It’s time to nail my colours to the mast. In last Thursday’s referendum I voted ‘Yes’ in answer to the question ‘Should Scotland be an independent country?’. In the months and weeks running up the 18th of September I was genuinely undecided. As I declared in this column and during televised debates, I was torn… Read more »
Switzerland: a land of mountains and Heidi, cuckoo-clocks and chocolate, and the juxtaposition of being famous for both army knives and armed neutrality. I spent a summer there in the late 1980s, working as a waitress in the resort of Davos, heading back there in winter for the Ice Hockey World Cup. I returned a… Read more »
I make no secret of my love of Facebook, but towards the end of last week I began to avoid it. It wasn’t so much that I was getting fed up of my News Feed being clogged up with friends taking part in the Ice Bucket Challenge, it was more that as a feartie with… Read more »
Desert Highland Discs What’s your favourite song? It’s an innocent enough question, and I’m sure most of us have a ready answer. But here’s the thing; ask the very same question a day, a week or a month later, or after a concert or during a relationship break-up, and the answer will have changed. As… Read more »
In a month we will be casting our votes; to stay as part of the United Kingdom, or not to stay, that is the question. Yes or No? Aye or Nae? We’ve had months, if not years to decide, to analyse the pros and cons, and to question politicians, analysts, each other and ourselves. And… Read more »
Trying to educate me about food waste was always going to be a case of preaching to the converted. Or so I thought. Growing up with a Dad who was a keen gardener, we knew how much effort had gone into producing the veg we ate, and there was no way that effort was going… Read more »
Bravo Glasgow, and thanks for the Games! If you’ve been anywhere near a telly in the last ten days or were lucky enough to get tickets for the Games, you’ll know that Glasgow rose to the occasion. Like a woman with half an hour’s warning that the in-laws are about to descend, the city fathers… Read more »
My brother the ‘Flying Scot’ My brother Iain is a Consultant Paediatric Neurologist at Yorkhill hospital in Glasgow. He cycles to work every day from his house near Strathblane – a round trip of about 30K on his fancy pants fixed speed bike. You might have seen Iain (and his bike) if you were watching… Read more »
The unexpected joy of a holiday cottage Holiday cottages must be the best way to take a family vacation in the UK. They are much better than camping – if you turn the telly up loud enough you can’t hear the rain, and there’s no need to search for wellies when you are desperate to… Read more »
I’d like the right to choose my death, please… The joy of radio is that you can get on with your life while it entertains, educates and informs. Whether you are cooking, exercising, driving or just pottering in the garden, its main advantage is that it doesn’t require you to look at it. Of course… Read more »