Page 19 - Blog

  1. Scotland Triumphs at the Oscar Ceremony

    Scotland Triumphs at the Oscar Ceremony

    What do you get for the person who has everything, but expects a wonderful freebie, no not your other half, but Hollywood A listers? Well quite a lot actually. The celeb guest at the Oscars get a goodie bag worth $125,000! Yes they get a bag that would put a deposit on a house in this country, mad isn’t it? It gets ever madder. Such is the global search for high end goodies the goodie bag sourcers...

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  2. Nothing Say True Love like a Folded Piece of Card. Is That Right?

    Can you hear that? Tick, tock, tick tock. It’s the sound of February and the lurching into sight of that modern behemoth St Valentine’s Day. Love it or loathe it you’d better get your skates on because you can bet that your beloved expects something nice on the day. You might get away with a funny card, but as they note in the classic nothing says undying love more clearly than a folded piece of cardboard...

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  3. No Monkeying Around- It’s the Mating Season

    No Monkeying Around- It’s the Mating Season

    This week a macaque monkey couldn’t take the stress of the mating season and was offski from his wildlife park home in the highlands in Cairngorms. He strayed into neighbouring gardens and went nuts attacking local bird feeders. The macaque went ape when he was part of a band of 30 monkeys and experts think he was feeling the heat in the troupe as the dominant male sought to win over all the single...

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  4. The Bear Necessities

    The Bear Necessities

    I’m just back from a break from the dreich, but no sooner am I back than airplanes can’t land because of high winds and the entire rail network of Scotland closes down.  It’s not a great advertisement for life in these isles, but for some it’s a grand place to come.  On of those is a bit hairy! There’s a large Ukrainian brown bear that’s found a haven here. The poor beast had been traumatised and...

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  5. A Haggis for All Seasoning

    A Haggis for All Seasoning

    Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the pudding-race!

    Today is the anniversary of the birth of Scotland’s National Bard, whose work is celebrated around the world. And on Burns Night it is traditional to entertain friends  and read out the great man ‘s work and address the pudding. And he great chieftain o’the pudding race is the haggis, but have you ever tried to make it? Well...

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  6. Make it Like Burns Night All Winter

    Make it Like Burns Night All Winter

    If you want to have that Burns Night experience throughout the winter, but without the enormous calories intake can I make a little suggestion? Once upon a time I did cooking for a living, I was very young, but the habit has stuck. And I do almost all the cooking in our household, and I love making soup in winter. It’s such a warmer in the dreich.  So why not try your hand at neeps and tatties soup...

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  7. Oats so Easy

    Oats so Easy

    There’s nothing more Scottish than oats and whisky and the good people at Scotts know this well. On their pack for many a long year they have featured a brawny, good looking man about to heave a shot putt. It was based on Jay Scott, a world highland games champion. Handsome Jay was a farmer as well as an athlete lived on the island of Inchmurrin on Loch Lomond, that his family still own. Indeed the...

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  8. When Thank You Seems to Be the Hardest Word

    When Thank You Seems to Be the Hardest Word

    It’s amazing where lost stuff turns up. A couple of years ago I lost my gold wedding ring and as I’d been gardening it was natural to think that I’d lost it while doing stuff outside. I enlisted a neighbour and a metal detector, but despite hours of tracking backwards and forwards it was a no go as we have ancient tamarisk which is a so and so to get around. Then the next days I looked in a mixing...

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  9. Did Someone Say Chocolate Haggis?

    Did Someone Say Chocolate Haggis?

    You can always tell when we are approaching Burns Night as the airwaves and newspapers are awash with haggis stories. At the moment you can get tinned haggis, vegetarian haggis, deep-fried haggis, battered deep fried haggis, haggis bon bons, vegetarian haggis, haggis burger, haggis Moroccan style, Haggis pakora, haggis lasagne and deep-fried  haggis balls as featured by the TV's Hairy Bikers.  ...

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  10. HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A HEALTHY PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR

    HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A HEALTHY PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR

    HAPPY CHRISTMAS

    AND A

    HEALTHY

    PROSPEROUS

    NEW YEAR

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