Happy New Year! Early night after a splendid feast with baked Mont D'Or cheese and an evening stroll around the barrio. Shaken awake at the bells by fireworks, but turned over and left them to it. First Footin today 😊

Sunrise, 1916 By Georgia O'Keeffe #WomensArt #NewYearsDay2026

Claire's beloved horse Tango died in terror when holiday-makers set off a firework display at a nearby cottage. Sign her petition to protect animals and vulnerable people from the shock and terror of unexpected explosions. you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ba...

The Starflyer in Edinburgh costs £1.65 per second.

Some photos from today’s East Lothian walk: sprout field; Scot’s Pine trees and the distant Garleton Hills volcanics; fishing a lively sea; shoreline reflections.

Videos with thousands of shares on social media claim that people’s savings over £5,000 could be redirected into a national debt repayment fund from January 2026. But the Treasury confirmed this isn’t true.

Interesting on many levels. Who knew there were so many alpaca and llama in the UK? BBC News - Alpacas, buses and pints: Five laws you may have missed in 2025 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Tories’ Shadow Attorney General, Lord Wolfson, is representing Roman Abramovich in a legal case that is delaying the transfer of £2.5bn of assets to benefit the people of Ukraine. I’ve written to Kemi Badenoch about the conflicts of interest this raises. 👇

Why are these fir trees floating in a lake? These are Christmas trees pursuing their second career creating fish habitat. Fish and wildlife managers are improving fish management using trees. This is a great use of our trees after their retirement. Read about it at Our Trees, ourtrees.substack.com

So Boris Johnson, Prince Phillip, Andrew Bonar Law, Freddie Mercury, George I, George II, Richard E Grant, Douglas Carswell, Rudyard Kipling, Cliff Richard, Joanna Lumley and Spike Milligan weren't British? Interesting www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Brigitte Bardot was alive + beautiful, but she failed to use her power to learn about what was happening in France. In her fancy world, this icon spent decades endorsing wildy anti-islam, sometimes holocaust-denying, anti-gay people. Put her in headlines, but call her out for her lack of humanity.

My alternative New Year message! The world is moving on — let's make this the last year we go backwards under the SNP.

Just a Crowdfunder to help James Dalgleish, Scottish Labour candidate for Edinburgh Central, win the seat in the May 2026 election. www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/james-dalg...

You don't get convicted multiple times for racism and hate speech without there having been many other times when you weren't caught.

True. It may be panto season right now, but it's the Cinderella Sector all year round for FE in Scotland. SNP's neglect of Scotland's colleges has more than a whiff of snobbery www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

EXC: Scots Labour MP performed kidney transplant on Christmas Day as he speaks about festive shifts.

Scottish Labour is right. It’s the same for teachers, college lecturers, health and care workers. The list of snp failures goes on and on. Time for the media in Scotland to question snp ministers as much as the UK govt is held to account.

Out of all the gifts I got the OH for his Christmas, this was his favourite. Mine too. Total win-win.

Funny how folks are happy to gloss over racism if the perpetrator was alluring and kind to animals.

Just in case you ever need a birthday cake in the shape of a Scotch pie, here you go: shop.christiecakes.co.uk/products/sco...

It is very worrying that it's ok for a person who not only thinks, but says these things out loud is allowed to work in the NHS.

The day after, and time to dial it all down a notch or six. #BoxingDay #LandscapePhotography #WinterSunset #Clackmannanshire

Hamnet preview at The Cameo this afto. Quite breathtaking. Totally one to see in the cinema rather than on the telly.

I was wondering how long people waited before putting their unwanted Christmas gifts online to sell... Turns out Christmas Day isn't too soon.

Can't believe I've let myself get behind on this week's EastEnders, meaning I'm furiously trying to catch up in time for this evening, at the same time as cooking Christmas dinner.

King Charles' unusually outward-looking Christmas message was packed with messages and symbols Closed out by Ukrainian singers with British military musicians, he spoke of "compassion and reconciliation" and the need "to ensure that right triumphs over wrong" www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/w...

Well, I liked the King's speech. The message made me a bit teary. The Carol of the Bells sung by the Ukrainian choir tipped me over.

Ooh @lothianbuses.bsky.social

When I was growing up, a huge dead turkey would appear three or so days before Christmas. It was so huge it wouldn't go in the fridge and instead, sat under a tea towel on the chest of drawers at the top of the stairs for days. Unrefrigerated. 🫣

The Big Shop has ended many a relationship. Some collapse in the freezer aisle, some falter among the cake ingredients, or fizzle out among the condiments. But, my dearest love, this year we made it safe to the free from.

Fabulous! There are so many secrets under The Mound. I didn't have an electric blanket as one of them.

All three top stories tonight are about men accused of rape or sexual assault of women. Some with great power + influence, some without. Some white, some not. Some religious, some not. The only commonality is that they are all men (cis men). Men who are accused of the most awful & cruel acts.

Tomorrow evening it’ll be my annual duty to vaguely shepherd the activity on the #duvetknowitschristmas hashtag and urge people to give small sums to charity. 7.30pm? Something like that?

The Trust were dismayed by the attack. The Nelson Monument belongs to the Common Good of the people of Edinburgh. It is our heritage. It doesn’t belong to the UK Government. Random actions like this don’t help. They just alienate the public. 2/

There's a mini Farmers' Market on Castle Terrace this morning if you've forgotten any foodie treats. #edinburgh

Here it is, my big #EastEnders catch-up thread for people who only see it when they go home for Christmas with the family. Allow me to get you all caught up on the goings-on in Albert Square in its most explosive week of the year! KEEP THIS BY YOUR SIDE AT ALL TIMES.

Young care leavers in England to get free prescriptions, dental and eye services

Catching up on yesterday's EastEnders. There's a scene in the cafe and in the background, Chris Rea Driving Home for Christmas is on. A coincidence, or a nice wee tribute?

Definitive proof that in Sadiq Khan's London, Christmas has been cancelled altogether www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

We need to shout all the progress Labour has made in 2025 from the rooftops, or at least tell our grumbling rellies about it at Christmas get-togethers. There really is so much good news. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

In cases like this I always want to give the journalists / editors the benefit of the doubt, but honestly this is pretty brazen. I really worry that major news organisations in the UK are honing content to social media mores in incredibly damaging ways now, and don't even realise how damaging it is.

"The RSPCA said the ban could be a 'real game-changer' and it would work with the government on writing the legislation." ~AA www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Kirsty MacColl, Shane MacGowan, George Michael and now Chris Rea have all died at Christmas. If I was Mariah Carey I'd stop leaving the house in December just in case.

Is anyone else having problems with InPost deliveries atm? I currently have 4 parcels lost in the world between worlds. The customer service are great at talking a reassuring talk, but after three weeks, the pacifying chat's stopped working.

Apparently, the Iberian Peninsula is slowly rotating anticlockwise and in the distant future, the Mediterranean will once again become a closed sea. english.elpais.com/science-tech...

The story of Farage and Putin, told by British-Ukrainian soldier Shaun Pinner on a destroyed apartment block in Kyiv.

As Labour announce they’ll ban trail hunting, man in Barbour jacket and mustard trousers accuses them of being out of touch with public: www.bbc.com/news/article...

Winter solstice in Edinburgh.

Parry attacked SNP equalities minister Kaukab Stewart, whose parents moved from Pakistan to the UK when she was two, saying: “Clearly her primary loyalty is not to Britain or Scotland.” Incessant attacks on every Asian Scot. Nothing on other SNP/Labour Scots www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politic...

Pantone just updated their Color Of The Year