All Blog Posts (82)

   What a weekend Mike and I had. To start with  Abbie our grandaughter, who is 10and 1/2 please do not

    forget the 1/2 it seems to be important for some reason.LOL! Anyway she arrived Friday night her dad brought

   her after tea. Big brother in toil, so after tea,juice and bisc and some time later we settled  down for the evening.

  The plan was for Abbie to stay for one night, but we  went out for a walk on Saturday, it was lovely sunny day

  but very very…

      Mike my lovely hubby, had  a hospital  appointment today, he has a heart problem, we have  been

     concerned regarding this, and have been putting our live on hold. But we  got good new today as the

    Dr said no need  not to  do as we would like within reason, Dr said they will be keeping 6 months checks.

     The fact we have been going swimming as often as pos has helpt a great deal, and to keep active not

    too harshly is ok. So needless to say we…

       Went to our art studio, when I say our, it is really a self help  group,

       there is about 25 of us attened, it is available three day per week,

       we go one day each week. I should also say hubby paints, his painting are mostly

     of building.At the moment he is in…

A facebook campaign has given rise to fresh rumours that one of Edinburgh's finest unsigned rock bands may be planning a massive come back almost six years after they disbanded.  Corca, an indie rock outfit was operated by six people, including Scottish folk singer-songwriter, Owen as their keyboard player.  There has not yet been any official confirmation from the band or management but tantalising teasers, which suggests that there may be news regarding the future of the band in due…

I was sent this like to the Isle of May National Nature Reserve blog this week where one of their ecent volunteers is talking about her experience. I will put a permenent link to the blog (there are some good posts there) but in the mean time have a read and let me know if any of you are inspired to give it a go.

http://isleofmaynnr.blogspot.com

Oh and you don'y have to go that far (although it is very nice)  there are NNRs right…

A lovely day out can be a visit to Moffat, just an hour and a half drive from the central belt and just off the M74.

As you enter the small town you see on your right the park with its wonderful flower beds

and for the sportsman the putting green. Children can get very wet…

Yes, scarecrows, and lots of them. Bothwell folk are holding their scarecrow festival, in aid of, Yorkhill  Childrens Hospital in Glasgow. Scattered around the town, and not only in the Main Street are scores of scarecrows, I've counted 28 on my first wander around and I've yet to make a wider search.

The actual event is 9th to the 11th September and there is much to see and do, for more info,…

I have just published two new books.

A few weeks back my husband was chatting to a guy who said they picked apples in an old orchard near my office. Ian asked me about this and I had to admit I had no idea. So we decided to investigate with the help of a bit of aerial photography (thank you Google), found a couple of points we thought it could be and yesterday lunchtime a friend and I went to investigate.

It turns out the orchard belonged to an disused asylum (which I did know was there!) along with wilded vegetable and…

EYESORE. Visually offensive or ugly thing. esp. a building. Says my dictionary.

I've no doubt that every city, town and village throughout Scotland has them, they provide visitors with a dim view of the place. But, What can be done about them?

 …

I took a a wee trip on the new Govan ferry to and from the new transport museum and to be totally honest, the very short boat trip was the best part of the visit. Which comes and goes every 20 minutes.

I cannot recommend a visit to the new transport museum on a personal point of view, as I did not like it.

The first thing to hit you is the awful colour scheme. A sort of pale lime green. Made me feel like I wanted to be sick.   

 Then the darkness of the place. I can't…

Us? Well, us that live in the Glasgow area. Just 45 minutes North and it is the gateway to the Highlands, 45 minutes West, the Clyde coast, 45 minutes East, the capital, Edinburgh, and 45 minutes South, The Clyde Valley.

My Clyde Valley is a little larger than that found on the map, it…

The new issue of the Scottish Natural Heritage magazine (The Nature of Scotland) is out and I have to say it is pretty good this issue. There are some great pictures and articles or a wide range of topics and projects. I just read the web version over a coffee and enjoyed it all. If…

Hello.  I really believe that we should do as much as we can to give our home town, city or village some publicity other than that published in newspapers that is most often news that shows our place up in a very bad light.

 …

This weekend I went biking around Culbin Forest, in between Nairn and Forres. I had a great time as did my dog Dave.

We biked for almost 3 hours and he ran the whoe thing with us, only knocking Fi off her bike once.

The weather was mixed which was why we choose Culbin above walking on the West Coast, but in the trees it was great. The colours of the mosses and lichens was amazing, the dunes and salt…

Grey squirrel scampers in undergrowth,

tree-climbs to avoid hurricane-force

winds bending said tree three-quarters

over. Tornado-type funnel cloud emerges

over the Firth of Tay, oaks/elms/birches

toppled - blocking lanes on Kingsway

dual carriageway. Wheelie bins/litter bins,

road signs, advertising A-boards/hoardings

blown all over to become travel hazards.

Tay Road Bridge closed completely -

94 mile an hour winds…

Last weekend I finally got my new allotment.

Inverness had a definate lack of plots (pretty much none) so a group of interested individuals got together and put alot of work in to secure a site, get funding and set up fencing etc and this weeked it all came together and we now have an allotment site.

After years of only dipping my feet in growing a few veggies in pots my 15 by 10 m plot looks a little intimidating but there is already a community growing up around it. Sheds are…