The resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness must be an opportunity for the BBC to turn a new leaf, rebuild trust and resist those like Nigel Farage who want to destroy it We must stand up for a strong, independent BBC, to stop Trump’s America becoming Farage's Britain.

'you don't have to / own a hut // to feel happy / about huts'

for Rachel her wolf waits head on paws for the diagnosis and the day her wolf must leap 10.XI.25

Labour's 'national security threat' attacks on the SNP reveal how deeply embedded support for nuclear weapons has become in UK politics, a leading security academic has said

‘There are thought to be close to a million deer in Scotland, with at least 100,000 culled annually. Deer pressure on nationally and globally important protected areas is revealed in data we obtained via freedom of information from NatureScot, the Scottish Government’s wildlife agency’

There were our own / there were the others; 23 silent walks for the centenary of WW1, at NT properties in England and Wales, with readings of poems from conflicts over the past 100 years. A collaboration with Ken Cockburn, Luke Allan and Heather Yeung. www.therewereourown-blog.com

mancala Sundays are for family evenings, and, at fifty-nine, you can be sure I’m glad of every game we play 9.XI.25

Gary Snyder

A reminder to other lochs to abandon the pressure to be perfect maps.nls.uk/view/218516888

let’s agree the seals want to be liked more than the dolphins let’s agree a tiger, an elephant, a giraffe, in no particular order let’s agree no magic solutions have fallen from the sky let’s agree we’re all wearing corduroy; now let’s discuss, is this identity politics? 8.XI.25

word-mntn (Creag nan Carrachan, lovage crag, from the end of the road, Ratagan)

after Lautner, for Helen it's going to be beautiful in thinking it's going to be beautiful after drawing it's going to be beautiful in imagining it's going to be beautiful after digging it’s going to be beautiful in living 7.XI.25

Your cat when you're choking to death in your apartment

Lovely interview with Anthony Barnett www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

time for the sea- birds is the X of sunrise, the Y of sunset, & Z of the tide

let’s agree let’s agree that peace is not a real estate deal let’s agree that last song was by Eric Costello from Colorado let’s agree it’s the mattress that counts, not the bed let’s agree that bracken can be rocks shining in the sun 6.XI.25

I am SO happy to be able to share the wonderful cover for DISPATCHES FROM THE AVANT-GARAGE: THE ALTERNATIVE PRESS coming in March from Wayne State UP. The cover has it all—postcards, letterpress, a bison. Beautifully designed, as it happens, by Lindsey Cleworth, who grew up in my/our hometown.

more let’s agree let’s agree that for every law against repeated protests, we need a law against repeated wrongs let’s agree that every moon is just super let’s agree this ylang ylang smells of piano let’s agree, I do them, you do them, we all do them, the great things no-one ever sees

word-mntn (Beinn na Caillich, Hag's Ben, Knoydart).

Happening tomorrow, on creative disabled access.

'just this once / the air is stiller / than the stones', a very still autumn evening at Temple Wood, Kilmartin

in life if one half of the garden is rain then one half is sun so look round the back for an arc and be- side the shed for a little boat full of leaves 4.XI.25

As Boswell and Johnson progress through Glen Cluanie and Glen Shiel Boswell spots a mountain he says is shaped 'like a cone', and Johnson, being in a bad mood from the long ride, disagrees. But there it is, still visible to this day.

swopsies at the party fish or foe? friend or fowl? 3.XI.25

word-mntn (Sgurr an Airgid, Silver Pike)

she says there are lots of women like I was I say none like you are now 2.XI.25

Lovely to learn that Light is a Right, our Guide to Wintering Well, popped up as an inspiring source for wider spiritual reflection on BBC R4 Thought for the Day. issuu.com/livingwithsa... www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... @hesterparr.bsky.social @alecfinlay.bsky.social

investment we agree if we can't afford the lochside homes possibly we can afford their reflections 1.XI.25

sing-a-long-a-bela www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKRJ...

Call for papers for a special issue of the *Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry* on concrete & visual poetries. Edited by Colin Herd & Greg Thomas. 250-300-word abstracts to [email protected] by 10 Jan 2026 poetry.openlibhums.org/news/867/ Please repost and share!

Amazing to learn about the level of demand from Orcadian library-users. Do hope that everyone queued up on the reserve list soon gets their share of sunlight. All hail the Wintering Well Box and our wonderful public library partners!!! @hesterparr.bsky.social @alecfinlay.bsky.social

all that wet wood will keep us warm the winter after this cold one 31.X.10

two versions of Eigg

Loch Craignish The night’s lack of stars is forgiven by this morning’s twinkling frost. Here we are, here just before the light of the first boat seams a wake of boat-sounds down the loch through the dawn towards Dorus Mòr, The Great Door.

On limit, radical rest, & access to wild places, with Hayden & Helen Needham, on Out of Doors. I've done more conversations about creativity & disability on outdoors progs than culture shows. BBC Scotland relegated the arts to interviewing actors between pop songs. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

'Cultural void' fears over poor treatment of arts workers. Unions want strict conditions put in place over Scottish Government funding for arts organisations to ensure better treatment for staff and freelances. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2557906...

word-mntn (Druim Fada, the long ridge)

Our project partner Living Life to the Full is giving a webinar on free online SAD resources later this afternoon. Details here: eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

it’s seldom I’m wrong, she says– likewise, I reply 29.X.25

I'm contributing to a talk on Stonypath, Little Sparta tonight, with Patrick Eyres and Tim Richardson. Online viewing is possible. gardenmuseum.org.uk/events/talk-...

A new poem on allyship in Poetry Scotland. Thanks to the editors.

Achara Stone, near Duror, from the annals of a stone botherer

a poetic reworking of The Unna Rules, on mountain culture and how we should relate to mountains. In paperboats. paperboats.org/2023/10/09/t...

#livingwithSAD talks to BBC Scotland @ukri.org @uofgied.bsky.social @slipshodspeller.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Taigh Chearsabhagh

six views of Beinn Sgritheall, a word-mntn for Loch Hourn; the the-ben-of-screes

Scotland is SO fed up of being the dumping ground for Westminster's choice of nuclear weapons or for their nuclear energy. Scotland's MP's voted resoundingly against nuclear weapons in Scotland. It's time for #ScottishIndependence talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2025/10/26/u...

Thoughts on this? @markmcgeoghegan.bsky.social @ballotbox.scot NEW | Poll points to SNP Holyrood MAJORITY 🟡 SNP – 66 seats (+2) ➡️ REF – 16 seats (+16) 🟢 GRN – 15 seats (+7) 🔴 LAB – 14 seats (-8) 🟠 LD – 9 seats (+5) 🔵 CON – 9 seats (-22)