Margaret P's Blog, a web photo diary from Switz- erm, Scotland: Oban & Kilmore by Oban

It's Mental Health Awareness Week

2012-01-13T14:59:00.001Z

Hiya
A friend/fellow translator/interpreter has made me aware via facebook that it is
Mental Health Awareness Week.

He posted this:
"Depression, anxiety and panic attacks are NOT a sign of weakness. They are signs of having tried to remain strong for way too long. ...
Did you know that 1 in 3 of us will go through this at some point in our lives? Share the support! Let those who struggle know they're not alone, that they are loved and surrounded by a lot of people who care."

I know so many people who suffer from recurrent bouts of depression; I've been a sufferer myself ... Let's lift the stigma still attached to this invisible illness.

"Mental Health Awareness Week 2011 saw us raise awareness of the importance of sleep." – information I found on the Mental Health Foundation's MHAW website last year helped me enormously get on top of my own massive and long-standing sleep disorder.
While I'm not where I'd like to be, I'm getting there.

And now the focus is on how to cope with stress and how to be mindful. There's a good 4-week on-line course at this link.

Waterfall in the Musdale glen (Glen Feochan) – in spate, 2 Jan 2012

Thank you for sharing and caring.

Peace!

2012 has brought some wild weather

2012-01-08T23:38:00.002Z

In the three-and-a-half-and-a-bit years I've been in these parts of Scotland, the last eight days have brought the highest number of storms with lightning and thunder ever. It started at about 3am on New Year's Day (Sunday, 1Jan), when – in Oban town centre – distant lightning was soon followed by the rumble of thunder. Small hailstones followed. The night was unsettled, with rain, hail, wind, more thunder and lightning until daylight.
In the afternoon, I visited some friends up in the Benderloch area: they had been at the "epicentre" of the storm, with a bolt of lightning and a simultaneous massive crack of thunder taking out their entire communication system and their electricity.
It was to prove a devastating electrical storm that left vast areas of Argyll without power and without communications.
Elsewhere in Scotland, as BBC Scotland's very interesting review shows – here – things were a great deal worse, with the Isle of Bute probably worst affected as they were completely cut off for four days!
In Oban, I was fortunate enough to have just minor power cuts lasting mere minutes. And no damage apart from half the roofing of the garden shed having been ripped to shreds and flying through the garden, with a big piece eventually landing on my front porch!
But my BT landline and broadband were constant and strong throughout, and as I cook/heat with gas and have a woodburning stove in the sitting room, I was never too worried anyway.
But the Vodafone mobile signal was down, no coverage at all, from probably 2Jan (not sure because my visitor and I were out travelling in areas where I wouldn't expect to have a signal) until late afternoon on 6Jan – the longest down-time since I got my first mobile phone a few days after 11Sep2001.
Slowly, the news trickled through that a vast area was without Vodafone coverage – whereas O2 and other providers seemed to be doing just fine!
It was quite an interesting experience to try and find out what was going on with Vodafone. They have a clumsy website where you have to trawl through a lot of fine print to find what you need.
I ended up compiling a list of sites/masts/cells that had no Vodafone mobile phone coverage:

Faults Board: http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Faults-Board/bd-p/69 – accessed on 6Jan2012, ca 4:15pm:

Site 41693-KA9–Prestwick, Strathclyde - 3G Sit...
Site 6268-IV5-Portree, Skye-Site down
Site 3719-PA15-Greenock, Renfrewshire–Site W...
Site 06235- PH36-Acharacle, Argyll – Site down
Site 05486 - ML11 - Lanark, Lanarkshire – Site down
Site 8532 – G63 – Blanefield, Glasgow – Site down
Site 37831 – FK10 – Linlithgow, Fife – Site down
Site 6264 – IV48 – Sconser, Isle of Skye – Site down
Site 18014 – EH34 – Pencaitland, Edinburgh – Site ...
Site 07652 – PA34 – Oban, Argyll – Site down
Site 06268 – IV51 – Portree, Isle of Skye – Site d...
Site 31824 – CF44 – Hirwaun, Mid Glamorgan – Site ...
Site 10055 – KA15 – Beith, Ayrshire – Site down
Site 6216 – PA34 – Kilmelford, Argyll – Site down
Site 5466 – KY15 – Ceres, Fife – Site down
Site 32492 – KA18 – Logan, East Ayrshire – Site down
Site 72762 – PA14 – Port Glasgow, Inverclyde – Sit...
Site 6800 – PA73 – Kilninian, Argyll and Bute – Si...
Site 286 – TD1 – Galashiels, Scottish Borders – Si...
Site 8364 – KA19 – Maybole, South Ayrshire – Site ...
Site 3496 – PA2 – Paisley, Renfrewshire – Site down
Sites 38202 & 5988 – G75 – East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire –
Site 30146 – KA30 – Largs, Ayrshire – Site down
Site 5145 – DG8 – Sorbie, Dumfries and Galloway – ...
Site 3743 – KY11 – Dunfermline, Fife – Site down
Site 5439 – PA36 – Bridge of Orchy, Argyll and Bute – since 16Dec2011??? 4Jan2012: "This issue is still being currently investigated in association with the fault listed here." ==> leads to next item on list here:
Site 5432 – 5439 – 6294 6309 – 6910 – 10193 – PA33 – Dalmally – Site down – since 31Dec2011!!!
Site 6211 – PA22 – Glendaruel – Site down
[and on and on and on...]

If you're interested in more details, go here and here and scroll down – the two threads make for quite a bit of interesting reading (and have 191 and 473 views, respectively, as I type – a lot compared with other posts on the Vodafone eForum).
I'm looking forward to a phone call from the Vodafone guys to hear what happened and to find out how their service can be improved.
Of course these were exceptional circumstances, but why other mobile phone providers seemed unaffected while Vodafone went down all over Scotland needs to be investigated, surely!

One group of people who deserve our admiration is the firemen and electricians and engineers who were out there in the worst possible weather conditions, braving high winds and dangerously waterlogged terrain to restore power and communications, clear trees from roads and train tracks and help the country get back on its feet.

Finally, you may be reassured to know that the weather here is now mild and Thursday was like a spring day, with lovely sunshine and dry most of the day – and one lovely creature here thoroughly enjoyed the heat (see above).
Yesterday was a mixed bag, but a lovely full moon in a starry sky in the early night. Today was a bit wet in patches but getting drier as the day wore on. The cloudy sky was orange with an indirect sunset as a friend and I drove into Oban at about 4pm. Tomorrow looks set to be dry and lovely again – just right for a good day's work, eh!

A bit of Xmas cheer via HMS Ocean/Mariah Carey

2011-12-08T11:00:00.000Z

Hi all
Hope your run-up to the Holiday Season is a good one, peaceful, happy, with as little stress as possible.
Here's something that's putting smiles on the faces of thousands of viewers. As you know, I'm not a fan of the military, airforce or navy – anywhere. But if my hard-earned taxpayer's pennies contribute towards this kind of peaceful activity, I'm all for it!

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDZcGz4vmJc&feature=colike

May 2012 be a happy, peaceful, healthy and prosperous year for you all!

In memoriam Barbara Joy (21Dec1948-12Nov2011)

2011-11-22T00:08:00.001Z

For Barbara

I never saw you dance

but when the shocking news came you were dying

I saw what looked like your gown's swirly hem

among the clouds and rainbows

and felt you out there smiling

I don't know if you swam

but as friends and family meet in remembrance

I on a distant shore think of you all

an otter comes and plays in the still sea and

on the rocks as though to tell me all is well

while I stand blinded by tears of grief

my heart upwells with gratitude

to have known you and been allowed to bask

in all your love and laughter

your vast and easy kindness

unseeing I send out my thanks

for the laughter and the love you had

so generously shared with those around you

thank you, dear friend, for having lived

it is so hard to let you go so soon

but we will keep you in our hearts

and see your step

and hear your voice

and feel your touch

in distant waves, in distant clouds, in distant rainbows

PS: A day after writing these lines I learn
that my Goddaughter gave birth to a
little girl – hours after your family and
friends gathered to remember you and your life.
One cycle ends, another begins...

Mary Edna Fraser – Global Climate Change, A Primer, with batik artwork by MEF

2011-11-16T17:13:00.000Z

Friendships are a wonderful thing!

I'm indebted to my old English friend Maggi for pointing me in the direction of Charlestonian artist Mary Edna Fraser.

Her images are just stunning. Have a look for yourself, here:
http://maryedna.com/gallery/batiks/our-expanding-oceans/

And if you click on the title of this post, you'll be taken to the book by Orrin H. Pilkey and Keith C. Pilkey, with batik artwork by MEF, Global Climate Change, A Primer

MEF is also on facebook – as am I...

Oban Fireworks 2011 were a hit!

2011-11-06T16:26:00.001Z

On Friday night, 4 November 2011, Oban had the most memorable fireworks ever:

I was in my sitting-room at the time, over a ridge at least half a mile away. All I saw was the top third of the biggest red "Chrysanthemum" bombs. But the noise was tremendous and went on for a wee while.

Spectacular, and I'm sorry to have missed this moment over at Mossfield Stadium.

Possibly the way to go again next year... ;)

http://youtu.be/L6QtigLJD_4
Video courtesy The Oban Times

Antarctica, Scott and Shackleton

2011-10-20T12:15:00.000+01:00

Hiya again

I'm skiving off packing for my impending move back to Oban – yes, as of Mon 24 Oct 2011 I'll be back in the great wee town on Scotland's west coast that many dub the Seafood Capital of Scotland. :)

Today, though, I want to draw your attention to a video clip presenting what I think is "The Journey South", a touring exhibition of photographs from the Scott expedition to Antarctica a hundred years ago.
Sadly, the BBC clip states neither dates nor places of this exhibition but I have done some research and find that a Scott Centenary Show has been running in Sydney, Australia:
http://www.scott100.org/events/1846/
There it says that "Scott’s Last Expedition [ran] at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney from June - October 2011" – although I've been unable to find anything via the museum link, which doesn't have a search function, either!
The Centenary Show will further run at the Natural History Museum, London from January - September 2012, and at the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand from November 2012 - June 2013 – although, again, that particular website doesn't say anything about this show!

Ever since I read Jenny Diski's fascinating autobiographical novel, Skating to Antarctica (Granta/Virago, London, 1997), I've been fascinated with and have read a few other books on the subject.
Among them
- Beryl Bainbridge's historical novel, The Birthday Boys (Gerald Duckworth & Co, 1991)
- Francis Spufford's study, I May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination (Granta?, 1996)
- Diana Preston's excellent book, A First Rate Tragedy: Captain Scott's Antarctic Expeditions. (Constable & Co, London, 1997).
Shackleton's expedition, which was also beset by adverse conditions, ranks so much more highly in my own book as he managed to get everyone home safely.

Finally, take a look here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/gallery/2009/feb/20/captain-scott-antarctica-photography

Girlfriends are good for women's health – Dr. David Spiegel on Mind-Body Interactions

2011-10-08T14:01:00.000+01:00

Hi again

My Godmother in Canada has just sent me an e-circular that's been making the rounds all over the web. It inspired me to go on a trawl to find out more and this is what has come up:

Psychoneuroimmunology – Mind-Body Interactions

lecture on the mind-body connection, i.e. relationship between stress and disease

Stanford Mini-Medical School, March 16, 2010

Introduced by Philip A. Pizzo,
Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Dean, Stanford School of Medicine

Guest speaker:

Dr. David Spiegel
Willson Professor & Associate Chair
Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Medical Director, Center for Integrative Medicine
Stanford University School of Medicine

Mind and Body in Medicine

Pizzo: "Dr Spiegel is one of the world experts" on how the mind influences the outcome of disease or health, a pioneering leader at Stanford Medical School, has spent years on exploring Mind-Body Interactions.

Possible further reading: Herbert Spiegel and David Spiegel: Trance & Treatment

And here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlFaIxTv1_w&feature=related

I would strongly recommend you take the time to watch the whole lecture. Among many other inspiring things, Dr. Spiegel says regarding the natural response to knowing that you're dying is that we're sad, or frightened or angry rather than depressed.

If you can't watch the whole video, here's a key message that the e-circular from my Godmother has highlighted. I've not been able to trace back the original author but I would like to thank her for this inspiring message:

Among other things, [Dr. Spiegel said] that "one of the best things that a man can do for his health is to be married to a woman, whereas for a woman, one of the best things she can do for her health is to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends."

At first everyone laughed, but he was serious.

Women connect with each other differently and provide support systems that help each other to deal with stress and difficult life experiences. Physically this quality "girlfriend time" helps us to create more serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well being. Women share feelings whereas men often form relationships around activities. They rarely sit down with a buddy and talk about how they feel about certain things or how their personal lives are going. Jobs? Yes. Sports? Yes. Cars? Yes. Fishing, hunting, golf? Yes. But their feelings? Rarely.

Women do it all of the time. We share from our souls with our sisters/mothers, and evidently that is very good for our health. [Dr. Spiegel] said that spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at a gym.

There's a tendency to think that when we are "exercising" we are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged-not true. In fact, [Dr. Spiegel] said that "failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking"!

So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for your health! We are indeed very, very lucky.

[…] Let's toast our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently it's very good for our health.

*****

Technology pioneer and co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, dies at the age of 56 with President Obama saying "the world has lost a visionary".

2011-10-06T12:13:00.001+01:00

Stunned. Sad. RiP Steve Jobs.

I never worked for, let alone met Steve Jobs. Yet I feel part of the Apple family. After all, he was virtually the same age as my younger brother and we grew up in the same era.
Without Steve Jobs and Apple, I would never have been able to pursue my own passion – translating and editing fascinating texts about contemporary art and the environment – for as long as I have.
Without them, I would never have been able to do so from the comfort of my own home, which I relocated to the beautiful Oban area three-and-a-half years ago.
In many ways I owe Steve Jobs and Apple my career and a significant part of my life.
My heart goes out to Laurene Jobs and her family and I will always remember Steve Jobs with the deepest respect.

Thank you, Steve Jobs.

BBC News has a wonderful tribute by Stephen Fry, recorded in August 2011, after Steve Jobs resigned due to ill health:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/14664694

Yesterday, 5 October 2011, Apple CEO Tim Cook today sent the following email to all Apple employees:

Team,

I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing
human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

We are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences in the interim, you can simply email rememberingsteve@apple.com.

No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.

Tim

House found!

2011-09-17T15:26:00.000+01:00

As I said in my previous post, my landlady informed me late last Saturday that she has been given her job back at the local hospital, and wants to come back to Kilmore asap.

I'm pleased for her and look forward to having a friend back in the area.

But it came as a shock to have to move so soon. Still, thanks to my facebook connections, I've already found something really lovely. Grianan is a bungalow in Oban that belongs to people I've known since before I came to the town. They're great friends of another friend, with whom I even considered having a B&B at some point. Sadly, Moira has since left the area, but Liz and Martin still live nearby, about thirty minutes by car north of Oban.

So now I look forward to moving back to Oban, into a smaller house but with a woodburning stove in the sitting room – nice to have on a chilly evening. A guest room will also still be available. Grianan is in a very central location, far less quiet than the Kilmore house, but it will be nice to be nearer my Oban friends and activities – and kinder to my budget, too, and the environment. The location is also a great deal sunnier than in Kilmore, and comes with a nice garden, vegetable and berry patch and all!

If it wasn't for a big translation job, I'd want to move straight away. But it'll have to wait until the owners have moved their things out. Hoping to move on or around 22 October.

Photos will follow eventually – promise!

No Cruachan climb today / House wanted!

2011-09-11T10:17:00.001+01:00

Earlier today I pulled out of climbing Ben Cruachan, a fundraiser for the Oban Mountain Rescue Team: it's pouring with rain and very, very windy.
Also, I'm having to digest the ill-timed news that my landlady (and her husband) want to come back to Kilmore almost immediately. I do have two months notice, but it's a real blow to have to up sticks and find somewhere else barely a year after I moved here.

Not a very happy camper just now, but it'll pass and I'll manage somehow.

Any input re house for rent (possibility to buy at a later stage) is more than welcome: I'm looking for a 3 bedroom property in very quiet area of Oban +/- 5 mile radius.
Kindly add a comment to this post giving your contact details and I'll get back to you without publishing the comment.

UK comedian Nabil Abdul Rashid responds to racist comments by UK historian David Starkey

2011-08-17T15:25:00.000+01:00

Free speech is a beautiful thing.

Last Friday evening, 12 August 2011, I happened to watch the BBC's Newsnight programme and was outraged to hear David Starkey's comments on what may have been behind the riots in London and other English cities last week. I used to think of Starkey as an eminent historian, but no more – within a few minutes, this ageing white man in a suit and tie committed intellectual suicide.

About 700 complaints have been lodged with the BBC about his comments; thousands more must be fuming in silence.

Here is one excellent, intelligent riposte: UK comedian Nabil Abdul Rashid has this to say to Starkey:

Nabil Abdul Rashid Responds to David Starkey "Whites Have become Black"

My favourite quotes:

• "Colour is such a stupid thing to hate people for."

• David Starkey is an "educated illiterate" and like an "intellectually circumcised baboon".

Go, man! Free speech is a beautiful thing

http://youtu.be/3tacNkKjxPA
first seen on Oh No They Didn't!

A beautiful (late) birthday present ...

2011-07-19T20:27:00.000+01:00

... filled with freshly-picked wild berries from the patch of wilderness next to my house – already part of me as I type these lines.

Thank you, F, for this gorgeous wee bowl!

Oban's 200th birthday this July 2011 – Guinness World Record attempt at the biggest Strip the Willow ever

2011-07-15T13:49:00.000+01:00

As part of Oban's Bicentennial Celebrations, we are attempting a Guinness World Record at the biggest Strip the Willow ever – 2000 people dancing!

This event will take place on

Saturday 16th July 2011 at 6.30pm
starting at Station Square and continuing down the Esplanade in Oban.

Everyone who wants to be involved can fill in a registration form - just click on 'Register' above.
Please circulate this amongst your family, friends, colleagues and anyone else you know who may wish to take part. Registration forms can be completed and e-mailed back to thebigstrip@gmail.com.
Please contact us the same way if you have any printed copies of the registration form and you live in the Oban area and we will collect them.
All those participating must register their attendance on the day BEFORE the dance begins at 6.30pm so we can accurately count the dancers. Please come to The Big Strip registration desks in Station Square from 12 noon to receive your unique number which must be worn during the dance - which will last approximately six minutes and will be in sets of eight rather than Orcadian!!

Festive Oban – Photo: MPJ, 13 July 2011

Tell all your friends and family and remember - WE'RE ASKIN': YOU'RE DANCIN'!!

Our Sponsor: MacQueen Brothers' Charitable Trust
The newest benevolent charity to be opened in Oban, MacQueen Brothers run a shop in Oban's White Building.

Something to plan for next summer's Solstice

2011-06-24T11:52:00.000+01:00

Sad to have missed this one:

MIND OVER MADNESS YOGA 2011

WHAT: A yoga event celebrating sun, summer and creativity

WHEN: June 21, 2011. 7:30am-7:30pm (Rain or Shine)

WHERE: Broadway Plazas between 45th and 47th Streets. Check in is at Broadway and 48th Street.

ADMISSION: FREE

But glad to see this at the official Times Square New Year's Eve Website:

"Every year as the clock nears midnight on December 31st, the eyes of the world turn once more to the dazzling lights and bustling energy of Times Square. Anticipation runs high. New Year's Eve at the symbolic center of New York City has become more than just a celebration - it's a global tradition. The world holds its breath...and cheers as the clocks strike twelve.

"As the famous New Year's Eve Ball descends from the flagpole atop One Times Square, an estimated one million people in Times Square, millions nationwide and over a billion watching throughout the world are united in bidding a collective farewell to the departing year, and expressing our joy and hope for the year ahead."

More at the link above. Enjoy the summer, everyone (except those down under, of course).

Peace!

Interesting news: "On Small Farms, Hoof Power Returns"

2011-06-22T20:26:00.000+01:00

A big thank-you to my youngest nephew, Hannes, for sharing this article with me, which appeared many weeks ago but has only just made it into my orbit:

On Small Farms, Hoof Power Returns

By TESS TAYLOR – New York Times – Sheffield, Mass.
Published: May 3, 2011

ON a sunny Sunday just before the vernal equinox, Rich Ciotola set out to clear a pasture strewn with fallen wood. The just-thawed field was spongy, with grass sprouting under tangled branches. Late March and early April are farm-prep time here in the Berkshires, time to gear up for the growing season. But while many farms were oiling and gassing up tractors, Mr. Ciotola was setting out to prepare a pasture using a tool so old it seems almost revolutionary: a team of oxen.

Read on here.

When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s in the Emmental and Aaretal, the heartlands of Bernese Switzerland, farmers all around still used teams of horses or oxen to pull the plough, or the roller, or any of the other heavy implements needed to till the land, sow and reap. Horses or oxen were used to pull trees out of managed woodlands and shift other heavy stuff.

Just last Sunday, one of my walking friends told me her father never ever swore at his oxen, but when the new tractor came in, replacing the animals, he would kick at the tyres and swear at the temperamental machinery – she said the atmosphere on the farm changed completely – and not for the better.

Now that the price of fuel is rocketing, young farmers are returning to this much more natural way of life.

Kilmore garden photos – May 2011

2011-06-02T09:00:00.002+01:00

Hello there

We had a long, unusually dry spell in April, followed by a very wet May. Salt air rushing in on the back of a devastating storm late that month – 23 May, if my records are correct – "burnt" the tender leaves on trees up and down the West coast of Scotland. The countryside along the coast looks autumnal because the leaves have all turned brown.

Nature is resilient, however, and many trees seem to be recovering.

I've promised to quite a few people that I would post some photos, so here goes – May flowers. And the photos will show you that even in one of the wettest months of May on record, we had some sunshine.

What better way to start than with these May classics? Pure white primrose (3 May) and pink-blushed Apple blossom (11 May)
Sunset at 8:32pm, above, and sky at 8:40pm, below (1 May)

Top end of garden in evening light (1 May)


Rowan blossom at sunset (1 May)

Pink-white rhododendron (1 May) – I'm not a great fan but these were lovely ...

... as were these very pale lemon azalea (?) blossoms (6 May)

The first blossoms on a crimson Japanese primrose with Marsh marigold and Honesty (3 May)

Purely ornamental: pink-flowering strawberries. Pretty but quite invasive, and the fruit is nothing to shout home about.
They'll have to go, to be replaced by proper, fruiting wild ones, I hope. (3 May)

Yes, I do love magenta – such a magnificent colour. Here it appeared in a beautiful, self-seeded tulip (3 May)

The sun has come up above Sron Mhor and now lights up my bedroom – summer's here!
And I wake to this splendid, golden symphony in the front garden: broom and yellow-flowering rhododendron (4 May)

The front garden looks fantastic almost all the time, but especially so when the different rhododendrons
– which I'm not that keen on but which look quite splendid when in bloom – are lit up by the morning sun (6 May)

Another view of the yellow flowers in the front garden: Welsh poppies, broom and yellow-flowering rhododendron (6 May)

The feel may be summery but the weather is definitely very unsettled this morning, thundery now (looking west) ...

... sunny again a few minutes later (and looking east towards the round top of Sron Mhor (Gaelic for "Big Nose") (6 May)

Looking at flowers in some detail, here's the Blue bugle or Bugleherb or Bugleweed or Carpetweed or Carpet bungleweed
or Common bugle or Burgundy lace (Ajuga reptans) – very much a weed, but quite pretty. Also, according to Wikipedia, it's a favourite nectar source of the Pearl-bordered fritillary, the High brown fritillary, the Small pearl-bordered fritillary and the Dark green fritillary. However, I have yet to see any of these stunning butterflies here. (6 May)

Broad-petaled geranium (Geranium platypetalum) – again, quite a weed but very pretty (6 May)

Staying with the blue-purple theme, one of the very first buds of what I expect to be a blue/purple iris (6 May)

And this is a last take on the blue/purple theme: the star-shaped flower of Camassia Quamash, or Quamash, peeking through the bright russet leaves of a small Japanese maple tree. Suddenly, there's Oregon in my garden!
According to Wikipedia, the Quamash was a food source for many native peoples in the western United States and Canada.
After being harvested in the autumn, once the flowers have withered, the bulbs were pit-roasted or boiled. A pit-cooked camas bulb looks and tastes something like baked sweet potato, but sweeter, and with more crystalline fibers due to the presence of inulin in the bulbs. When dried, the bulbs could be pounded into flour.
Native American tribes who ate camas include the Nez Percé, Cree, Coast Salish, Lummi and Blackfoot tribes, among many others.
Camas bulbs contributed to the survival of members of the Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-1806).

Perfect white "bluebells", probably a white form of the invasive Spanish bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica), which threatens our local Common bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) (6 May)

The days are lengthening apace: a fiery sky at just after 9pm (8 May)

I had a wee glade of Bluebells (not sure if these are the native Common bluebells, or the more invasive Spanish variety)
and a few Welsh poppies (11 May)

In the sunnier part there were lots of clumps of Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) (11 May)

Blue iris by the wee pond – and in the front garden (11 May)

Pink Japanese primrose (Primula japonica) that flowers among some yellow irises by the burn (11 May)

Thrift (aka Sea pink, Armeria maritima) by the wee duckweed-infested pond (11 May)

Pure white lilac (Syringa vulgaris) delighted visitors in the front garden (11 May)

Sunny garden (13 May)

Burn in full flow (16 May)

Garden in the rain (17 May) ...

... and when the sun is out (18 May)

Pale pink lupins, lots of them, and purple ones and salmon pink ones, too (18 May)

Lovely Tiger lily (Lilium columbianum) (18 May)

Pure white Iris (18 May)

Burn still running quite high (22 May)

Evening garden with young apple tree (22 May)

Jacob's Ladder (aka Greek valerian, Polemonium caeruleum) (22 May)

The lovely, edible* Cuckoo flower aka Lady's Smock or Milkmaids (Cardamine pratensis) has been flowering for a while (30 May)
*use tender leaves and flowers, which have a mildly peppery flavour, in salads or sprinkled onto a freshly-made soup

Granny's bonnet (Aquilegia) blossom (24 May)

A huge storm thundered through yesterday, ripping leaves and flowers off trees and shrubs, felling many trees – lots of people without power for hours, especially in more isolated areas. Oban was under lock-down for quite a long time due to trees across the access roads north and south. (24 May)

Here, the damage has been minimal – and I have been left with quite a colourful mound of plant debris (24 May)

Even on a rainy, foggy day, this place has its mysterious moments (27 May)

And the good weather seems to be returning: this is a view of the hill above the house, looking north-east.
Just a hint of cumulus beyond the horizon. Lovely! (30 May)

Yes, the sunny weather seems to be here to stay – for now! (31 May)

And a pair of Mallard ducks has returned – and look very comfortable in my grass. They often sit on the pondy top bit of the burn, or in the pond proper. The quietest Mallards I've ever seen! He's very protective of her and always on the look-out.
If he feels there's danger afoot, he'll raise himself and nod at her. If the threat persists, they take wing.
(31 May – photo taken through my office window, hence the reflections)

Swiss government decides to opt out of nuclear energy

2011-05-26T12:06:00.000+01:00

Last Sunday, 22 May 2011, twenty-thousand people – young, old, able-bodied, infirm – followed a call from Greenpeace to gather near one of Switzerland's nuclear power stations.
Their purpose: to demand the Swiss government opt out of nuclear energy.

Earlier this month, Greenpeace and other environmental groups showed that it is possible for Switzerland to go non-nuclear and non-gas from 2025.

Here's a wee video that shows the long cortege, the colours and solar-powered communications:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIoLQNDUfAk&feature=player_embedded

Today, news has reached me that in its meeting yesterday the Swiss government decided to opt out of nuclear energy, opting for local, renewable energy instead. The ball is now in the court of the Swiss parliament, which is scheduled to meet on this important issue on 8 June 2011.

Daft about daffies

2011-03-30T22:32:00.002+01:00

On 30 March, I had a bit of a rant because uploading photos wasn't working as per usual. Here's what I was moaning about:

"Hello again
"I wanted to upload photos to this new version of blogger but it's not working at all. I've downloaded the picasa uploader, I uploaded photos, thought I had everything set up but can see efff all on the screen.
"Very frustrating, because my garden's now awash with daffies – glorious golds and yellows and oranges that glow especially beautifully on a grey afternoon. Of which we've had few, truth be told, and I'm not complaining about a bit of rain which is at last refilling the pond at the bottom of the garden.
"Running out of time, too. Hopefully, a miracle will happen and I'll learn in my sleep... Not happy with the situation as it means I may have to stop blogging altogether. Ah well."

Well, meanwhile I've had a wee brainwave and here are my daffies, a whole collection of them! Much too late, of course, but next spring I'll remind myself where they were. And I hope you'll enjoy all the same.

Oh, and remember: I'm discovering this mature garden – each day brings a new surprise. I did know about the daffies but had no idea where they were, nor how many.

12 March 2011 – Snow has fallen on budding daffies

15 March 2011 – They're resilient. Still only buds, but getting fatter.

18 March 2011 – nearly there now!

20 March 2011 – Yess! A couple of warmer days have done the trick!

21 March 2011 – They're out all over the garden now. Lovely!

22 March 2011 – Daffies on one of the bluest days of the year – yay!

23 March 2011 – Daffies everywhere! I love it. Spring's really here now.

24 March 2011 – Daffodils guard the footbridge across my wee burn.

26 March 2011 – The bigger picture.

30 March 2011 – A hybrid between narcissus and daffodil, I think... – any feedback welcome on just what this chimaera is!

1 April 2011 – Daffies in distress after a severe storm overnight.

1 April 2011 – In my survey of the "damage" wrought by the storm I come across this tiny exemplar – I don't think I've ever seen such small perfection. A true gem!

11 April 2011 – I was away for a week and came back to a garden fuller of daffies than when I left, and I thought it was full of them then. Some of them are of the complex variety. I understand bees love the simple ones better...
But these are spectacular all the same.

11 April 2011 – Crowning glories: white daffodils. Now if someone was to have a wedding today, these beauties would be perfect.

11 April 2011 – They grow very tall, too. This lone daffodil stands well above my knee height and has
pushed right through the spiny leaves of a flowering holly bush.

22 April 2011 – Purity comes in twos and threes. And just so happens to be the second-last daffy photo of this season. Again, I'd love to know what variety this is, if there's anyone knowledgeable enough out there.

Please help stop Scottish Seal Cull

2011-03-16T13:04:00.000Z

Please help stop Scottish Seal Cull

I was up in Oban on Monday and had a bit of time to look out over the waters of Oban Bay. I watched a shag, the cormorant's cousin, stitching the sea and the air together, leaving a fine trail of bubbles for me to guess better where it would surface. Later, I caught a couple of glimpses of a harbour seal twisting its head here and there, before an outgoing ferry made it disappear for good.

This is an appeal to write a letter or e-mail to our MSP sent out by wildlife expert and diver extraordinaire (my description, not his), David Ainsley:

Dear All,

Scottish Government have licensed the unnecessary killing of 1300 seals mainly by salmon farmers. Shooting of mother seals is also allowed during the breeding season which will have the effect of leaving orphaned seals to starve.

Ironically, this cull is the result of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, the act that is supposed to protect our wildlife and whose guidelines state that seal shooting should be "a last resort".

Why are salmon farmers shooting seals? Seals are intelligent animals and if they get the opportunity and there is only one net between them and the salmon they will push against that net and take lumps out of the salmon.

Why is it unnecessary to shoot seals? Because properly designed, installed and maintained, double netted cages keep seals and salmon separated. To avoid drowning seals, otters, porpoise and birds, the outer nets must be of the same material and mesh size as the inner nets

Why does the industry not use double nets? Because it is cheaper to use single nets and bullets. But the industry is expanding, profitable and can afford to install these double nets.

The government guidelines say that shooting should be "a last resort", meaning that the farms must have tried the most effective non-lethal method (i.e. double nets) before they are granted a licence to shoot seals. But 80% of the salmon farms which have been granted licenses do not have double nets. We do not know why the government has failed to follow its own guidelines but we must act to try to get these licenses rescinded and the cull stopped.

What can we do?
1. If you live in Scotland email your MSPs (you can find them by clicking on this link) http://www.writetothem.com/ Ask them to bring pressure on the government to rescind these licenses. Also please ask them to support the early day motion put forward by MSP Robin Harper http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/businessBulletin/bb-11/bb-03-01f.htm . I have put a suggested text for an email below, please copy that or use your own words.
2. Refuse to buy farmed salmon until the industry undertakes to stop killing seals. Tell the supermarkets why you will not buy farmed salmon.
3. Please forward this to all your friends who may be interested.

This is a simple problem with a simple solution which will not damage the industry but will protect our wildlife and will create jobs in eco-tourism. Double nets also prevent escapes from the farms thereby protecting wild salmon.

Suggested Text for email to MSP

Dear..................

I am very concerned about the unnecessary killing of seals mainly by salmon farmers. Licenses have been issued to shoot 1300 seals, in addition to this number, seal pups will also starve to death as shooting is allowed in the breeding season. 80% of the farms which have been licensed to shoot seals do not have double nets and are therefore not following the Marine Act guidelines of only shooting seals as "a last resort". Please ask the government to rescind licenses to farms which do not have double nets. Double nets would keep seals and salmon separated , stop farmed salmon escaping and save many seals which are an iconic Scottish species and are important to the tourism industry.

Please support early day motion *S3M-8027 Robin Harper:Seal Culls.

Yours sincerely
(your signature, address etc)

International Working Women's Day – Gioconda Belli

2011-03-08T23:59:00.004Z

Happy International Working Women's Day to all of you, ladies, women, sisters!

My friend Satya sent me the link to this amazing poem – thank you, faraway friend!

Click on the title of this post – it'll take you to a video of the original Spanish version, read by the poet Gioconda Belli herself. Listen and watch even if you don't speak Spanish – enjoy her voice, powerful, and angry, and determined.

Let's all stand up against any violence inflicted on girls and women; let us stand up against any violence – period!

As I couldn't find an English version, here's my translation of Belli's extraordinary words:

Long-haired the curvy Day of the Women arises
How short this is – just the one day, sisters!
How little time for the world to heap flowers outside our dwellings…

From the cradle into which we were born, to the grave where we will sleep
the whole embattled road of our lives
they ought to pave with flowers to celebrate us

They must not do to us what they did to Princess Diana, who neither saw nor heard
the flower-strewn avenues of London buckling under the pain –
we – we want to see and smell the flowers…

We want flowers from those who did not celebrate
when we were born female rather than male –
we want flowers from those who cut out our clitoris
and from those who bound our feet…

We want flowers from those who did not send us to school
but made us look after our brothers and help in the kitchen…

Flowers from him who came to our bed at night to rape us
and gagged us while our mother slept…

We want flowers from him who paid us less for the toughest work
and from him who sacked us when he knew we were pregnant…

We want flowers from him who sent us to our death
forcing us to risk our life to give birth

We want flowers from him who protects himself from bad thoughts
by making us wear the veil and hide our body –
from him who bans us from going out without a male chaperone…

We want flowers from those who burnt us as witches and locked us up as madwomen –
flowers from him who beats us up, from him who gets pissed –
from him who squanders the wages that should buy food for a month…

We want flowers from the women who scheme against us and spread lies –
flowers from the women who vent their anger against their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law
whose hearts hold but poison for their own gender…

Long-haired the curvy Day of the Women arises –
we want as many flowers today as we truly deserve –
the garden from which they banished us...

© Translation from Spanish, 8 March 2011: Margret Powell-Joss

There is no such thing as "sustainable" farmed salmon

2011-02-22T00:59:00.001Z

Dear All

I was distracted by a brief trip to the Continent from commenting on what may well become one of the biggest eco-disasters to strike these beautiful waters – quite apart from the fact that the Scottish government looks set to get into bed with a regime whose human rights record has left a lot to be desired for decades. Read for yourselves what someone much better qualified than I has written:

Andrew Flitcroft, in: The Observer, 20^th February 2011 – quoted in the Guardian:

You're so wrong about salmon, Mr Salmond

The new trade deal with China has terrifying implications for our wild fish stocks

Visiting trade delegations do not often register on my radar. However, the high-level Chinese visit to Scotland in January was different. Apart from the inevitable "gift" to the hosts, consigning two hapless giant pandas to a life of incarceration in Edinburgh Zoo, a new trade deal on Scottish farmed salmon between the two countries was signed, allowing access for the first time to the vast Chinese market.
First minister Alex Salmond crowed that the Scottish fish-farming industry may need to double salmon production to satisfy Chinese demand. The announcement a few days later that China was halting the import of Norwegian farmed salmon (China's retaliation, according to the Norwegian press, for the awarding of the Nobel peace prize to the imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo) lays Scottish government open to the charge that it is in effect supporting repression.
But cynical politics aside, the implications of increasing significantly, let alone doubling, farmed salmon production in Scotland are terrifying. Surely it is recklessly irresponsible to contemplate any increase without first rectifying the dire existing problems, particularly the spread of deadly sea lice, caused to juvenile wild salmon and sea trout in the west Highlands and Islands by current production levels. There is little doubt that the situation is set to deteriorate.
But first, for readers who are not familiar with the war between the salmon farming industry on the one hand and those trying to protect wild salmon and sea trout runs on the other, here is a brief summary of the problem. Marine cages of hundreds of thousands of farmed salmon are breeding grounds for millions of sea lice; these parasites feed on the mucus, tissue and blood of their farmed salmon hosts. The companies employ a range of measures using highly toxic chemicals to combat the lice, in order to reduce the damage and stress caused to their captive hosts.
However, juvenile wild fish, which migrate from the rivers to the sea each spring, are simply not designed to cope with more than the odd louse. As these fragile young fish, known as smolts, run the gauntlet past the fish-farm cages conveniently placed on their migration routes down the sea lochs towards the open sea, they are ambushed by the unnaturally high concentrations of lice. The attachment of more than 10 lice is almost invariably fatal. The fish are literally eaten alive although death is usually hastened by secondary infections, which gain access through open wounds made by the grazing lice.
This is the environmental calamity that the salmon farming industry and Scottish government is so determined to deny. Make no mistake – there is no such thing as "sustainable" farmed salmon, no matter what the evocative packaging on the supermarket shelves tries to convey. Indeed, all such packaging should be approached with scepticism. M&S's Lochmuir salmon comes from an entirely fictitious location.

Now evidence is growing that salmon farms in Scotland are fast losing the battle against sea lice, mirroring the situation in Norway, where the head of the Directorate for Nature Management (the equivalent of Scottish Natural Heritage) has just called for a 50% cut in salmon production because, for the second year running, the average number of lice on each caged fish in several regions of Norway has exceeded the official limit of one mature female louse or five lice in total with increasing resistance to chemical treatment. He said that such a cut might not be enough to save Norway's fragile wild salmon stocks as: "The problem is very big and it is not under control."
It is perhaps no wonder the salmon farming industry in Scotland is so sensitive on the sea lice issue. Witness their gagging of Scottish government last year to prevent publication of Marine Scotland's farm inspection reports. Analysis of these reports, obtained by Salmon and Trout Association's Guy Linley-Adams under FOI, confirms instances where sea lice have been completely out of control, necessitating early slaughter on several farms.
Compared to five years ago, Scotland's salmon farms are using far greater quantities of pesticides to kill sea lice on farmed fish as the chemicals become less and less effective and the lice develop immunity. Some are adopting desperate measures and two managers of a Shetland farm have just been charged with animal cruelty following the death of more than 6,000 farmed salmon last August.
Given these problems, it is galling that Scottish government continues to trot out the same tired mantra that salmon farming is "sustainable" and there is no proven damage to wild fish populations, aided and abetted by the nauseating spin peddled by the Scottish Salmon Producers' Organisation, the front for the Norwegian companies that dominate the industry in Scotland. Most galling of all is the prospect of an even bigger industry.
There is one ray of hope. Solicitor Guy Linley-Adams, acting for the owners of the Ullapool river, has just submitted a formal 80-page complaint to the EU, detailing the failure of the authorities to designate an appropriate number of west coast Scottish rivers as Special Areas for Conservation for salmon under the EU Habitats Directive.
The complaint also details the failure of the Scottish government to rein in the salmon-farming industry to provide proper protection for wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout in the west Highlands and Islands. The gloves are starting to come off.
Andrew Flitcroft is the editor of Trout & Salmon

A New Year's Dip – an excellent way to start the new year

2011-01-01T22:00:00.011Z

Happy New Year to you and may 2011 bring us all Peace and Justice and Prosperity and Good Health!

Oban Sailing Club held the first New Year's Dip into the Sound of Kerrera outside its club house. Here we are posing for the assembled media – TV Alba, Oban Times, no less!

And here we are getting into the water:

Some of us are going gingerly – very slippy rocks and slipway – many young men jumped in without hesitation (not sure that was so wise but everyone was responsible for their own health and safety).
Next photo: distant proof that I did actually swim...

Coming out feeling fantastic!

Getting dry and smiling for the cameras...

All photos © Fré Rothen – so wonderful to have had you here, my dear friend!

Winter Solstice – a special day

2010-12-22T12:58:00.000Z

Hiya again
Had a fantastic day out yesterday, joining a crowd of about twenty-five for a guided walk in frosty and snowy Kilmartin Glen.

Sharon Webb, the curator of the small but splendid Kilmartin House Museum, talked to us about the likely significance of the complex of standing stones at Nether Largie, and possible festivities that may have been held in and around the stone ellipses at what is now called Temple Wood.
Having walked north to one of the burial cairns, a friend of mine and I rushed back to Temple Wood to catch the sunrise.

The brisk walk did us good and helped us warm up.
But we were really glad to be able to sit down at the end of the one-and-a-half-hour walk to a hot breakfast at Kilmartin House's Glebe Cairn Café.
Afterwards, five of us walked back to our cars in the sunshine and enjoyed the slightly warmer air and tranquillity of a very special day in the year.

It was particularly gratifying for me to be able to capture the spiral scored into one of the Temple Wood standing stones. It takes a special light for the spiral to be visible in a photo.

And the tallest of the Nether Largie standing stones looks really good in this photo. Again, one can just make out the cup marks, which make this stone a very rare specimen indeed.

Happiness and peace to all!
I dedicate this post to my parents, who saw the grass of Temple Wood covered in bluebells in late May 2009!

It's this time of year – a rant

2010-12-13T23:35:00.001Z

Hiya again

This is my blog and I feel I am allowed to post what I want, right? So, if you don't want to read a wee rant, go away and come back some other time. I love you and I don't want to upset you.

But maybe I'm not the only one who can get quite worked up about a few things, so allow me to blow it all off.

First of all, I've been having some really interesting e-correspondence, texts and telephone calls from and with Scottish Gas (who, of course are British Gas, but that's a different story). As you know, I recently moved house. At the old place I was a Scottish Gas dual fuel customer – "the nation's largest domestic energy supplier" loves the likes of us, because we are particularly easy to please and get money out of.

Fair's fair, despite promising stuff they cannot keep – at least not in this area, which according to one Scottish Gas gas engineer, requires a ferry to get to (I suppose he lives on the Isle of Bute or on Mull or maybe on Skye) – I wasn't too unhappy with them so decided I would take Scottish Gas with me to my new place.

Everyone tells you to switch energy supplier if you're not happy with what you get, right? Well, I suppose I should have left well alone, closed my Scottish Gas accounts and take out a new account with their big competitor in this area, Scottish and Southern Energy (which also isn't Scottish at all any more, but that's a whole another story again).

Well, after I don't know how many phone calls and messages and confusing texts that never stated which account Scottish Gas were talking about, I now have a form in hand that asks me to submit my meter reading. The only thing is, I submitted my meter reading on the 8th of December, twice in fact, because an e-mail had come in asking me to do so and then a text message came in asking me to do the same (or was it the other way round?) – anyway, you get the drift. I even sent them a link to a video clip to show them the kind of electricity meter I have at my new place. I was assured by e-mail that all was well and they had received the readins. So why do they ask for it again?
We'll see how this wee story ends. I so don't feel like sending them my meter reading a third time!

My second wee rant is about lovely, generous, intelligent, communicative and well-meaning friends who post out their Xmas letter by e-mail.

Now,before anyone gets horribly offended and crosses me off their list:
I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting Xmas emails and retrospectives of how these old friends of mine or that family spent their year. I really do! It's a great way of sharing news. And most of the time I even manage to respond within a reasonable period of time.

But some e-messages are so overloaded with huge photos that they take an hour to worm their way into your in-box, choke up everyone's internet connections, fill server space to bursting point – and then they get a message back from someone who tells them they didn't get it – and what do they do? They send those gargantuan files all over again!

Today I received a warning from the server that hosts my website and my e-mail inbox that I was running out of server space – I have gigabytes available there and religiously clear unwanted stuff every day – it was those two humungous mails that clogged everything up! (I've only ever had this warning once before – guess when that was: that's right, mid-December, oh, about year before last.)

Other lovelies get filenames all muddled up – the most blatant is "xmas letter 2010.docx.doc" – no wonder their friends can't open it – their computers are getting all confused.

And finally, how about using a meaningful filename that actually tells the receiver what it is and who sent it? I'm getting maybe six, seven such e-letters and none, but none of them have a really distinct filename. So they sit there and I'm confuseder and confuseder the longer I look at them.

If you read this and are thinking about sending me a Xmas e-letter, please please PLEASE give it a name that tells me it's from you and from you alone. And just fill it with words.

You'll make my day!

PS: If you want to share photos and don't want to max out your printer – which I understand perfectly, why not post them to a site like flickr (as I do) or to your facebook page (as I sometimes do), or some such (I've only ever heard but never actually used photosharing, webshots, photobucket, so am not linking to them), and send your friends the links. So we can go look at them at our leisure. You never know, you might get comments on them in about three years' time, when the likes of me stumble over the link again and decide this is the moment to check'em out. Imagine your surprise! :)

Or create a blog – it will almost certainly be more beautiful than this one, promise!

Rant over – thanks for listening. You're a wonderful friend. I mean it.

Peace and Love and Health and Happiness to you and yours.

A Message of Peace

2010-12-10T13:55:00.001Z

Hiya again

No matter what your religious outlook, I hope you will enjoy this wonderful flash-choir video from a New York City food court (13 Nov 2010):

With love and peaceful wishes for the upcoming Holiday Season and the New Year.

M

The Basking shark, a peaceful creature – the second-biggest fish in the ocean

2010-12-09T14:26:00.000Z

Great little video clip, first published in Dive Magazine in August 2007, about Basking sharks, the second-biggest fish in the ocean and much older than dinosaurs:

(Not sure I'm that impressed with the soundtrack, nor with the background images of Great white shark when the interviewees actually talk about the perfectly harmless Basking shark.)
Basking shark are quite common still in waters off the Scottish west coast. Shame this video does not include this information, probably because scientific proof of their existence up here has been scarce. However, almost a year ago, the Glasgow Herald published a great story about them:

Experts basking in shark find

"Two areas of water off Scottish islands have been identified as 'hotspots' for amorous basking sharks who are looking for a mate.
"Scottish Natural Heritage found that four times as many basking sharks had been recorded per hour in Gunna Sound, between Coll and Tiree, and the sea around the islands of Canna and Hyskeir than anywhere else in the UK."

Central Scotland under lockdown due to snow and freezing temperature – which the Transport Minister calls "torrid"

2010-12-07T19:17:00.001Z

7 December 2010 [Last updated at 10:30AM]

I don't expect this to be viewable for any length of time, so I'm taking the liberty of copying the "blurb" to a brief section of a radio interview that played on Radio 5 live earlier today:

The BBC comment reads:
'As drivers get stuck in freezing blizzard conditions across Scotland, a caller criticises the transport minister.

Ken, a lorry driver with 20 years' experience, blasts Stewart Stevenson for his handling of the travel chaos.
"Don't blame anybody else. You knew this weather was coming," Ken says. "You should have been prepared."
"I think someone will die tonight, and as the transport minister it'll be on your head."
Mr Stevenson tells Ken and the 5 live listeners: "It has been a torrid day.
"Today's not been our crowning glory," he admits. "We want to do better."'

Here on the west coast, while the temperature is well below zero °C, we are not suffering anything like these central Scotland conditions. I do hope that no-one will die in the freeze and that the situation will improve rather than get worse.

But we are yet again facing a very, very cold night so I wouldn't want to be stuck in a car on the motorway or anywhere else out there.

The Scottish transport ministry and a lot of council have shown the crassest ineptitude at dealing with a bit of ice and snow – most people here haven't even heard of snow tyres, let alone got them on the wheels of their cars!

But what gets me in this particular interview is the Scottish Minister's for Transport choice of word:
"It has been a torrid day."
I can only guess that he's very, very hot, i.e. torrid, under the collar and feeling the pressure, but torrid a day it has not been. And no, it's not a misprint – I heard him use the word very clearly in the sound bite. The minister does not say "horrid" or "horrible", nor "Baltic" or "arctic". Like a jackknifed lorry that has run into a ditch, he turns his world upside down. Oh dear.

Superb LORN Xmas Market in Benderloch, Argyll, Scotland

2010-12-06T12:14:00.000Z

Hi again

Check this out: it's a fantastic local market about twenty minutes north of Oban on the west coast of Scotland – praise to chief string puller, Jill Bowis, and her great team of co-pullers including Mairi Stones, the lovely felt craftswoman and talented artist:

Next market, if you're in the area: Thursday, 16 December, 10am-3pm and 5pm-8pm, Victory (village) Hall, Benderloch by Oban, PA37 ... – car park just past the hall, off the A828: turn right into Keil Gardens (after the bus stop), then right again into the car park.

Well worth a visit!

Chilean miner Edison Peña on the David Letterman Show, with interpreter Cassandra

2010-11-16T13:29:00.001Z

Great to see you back here, and great to see a wonderful colleague on one of the biggest US TV shows. My only gripe: why not give us her full name? How patronising, how condescending of Letterman and his writers! And he has to read his introduction of her from his crib sheet, too...

But here's the video – enjoy! The fun really starts at about 1:15 in the first clip – just drag the locator button in there and watch the rest.

By the way, Cassandra says that for over twenty years she has been "an interpreter for indigenous peoples' leaders in UN negotiations on the environment and human rights."
Proud of you, woman!

Oban, Saturday, 20 November – join Oban Gaelic Choir for a Blast!

2010-11-10T11:31:00.000Z

Hi there again

Please click on the image for a larger view.

First morning in my new home

2010-11-09T22:55:00.004Z

Hi there
This is what I woke up to this morning, on my very first day here in Kilmore:

It's a gorgeous day out there. Flat calm, almost warm – a proper St. Martin's Summer, as they call it in Switzerland and Southern Germany. It's the Saint's day tomorrow, not that I'm into saints. I've had to go back up to Oban to take care of things at the flat, which I'm hoping to get ready for my tenants within the week. Lovely views, which I won't miss because I'll still be driving into Oban frequently to do the shopping – Kilmore doesn't have any shops – and to teach my ESOL classes, and to attend my weekly Tai chi sessions, and to hang out with friends, ...

I'm buzzing with exhaustion, high on adrenaline, I suppose. And so happy to be here. I feel deeply privileged and grateful.
Peace, health and happiness to you!

Moving house

2010-11-08T23:10:00.001Z

Hiya
I'm moving house. Two-and-a-half years to the day after arriving in Oban, I'm leaving the town. Mind you, I'm not leaving the Oban area but have moved just a few miles south, to a small village called Kilmore.
It's beautiful here, very quiet, and I simply couldn't resist the opportunity of coming to live in a bungalow with loads more space – at last I have a proper office, and a big kitchen, a decent-size sitting room and a spacious bedroom, plus a guest room with a double bed and en-suite shower-room, and then there's yet another spare bedroom! Plus there's a utility room and a biggish, rather old-fashioned bathroom but with a newish power shower so one doesn't have to run baths from two single taps to be clean. One of the best things here is the garden, which has a burn running down through it. Lovely. The birds will be frequent visitors, I hope.
There was snow on the hills as I drove south to collect my new key, to take over the house, to be shown how it works.
And the rain was relentless as the movers shifted some of the big pieces – my bed, my desk, a futon sofa – and about sixty biggish boxes, most of them full of books and heavy as a Highland calf.
Off to bed now – the stars are out!

Nearly there

2010-11-07T16:27:00.000Z

Hiya
In the run-up to my move away from Oban – yes, I'm turning my back on this pretty little town at the edge of the world, to go and live a few miles south in what I very seriously hope to be a much quieter, more peaceful area. The village is Kilmore (Big Church). It's at the mouth of the river that comes out of Loch Nell and is where some of the dead kings of prehistoric Scotland would have been put on a boat to Iona after being hauled across the land in their coffins. At least that's how I understand the significance of the many, many traces of prehistoricman's existence in the area. For example, at the entrance to Glen Lonan, just up from Loch Nell, there's a magnificent standing stone and a small stone circle. They clearly stand guard.
However, I've not had time to go out much these days but have been sorting through (some of) my things, packing and organising – what a lot of stuff I have! and how much of it has accumulated over the past two-and-a-half years! Amazing.
Now I'm nearly ready, with only my bathroom things needing to be packed in the last couple of boxes, and, early tomorrow morning, my bed made ready for when the movers come at 9am.
I've nearly run out of boxes so there will be more that I'll move in the course of next week, things I want to look through while waiting for workmen to come in and do their bit.

I'm fine, but knackered, absolutely knackered. So, time for a photo taken recently, and then a quick jaunt to the shops and something to eat. And, hopefully, an early night – not necessarily my altogether last one here but certainly my last one here in a comfy bed.

Hoorrray! After a summer of looking distinctly bedraggled, this raspberry plant has made a few fruit and, in the past couple of weeks, despite some dismal weather, they've grown nearly ripe. But there was a fierce frost this morning, so it's probably going to wither and die. A lot of time and money went into this in the hope for fresh berries and fewer plastic punnets from the shops. Ah well, maybe next year.

Pola Dwurnik – mapping the knot, part three

2010-10-29T13:24:00.001+01:00

Hi
If you happen to be in Bucharest, Romania, this evening, here's a place you might want to vsit to see drawings by a highly talented Polish artist. I wish I could be there!

Pola Dwurnik – Drawings – MAPPING THE KNOT – The third part

presentation on: Friday, October 29, 2010 from 8.30 pm

Muzeul Taranului Roman - Clubul Taranului

Şoseaua Kiseleff 3, Sector 1, Bucureşti, 011341 / Bucharest, RO

http://www.poladwurnik.com

For Minnie Evans: The Bottle Chapel, Airlie Gardens, Wilmington, NC

2010-10-28T01:10:00.001+01:00

I've been working on a translation of short biographies of Outsider artists from all over the world and have had to do quite a bit of research to make sure original texts are quoted correctly and institutions are named properly. When I set out as a translator over twenty years ago the research facilities were simply not available to permit me to take on a job like this.

One of the more impressive finds along the way has been this gem from Wilmington, North Carolina:

"The life and work of visionary artist Minnie Evans, born in Long Creek, North Carolina (outside of Wilmington) in 1892 was commemorated with the Minnie Evans Sculpture Garden and Bottle Chapel at Airlie Gardens, dedicated in 2004. In this video, Wilmington painter and illustrator Virginia Wright-Frierson, who designed the garden gives of tour that includes the contributions of Wilmington artists Hiroshi Sueyoshi, Dumay Gorham, Karen Crouch, Michael Van Hout and Brooks Koff whose works are seen throughout the garden."

Thank you, North Carolina Arts Council – NCArts!

Song for the day: A Boy and a Girl

2010-10-27T10:09:00.002+01:00

A perfect song for a stormy morning after a stormy night – the sun just bursting through the clouds.

BYU Singers
Conductor: Dr. Ron Staheli

Composer: Eric Whitacre
Original lyrics: Los Novios, by Octavio Paz

Los novios

Tendidos en la yerba
una muchacha y un muchacho.
Comen naranjas, cambian besos
como las olas cambian sus espumas.

Tendidos en la playa
una muchacha y un muchacho.
Comen limones, cambian besos
como las nubes cambian espumas.

Tendidos bajo tierra
una muchacha y un muchacho.
No dicen nada, no se besan,
cambian silencio por silencio.

A boy and a girl

Stretched out on the grass,
a boy and a girl,
savoring their oranges,
giving their kisses like waves exchanging foam.

Stretched out on the beach,
a boy and a girl,
savoring their limes,
giving their kisses like clouds exchanging foam.

Stretched out underground,
a boy and a girl,
Saying nothing,
never kissing,
giving silence for silence.

(I'll add the translator's name as soon as I've been able to find out who it is.)

Peace, Paz!

Autumn

2010-10-19T11:12:00.000+01:00

Hello again

Autumn is here and winter slowly creeping up on us, with the sun no longer rising high above the Soroba hill to the south of Oban. But the birds still begin their chirping and singing at about 6am and daylight still lasts until shortly after 6pm.

The trees here, though, are still full of leaves and temperatures only dipped to freezing for two short early mornings a couple of weeks ago. The sun was out for a while earlier today, which always lifts the spirit.

Having learnt my lessons last winter (my first winter here was over in a flash and didn't affect me at all), I'm following the advice given by a nutritionist friend of mine and have been taking extra high doses of vitamin D3, the sun vitamin, to keep my body's resistance up.

It seems to work because there's a lot of bronchitis about and people with fluey symptoms but I feel fine – really hope to stay well this winter.

And I very much look forward to moving to a larger, quieter house where I won't be invaded by my young upstairs neighbour's hideous radio programmes whenever she decides to listen. Mind you, she's much better than she was at the beginning...

It's a great shame soundproofing is so poor in this former council building; I really love my wee flat and have enjoyed living here -- most of the time!

Earlier this week I was invited to lunch at a friend's house. Her garden is still full of flowers and the shrubs were swarming with bees and bumblebees – gorgeous!

She has the most fantastic views from the end of her garden, and can see my house – it's that horizontal bar of white in the bottom right-hand corner...

Here I'm slowly putting finishing touches to jobs I've been allowing to drag on and on. Moving house is a great motivator...
The new garden shed I had put in at the end of January this year now has a protective coat of paint – and it cheers up the kids in the neighbourhood – and me!

More some other time. Cheerioh!

Sometimes I wish I was twenty again...

2010-10-09T11:33:00.000+01:00

Watching this has made me wish I was twenty again – and had had this kind of instruction on how to get ready for a date!

Girls and ladies out there, take it from me: music is the best and healthiest drug in the world! Nicotine is a seriously addictive substance, constricts your blood vessels and makes your skin grow old prematurely; alcohol is probably the most destructive legal drug, mind destroying; other drugs: let's not even go there ...

Stay sober, stay safe!

A sunny autumn Saturday afternoon by the Oban Bay

2010-10-07T21:30:00.000+01:00

Hello again
Today I skived off from work. It was just too gorgeous a day to sit indoors. So I spent a wee while just watching the waves come and go, come and go into and out of Oban Bay.
It was nearly high tide and twenty-eight turnstones (aka Arenaria interpres) were skittering ever closer to the harbour wall along the Esplanade as the gentle waves lapped ever higher up their rock. It looked like the birds were waiting for the tide to turn, when there would be rich pickings among the pebbles and bladderwrack on the wet shore.
Something spooked them and twenty of them lifted into the air, a small dark cloud of screams, and went to settle on the pebbly shore between the North Pier and the jetty that reaches into Oban Bay just north of it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9515939@N07/5100104943/
On my way home I invariably take the slightly longer route along the outside of the North Pier. This time I happened on a transfer of four times eight thousand, that is thirty-two thousand, 8-inch/20-cm baby salmon, aka parr,*) from tanks on a lorry into one of the big boats that service the various salmon farms nearby.
The tightly-woven fabric lining of the tank has a kind of funnel that is inserted into the 22-cm diameter tube by which the fish are transferred into the bowels of the boat.
On the transfer from the last tank, something had gone wrong with the seal and some of the parr had come out of the funnel. The men working on the transfer were painstaking in making sure all the fish were ok and put each one of them back into the tube via a round opening at the top.
But one parr had fallen to the ground and I could see the guys had their hands full holding the gap shut and making sure no more fish escaped. So I stepped in and picked this particular baby up: it was slithery smooth and shiny, scintillating in rainbow colours, and twitchy as anything. But I did manage to insert it into the opening at the top of the tube and assume it joined its siblings in the hull.
The man and I had a brief conversation about the lives of these salmon. He said he felt each one of them was really important and it mattered to him that they didn't suffer at any point in their lives.
Another year and the parr will have grown into 2-foot-long smolt*) ready for our tables.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9515939@N07/5100104747/
No photos of this particular event but a couple of links to images that show bonny Oban on a truly stunning day.
Till soon!

*) "Baby salmon are called different names depending on the stage after hatching. When they first hatch they are called Alevin. When they are big enough to swim out of the gravel they are called Fry. They are still very small at this point. When they reach about six inches long they are called Parr. […] After one to three years they are ready to swim into the ocean and they are now called Smolt until they reach adulthood."
From http://answers.ask.com/Science/Biology/what_is_a_baby_salmon_called

National Poetry Day (UK): George Herbert, The Call

2010-10-07T09:09:00.000+01:00

Today is National Poetry Day in the UK. Inspired by Sarah Mohr-Pietsch's presentation of listener requests for their favourite settings of poems to music, here's my choice, The Call by George Herbert (1593-1633):

THE CALL

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
Such a Way, as gives us breath:
Such a Truth, as ends all strife:
And such a Life, as killeth death.

Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:
Such a Light, as shows a feast:
Such a Feast, as mends in length:
Such a Strength, as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:
Such a Joy, as none can move:
Such a Love, as none can part:
Such a Heart, as joyes in love.

Go to 05:22-07:40 for "The Call", a moving rendition by baritone Thomas Allen at the Last Night of the Proms, 2004.

10 Nov 2010, Kultur-Casino, Bern, Switzerland: Women, Peace, and Security – 10 Years of UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Opportunities & Limits

2010-10-06T17:05:00.001+01:00

Hi there

The following message has just made it into my in-box and I'm happy to comply with the senders' wish to pass it on (slightly shortened) to anyone who may be interested:

Ladies and Gentlemen

The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), and the Center for Peacebuilding (KOFF) – swisspeace are jointly organizing an event to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, and to mark the launch of the new edition of the Swiss National Action Plan 1325.

Women, Peace, and Security – 10 Years of UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Opportunities & Limits”

10 November 2010 at Kultur-Casino Bern, Switzerland.

We are delighted to officially extend our invitation to you.

You will find detailed information concerning this anniversary event by consulting the Programme on: http://www.eda.admin.ch/unresolution1325, where you can also register on-line.

We kindly request you to pass on this invitation to other persons potentially interested in attending.

Should you have any questions, please contact Bettina Etter at the following address: pa4@eda.admin.ch

We look forward to welcoming you at our 10 November 2010 event.

Best regards

FDFA, DDPS, KOFF

What's in a name?

2010-10-02T12:30:00.000+01:00

Names, eh?

A local friend has decided she wants to be called by her proper given name rather than a diminutive. I think it's a great idea as the diminutive evokes a young girl while she's a beautiful, wise, mature woman.

Her decision got me thinking about names and what they mean to us.

If I had been a boy I'd have been called Christian, after my youngest uncle, who's only six years older than I. Not sure I'd have been that much happier with Christian than with Margret, which I hated while growing up. Hard to enumerate the many ways of vilifying the name of Margret in Bernese-speaking Switzerland!

I did eventually get over the disappointment of not being called Soraya or Jacqueline or a similar, much fancier name than the one handed down from maternal grandmother's mother to maternal grandmother to mother. That was probably at roughly the time of Princess Margaret's glamorous wedding to Lord Snowdon. I remember that quite well: it felt as if Switzerland had adopted the couple in lieu of the queen or king our forebears fought so hard to get rid of.

Another reason why I have become reconciled to my given name is the fact that it goes back to the Greek word for pearl and is probably much more ancient. And I love the big bulls-eye daisy, which in German is also called Margerite.

Coming to Scotland, I've been surprised to find how very popular the name is – we're a "giggle" of Margarets here in Oban! It's not really surprising, as 11th century Scotland had a queen of Hungarian origin called Margaret, who became St. Margaret. (Edinburgh Castle has a beautiful, intimate chapel dedicated to her, the oldest building in all of Edinburgh.) So, in that sense, as in many other senses, I've really come home.

Do men ever envy women for the option to change family name at marriage? Input from you guys?

In Switzerland, men have been able to opt for adopting their bride's last name. (Doing a bit of research to back up my statement, I've come across the fact that a move is currently under way to even the score: in future, everyone is to keep their given and family names for life. Married couples are to decide on their children's family name at the birth of their first child. For more on this, see http://www.parlament.ch/e/mm/2006/pages/mm_2006-11-24_999_03.aspx – sadly only in French, German, Italian -- evidently, the issue has not been deemed of sufficient international interest to be translated into English).

In other societies, of course, different names are given or adopted at different stages of life. But that's a whole other story that I don't have time to explore further just now.

To round this off, I'm probably flouting all the copyright laws in the world by copying this photo here -- just in from a friend and it seems to be making the rounds. So if the creator of this fab cartoon wants to get in touch, please do so!

Barbie at 50 -- glad to say I've managed to keep overweight within fairly reasonable limits...

Pat Harkin's top 5 ideas on how to improve the UK

2010-09-27T22:37:00.000+01:00

I like this man's idea no. 1 on how to improve the UK:

A beautiful garden on the outskirts of Oban: Glencruitten House Walled Garden

2010-09-26T18:22:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, after much coaxing by one of my neighbours who works up there, I visited Glencruitten House Garden. What a beauty!

Women in the majority in the Swiss government

2010-09-23T23:26:00.000+01:00

Fantastic news for once from bonny wee Switzerland: the 7-piece Federal Council now consists of a majority of women.

Yesterday, Simonetta Sommaruga, from the Social-Democratic party, was elected in the first round of voting by a very comfortable majority of elected members of the Swiss parliament.

For more on the subject, click on the link in the title to this post.

Way to go, ladies! What a day!

Colombia: Human Rights Defender, David Ravelo Crespo, in detention

2010-09-21T12:49:00.000+01:00

Hi there

Just found this message on the pbi website (where it's published in Spanish, so the following is my own translation):

15 Sep 2010

News Flash:

Human Rights Defender, David Ravelo Crespo, in Detention

Social Forum of Barrancabermeja and Magdalena Medio [Colombia], 15 Sep 2010

Today, on 14 Sep 2010, at 3:05pm, various officers of the Fiscalía General de la Nación, the Colombian General Attorney, arrived at the headquarters of CREDHOS, the Regional Corporation for the Defense of Human Rights, in the city of Barrancabermeja, presenting a warrant for the arrest of Human Rights Defender, David Ravelo Crespo, a member of the CREDHOS management committee and outstanding community leader in the Magdaleno Medio region of Colombia.

[…]

In our view, the prosecution and detention of David Ravelo Crespo is part of the Colombian state's strategy to legally prosecute social leaders and human rights defenders in an attempt to silence those it has not been able to intimidate by weapons. Therefore, the state resorts to other strategies to weaken their resolve to fight on for social justice. In return for cash and the benefits afforded by the so-called "Law for Justice and Peace", paramilitaries detained in Colombia's prisons have been making false, libellous and injurious allegations against leaders of social, community and unionist movements, against human rights defenders, against victims' and small-holding farmers' organisations.

Moreover, according to the latest bulletins issued by the General Attorney, we have been able to ascertain that the DAS – Administrative Department for Security – has ordered to push for the legal prosecution of male and female defenders of human rights, using construed, fictitious accusations, in order to put behind bars those who are opposed to the national government.

We, the social organisations, defenders of human rights, labour unions, associations of victims, communities and small-holding farmers in Barrancabermeja and Magdalena Medio, trust that due process will be observed and that David Ravelo Crespo's rights as a citizen will be respected.

We express our solidarity with and unconditional support of David Ravelo Crespo and his family. We know that David is someone deeply committed to human rights and to the victims of the political, social and armed conflict that has been afflicting Colombia.

Barrancabermeja, Magdalena Medio, 14 Sept 2010"

A visitor

2010-09-20T21:29:00.001+01:00

This afternoon I very nearly stepped on this wee visitor to my drying green:

The toad was well camouflaged and sat in among the tallish grass. I coaxed it away from the centre of the grass towards the hedge. Is it the same specimen that I surprised in my flower bed about a year ago? It was wedged between an upturned flower box and the wall. Didn't have my camera with me that day.

Exciting young Polish artist

2010-09-14T11:46:00.000+01:00

Hiya again

My work sometimes puts me in touch with the most incredible people. Pola is one such. We became friends after I translated some of her materials following her stay in Basel as an artist in residence. When the work was done, she invited me to her final show. This is her several years on -- what a talent!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3zRnDBW0QE

International Crisis Group : Israel/Palestine: At Mideast peace talk, a lopsided table

2010-09-06T13:05:00.000+01:00

International Crisis Group : Israel/Palestine: At Mideast peace talk, a lopsided table

Human rights defender under threat in Colombia

2010-09-01T10:51:00.000+01:00

Hiya again

One of my pbi friends posted this video on facebook. It's a short documentary about a human rights defender in Barrancabermeja, an oil town in Colombia, who has received many death threats:

Thank you for supporting the cause of PBI – Peace Brigades International – who have been providing unarmed accompaniment to David Ravelo and his organisation, CREDHOS.

A sad anniversary – St. Kilda evacuated 80 years ago today

2010-08-29T01:20:00.004+01:00

Hiya

Today is a sad anniversary as it is exactly 80 years ago that the remote island of St. Kilda, a World Heritage Site, was evacuated after about two thousand years of human habitation.
It is a cautionary tale of the nefarious impact of so-called civilisation on a subsistence way of life that had been able to survive the harshest of conditions.
The Last of the St. Kildans (see Sunday Herald, 26 Jun 2005) is a moving account of the last true St. Kildan man's visit to the islands
(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20050626/ai_n14694855/pg_2/?tag=content;col1).
It describes how "Every inhabitant was shackled into this cruel economy because in that environment your very survival depended on everyone else. The summers were spent in the dangerous pursuit of the cliff birds. In winter, the inhabitants were cut off from all other communities, with the wind whistling through the roofs and the rain running down the inside walls."
As the Wikipedia article amply describes and illustrates, boats from the mainland brought diseases, among them childhood tetanus and influenza, which decimated the population. The boats also brought tourists and religious zealots that kept the islanders from gathering food to see them through the winter months.
While some aspects of life became easier, illness and hunger drove many St. Kildan's to emigrate. Eventually, on "29 August 1930, the remaining 36 inhabitants were removed to Morvern on the Scottish mainland at their own request."
It was on Iona in 2005 that I first heard of the island when Scottish poet, author and radio presenter Kenneth Steven told us of St. Kilda – the collective name for the four islands of Hoirt, Dun, Soay and Boreray – and the sorry fate of its inhabitants.
I would have liked to go visit but I don't think I will: Having been hailed the Macchu Picchu of the northern Atlantic, St. Kilda finds itself on the eroding path of world tourism and visitor pressure is fast becoming a serious problem.

An allergic reaction to national anthems

2010-08-23T10:48:00.000+01:00

Hiya again

Isn't this a quirky title for today's post? It could be me saying this, because I think nationalism is an obsolete concept, but it's actually the title of Scottish author and translator Donal McLaughlin's 2009 collection of short stories.

According to his wordpress page, it has
"been longlisted for the inagural Reader's First Book Award of the Edinburgh International Book Festival
"it is already longlisted for the 2010 Cork City – Frank O'Connor Short Story Award – for which the other longlisted authors come from the USA, the UK, India, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Iraq & the US Virgin Islands."

Please note that
Donal will be reading at the Edinburgh International Book Festival
at 4.30pm this Wednesday, 25 August, 2010.

I met Donal back in 2004 when he was visiting author in Bern, Switzerland. Here's keeping fingers crossed for him!

A summer Sunday on the West Coast of Scotland

2010-08-19T11:54:00.000+01:00

Hiya again
Had a fabulous warm and sunny Sunday last weekend in one of the many beautiful gardens that dot the West Coast of Scotland.
The purpose of my visit, in the company of a lovely Oban friend, was to represent our Lynnside Community Garden at the Lorn Horticultural Society's Flower Festival. The afternoon was a great success – it didn't hurt that the weather was absolutely perfect.
Thank you to the hosts, Mr & Mrs Charles Struthers, for having us.
If you read this and if you're in the area, Ardmaddy is definitely a must, whatever the weather. The location is stunning, the garden a gem.
But here are a few impressions of last Sunday:

Just to prove that the sky was absolutely cloudless. Not my best photo ever, I'm afraid.

Some of the produce from our garden, all freshly picked in the morning. It was quite a job to keep things fresh and looking nice.

The Lynnside Community Garden table and display.

Some flowers from our garden.

The landlord calling out winning numbers at the raffle draw towards the end of the day.
Thank you for visiting. Come again soon.
Peace!

KD Lang - Constant Craving - live in Sydney

2010-08-07T01:51:00.001+01:00

One of my all time favourite songs by one of my all time favourite singers - kdl rocks and shmoozes and soothes and hits the spot with her songs, always. A beautiful being with a magnificent voice.

Crossing the Channel

2010-07-30T10:37:00.003+01:00

Hiya again

Crossed the Channel by ferry recently, from Dover to Calais and back again about a week later.

On the way south I was astonished to see a gannet flying past astern of the ship. Although I was wearing my glasses and visibility was excellent, I didn't quite trust my eyes.
On the way north, there the gannet was again, in almost exactly the same spot. Only this time my vantage point was better and I could clearly see the gorgeous blue-and-black design about its eye and the characteristic pale golden plumage on its neck.
What was it doing out there all on its own?

The sight inspired me to pen this:

I to I with a gannet

going, and coming back

Same bird?

Not a mirage

not an illusion

A miracle

Peace!

Another first

2010-07-29T18:15:00.004+01:00

My very first proper harvest of gooseberries. I bought a young shrub in spring and planted it in a tall terracotta pot. It seems to like it there.

A visit to Cliveden House and Gardens

2010-07-26T15:26:00.005+01:00

I recently had the wonderful opportunity of visiting Cliveden House, which is very near the home of one of my longest-standing English friends.
What particularly intrigued me was a tree that looked a bit like a sycamore but had berries that resembled raspberries. Here's a full view of this fascinating specimen of what I know know to be an ancient (over 150 years old!) Mulberry tree.

According to John Bignell, Visitor Services Manager at Cliveden, the Cliveden people "usually harvest the fruit and use it in desserts in the autumn in the Orangery."

Here's a close-up of the fruit that look – and taste – a lot like raspberries.

A great shame I missed the Mulberry dessert season this time round.

Anne Bradstreet

2010-07-14T14:18:00.002+01:00

Hiya again
Inspired by a facebook "game" in which I was found to be most like a poem by John Berryman, I went off in search of a poem/poet that would chime better with the fact that I'm actually a woman, which the providers of that platform do not seem to realise.
So I've just discovered a new author, Anne Bradstreet (c. 1612 – September 16, 1672), an English-American writer, the first published American poet, and the first woman to be published in Colonial America. According to Wikipedia, her work was very influential to Puritans in her time. According to Joel Athey at Modern American Poetry, she was also a great influence on John Berryman, who 'published Homage to Mistress Bradstreet in the Parisan Review' in 1953. Athey writes:
'Berryman addressed Bradstreet as both lover and listener, extending himself through her tribulations as an exile in the Rhode Island colony. He included personal tragedies such as her heart problems ("wandering pacemaker,") as well as identified with her situation, where he awaits "in a redskin calm." 'Their tension is evidenced even in the pauses:
"You must not love me, but I do not bid you cease"'

Now, this line sums me up completely!

But here's a taste of Bradstreet -- I'm quoting the first poem in full. It speaks to me who has the greatest difficulty deciding when a text is good enough, be it a translation for my clients, be it a poem or – the hardest of all – a story. Not much has changed in the course of almost 350 years...

The Author to Her Book

Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,
Who after birth did'st by my side remain,
Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true,
Who thee abroad, exposed to public view,
Made thee in rags, halting to th' press to trudge,
Where errors were not lessened (all may judge).
At thy return my blushing was not small,
My rambling brat (in print) should mother call.
I cast thee by as one unfit for light,
Thy visage was so irksome in my sight;
Yet being mine own, at length affection would
Thy blemishes amend, if so I could:
I washed thy face, but more defects I saw,
And rubbing off a spot still made a flaw.
I stretched thy joints to make thee even feet,
Yet still thou run'st more hobbling than is meet;
In better dress to trim thee was my mind,
But nought save homespun cloth, i' th' house I find.
In this array 'mongst Vulgars may'st thou roam.
In critic's hands beware thou dost not come,
And take thy way where yet thou art not known;
If for thy Father asked, say thou hadst none;
And for thy Mother, she alas is poor,
Which caused her thus to send thee out of door.

I'm struck by the fact that Bradstreet sends her poems out before they're perfect because she needs the money. On the other hand, I suspect she knows full well her poems are as perfect as they can be but it wouldn't do for her to say so – that would be bragging, and bragging's not on. It still isn't, is it, at least for women, to express pride in their work...

*****

And I can't resist this one, dated two-hundred and nintety-three years, to the day, before my birth.
It's a long poem so I've cut some lines to make it more manageable. You can read the original by clicking on the title. I am certain she took the saying 'children fly the coop' for inspiration here, representing herself as the mother hen and considering everything around her 'chicks' in terms of fowl and other birds (of prey):

In Reference to her Children, 23 June 1659

I had eight birds hatched in one nest,
Four cocks there were, and hens the rest.
I nursed them up with pain and care,
Nor cost, nor labour did I spare,
Till at the last they felt their wing,
Mounted the trees, and learned to sing;
Chief of the brood then took his flight
To regions far and left me quite.
[MPJ comments: Here follows a description of four of her other older children 'flying the coop' and what becomes of them.]
My other three still with me nest,
Until they're grown, then as the rest,
Or here or there they'll take their flight,
As is ordained, so shall they light.
If birds could weep, then would my tears
Let others know what are my fears
Lest this my brood some harm should catch,
[MPJ comments: The author describes her fears in great detail, and how she cared for her 'chicks' when they were young.]
My cares are more and fears than ever,
My throbs such now as 'fore were never.
Alas, my birds, you wisdom want,
Of perils you are ignorant;
Oft times in grass, on trees, in flight,
Sore accidents on you may light.
O to your safety have an eye,
So happy may you live and die.
Meanwhile my days in tunes I'll spend,
Till my weak lays with me shall end.
[MPJ comments: In about ten lines, Bradstreet describes what the rest of her pious writer's life will look like now that her children have all gone. She ends on an assertive note, which shows that she's fully aware of her achievements. ]
When each of you shall in your nest
Among your young ones take your rest,
In chirping language, oft them tell,
You had a dam that loved you well,
That did what could be done for young,
And nursed you up till you were strong,
And 'fore she once would let you fly,
She showed you joy and misery;
Taught what was good, and what was ill,
What would save life, and what would kill.
Thus gone, amongst you I may live,
And dead, yet speak, and counsel give:
Farewell, my birds, farewell adieu,
I happy am, if well with you.

*****

What a lovely expression, in the last few lines, of the notion that we live on in the minds of those who loved us.

Nuff played now – back to work.

July in Scotland: rain, sunshine, rainbows, rain, cold

2010-07-05T23:35:00.000+01:00

Just in time for the start of the school holidays, the weather turned rather wet and grey. Fantastic timing!
Mind you, everything here was so dry it's actually wonderful to have had some rain and not to need to water gardens every night.

But temperatures could have stayed where they were -- around a pleasant 20°C – rather than plummet to about 10°C or even lower! Imagine putting the heating on in early July! Well, that's what I did this afternoon / evening to stop shivering in my winter togs. Rather depressing, actually.

Now I feel better for having had a late-afternoon nap (not good if you want to sleep soundly later on, but hey, my brain was clamouring for sleep), and for having hunkered down to complete a hugely entertaining translation about an arcane piece of Swiss history.

Onwards and upwards: next a few snippets about crazy dudes risking their lives doing extreme sports, and then a big slog -- about 80 pages on overweight children and adolescents, and what's being done about and for them in Switzerland. I hope to get well stuck in before I take myself off on a road trip for a few days in mid-July.

Everything else will have to wait, so no pix just now.

Colombia -- the armed conflict will continue under a new president (Int. Crisis Group Update)

2010-07-02T16:31:00.000+01:00

I am usually impressed with bulletins published by the International Crisis Group. Their analyses of arenas of conflict tend to be spot on. This briefing, however, seems to focus on the wrong things. The new Colombian government, like so many others, must focus on getting rid of corruption and impunity -- about 95 percent of all violent crimes still go unpunished! The incoming government must address violations of human rights; it must address pervasive poverty, lack of schools, health care and infrastructure; it must redress the past government's near-fascist attitude, especially towards the indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities in remote areas and human rights defenders.

However, read this latest bulletin for yourself, if you will:

Improving Security Policy in Colombia

Latin America Briefing N°23 29 Jun 2010

OVERVIEW

President Álvaro Uribe’s eight-year military campaign against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has taken a heavy toll on Colombia’s largest insurgent organisation. The government is now working to consolidate security gains by expanding state presence in several of the formerly most conflict-ridden regions. This strategy faces numerous challenges, not least because FARC’s command and control structure has not collapsed. The insurgents are adapting to military pressure through guerrilla warfare tactics, aggressive recruitment among rural populations, broadened involvement in drug trafficking and alliances with other armed groups and drug-trafficking organisations. Colombia’s next president, Juan Manuel Santos, will take office on 7 August. As part of an integrated conflict resolution strategy, his government must increase the country’s law enforcement and military capability against all illegal armed groups, including FARC. It also has to strengthen institutions, expand the rule of law, rigorously protect human rights, reduce poverty and design the political/negotiations component of a successful conflict resolution strategy. Security consolidation can only take root if Colombia tackles its pervasive problems of organised violence, criminality and illegality in an integrated manner.

Uribe’s sustained military campaign against FARC has produced tangible results but did not break the backbone of the 45-year old insurgency. While FARC has lost thousands of fighters due to deaths in combat, captures and desertions, it is estimated to still have 8,000-10,000 troops. Coerced recruitment of new members, mostly children and youngsters, among vulnerable groups such as Afro-Colombians and indigenous communities is ongoing. FARC has resorted to guerrilla tactics and the massive use of antipersonnel mines as well as snipers. It has expanded its participation in drug trafficking in Colombia and other parts of Latin America, particularly Panama, Venezuela, Brazil and Ecuador.

A number of FARC units have formed alliances with other illegal armed groups, including paramilitary successors and new illegal armed groups (NIAGs), such as Rastrojos and Paisas. Alliances are mostly centred on drug trafficking. While often temporary and fragile, as with Colombia’s second-largest insurgent group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), they add a new dimension to the conflict. Uribe’s military strategy against FARC was successful up to a point because it aimed at a more or less clearly defined and identified target. The threat posed by paramilitary successor groups, NIAGs and other criminal actors, and the alliances between them and FARC and ELN, is of a different, less structured and visible kind. There is mounting evidence that Colombia’s security forces lack a strategy to confront this new threat.

The new government should reassess current security policy and the efforts underway to consolidate the gains made under Uribe. The incoming Santos administration should acknowledge that Colombia has still not reached the post-conflict phase and implement an integrated conflict resolution strategy, which will be the subject of a forthcoming Crisis Group report. On security issues, the government should:

Maintain military pressure on FARC while effectively responding to the insurgents’ new modi operandi and their broadened participation in drug trafficking, while avoiding the human rights violations that have tarnished the record of the armed forces. This requires improving military intelligence and operational capacities as well as regional security cooperation, particularly with Brazil, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. As tense relations with Venezuela have facilitated an increase in cross-border crime, the incoming Colombian government has to make every effort to open a new chapter of bilateral cooperation in order to effectively cut off supply routes, support networks and trafficking chains. Relations with Ecuador also need to be fully re-established.
Develop and implement a comprehensive citizen security strategy to address the different threats emerging from FARC, ELN, paramilitary successors and NIAGs to both rural and urban populations. This strategy should be based on in-depth analysis of the new tactics of, and alliances among, the different armed groups and their impact on citizen security. Increased protection of civilians, especially among vulnerable groups such as indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, is essential.
Tackle the threat posed by paramilitary successors and NIAGs by (a) officially acknowledging the expansion and complex nature of paramilitary successors and NIAGs and the severe humanitarian impact caused by their actions; (b) stepping up efforts to integrate effective law enforcement with military measures; and (c) decisively fighting and ending collusion and ties between illegal armed groups and members of local authorities and the security forces.
Advance military and citizen security policy reform in tandem with the implementation of the security consolidation strategy so as to increase the chances of success of the latter and rapidly shift it to a civilian-led operation with a whole-of-government budgetary commitment.

Bogotá/Brussels, 29 June 2010

Another friend has arrived from Switzerland

2010-06-30T22:00:00.011+01:00

My dear friend Betsy has arrived from Switzerland. We were colleagues at the International School of Berne when I took ESOL classes in their Adult Education department. Lovely to have here here, great to catch up – and to actually spend time with each other away from a working environment.

PS: Betsy is my 26th international visitor – that means I've had exactly one visitor a month on average since I got here.

4 Birthday Girls and friends

2010-06-27T20:22:00.000+01:00

Hiya again
Four of us celebrate birthdays within less than a month. This had to be celebrated and we all met, including a few friends, for dinner and a wee stroll at the North Pier in Oban. The food at Piazza was great, the wine also. The only gripe some of us had with the location was the fact that the slanted roof directs all the noise straight at the ears of those who dine under the rafters. A small price to pay for some stunning views, though.
And there was no detracting from excellent company.
A great evening, rounded off by a hop onto The Spirit of Fairbridge, a beautiful tallship that was moored just outside. One of us recently sailed from Southampton to Glasgow on the Lord Nelson, another great tallship that allows physically challenged people to enjoy a huge adventure, so this was a real treat.

The birthday "girls" are 1st and 2nd left, 3rd and 1st right. Many happy returns, my Dears!

Birthday girl

2010-06-23T23:59:00.002+01:00

Hi there

It was my birthday and I've been celebrating. What a lovely bunch of friends and family I have, what a lovely set of cards, what a lovely day! Even the rain came, just as I had been hoping!

Here's wishing the best to everyone else who is celebrating a birthday today, this week, this month:
Peace and happiness, prosperity and good health to you all!

Audrey Hepburn's Beauty Tips, actually by Sam Levenson

2010-06-22T12:14:00.000+01:00

Hiya again

The time-tested beauty tips that I'm quoting below have been falsely attributed to Audrey Hepburn. According to Wikipedia, she used to recite them to her sons. They were actually written by Sam Levenson, who wrote them for his grandchild.
(References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Levenson / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Hepburn)

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry

For beautiful hair, let a child run his [or her] fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed;
never throw out anyone.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself,
and the other for helping others.

Audrey Hepburn starred in My Fair Lady, the second film I ever saw in the cinema. My Mum took me as a Christmas treat when I was 14 or 15.

The first ever film I saw in the cinema was Heidi, which my godmother Heidy took me to see for my 10th birthday, 48 years ago. It was a black-and-white film. I'm not sure whether it was the fabled 1937 version or the Swiss version produced in 1952, with Swiss star actor Heinrich Gretler as "Alpöhi" (Alp-Uncle).

Midsummer in Argyll

2010-06-21T16:59:00.000+01:00

Hiya again

I was away on the weekend and am still catching up!

A friend invited a whole bunch of friends, including yours truly, to the cottage she's been renting a mile or so south of Kilmelford. About 30 of us congregated to celebrate midsummer -- a bit early, but hey, we timed it right as now the sky is overcast while on Saturday we enjoyed the most gloriously sunny afternoon, evening and night -- clear sky, half-moon until about midnight and pale stars in a sky that didn't get dark at all. Cold, though, so it was good to have a huge bonfire to sit round. A great way to celebrate. We had plenty of food, lots of all sorts of drinks; drumming, singing, guitar strumming, laughter, stories, a few moments of mysticism and madness -- there was even a Midsummer Fairy!

The West Coast Magic is definitely working these days -- long may it remain so.

Early birthday present

2010-06-19T11:34:00.002+01:00

My younger brother and his wife have just been here on their first visit to see their big sister(-in-law) in her "new" home. We had a fab time together and I hope they will return soon.
In their very restricted luggage, they carried an early birthday present to me from our parents, a hammock brought back from a visit to their other daughter-in-law's home country, Colombia – or maybe she had brought it back to Switzerland for them – sorry but I'm not too clear on this detail.
Anyhow, here it is, my very own hammock strung between two laundry poles. I'll have to tweak the details because the laundry line I used wasn't strong enough and I ended up with my bum on the grass...
Thanks, Mum and Dad – this is a great prezzie.
Here's hoping the weather will cooperate this summer so I can relax often in my comfy hammock. Love the colours, too, which blend beautifully with my flowers in the background.
Until soon!

Along the Crinan Canal and by Moine Mhòr (the Great Moss)

2010-06-19T01:13:00.000+01:00

Hiya

Had a lovely time this evening down in the Crinan Canal area, exploring the canal side just after sunset. I was the only person far and wide, except for an angler who returned to his car just as I did and looked at me as if I was a ghost when I said hello. At the risk of sounding "racist", I don't think he was a Scot.
Brought home what I like to think of as a decent set of photos, also of Moine Mhòr and some of the standing stones at Nether Largie in Kilmartin Glen.
Click here to see some photos.

Trippy music

2010-06-15T23:28:00.001+01:00

Hiya
A programme on BBC One TV (Imagine – Nigel Kennedy's Polish Adventure) has inspired me to go looking for music with Anna Maria Jopek, a beautiful Polish voice. And I found this fabulous video (Warsaw 2002), with one of my all-time guitar heroes, Pat Metheny, whom I once heard play live when I was in Barcelona in 1981:

By the way, Pat Metheny will be back in Warsaw on 2 July and in Montreux on 7 July 2010.

Trains run again between Oban and Glasgow

2010-06-14T08:41:00.000+01:00

Hiya
At about 08:15 this morning, I heard the welcome sound of a train horn and then the train going past. It was the 08:11 service from Oban to Glasgow. We're back on track! ScotRail have removed any notices regarding the derailment of 6 June from their website.
CityLink should also be back to normal services between Oban and Glasgow, but you wouldn't know it from their Service Update page, which still has the same fairly useless information (useless because they didn't think to insert the date of the rock fall/derailment but have a note saying, "The disruption to the above services is expected to last 2-3 days until such time as the A85 is fully reopened between Tyndrum and Connel following the removal of the derailed train.").
And for once forArgyll has failed to update on their information concerning this closure, as well, which is disappointing because they're usually on the ball.

Derailed train lifted off the rails near Cruachan Power Station on Loch Awe, Argyll, Scotland

2010-06-12T05:16:00.001+01:00

Hiya
You will have heard about the train derailment near Cruachan Power Station on Loch Awe, Argyll, last Sunday evening. Eight people had to be taken to local hospitals, luckily only with minor injuries. The derailed carriage at the head of the train was hanging down the steep slope, anchored by the rear carriage and some trees. Due to the location of the incident, above the outflow of the reservoir and overhanging the road platform built out above the loch, the road had to be closed to traffic. It took some time to reinforce it for the heavy crane.
Once again, we have experienced just how tenuous links can be to the "outside world": whole villages were cut off from their trains because replacement buses had to make the long detour via Ballachulish, Glen Coe and Rannoch Moor. It is only since yesterday that a mini-bus service has been put on between Oban and Taynuilt:
http://forargyll.com/2010/06/a85-closure-scotrail-to-run-oban-taynuilt-minibus-from-11th-june/

Yesterday, 11th June, the de-railed carriage was at last lifted off the rail. According to the Oban Times, "a one thousand ton crane" was used. It is hoped that the road will be reopened by Wednesday. When the trains will run again still remains to be seen.

and
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8736322.stm

"I transform hate into love, that's what makes me tick" – Louise Bourgeois (25 December 1911 – 31 May 2010)

2010-06-01T20:38:00.005+01:00

Probably the 20th century's greatest artist, Louise Bourgeois, has died at the ripe old age of 98. I had the privilege of seeing two of her installations. They shocked and fascinated me; it was the first time I felt a woman was tackling something really important, deep and true. I wish I had seen her "Maman" in the opening show of Tate Modern. Oh, well, you can't have everything.

Here a couple of interviews with Louise Bourgeois. The first one focuses on a sculpture very like the black rubber installation I saw at the Berne Kunstmuseum all those years ago. "Sculpture is a kind of exorcism."

There's nothing to add to this. Let's all transform hate into love, whatever we do, wherever we may be. Today more than ever, this is what the world needs.

A great day -- felt like real summer

2010-05-22T23:50:00.009+01:00

Hiya again
Today felt like a real summer's day. It was warm, with a lovely breeze, very sunny. People were out of doors, enjoying their gardens, the sea, the sun – perfect. Everyone agreed that we live in the most beautiful part of the world.
My day started early, seeing a friend off on the 8:11 train to Glasgow. The harbour was shrouded in fog. But by the time she had gone, the sun had nearly lapped it all up.
Housework included laundry and some garden work while the washing machine was churning upstairs. Lovely surprises today, one of which was this multiple tulip, tiny yellow plant – lovely!
This was Day Two of the first ever Marine Science Festival, organised by the Scottish Academy for Marine Science – SAMS. Lots of fascinating, fantastic events are on the programme, among them Open Days at the Lighthouse Boat, at the Lifeboat and at Oban Sailing Club.
So, when my chores were done, I cycled over to the Sailing Club and managed to catch a taster sail in Kerrera Sound, which was simply brilliant, with a good breeze and an expert skipper and crew. I also very much enjoyed the company of four wonderful kids with their dad (and I'm quite sure mum enjoyed a quiet afternoon).After a quick shower and change, a friend and I drove down to Ellenabeich on the Isle of Seil to enjoy a session of Songs of the Sea with geopoet Norrie Bissell, Mod Gold Medalist Mairi Mcinness, who sang songs both in Gaelic and English, and composer/pianist Mark Sheridan.
They presented the Atlantic Islands Suite, a Hebridean journey of self discovery in poems and music, which premiered last year on Luing and at the Belladrum Festival, and extracts from The Flight of the Arctic
Tern, which features an epic emigrant journey from Scotland to Australia by sailing ship.
It was a lovely event, a wonderful combination of poems, music and song – much too short, really. *)
This was the view when we arrived just after 7pm – the sun still quite high in the sky but already shrouded in a mist.
And this was the view that greeted us during the intermission: thick fog, and a much chillier air.
*) Norrie, Mairi and Mark will be playing again on Sunday, 23 May, at the Argyllshire Gathering Halls in Oban. Well worth it!

Greenpeace JugendSolarProjekt in Switzerland – Young people receive hands-on education about solar energy

2010-05-13T13:56:00.005+01:00

Here's something that Scotland and its government(s) could emulate -- just in from Greenpeace Switzerland (original in German, translation by yours truly):

Welcome to YouthSolarProject

In 1998 the JugendSolarProjekt (JSP – YouthSolarProject) of Greenpeace Switzerland began to embark on new approaches to environmental education. Guided by the catchphrase "Actions are better than words", we have involved young people in the installation of solar plants on top of public buildings and/or social institutions. So far, over 10,000 young people have helped to install over 175 solar plants.

Today, Greenpeace Switzerland's YouthSolarProject (JSP) proudly presents its biggest solar energy project so far. For the past two weeks, apprentices from all over Switzerland installed a photovoltaic plant in Melchnau BE. With a surface area of 1,885 sqm, it is currently the country's biggest rooftop installation.

The project clearly looks to the future of energy supplies. A roof no longer simply provides weather protection – it is a power plant that produces a great deal more energy than is required for the actual building itself. The photovoltaic installation in Melchnau will produce enough electricity for 65 households.

A Swissolar study has shown that simply by making consistent use of appropriate rooftops, one third of the electricity needs of Switzerland can be met by solar energy. The transition to renewable energy is not a technological issue – it is a political decision to stand firm against producers of energy that has a negative impact on our climate.

This is the mission of Greenpeace and its YouthSolarProject. The time is ripe. Technologies are available. Switzerland can afford to invest into sustainable energy supplies. Join us in the fight for a sunny future – please support our work and the energy revolution.

Doors open to the YouthSolarProject and the photovoltaic plant in Melchnau BE
on 29th and 30th May, 2010 – come and see us!

Spring flowers in Oban

2010-05-10T19:00:00.000+01:00

Hiya again
Some lovely flowers have made a home nearby. These lovelies are blossoming at the foot of the house. First off, a true wildflower, a blue geranium:
Next, a plant I put in only a few weeks ago. I hope this weeping heart will thrive and grow bigger and give me pleasure for many years to come.
The wallflowers I planted last year are doing extremely well. There was some blossom on it almost all the winter through and it's come back splendidly, don't you think?
I had been wondering what would happen with my aquilegia seeds. Well, last year there was just a small growth of leaves but now look at this:
And finally, the great surprise this year, a yellow poppy that flowers in among the mombretia that will flower later:
I'm dead chuffed with these. They provide nectar and give colour and -- the wallflowers -- a wonderful aroma to the garden.

2 years today

2010-05-08T21:14:00.005+01:00

Hiya again
It's exactly two years today that I arrived in Oban – not on a holiday as in previous years, but to stay. It's been a very interesting time, with oh so many wonderful moments and a few not so good ones. I suppose I need those just to keep me grounded or else in my bliss of being in this spectacularly beautiful area I might truly have got blown away.
This is how the day started – clear sky, not a cloud in sight, but a jet scoring the blue with its contrail -- they were flying again:
A little later, this lenticular beauty appeared above Soroba:To celebrate, in a very minor fashion, I met up with two of my earliest local friends. We treated ourselves to some goodies and the spectacular view of Oban Bay at the Chocolate Company. Afterwards, E.C. and I slowly walked back toward the town centre and were in the right spot at the right time to see the local Sea Kayaking class come back from their day on the water.It was a beautiful day, but a bit on the deceptive side, with a nippy breeze, and it ends on a colourful note:
May everyone who reads these lines be well and happy in whatever you're up to.
Peace and happiness to you, and to the world.

Wildlife in Oban: Orange tip butterfly, Bullfinch

2010-05-03T10:34:00.005+01:00

Hiya
It's a gorgeous day here today, quite mild despite the breeze, very sunny, with a few clouds and – once more – a high-flying jet leaving its contrail in the sky. But the clarity of the sky while all the planes were downed due to the icelandic volcano cloud is not what I want to talk about just now.
What I want to share with you is the fact that I've just seen an Orange Tip butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines) flutter past my window. They're quite rare here in Scotland, so this is a great observation.
It probably enjoys all the flowers that have been coming out around here. My own flower border has a fat and rough-leaved plant with forget-me-not flowers that served as a very successful food source to the Peacock butterflies last year; there are gorgeously scented wallflowers; there are still a few primroses and pansies galore – the garden also sports loads of blooming dandelion and daisies, etc etc -- photos to follow...
The view from my south window is simply divine just now, with the sun coming through the freshest of fresh green on all the deciduous trees. In the burn, a mother mallard is busy quacking for her brood of ducklings -- my neighbour told me she has ten to look after! And the trees are alive with birds.
And here's another observation: a bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) sitting briefly on the wire outside my kitchen window. I did take a photo through the window pane but my camera is really not up to this sort of photography. Hence this link.

Memorable Iona, Argyll, Scotland

2010-04-29T17:40:00.002+01:00

Dear All
I must, must, must post this one photo from Iona at least. Spent a few days there last week and enjoyed some of the best weather ever. We also saw some rain, but no matter. More pix to follow later, I hope.
And yes, that crystal clear water did tempt me to go for a swim. 't was brief, mind, because the water hereabouts is fairly cold. But the sand was warm, the rocks were hot, the sun was even hotter -- fantastic!

Fleetwood Mac – Albatross

2010-04-13T00:20:00.003+01:00

A blast from the past -- and a gap in my cultural knowledge closed at last:

Don't laugh -- I really never knew the name of this haunting, evocative piece of music until just this morning, when it was played on BBC 4 TV in Guitar Heroes. What a re-discovery!

8th ArtPosition, ArtPosition10 in Salavaux, Switzerland, 13-15 Aug 2010

2010-04-10T18:35:00.003+01:00

Hiya
Have just been informed that a great little Swiss open-air art show will be held at the small town of Salavaux on Lake Morat/Murtensee from 13th to 15th August, 2010. If past experience is anything to go by, this is well worth a detour from almost wherever you may be
I'm really busy with paid work but here is the press release in German and French. English may follow later. Until then, cheerioh!

Die ArtPosition10 findet in Salavaux statt

(texte en français suit en bas)

Die 8. ArtPosition findet vom 13.-15. August 2010 in Salavaux statt. Die ersten drei Kunstausstellungen „ArtPosition“ fanden in drei verschiedenen Industriehallen in Murten und die nächsten vier auf dem Militärflugplatz in Payerne statt.

Vom Militärjet zum Motorboot

Von 2006-2009 stellten jeweils über 100 Künstlerlnnen aus der ganzen Schweiz und dem Ausland in den Militärflugzeughallen U70 in Payerne aus. Dieses Jahr werden um die 100 KünstlerInnen in den Motorboothallen der Nautic Technic in Salavaux ausstellen. In Salavaux werden renommierte Kunstschaffende jungen, unbekannten Talenten eine ideale Plattform bieten, um sich einem breiten Publikum präsentieren zu können. Die ArtPosition09 wurde von über 2500 kunstinteressierten BesucherInnen aus der ganzen Schweiz besucht.

ArtPosition10
13. August, 17h-20h: Vernissage
14. August, 11h-16h: Ausstellung
15. August, 11h-16h: Finissage (Valiant Award um 15h)

Anmeldung: Ab sofort können sich interessierte Kunstschaffende via www.artposition.ch für die ArtPosition10 bewerben.

ArtPosition10 à Salavaux

Salavaux accueillera la 8e édition d’ArtPosition du 13 au 15 août 2010. Les trois premières éditions de l’exposition d’art „ArtPosition“ avaient été organisées dans diverses halles industrielles à Morat et les quatre suivantes sur l’aire de l’aérodrome militaire de Payerne.

Du jet militaire au bateau à moteur

Entre 2006 et 2009, les expositions avaient réuni à chaque fois une centaine d’artistes de Suisse et de l’étranger dans les halles U70 de l’aviation militaire à Payerne. Cette année, près de 100 artistes exposeront leurs oeuvres dans les halles des bateaux à moteur de Nautic Technic à Salavaux. À Salavaux, des artistes de renom entoureront de jeunes talents encore inconnus et leur offriront une plateforme idéale pour se faire connaître du grand public. En 2009, ArtPosition avait attiré plus de 2500 amateurs d’art de toute la Suisse.

ArtPosition10
13 août, 17h-20h: Vernissage
14 août, 11h-16h: Exposition
15 août, 11h-16h: Finissage (remise du prix Valiant Award à 15h)

Inscription: Les artistes intéressé-e-s peuvent postuler à ArtPosition10 et s’inscrire en ligne sur le site www.artposition.ch.

Liberian Curfew – a poem by a friend

2010-04-09T09:49:00.004+01:00

Hi there

A writer friend of mine now based in Switzerland has had a very eventful life, and has just published a poem about one aspect of it. It is a quiet but powerful rendering of curfew in Liberia during those dark days of war:

http://tonguesoftheocean.org/2010/04/liberian-curfew/

Thank you, Althea, for underscoring some aspects that I would never have thought of. I've lead far too sheltered a life.

The sad thing is that, while the poem looks back to Liberia's civil war of 1989, it highlights events that are occurring elsewhere as I type these lines. Depressing.

However, the poem is full of the spirit of human resilience and resolve, so there's hope, I guess.

One reason why I skived off work yesterday...

2010-04-07T08:44:00.003+01:00

After only about two days of rain, we were once again having flood time here -- slightly distracting, if only for the rush of water.

Once the water had subsided, there were lots more birds about the garden: bluetits, blackbirds, robins, wee brown jobs I don't know the name of, the ubiquitous herring gulls, of course, but no sign of jackdaws -- everything has a silver lining...

Skiving from work to share two old Oban videos (1926 and 1955) with you

2010-04-06T14:18:00.005+01:00

From BFIfilms

Oban is still very much a working harbour. Among other things (women processing herring, for example), the clip features a Clyde puffer. When the clip was made, my dad wasn't even born yet. Last May he and I enjoyed a tour of the Reaper, a herring boat that would have come into Oban, laden with fish, in the old days. On another occasion I was able to explore a restored specimen of the old west-coast workhorse called the Clyde puffer.

"The extract comes from Claude Friese-Greene's 'The Open Road' - originally filmed in 1925/6 and now re-edited and digitally restored by the BFI National Archive. Britain seen in colour for the first time was heralded as a great technical advance for the cinema audience - now we can view a much improved image, but one which still stays true to the principles of the colour process."

And while I'm at it, here's another one showing Oban in 1955. I was three that summer, had a one-year-old brother, and we lived nowhere near Oban. Sadly, I cannot embed the clip here, so please click on the link.

Thought of the day

2010-04-06T10:18:00.005+01:00

Hiya again
No, I'm not going to start a daily post of "thoughts of the day", have no fear. But a lovely e-mail from a friend inspired me to go in search of the author, D.G., who composed a list of present-day Seven Wonders of the World.
While my search has not brought success, I came across this:

Learn to write your pain in the sand, where winds of joy can erase it.
But carve your happiness in stone, so the most intense rain cannot wash it off.

(found at http://blogs.rediff.com/tranquility/, slightly rephrased by this here blogger)

And here are the Present-day Seven Wonders of the World – magic!
(click on the image to see a clearer and enlarged view – more magic!)

Have a bright and beautiful day.

A day of spring, a day of rain...

2010-04-03T11:24:00.010+01:00

Hiya again
Yesterday was one of the best days yet this season: balmy, a fait breeze that dried the sheets on the washing lines, the neighbourhood ringing with the sound of a chainsaw and, once that had fallen silent, filled with the voices of birds and of children enjoying their first proper day off school... Fairly peaceful.
I was raised in Protestant Switzerland where Good Friday is one of the holiest days of the year, meaning that pretty much everything comes to a standstill. So it's still a bit of an experience to find that on the West Coast of Scotland Good Friday is a day like just about any other: the post is delivered, shops are open, people hang their laundry out to dry if the weather is good.Well, being an agnostic who no longer cares about church festivals, I appreciate shops are open so I could make the most of a lovely day by taking myself to the nearby garden centre, which has been holding a sale.

I bought three tall terracotta pots for less than £10 each, as well as plants to go into them (3 for the price of 2), and bags of compost (4 for the price of 3 -- I'll be in compost for a good while!). The pots now adorn yellow patches in the drying green. The patches are the result of the next-door neighbour's white boxer peeing again and again and again through the wire-mesh fence. I spoke to its owner but she shrugged it all off, saying it cannot be trained, which is rubbish! Mind you, I quite like her so I wasn't going to make a fuss.

(photo taken a couple of days later, on 4 Apr 2010, when the sun was out again)

We'll see whether the new arrangement will make a positive difference. I hope so.
The pots contain one red gooseberry and two raspberry shrubs. I will have to build some sort of support for the rasps, eventually, and some kind of shelter to keep them out of the worst of the north-easterly that sometimes comes bearing down the glen with a nasty, cold bite.
Still, I feel well pleased with myself for having brought this project to some sort of conclusion. There are too many still hanging about unfinished (the yellow shed, for one, which I have been meaning to paint a yummy purple -- it will happen, promise).
In stark contrast to yesterday, today has been grey and wet and quite cold.
Some neighbours in this terrace if not in this close toss pieces of bread out into the drying green. They have been attracting large jackdaws. I managed to capture two of them through my closed window this morning:While I love their plumage that shimmers green and blue in the sun, I'm not sure they are the kinds of birds we want in our gardens, where I've lately been observing the odd wren, several bluetits and a couple of robins.

A kind of anniversary

2010-04-01T16:00:00.004+01:00

Hiya again
It's been exactly four years to the day that I met someone who was to change my life in unexpected ways. One of them was being introduced to the joys of blogging. I resisted for a while but, as you can see, I have since become quite seriously addicted (I'd like to say "developed to a fine art", but there are so many blogs out there that are much better organised, much more aesthetically pleasing, much more like what I'd have if only I really focused on this -- but there you go: I'm me, a bit chaotic, a bit obsessive, but basically quite harmless).
Even if comments to my musings and photos etc are sparse, I do know that there are quite a few people out there who click into this blog from time to time.
I thank you for your interest, and I thank R.A.E. for having inspired me to take up this hobby, for helping me stretch my wings as a photographer further, and for being a great friend since those chance encounters on our way by CalMac ferry and bus across Mull to and a week later the same way back from Iona.
To you all I dedicate this photo showing my favourite flower, ever, the elusive fritillary, which I first encountered on Iona in April 2004, two years before I took this photo.

Making the most of wakeful hours...

2010-03-30T02:06:00.003+01:00

Hiya
After a record period of over two months in which my awful downstairs neighbours had been behaving very decently indeed, coming and going at "normal" hours, or coming and going quietly, and after about a month in which their dog did not howl and bark for hours and hours on end at all times of day and night, the Full Moon seems to have brought out their antisocial side again.
At any rate, I was awakened by someone coming in at 01:30am. The dog had evidently been cooped up in their small flat and was now jumping all over the place. The pounding of its paws on their laminate flooring is a sound of thunder, especially in the otherwise perfectly quiet house.
Progress, however, and credit where credit is due: it did not bark, for which much thanks.
Whoever came in took the dog out through the back door, encouraging it loudly to "Go for it, go on, go running!" -- the dog's paws were churning up the gravel beyond the paving slabs -- "go over! Guid gurrl!" -- the "go over" meaning for the dog to jump over the fence.
I could hear the man talking loudly to the dog all the way up the lane, across the burn and over into the houses beyond, and again less than five minutes later, just before he came back into the house.
He is evidently drunk, speaking really loudly to the dog, or to a mate, or on the phone downstairs in his flat -- sometimes I do wish I had Superman's x-ray vision, truly, to see what exactly is going on there!
Things calmed down a bit and I was falling asleep again when five raps coming in quick succession from the direction of the kitchen roused me again, followed by men's loud voices.
Things have now calmed down -- the soft click of the light switch -- but I'm on tenterhooks, totally wired, and exhausted. And disgusted.
Affaire à suivre, I suppose. No rest for the wicked, as they say.
Hope you all who read this can enjoy peaceful, quiet, restful nights.
Oh, and yes, I am aware that I'm moaning, and have much to be grateful for, and that millions of people all over the world never know when the next shots will be fired, or the next bomb will drop on them, or when their loved one will die of AIDS -- I am more than aware of all that, but it doesn't make it right for me to be deprived of sleep by neighbours who behave as if they owned the place (which they don't) and as if they were the only ones to live in this house. Urrrghhhh!

Edward Burne-Jones – The Earthly Paradise at Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland

2010-03-28T14:44:00.004+01:00

Hiya
Sadly, I had no hand in the English translations to this magnificent show. But I'm not one to bear an old client a grudge, especially not when I wouldn't have been able, time-wise, to do the work, anyway.
If you're anywhere near Bern, go and see this exhition. It looks to be a stunner.

[image from www.practicalpainting.com]

Edward Burne-Jones – The Earthly Paradise
19 March - 25 July 2010

From the museum's website:
"In the spring of 2010, the Kunstmuseum Bern will be totally under the ascendancy of the London painter and draftsman Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898). This leading protagonist of late Victorian art – a hitherto largely neglected epoch on the European continent – will be presented in Switzerland for the first time in a large-scale monographic exhibition. Organized in collaboration with the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and its collection of major Pre-Raphaelite works, the show will bring together around one hundred paintings and drawings, furniture and glass windows of this fascinating master of English Symbolism."

No comment -- just watch this and act...

2010-03-22T22:52:00.001Z

At last!

2010-03-22T06:40:00.003Z

At long last, the US will have healthcare reforms to provide cover to 32m more Americans.

Speaking after the bill passed with 219 votes, US president Barack Obama said it showed "America's workers, and America's families and America's small businesses deserve the security of knowing that... neither illness nor accident should endanger the dreams they have worked a lifetime to achieve."

"It isn't radical reform, but it is major reform ... it moves us decisively in the right direction."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8579354.stm

Margaret P's Blog, a web photo diary from Switz- erm, Scotland: Oban & Kilmore by Oban

It's Mental Health Awareness Week

2012 has brought some wild weather

A bit of Xmas cheer via HMS Ocean/Mariah Carey

In memoriam Barbara Joy (21Dec1948-12Nov2011)

Mary Edna Fraser – Global Climate Change, A Primer, with batik artwork by MEF

Oban Fireworks 2011 were a hit!

Antarctica, Scott and Shackleton

Girlfriends are good for women's health – Dr. David Spiegel on Mind-Body Interactions

Technology pioneer and co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, dies at the age of 56 with President Obama saying "the world has lost a visionary".

Stunned. Sad. RiP Steve Jobs.

Thank you, Steve Jobs.

BBC News has a wonderful tribute by Stephen Fry, recorded in August 2011, after Steve Jobs resigned due to ill health:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/14664694

Yesterday, 5 October 2011, Apple CEO Tim Cook today sent the following email to all Apple employees:

House found!

No Cruachan climb today / House wanted!

UK comedian Nabil Abdul Rashid responds to racist comments by UK historian David Starkey

Nabil Abdul Rashid Responds to David Starkey "Whites Have become Black"

A beautiful (late) birthday present ...

Oban's 200th birthday this July 2011 – Guinness World Record attempt at the biggest Strip the Willow ever

Something to plan for next summer's Solstice

Interesting news: "On Small Farms, Hoof Power Returns"

A big thank-you to my youngest nephew, Hannes, for sharing this article with me, which appeared many weeks ago but has only just made it into my orbit:

On Small Farms, Hoof Power Returns

By TESS TAYLOR – New York Times – Sheffield, Mass.Published: May 3, 2011

Read on here.

Now that the price of fuel is rocketing, young farmers are returning to this much more natural way of life.

Kilmore garden photos – May 2011

Swiss government decides to opt out of nuclear energy

Daft about daffies

Please help stop Scottish Seal Cull

International Working Women's Day – Gioconda Belli

© Translation from Spanish, 8 March 2011: Margret Powell-Joss

There is no such thing as "sustainable" farmed salmon

A New Year's Dip – an excellent way to start the new year

Winter Solstice – a special day

It's this time of year – a rant

A Message of Peace

The Basking shark, a peaceful creature – the second-biggest fish in the ocean

Central Scotland under lockdown due to snow and freezing temperature – which the Transport Minister calls "torrid"

Superb LORN Xmas Market in Benderloch, Argyll, Scotland

Chilean miner Edison Peña on the David Letterman Show, with interpreter Cassandra

Oban, Saturday, 20 November – join Oban Gaelic Choir for a Blast!

First morning in my new home

Moving house

Nearly there

Pola Dwurnik – mapping the knot, part three

For Minnie Evans: The Bottle Chapel, Airlie Gardens, Wilmington, NC

Song for the day: A Boy and a Girl

Autumn

Sometimes I wish I was twenty again...

A sunny autumn Saturday afternoon by the Oban Bay

National Poetry Day (UK): George Herbert, The Call

10 Nov 2010, Kultur-Casino, Bern, Switzerland: Women, Peace, and Security – 10 Years of UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Opportunities & Limits

What's in a name?

Pat Harkin's top 5 ideas on how to improve the UK

A beautiful garden on the outskirts of Oban: Glencruitten House Walled Garden

Women in the majority in the Swiss government

Colombia: Human Rights Defender, David Ravelo Crespo, in detention

A visitor

Exciting young Polish artist

International Crisis Group : Israel/Palestine: At Mideast peace talk, a lopsided table

Human rights defender under threat in Colombia

A sad anniversary – St. Kilda evacuated 80 years ago today

An allergic reaction to national anthems

A summer Sunday on the West Coast of Scotland

KD Lang - Constant Craving - live in Sydney

Crossing the Channel

Another first

A visit to Cliveden House and Gardens

Anne Bradstreet

The Author to Her Book

In Reference to her Children, 23 June 1659

July in Scotland: rain, sunshine, rainbows, rain, cold

Colombia -- the armed conflict will continue under a new president (Int. Crisis Group Update)

However, read this latest bulletin for yourself, if you will:

Improving Security Policy in Colombia

Another friend has arrived from Switzerland

4 Birthday Girls and friends

Birthday girl

BBC News has a wonderful tribute by Stephen Fry, recorded in August 2011, after Steve Jobs resigned due to ill health:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/14664694

By TESS TAYLOR – New York Times – Sheffield, Mass.
Published: May 3, 2011