville make a great gardening duo. Anthony worked for years in the oil industry deep in the Saudi Arabian desert so he loves nothing more to be knee deep in the wet Inishowen soil. Kathleen on the other hand is the design and ideas person (the boss!) Together they have created a garden that can be appreciated at any time of the year.

How long have you been working on the garden?
Only three years. The front garden has seen the most work. Initially it was wet grass so we have gravelled it and put in the pots.

What is your favourite plant?
Anthony: I like the dahlias the best. They are fantastic at this time of year and produce lots of lovely blooms for cutting
Kathleen: I love the daffodil. We have heaps of bulbs to plant this year.

What is your favourite feature in the garden?
We both enjoy the heart shaped raised bed in the back garden.

What is your favourite season and why?
Anthony: Summer is the best time of year. You can sit out and relax, enjoying the meals on the patio.
Kathleen: I think the spring is lovely because of the promise of new beginnings. And the daffodils!

What work gives you the most pleasure in the garden?
We both enjoy the planning stages and seed planting.

Any irritations in the garden. How do you cope?
Slugs are a real pest. We do put down some slug pellets occasionally and sparingly. Dahlias can be vulnerable so they will get a sprinkling.

What is your best gardening tool?
Secatuers for cutting the flowers. We are investing in a new petrol mower soon to get away from the awkward cables of the electric mower. That will probably be next years best tool!

Top Tip?
Don’t be in a rush. If things don’t grow well in the first year, give them a chance to establish. We had a peony rose that was sickly for a few years but looks fantastic now.

Any plans for the future?

We have ideas to plant an archway in the front garden and to grow more vegetables. As well as the hardy veg such as beetroot and courgettes we plan to get a small greenhouse to grow tomatoes and cucumbers.

Horticultural.

ME AND MY MOTOR- IAN GOMERSALL

Photo: Me in 1988 with my first Celica

(Below are the pics of the cabriolet for sale)

I am in the spotlight this week. I know I did my ’92 Nissan Sunny a while ago, to much critical acclaim! I thought I would share my latest motoring exploit. I went over to England this week as a friend of mine wanted to sell his 1987 Toyota Celica 2.0 litre GT Cabriolet. After interviewing Chantal Busek last week with her fabulous new Celica, I jumped at the chance to drive this one back to Inishowen to find a new home for it in the North West of Ireland (and to feel the wind on my bald patch of course!)


How did the car drive from England?
It went really well thankfully. It can be a bit nerve racking when you don’t know the car. I caught the ferry from Liverpool to Belfast and I clocked up nearly 300 miles of relaxing, trouble free motoring.


Have you driven a Celica before?
I had a 1979 1.6 Celica way back in 1982. (See photo) It was a brilliant car and if I were to have serviced it regularly it would probably still be on the road. There have been seven generations of Celica’s since the early 1970’s and they have always been designed for their sportiness and driving pleasure. Most of the Generations were top rally cars too, but you have to keep them well serviced!


Best thing about the car?
The pop up headlights are still a great novelty and of course taking the roof off when it isn’t raining is a real pleasure. I thought that the ride would be hard but it is actually very comfortable. The car is also a special edition, it is number 66 of only 200 ever made.


How much is the car on sale for?

It has an asking price of €2500 (£1700 sterling) ono which reflects the fact that there is some work to do on the car. It is mainly cosmetic though and wouldn’t cost a lot to bring it up to scratch. You can ring me on 086 401 2755 for more information. Now reduced to £1100 sterling!!

Motoring

RECORD EGG LOFTING ATTEMPT IN GREENCASTLE

"IT TRIED TO BREAK THE SOUND BARRIER BUT THE SOUND BARRIER BROKE IT!"

Photo: Ronnie Gomersall and Joseph Murphy preparing their rocket "Slik" .

Ash McFadden from the Greencastle Maritime Museum supervised the event that hoped to see a world record attampt for the fastest/ highest egglofter rocket. The rocket aptly named Slik was hoping to break the sound barrier and return an unbroken egg back to earth. Disaster struck as Slik hit the sound barrier. The body of the rocket shredded and the only pieces recovered were the nose cone and a bit of the body. The egg as yet has not been found. Ash, Ronnie and Joseph will be working on a stronger rocket body for another attempt next year. The remains of Slik are on display at the Maritime Museum and Plantarium.

A STROLL IN THE GARDEN-ANDREA BRANNIGAN

This week Andrea Brannigan and her daughter Jolene from Buncrana show us around their garden. They both love to see their garden full of plants and colour. The garden is also home to two friendly pet rabbits and is a small haven for children to play in.

How long have you been working on the garden?
Eight years. We were the first people to move into the house and it was just laid out in grass. The soil needed a lot of work before we planted.

What is your favourite plant?
I love the rose. I have a few in the garden and my favourite is the one that has two different colours, red and pink. The red one comes from the original rootstock.

What is your favourite season and why?
I prefer the spring because everything starts to grow and there is all of the preparation to do for the year ahead. (Jolene likes the winters best because the few flowers that are out look lovely with the snow and frost on them)

What work gives you the most pleasure in the garden?
Weeding and putting in the new plants for the year to come. I also love feeding the garden.

Any irritations in the garden? How do you cope?
Wasps and slugs. I put down beer traps for the slugs. The wasps I just have to put up with.

What is your best gardening tool?
It has to be the hand trowel. You can get right into the corners and around the base of plants to get out the weeds.

Top Gardening tip?
Feed regularly! I have a bit of a thing for the 10-10-20 grass feed. I tend to use it for everything!

Any plans for the future?
I would like more rose bushes. I will be keeping the nasturtiums down next year too, there are just too many of them this year. The rabbits seem to like them though so all is not lost!



Photo: Jolene loves to see the frost on winter flowers