Lots to celebrate! Where on earth has the time gone! The last few months have sped past in a swirl of manic activity. I feel like I’ve barely had time to breathe. Now that lockdown is starting to ease a bit and lots of us have become ‘double jabbers’, myself included, I’ve finally been re-united […]
Category Archives: Argyll
You Bute(y) – An Island Break
The lockdown restrictions eased here in Scotland just in time for me to join with a small number of my family to celebrate (socially distanced of course) my mum’s 80th birthday, and to take a short break on the Isle of Bute. Like most people, I’ve barely been over the door in the last year […]
A Window on the (Covid) World
Like many writers, I’ve always been an avid people-watcher. I idly speculate about fellow passengers on buses and trains, giving them personalities, life histories and even names. )You’d be surprised how many axe murderers use public transport.) I inspect the trolley ahead of me in the supermarket queue and wonder what is going to be […]
A Visit to Auchindrain – A Highland Village
My current work-in-progress, with the enigmatic working title of The Enemy Within (what on earth is that going to be about, I hope to hear you ask!), is set in Edinburgh in 1822, during the historic royal visit of King George IV. Hence my recent research trips to one of my favourite cities (and more […]
Bute Walks – Ascog and the Victorian Fernery
You’ll be well aware, if you follow me on Facebook, that I recently spent a driech (Scots words meaning grey and wet) week on the Isle of Bute visiting family, doing a bit of writing, hoping a change of scene would get the creative juices flowing, and a lot of walking. There was rain of […]
Fave Cycles – No 1 Piering into History
I am an unashamed fair weather cyclist. Though I love my bike (which is a hybrid, not a superfast road bike) I’m not one of those enthusiasts who cycle in all weathers, and I suffer terribly from gradientitis – any suggestion of a hill then forget it. So this delightful flat out-and-back cycle to Blairmore […]
Kilmun Church and the Holy Loch
One of my favourite cycle routes, especially in the evening when I’ve been working all day and want to clear my head, is along the side of the Holy Loch, where I’ve got the choice of heading up to Glen Massan (more on that another time) or around the head of the loch to Kilmun. […]