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

SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPH

Couldn't resist putting this on. It is a school photo from about 1971.

King Edward Junior school in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. (I am on the back row next to last on the RHSide) I can't remember many names from the photo. I have put it on the Friends Reunited site for that year, there aren't many people signed up to it so I doubt I could put a name to many faces.

I remember Felicity Shillingford (I met her once in a nightclub in Manchester in the late 80's) Sally Howkins (I went swimming in her pool in Sutton in Ashfield also around the late 80's) Glenys Hayes (used to live up the hill from me and played in her garden once when I was about seven)

I also remeber Barbara Hibbert and Mattew Beardsley. In about 1971 we made a super 8 film together depicting the end of the world with a soundtrack by David Bowie singing Five Years. It was made for a telly programme called Screen Test. It didn't get shown! We were ahead of our time obviously.

Apart from that I'm stumped!!

Although I do remember Mr Sadler on the right. He had a habit of throwing pupils over his upright piano.

Here is the link to the Friends reunited page if you are interested

http://www.friendsreunited.co.uk/friendsreunited.asp?wci=memberlist&school_key=5950&member_year=1971

PLANNING A WINTER BORDER PART 1

There are plenty of plants that produce colourful effects in winter so your garden can be a welcome site at any time of the year. When you plan any planting, think about plant form, foliage and colour. Don’t forget colourful stems too. It's easy to get diverted by flower colour, but for good seasonal effects look at how, when, and where plants deliver colour and interest.

In winter, seed heads not only look great left on grasses and some other herbaceous plants but also provide food for birds and other wildlife. Topiary shapes really come into their own in the winter months. Think about plants in terms of their height - aim for interest at each level - tall, middle, low and ground level. Even in small gardens, make more impact with seasonal planting by grouping plants in borders or areas rather than having it dotted about your garden. You may want to plant up winter borders or corners where they can be appreciated from the warmth of inside

CREATE COLOUR IN YOUR GARDEN
Although at first it seems an impossible task, creating colour and interest all year around in a garden is an achievable project-with some careful planning.

In the spring its easy to create colour with the use of bulbs and spring flowering plants such as forsythia and dicentra, however as the year progresses the two most difficult times to produce colour are at the end of August and the period between late December to late January. The key at these times of year is plant your flowering plants nearer to your house, this will help to give the impression that the whole of your garden is still flowering rather than just two or three choose shrubs or plants.

BARGAIN PLANTS FOR LATE SUMMER
You can pick up bargains in the garden centres at this time of year, especially with herbaceous plants that have started to go past their best. Buy them now at a reduced price and plant them in your garden for a glorious show next year.

Rudbeckia 'Goldstrum'
A border perennial 60cms high orange yellow flowers late August to September. Planted in groups incorporating garden compost into the soil Rudbeckia will produce an excellent show in the first season. Because they grow quickly they will need to be staked or supported by other plants in a border for maximum effect.

Japanese Anemone –
This is a useful plant at this time of year. It is easy to grow in most soils and positions, but particularly useful to grow under trees or larger spring flowering shrubs. The great advantage with Japanese Anemone is the flowers are produced on long stems making it possible to produce the flowers above existing plants with in a border.

Cosmos –
These are annual plants that can be sown under glass in early spring Cosmos will produce an excellent late summer display. An ideal plant for the new garden as it produces quick results and colour in the first year when colour is difficult to come by.

Horticultural.

PLANNING A WINTER BORDER PART 2

Photo: A tin bath blending into a painted brick wall

PLANTS FOR LATE WINTER
It is time to think about looking for plants that will be a splash of colour around the winter months.

Prunus Autumnalis Rosea - A small winter flowering cherry tree. Flowers with small highly scented flowers well before the buds break. An ideal tree for the small garden.

Helleborus Niger - The Christmas rose, seems unremarkable even boring during the summer months. However as Christmas arrives the display of waxy flowers is nothing short of spectacular. When planting, incorporate some peat if you have a sandy or clay soil in your garden. The plant grows best in semi shade in a sheltered spot near to your house.

Cornus- Dogwood. These shrubs are a great asset to a border in winter as the bark is bright and colourful. There is Cornus Alba, which has the vivid red stems and then there is the Cornus stolonifera, which has yellow stems. Both of these plants look terrific when the late sun catches them. They will generally grow anywhere and all they require is to be severely cut back every year in spring. This ensures that there is bright new growth the following year. If you want to increase your stock then the plants take root easily from cuttings. Cut off a stem that is the same size and length as a pencil and push into the ground or put into a pot. They will be rooted by late spring

Horticultural.