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There's an intensity, a particular flavour to the atmosphere some days. In an instant it can take you to an earlier occasion when your mind and body were sensitive to every subtle shift of light, every scent on the breeze, every minute change in air pressure and temperature. Today I was transported to Dublin, October 3rd 1997, the second time in over 40 years that I moved there to live, albeit just for an academic year this time. The day was unseasonably warm, and I was nervous and excited to be embarking on an adventure. I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and go on an open-topped bus tour of the city, to see all the sights in one go. It shouldn't take very long, a tour of tiny Dublin, but as the bus meandered slowly through the heavy traffic I sat back comfortably on the top floor and gazed around me with deep satisfaction. I belong here, I remember thinking, and now that I have a reason to stay I can get to know it properly. I felt such a connectedness that I've rarely known before or since, but there it was again this morning as near-identical conditions prevailed in my own back garden. There was even noise for once - a chain saw attacked the branches of a nearby tree while a tractor trudged up and down with its metal blades whirring through the earth. Deja vu, that's what it was, and it was so sharp and clear I could almost taste the feelings I experienced that day. The only thing missing was the ever-present tang of hops from the Guinness brewery near the river.

Autumnal echinops to add perspective to the view

Weeded and planted, the bottom bed or shrubbery

With my thoughts still in Dublin I cut the edges of the lawn and then set about doing some gentle weeding, sitting on my kneelers and sliding along on my bottom as I worked. I was still tired after the huge exertions of the past few days, and I knew I'd have to take it easy. I got a long way around, the earth in the beds soft and friable after the heavy rains and the weeds coming up easily. This is it at last, the garden as I've imagined it. It's a work in progress and will always be one, but the infrastructure is there now and I can see what it is going to become. Once again I can gaze around me with deep satisfaction. I belong here.