Trees are all bandaged up!

 We managed to get the 2 memorial apple trees that got snapped in the orchard yesterday taped and cable tied back up and I believe they'll mend up good and strong.

I've seen trees grow back stronger when this has happened before, one of the biggest trees in our orchard was snapped completely in half and I stuck it back together again and its thriving!

Both these trees that got snapped were right on the path that many people walk through the orchard to get to the forest.

It was a nice night on Saturday night as thats when they were snapped as I was there up until about 7.30pm so they must have been snapped after that sometime.

My guess is its been some drunken teens heading for the forest and one thought they were Tarzan as they were walking through the orchard and started swinging from the trees.

If your reading this who done it or know who done it please pass on the message if they'd like to come and plant a memorial tree in our orchard with me. Maybe they have a lost a family member like a granny or grandad or something?

I'll take you and plant a tree in memory of them. Call it a Paramili-Tree punishment planting!

I did worse things than this when I was a kid, I burnt a massive part of the golf course down messing about with petrol, I never forget it, I also burnt my fingers while I was at it.

I went back home and my delboy dad was watching the horse racing and I was crying in pain holding my finger and thumb in a glass of water.

My dad asked what happened and I said I fell on a cigarette butt!

My dad didn't give it much attention but then my wee mum gets back in from bingo and she was not buying the story.

She said funny the golf course is up in smoke with the fire brigade all over the place and your sitting there with a burnt hand!

I tell you what, after this my burnt hand was the least of my pain as my wee mum give me a well deserved slapping!

Anyhow I really dont think being angry at kids for doing things like this is the way to handle things.

There is one guy from I was a kid, he owned a well known gym in Belfast and I was always up and down the road breaking into places, seeing what I could steal, mostly it was copper boilers from derelict buildings and would have wheeled them down on my skateboard to the scrap yard.

I was a menace on this road and many people were always calling the police on me. But this guy that owned the gym, he always treated me with respect. I would always be out the back of his gym plundering around the backs of other businesses seeing what I could steal but the gym owner always talked to me showing me respect, asking me what age I was and I was about 10/11 years old. He was always saying when you turn 12 come down with your mum to ok things and I'll train you in the gym.

I never forget this guy, the way he treated me I never did anything on his business, in fact I made sure everyone left it alone.

On my twelfth birthday I joined his gym and still today I'm good friends with him.

This man taught me something, I was a complete menace to society when I was younger but how this guy treated me made me respect him.

Maybe thats all our kids are needing is a bit of respect!

#phantomplanter #communityspirit #paramilitrees #phantomplanters 

I challenge you to phantom plant a tree!