Page 4 - Blog

If you’ve missed the Valentine’s Day rush, but you still want to do some serious gifting and yet save a bunch of cash then you are at the right place.

With up to LOADS OFF this is the last knockings of our Winter Sale

With 60% off SPECIAL PURCHASE - 2 Champagne Flutes in a plain box. With free gift wrapping when you tick the box at check out.  

https://www.jamespirie.com/special-purchase-2-champagne-flute-200ml-industrial-box.html...

But if you want your Valentine’s gift sending with the speed of gifting to your loved one look no further.  The short link is to our Valentine’s specials.

https://tinyurl.com/nyhsarne 

I’ve just had a couple of friends move to the Highlands and now they live in a remoter place they are finding deliveries are hard to come by. They are just hundreds of metres outside the delivery zone of many Inverness...

Well, well Valentine’s day is almost upon us and it’s surprising how from small beginnings a giant tradition has arisen. In Holland it’s Valentijnsdag, in Sweden it’s Alla Hjärtans Dag (All Hearts Day), in Germaany it’s Valentinstag and in France it’s rather grandly La fête des amoreux, Le Saint-Valentin. And in case you are suffering from amnesia the day is the 14^th of February. And of course there...

Do you feel your heritage is under threat in our current globalised world where the people deciding what you see on your computer or phone screen are based in some bunker in California? Well there’s a group of people called The Living Heritage Inventory for Scotland which wants the fruits of the nation preserved so that future generations can enjoy them too. It’s all part of the commitment to the UNESCO...

Happy Burns Night to One and All –
And There's a Hand, My Trusty Fere!

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o'kindness yet,
For auld lang...

If you have a decent lawn like me you may be upset if a “Fairy Circle” appears because it is normally a sign of fungus infestation and that’s no welcome anywhere. I’ve looked up what to do about such circles in my lawn but really it’s all to no avail. You see we are abandoning our lovely sea front house and moving to a town house without a garden, only a view of the canal and open fields. Everyone...

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...

January 25^th Celebrates the Nation’s Favourite

When Robert Burns died in 1796 the loss was so great that after a few years his friends would gather for a commemorative supper on his birthday and so one of the longest lasting traditions of the nation began. I’ve been casting around locally for a Burns Supper, because as long time readers will know we haven’t been in the current house for very long...

Yes it’s happening at last, well almost certainly happening, and I don’t mean the James Pirie Sale. It is the ferry service direct to France from the nation’s capital.  The new Forth Green Port is set to host a terrific new service to the French seaport of Dunkirk and it is designed to be launched in 2027. So not in time for this year’s holidays, but soon enough. No more long slow slog down the...

It’s that time of year. Shetland is back on the telly and the nights are slowly, slowly getting lighter, but the weather is foul and for a change it is freezing rather than pelting down with rain while the wind howls. The lack of light in the north is serious problem for the populations of these far flung regions, but the Orkney Islands are helping folks with SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder caused...