Writer’s blockage would be nearer the mark. It’s what I feel when there’s so much going on in my head that I don’t know where to begin, where the loose end is to start the unravelling. More in common with road-trip constipation (you know what I mean) than a wistful gaze at a pristine page. […]
Things I’ve learned from my children – the party version
It’s party time. Another rite of passage lately – the teenage party. The campaign began months before, a subtle and effective manoeuvring of the notion from a slight suggestion to an in-the-calendar fact. I tried to think of a reason to say no, but there really wasn’t one. The teen in question and his friends […]
Things I’ve learned since spring sprung
Months and months of cold and damp (and snow too), then all of a sudden, there’s bird on the wing and grass riz. My favourite season because, just for a while, I can persuade myself that there’s going to be an endless period of wearing shorts and loafing about during long balmy evenings. Balmy, I said. […]
The Great City Swap – monkeying around in Edinburgh
We did this in 2016, it’s time for a return visit to the zoo. It’s a refrain nearly as common as “muuuum, where is my….?” and it’s one that’s often harder to find an answer to. It’s this old chestnut: What are we going to do today? It’s particularly challenging in the Palace of Bundance because […]
Go Ape Aberfoyle: Hanging around in the trees
“Go Ape,” the signs urge all the way through sleepy Aberfoyle on a slightly damp Sunday morning. It’s hard to imagine the crimplened coach passengers (the only others on the main road at the time) going even a very little bit monkey. Pondering this we – Boys One, Two and I, arrived at beautiful […]