I’ve had a bike ever since my fifth birthday. I remember going to a two storey bike shop on a busy back road in Stockport with my parents. My brothers and sister were there too, though Edom would have been a toddler at our mother’s side. Russell and I ran about making judgements on the various vehicles. In the end there was no competition for the
( Read more... )
Fit's that I heard the poet say? Some 'Chieftain o' the puddin' race'. Within it a' they tak their place: Guffin', stinkin' meat. But stomachs and bollocks, mutton and brains I canna eat. But that's nae need to turn aroon
( Read more... )
On Christmas Eve Galloway was cloaked in thick fog from Moffat to Springholm. Edom and I drove in late at night at a slow speed and with lights bright. There was a blue hue. It was a mellow end to a frantic week and in Castle Douglas we were reunited with loved ones, puppies and cats. For me, Christmas offered the opportunity for reflection and
( Read more... )
I felt at home when I went around Scotland. Of course, why shouldn’t I? For Scotland is my home. But I’m a Lowlander; raised and brought up on the Solway plain. That’s south of Glasgow, ken? I’m a Sassenach! And there I was in the Highlands and Islands. Out there I got this feeling; a feeling which is clear in my chest but the word that comes to
( Read more... )
Today I received an unexpected and very kind gift from two of my supervisors, Jane and Peter. It is a glass beautifully etched with Jacobite sentiment. It is a wonderful thing, beneath a picture of the Prince it says "I will go daringly". These words not only encourage me in my studies, they indulge my Jacobite geekiness. The glass injects fun into
( Read more... )
It has been years since I had a Kit Kat. I turned in my Tesco Clubcard when they refused to answer my questions about their ethics. I have never shopped at GAP. The last dozen-or-so times I have been through the Golden Arches has been to pee, not purchase. My T-shirt is organic; my chocolate fairly traded; my vegetables grown locally and in season
( Read more... )