I haven't been on this much, as the last few months have been a whirlwind - a new family member, a parent diagnosed with dementia, plus the usual juggle of trying to work as much as I can, live within our means and manage a chronic illness. And then there's just the state of the world.

The One Show - Dads Rock featured on last night's One Show Thanks to all the Dads and families who took part, it focuses on our work with NHS Ayrshire and Arran. You can watch it here, it's about 19 mins, 30 seconds in: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Today my thoughts have very much been with the people in Graz. Every time news like today’s comes I’m immediately transported back to March 1996. Once again, it hit a little close to home thinking of pupils at my sister’s school in Vienna who made us these bracelets for our wedding.

Paediatric first aid training with St Andrew’s ambulance done. Now I just need to get my first aid kit restocked to be ready for Surf Camp this summer!

So awesome to be back at Grampian Pride again this year after missing last year. Thank you Mother Nature for not raining on our parade even if you soaked us going back to the car 🤣

I had three days off booked weeks ago all so I could go see Lilo & Stitch at a cinema tomorrow and now I won’t be able to get there because they’re closing all the routes to the cinema tomorrow and all the roads with disabled parking bays. Thanks SO much Aberdeen.

Today was a successful day. A morning of naps, an afternoon trip to beach for ice cream, a work project complete, roast dinner and evening listening to Joni Mitchell live at Newport Festival on vinyl.

Happy 99th birthday to the man who gave voice to the wild. 🎉 Sir David Attenborough, thank you for a lifetime dedicated to the natural world, and for sharing its story with wisdom, wonder, and grace. You've inspired generations to fall in love with nature.

Oh good. A pope that has gone on record as anti LGBTQ+ and covered up sexual abuse. Way to go backwards in the progress Pope Francis made…

Once again, our local city neighbourhood has stickers, graffiti and leaflet with hate against Muslims, Black communities and LGBTQ+ communities. The far right are radicalising others, feeling emboldened and it is deeply concerning. I’ve signed this petition too.

I don’t need presents, but I’d love for people with M.E. to have the support they need, the understanding from PIP assessors and to not fear being in hospitals. Here’s how you can give me a birthday gift: www.justgiving.com/page/laura-a...

Interested to know what my former neighbours at @edinburghzoo.bsky.social have to say - will they too stand with their cousins in Antartica? 🐧 #IStandWithThePenguins

Standing with the penguins.

Us finding out about the tariffs yesterday.

My husband and I received a £40 gift card for @dominiontheatre.bsky.social from friends at end of last year. After a tough weekend, we went to go use it today only to discover there’s no disabled access at all. Not even to get wheelchair into building. Utterly gutting and so disappointing.

Mentally trying to calculate how we will be able to afford to live as costs of everything continue to rise higher than pay and disability do. It’s maddening to see the talk of DWP focusing on getting disabled back into work at the same time as there’s talk getting rid of remote & flexible working.

Mums, Dads, Grannies, Grandads! Come along to our free First Aid. Thurs 20th March 7pm. Taking place in Gorgie. Sign up below: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... @drscottarthurmp.bsky.social

We're conducting the biggest review of Facebook Challenges to date. We already have data from over 120 challenges, but now we’re casting the net wider. 📢 If your UK charity ran a FB Challenge in 2024 without Social AF, we’d love you to complete our quick survey: 👉 forms.gle/imB1oid8Xm39...

TWO DAYS left to respond to the UK Govt consultation on Copyright and AI. The AOI has created a brilliant guide to help with this - the consultation is onerous but their tips make completing it quick and easy for any creator, not just an illustrator. PLEASE ADD YOUR VOICE: theaoi.com/news/the-cop...

Got to catch up with friends from UCLA Writers Studio workshop on Friday. We all took a four day intensive class back in 2022 and have met regularly to critique each others work ever since. We all had a break from writing at end of last year as life was heavy. It’s so fab to get back in again.

Most amused to realise my friend wrote “Buy x chocolate” on the magnetic whiteboard cloud that we use for our to-do list when she was over for Valentine’s Day. It’s only taken me five days to notice 😂

Today in the life of someone with M.E. - husband helped me get to optician so I could get my eyes tested & order new glasses. This took two hours as apparently I have the face size of “not quite an adult”. 😂 I then needed to be put to bed and had a three hour nap to recover.

The Father-inclusion Hub website was lunched just this month! A growing, co-created archive of ‘what works’ in embedding father-inclusion! Visit the site to access resources developed by leading organisations and get in touch if you have examples to share! fatherinclusion.org

Working with CILIPS & Colin McGeoch (a fellow @foscotlibs.bsky.social member from Glasgow) as we try to work out just how many libraries in Scotland are under threat in the next council budgets next month. The cuts to services over last 5 yrs are mind blowing. 🤯 And Scot Gov doesn’t track this.

The gorgeous residential Gladstone’s Library Writer in Residence programme provides space and resources for up to four writers whose work engages with liberal values in the broadest sense. Writers at all stages of their career can apply. Please share :) www.gladstoneslibrary.org/events/write...

The power of sleep. I feel like a whole new person!

So proud of the @foscotlibs.bsky.social who went to represent when disability prevented me from being able to get to Holyrood. Here’s hoping that a review of legislation which campaigners have been calling for years for comes to fruition 🤞

Right now some of our members are in Holyrood hoping to meet MSPs over lunchtime. We wanted to give them a flavour of why people all over Scotland have been signing petitions against the closure of libraries, and the reasons public libraries matter to them.

A huge thanks to Eloise Christofferson for writing this article in the Glasgow Standard about tomorrow's debate: glasgowstandard.com/2025/02/04/s...

Today, we sent a press release to journalists ahead of tomorrow's Save Local Libraries Debate in Scottish Parliament. We hope tomorrow starts an important conversation about how Scotland's libraries can thrive instead of just fighting for survival. Read full Press Release here: bit.ly/40ZPuyo

I’m giving away a copy I got @lighthousebks.bsky.social Pls share. This short but vital book links past & present fascism & offers hope. ‘In 1937 the Nazis staged a show of stolen art showing the 'perverse Jewish spirit'…It also had work by foreign or queer artists…’ By @suchmayer.bsky.social

I've written to my MSPs about this. I'd encourage you all to do the same! We need our libraries!!! If anyone wants any pointers for letters, I can send you mine 🥰

This is huge! Thanks to CILIPS and the actions of campaigns like Save our Rural Libraries and Save our Moray Libraries we've finally got MSPs having a members debate. Please write to your local & regional MSPs to ask them to attend Wednesday's lunchtime meet and greet and the debate at 5 pm 👇

Apparently a foreign billionaire donated £100 million to the most right wing party (several members of which have spent a lot of time hopping across the pond to learn from a political campaign there). No one person should have so much influence on politics petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...

So lovely to meet fab event fundraisers from all over the UK and Ireland today @fundeverywhere.bsky.social conference! Some great sessions, and hoping to take some time to go back and view what I missed… But first uni homework & @foscotlibs.bsky.social organising!

Who is heading to the @fundeverywhere.bsky.social Events Fundraising conference this afternoon? #UKFundraisers

We are a group of #kidlit creators who have been heartbroken by the devastating scenes in Los Angeles. We are raising desperately-needed funds for wildfire relief efforts with an auction taking place Jan 20th - Jan 28th. Please share: www.32auctions.com/organiza... Logo by @sydhanson.bsky.social

Biomedical scientist who works in cancer & infectious disease life sciences biotech here: Banning US scientists from communicating with the WHO threatens humanity. Banning communication about emerging health risks like disease outbreaks & food recalls threatens humanity. 1/

Hearing whispers that there's a debate about local libraries going to be happening at Holyrood early next month. Anyone planning on going to make their voices heard? #LibrariesAreEssential #SaveLocalLibraries

Very sad and shocked to hear Fat Face has closed in Aberdeen. I don’t buy clothes often, but most items I buy come from there and last me for years. All our Christmas pyjamas are FatFace, bought on Christmas Eve usually, and now it’ll be a trip to Edinburgh if we want to shop in person. 😢

The companies forcing lorry drivers to go out in Scotland today need named and shamed. Two have been blown over on A1 near Dunbar. The fact drivers were asked to drive that route in a Red Alert warning is utterly appalling.

Also if our family could stay out of hospital for a whole month in 2025 that would be lovely.

Have had so much fun helping an agency with some fundraising data analysis that will hopefully help lots of charities this year! I’ve loved getting stuck into data - something I would never think I’d hear myself say when I was crying over my medical stats homework at university 😆

First Aid, tonight! in Gorgie, there's still spaces if you'd like to come along. 7pm, it's open to all. book here: docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLS...

My recollection of Nan Shepherd is rather faint but I wrote about the quiet late life (and literary afterlife) of my mother’s friend and teacher, prompted by the new correspondence edited by @kerriandrewsuk.bsky.social

Use your excitement and relief to help a Palestinian in Gaza today - share their fundraisers, donate, use this energy to help them survive. They have a long road ahead.

🎉Happy New Year! Our submission period for 📚 debut novels opens next Saturday 1/11/2025 at 12:01 a.m. PT and stays open until Sun 1/12/2025 at 11:59 p.m. PT. See full guidelines, FAQ, and how to submit your work here: tinhouse.com/book-submiss...

And all of a sudden Tuesday is here… let’s see what tonight brings. Excited to meet the people from around Scotland who love their public libraries!

To be able to work some days means making sure to rest other days. I worked yesterday, so today is a rest day. There’s always stuff I “need to do” but have to choose not to because if I do, I will end up getting too ill to do anything at all. #SpoonieLife #ME

There’s something really interesting to be written on what’s happening at Meta re: fact-checking and political content (well covered) happening at same time they are making sweeping negative changes to political ads (pretty uncovered outside of charity/campaigners space).