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 […]
Snow, in January, who’d have thought?
I’m looking out on what has been called, of late and on social media, a winter wonderland, but what, in reality, is what you’d expect to see at this time of year, in this part of the country. I’m sure that the yellow and amber warnings make it seem worse. I suppose if more people […]
The parenting milestones no one tells you about
It’s possible that before you conceive your first child, milestones are just those old things beside the road or on the set of a panto. Somewhere that Mr Whittington does his turning. You know? But that doesn’t last long. Soon everything is measured out and ticked off – compared to the average, or to her […]