If I had my way, there would be no Christmas music or decorations or lights before mid-December. But I know that ain’t gonna happen and I’ll just have to make the best of what is on offer and hope I never tire of listening to A Fairy Tale of New York. Continue reading
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Anthony Scaramucci tells many amusing stories arising from his brief period as White House Director of Communications in the first Trump administration. For me the most striking of these relate to Trump’s difficulties with the written word, his reluctance, for example, to … Continue reading
I was lucky enough to be in attendance at a book launch in Dumfries’s Coach and Horses to celebrate the publication of Pete Fortune’s two books of short stories, Waving at Strangers in Passing Cars and A Pauper from Irishgait … Continue reading
Toxic culture sparks school strike threats! This headline, referring to a fairly newly built Dumfries multi school complex, was recently drawn to my attention. Toxic culture seems a rather vague term and in discussion of the topic I suggested that … Continue reading
Thornhill was busy today, and my usual parking spot near the Drumlanrig Cafe was unavailable. By chance, I found a space at the Old School, located behind Nate’s forge. Frequent visitors to Thornhill will likely know of the giant fork … Continue reading
What a pleasure it was to participate in the Wigtown Book Festival Southlight Launch which took place in the eyrie of the Nature Room, perched on the top floor of the County Buildings. It’s definitely the best Southlight Event I’ve been … Continue reading
The subject of wind farms came up. Memorably Tom quipped: “They don’t really take up a lot of space, unless you include the visual impact!” He’s clear: we need major investment in the electricity grid and will just have to accept more pylons. Continue reading
John Curtis: His framing of a possible future Scottish independence referendum was not one I had previously heard: a choice between one union, in which Scotland is currently a very significant if somewhat discontented fraction, and another, in which Scotland would be a very small part. Continue reading
Migrant communities are always the object of suspicion and mistrust and that is to be expected, but here in Scotland this should be tempered with an awareness of the recent history of emigration. Continue reading
Carruchan 
From Apex Predators to the hidden World of Mycorrhiza
I’ve never been much of a bird watcher. I can just about name the birds that turn up at my feeders, which occasionally include some eye-catching specimens. Greater spotted woodpeckers come from the woods nearby for peanuts and there’s also … Continue reading →