August Colours

The colours in the countryside have been simply stunning these past two days.
I have been cutting oats, which are truly a rich golden colour.   Set that against a bright blue cloudless sky, and watch as the afternoon draws on to evening, and shadows lengthen.   An orange harvest moon popped up yesterday, but only for about [...]

Read Full Post »

Mending the Combine Week

This has been ‘mending the combine harvester week’, and is something of a ritual as the grain harvest approaches.
I run a Claas Dominator 76, which I bought second hand and is now getting pretty old in the combine world.     But there are lots of machines of this vintage working year in, year out.    Being of a [...]

Read Full Post »

Dundee Rep is 25 years old.

I was invited to a 25th birthday Gala performance at Dundee Rep last night.    I have managed to get along to most plays over the past 23 years and the poster on display of all the past programmes matched my bookshelf at home.   
Not as sad as you might think:    first of all, the space inside the Rep [...]

Read Full Post »

Damascus – new David Greig play.

Saw this play in preview.   A new full length David Greig play is an event in itself, and this one shows him on top form as he returns to old themes and explores new territory.   Different languages and cultures was explored in a very early Greig play called ‘Airport’, but in the claustrophobic Damascus hotel lobby [...]

Read Full Post »

Foot and Mouth

I can’t believe it is back.   
We were a long way from the outbreak in 2001, but the countryside effectively closed for quite a while.    That outbreak cost Farming in Scotland £230 million and Tourism in Scotland between £200 and £250 million, not to mention the heartbreak of losing livestock, and some longstanding pedigree herds.
The authorities [...]

Read Full Post »

Cats

Now while I am not a big fan of cats, I tolerate them, and we have always had at least two cats on the farm, and as many as five.   They don’t come in the house mutch, but have a base in the boilerhouse where they get fed and have beds.
Oscar, the cat in the news [...]

Read Full Post »