I’m taking a little time off from writing for the holiday, but wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2020. Thank you so much for taking time to read my little blog. It means the world to me. x
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One Road
It’s taken me the better part of a week to get my head around the events of last Thursday. I’ve read a few post-mortem hot takes of the situation, but I’ve come away with just one hard fact – Scotland and England are travelling in different directions, and the chasm is vast. I had a…
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Low Key – Skipping a Crazy Christmas
Every year I assure my family that I won’t go crazy with gifts at Christmas, and every year they end up staring at me from behind a mountain of things they need to find space for. At the risk of sounding weird, I can see now that I was being a bit unmannerly. Saddling people…
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Insanity
One oft-quoted definition of insanity is ‘repeating the same action again and again while expecting a different outcome’. For over three years, I have spent every day trawling news sites and scrolling through Twitter in search of that one magical fact, that single bit of enlightenment, that would convince a small majority of voters in…
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Today in Focus – Guardian Podcast
I am grateful to have played a small part in this podcast about Scottish Independence. It’s coming. https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2019/nov/14/election-2019-is-scotland-moving-towards-independence-podcast
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Plant-Based Ranch Dressing
I’ll begin with a disclaimer: This does not taste exactly like a popular name-brand ranch salad dressing. I’ve come across so many disappointing recipes for plant-based alternatives that promise to be ‘just like’ their meat or dairy-based counterparts, but are nothing of the sort. That said, this is a really delicious, creamy, tangy, herby salad…
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Remembering My Mother
It’s difficult to believe my mom’s been gone for over five years. In some ways, it feels like it’s only been days, and in others, a lifetime ago. I think about her every day. Her dear friend Drucie Brown remembers her fondly this obituary, and it’s an absolute joy. With space limited in the local…
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30 Days
No one speaks about the benefits any more, which makes sense. There weren’t any. Brexit is the project of the morally-corrupt 1% who managed to trick a small part of the population into thinking they were all on the same page, yet those on the bottom tier either don’t know or don’t care that every…
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Outrage Fatigue
I missed the fireworks in Parliament last night as I was too exhausted to watch. I’m mourning the loss of a family pet, and thought it best not to add to my grief. This morning’s press is no surprise – the ramping up and inflaming of rage, prejudice, and discord. But death tends snap everything…
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Done and Dusted – Paying off the Mortgage
This post will go up a few of weeks after the event, so it might not be news to my friends on Twitter, but today was a good day. My husband and I paid off the mortgage on our house eight years early. I am relieved and happy to know that if the worst happens…
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Meet the Flock – Marsbar
This is another hybrid hen, and she looks a lot like our cuckoo marens, so I’m guessing the marans is the ‘mar’ in marsbar. I’m only able to tell her from the marens in our flock by the spiky hairdo. The ‘bar’ bit of her name is probably from a hen called a cream legbar…
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Radicalised
Off grid. It’s a scary concept for some, but for people like me, it’s an aspiration. Imagine living a self-sufficient life and no longer being beholden to ‘the man’. It sounds quite hippy-trippy-60s anti-establishment, but there is great appeal in disentangling oneself from the clutches of societal expectations. To truly live off grid means digging…
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Meet the Flock – Silkie
Is this not the sweetest little thing? She gives me cute rage. She’s a silkie, bred to be broody, but so far we’ve been lucky. She’s been a good layer right through the summer. Our silkie is a partridge, but they come in all sort of colours. They lay smallish brown eggs and are endlessly…
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Meet the Flock – Goldilocks
Another hybrid, and a big one at that. I’m not sure what chickens were bred to produce the Goldilocks, but they must be friendly, confident birds. She’s a great layer, too – loads of cream-coloured eggs. Fancy breeds are great, and I’m always happy to have a few in the flock, but they are never…
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Meet the Flock – Minorca
In case you’re wondering, she’s the black hen with the impressive earrings in the middle of the photo. Minorcas come from Spain, and can be fairly difficult to find. They were on the verge of extinction, but have made a comeback in recent years. They lay small white eggs. I’m sad to say this isn’t…
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