So excited to be starting my summer job on Ailsa Craig today. The lack of fuel, shelter & water has been taken care of. Ill be provided with goods brought over by boat from Girvan and I have a good strong tent from which to study seabirds like the cormorant, manx shearwater & illusive looflirpa.

A special treat for people who like clouds, water & daffodils.

St Andrews has so many historic buildings it would be asking too much to post pictures of even 10% of them. Just down the road, here's the gorgeous village of Crail.

Chilly eventide, Broughty Ferry.

Spring colours

Bloomin heather.

And for non-Americans, non-allies of America and all the women, children and animals who are in jeopardy through no fault of their own.

Kitty left a message on my laptop...

The crocuses are out and looking fab in Kirkcudbright.

Have you been watching Dirty Business on Channel 4? Sensational stuff. I hope there will be repercussions and serious action taken, including the abolitioon of the Environment Agency and its replacement by a fully-funded department including scientists and investigators with real legal powers.

Great news. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The 16th century round tower at Portpatrick stands next to St Andrew's Kirk, which hasn't been in use since 1842. It's a home for jackdaws nowadays, and might have been so for the last 184 years for all I know.

Lovely old road bridge over the River Bladnoch in the sunshine today. Picture taken from the car park at the distillery.

The Mull of Galloway is Scotland's southernmost point. You'll need a good head for heights if you decide to follow this sign, and you'll lose your hat too if not careful because it's always windy. Great scenery though.

The Feast of St Valentine is a celebration of romantic love, and there's nothing at all wrong with that. xx

If you found Gaelic hard to understand, try some mediaeval English instead: Mirie it iſ while ſumer ilaſt ƿið fugheleſ ſong, oc nu neheð ƿindeſ blaſt and ƿeder ſtrong! Ei, ei! Ƿhat ðiſ nicht iſ long, and ich ƿið ƿel michel wrong, ſoregh and murn and faſt! www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HXT...

This is great. It was on BBC Alba the other night. If you didn't see it, here's another chance. I hope you like it. #Donegal www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFp1...

Crazy deals at Morrison's. So that's 2 vegan breakfasts? No thanks. We'll have 1 vegan breakfast, and then another 1 please.

Weather so dreich it can stop a dalek.

More Rabbie, for Burns Nicht. So lovely.

It's Rabbie Burns' 276th birthday. He grew up in a farming family but to make ends meet worked for Customs & Excise, where his interrogations were so fierce he became known as Third Degree Burns.* This beautiful poem became Dick Gaughan's signature song. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ7o... *joke

Soft rain today at Carlingwark Loch.

Welcome to my new friends. For those in the USA, If I've not followed you back it's because I'm all Trumped out, but I send you my genuine admiration, support, sympathy & love.

Far too many talented artists here. Time to redress the balance. This is called A Woman Surprised By A Wasp.

Hadn't realised just how unethical Spotify is. My account is now closed. The company won't notice till many more of us quit as well. Just like Twix really. The US government didn't renew their contract but till 1 January Spotify was running adverts for people to join ICE. That deserves a red card.

We really need cheering up. This will do the trick, but only for fans of Kurt Vonnegut. It must be the most classic Vonnegut paragraph of them all. If you've not read Slaughterhouse 5, Cat's Cradle or Hocus Pocus I recommend them, but not Bluebeard or Deadeye Dick, which are surprisingly dull.

Wigtown's parish church, rebuilt in 1730, was replaced by a new one next door in 1851, but some of it still exists. It's an interesting feature of what is a lovely wee former county town.

Boats in the mud at Annan Harbour. The blue-painted one will never float again; I think the other one might be somebody's cosy home.

First snowdrops of the year in Stranraer. Fab.

Moon tennis

Today's walk in the December sunshine. 2025 has just 1 day left. May it be a peaceful one.

Roe deer today in Kirkcolm, North Rhins. She's keeping an eye on me even though we're on opposite sides of the burn.

The Besotted Wretch; bookshop, cafe & welfare rights advice, Abbeydale Road, Sheffield, in January 2016. When the same 2 guys came back to try to rob us a second time we knew we'd probably be better off closing down. We worked more or less for nothing, but have no regrets. It was a dream fulfilled.

The wreck of the Monreith, Dhoon Bay.

Nothing but repeats on TV this evening, folks, so how about a game of dominoes instead? Confession: I'd never heard of artist Horace Pippin (1888 to 1946) till about 10 minutes ago but I love his work already.

Silhouettes in Kirkcudbright today.

Take some well-deserved time off with Glenn Gould & his seatless old chair performing - & humming along to - JS Bach's Goldberg Variations in 1981. This performance lasted 13 minutes longer than his 1955 recording, & IMO those 13 minutes make all the difference. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klqj...

Kirkmaiden churchyard in today's December sunshine. There's a touch of sea in the picture if you look closely.

Give this ensemble a menu to look through, and see what happens. Extraordinary, and very lovely indeed. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSh6...

Biographical note: I'm an atheist but I don't agree that the Devil has all the best tunes. Here's some wonderful Xmas music from the Baroque period to illustrate the point... www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns4O...

Killantringan Bay, South Rhins, Scotland.

A wee part of Torhouse Stone Circle, Wigtownshire, Scotland, in rare winter sunshine.

Ian is my first follower & followee. What a guy!

Never knew it at the time but I was lucky to visit Sycamore Gap in 2019. 4 years later the famous tree was no longer there.

44 High Street, Kirkcoubrie. EA Taylor & Jessie M King were artists & designers during the Art Nouveau period, and were instrumental in establishing the town as an artists' colony.

This wee film makes me want to go to Ireland again soon. The hopeless love of Patrick Kavanagh for young Hilda Moriarty. www.youtube.com/watch?v=G27W...

I'm 69 this week. Would never have made it this far without my beloved.

Met a lovely person in the Machars today who went out of her way, in spite of not being great on her pins, to follow us & recommend a cafe & pub in the area. What a sweetheart.