There was something about the fact that the Notre Dame fire happened in Holy Week that made it seem all the more portentous; the soaring needle of the cathedral’s spire raging from within with livid flames, before falling through the Parisian sky like a giant firework, while locals gasped and wept below.
Last week, during a long walk back from a particularly heathery Cairngorms lump, I stopped at a well-known pool on the Dee.
In my house there are some jobs that none of us want to do.
The notion that Nicola Sturgeon might choose St George’s Day to announce her next independence crusade caused a few wry comments during the Easter Break at Holyrood.
I have tried manfully to avoid any mention of Brexit in these columns. However, its implications are so worrying for all sections of the UK and Scottish economies that it really can’t be avoided.
“We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
“Are there any toilets nearby?” I ask the huddle of photographers. It’s 2am and I’m sitting in my Nissan Micra on the road outside King Edward VII’s Hospital in Marylebone, desperate for a wee.
Tanya Souter – Local Lifestyle Guru
I offer a world exclusive which might explain why our MPs were tying themselves in Houdini-proof knots during that exhausting and exasperating Brexit indicative-voting marathon.
I had an interesting experience whilst shopping this week. The assistant who served me, kept referring to me as “Mannie” in the good old north-east dialect.
I spent last Thursday evening in a room with 80 angry women. They weren’t angry at me, I hasten to add, or at least if they were it was only in my role as a token representative of my gender.
Isaac was almost 80 when he died, a tiny figure, wizened like an over-ripe apple.
Spring is usually a time for optimism: another winter endured and thoughts turning to long evenings out and the chance to embrace the elements.
The tragedy of the Highland Clearances is too frequently evoked, often inappropriately with predictions of “The New Highland Clearances” by those campaigning against threats to jobs or the like.
A Donald Trump bath duck, miniature porcelain clogs and a bunch of painted wooden tulips.
I was quite good at a 60-yard dash in school athletics.
April Fools‘ Day is joyous, it is the start of spring and plays right into my occasionally childlike mind.
My mother’s ghost whispers to me as I push the supermarket trolley past the Mother’s Day cards - no need for those now - hovers on my shoulder as I rummage for mushrooms in the fruit and veg.
I’d forgotten how massive VHS videos are. And how satisfying the whirring sound when you load one into a video player and press fast-forward.
The digital transformation of society is already reshaping the way we work and, in turn, this is reflected in the graduate level skills needs of today.
Depending on how politics shakes down there may be a general election and/or European elections in the next few weeks.
There are some moments in life that have such an impact you know you’ll always remember exactly where you were when you heard the news - no matter how much time passes.
I remember the surprise I felt, during my second interview having left the RAF, on being challenged: “what do you know about risk?”.
We are edging closer to a ban on parents smacking their children in a move which is backed by the Scottish Government.
I am not a great movie goer but I love the film “Chocolat” which was released in the UK in 2001.
It is Lent, the time when Christians often give something up. This year I have decided to take something up instead. This year I am trying to become more ‘Dementia Friendly’.
I guess there’s no harm in a little splenetic, foaming-at-the-mouth rage now and then when trying to reduce the blood pressure.
One of the nicest things about a Ramblers group walk is the possibility of coffee and cake at the end.
INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL ADVICE ON MONEY MATTERS AROUND THE HIGHLANDS, ISLANDS & MORAY ARE YOU SPENDING ENOUGH TIME PLANNING FOR RETIREMENT? New research from one of the UK’s leading pensions and investment companies, found that over 45’s are spending longer planning a holiday than their retirement. (Source LV planning for retirement report)
With one in 10 visitors to accident and emergency waiting longer than four hours to be seen and nearly one in three of us waiting longer than three months for an appointment with a specialist, what can you do if you have the misfortune to find yourself waiting interminably for treatment?
AMIDST all the sound and fury of the recent Brexit debates at Westminster, a surreal event has been taking place there virtually unnoticed.
I’m eight and hiding under a chair in our doctor’s surgery, refusing to come out.