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Birth of Christianity in Scotland
Christianity reached the British Isles through Roman colonisation in the first and second centuries AD and continued within the tribal and cultural mix after the Roman withdrawal in 410 AD. There is archaeological evidence of a Christian presence at Whithorn...
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Edible Gardening
Gardening is a fantastic past time and spending time outdoors is a great way to keep mind, body and soul in great shape. Planting from scratch is incredibly rewarding and you’ll be treated to a riot of colour in your garden come summer. If you are interested...
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Chilling out
One very helpful life skill is to be able to chill out. To be calm in negative situations and not overreact about all kinds of things. Or invent big, big problems in your mind – or create them in your world as you drag other people in through arguments...
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Weaving on the loom
I have been around weaving all my life, in a outsider way. When young we would visit the rug tieing shops of the remoter parts of Iran and Afghanistan, see the rows of young boys, girls of all ages, and women, each sitting in front of the loon, mostly...
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The Willow Tree
willow trees There is an increased biodiversity brought in by planting the willow: The willow tree brings in the deer, the dares, the songbirds, and also the herons. The willow tree attracts 266 insect species, including 173 types of moths and 51 different...
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Chocolate Origins
Cacao was in use in South America centuries before its exploitation by civilisations in Mexico and Central America The key ingredient of chocolate was being used in South America centuries before it was exploited by civilisations in Mexico and Central...
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unexplained wealth
Unexplained Wealth There is now an important provision of the Criminal Finance Bill that introduces a powerful new weapon into the anti-corruption arsenal: Unexplained Wealth Orders. This follows action already taken in Australia and Ireland. The provision...
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Improving Sleep
A few things that have helped to improve my sleep: 1. firm, longer couch - my bed does not work for me - I sleep better in a smaller space because I have no wear to toss and turn. It also helps me to position my foot. 2. socks - I can't sleep without...
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Chicken Soup
I once had a migraine that lasted two weeks and a friend sent me her deluxe chicken soup recipe, so I staggered out of the house and got all the ingredients. One whole organic chicken, a bulb of garlic, a thumb-sized piece of ginger, some carrot and celery...
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Geometry in Ancient Celtic World
Geometry in Ancient Celtic World The amazingly sophisticated geometry of the Anglo Saxon and Celtic 'barbarian' enamelwork, jewellery and interlace easily equals or far outranks anything the rest of the world produces. The very boat in which the Redwaeld...
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volunteering
Volunteering is important for numerous reasons that benefit both the community and the volunteer themselves. When someone donates a handful of time, the difference made is tremendous and it shapes a community for the better while the experience improves...
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The American Dream
In its simplest form, the American Dream asserts that success should be determined by effort, not one’s starting point. This is the promise on which most Americans base their hopes and the calculus that is supposed to govern our institutions. Specifically,...
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Poetry
Mass by Seamus Heaney When all the others were away at MassI was all hers as we peeled potatoes.They broke the silence, let fall one by oneLike solder weeping off the soldering iron:Cold comforts set between us, things to shareGleaming in a bucket of...
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World evolves
Coal mining, hard manual work for men (and children and ponies) replaced by just men and machines, hard work that few would want today but it employed thousands. Followed by retail (Pick & Mix had a different connotation), followed by human robots and...
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Russian roulette
“playing Russian roulette with their life” if I do not have the flu jab before this winter, doctors are warning because I have Asthma. Deaths from flu and deaths from serious breathing problems both peak during winter. Asthma claimed 1,410 lives in Britain...
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wellbeing
It seems reasonable to be glad something has happened or not happened. Depending how it's understood, though, gratefulness makes dubitable assumptions about the existence of free agents with the power to bestow goods upon you, that is, assumptions about...
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Lithuania
Many people enjoy beauty pageants and Lithuania is no exception, but one small Lithuanian village holds a pageant for goats rather than people. All of the animals and their owners made an effort for the occasion, with some goats arriving in beautiful...
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free will vs determinism
free will vs determinism. An age old fight! Bring it on! Research says the wealthy and powerful are far more likely to believe in free will than the poor and powerless. Being determines consciousness perhaps? Regardless of that, the process of constructing...
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Work
A job that provides rising living standards is a thing of the past. Now the route to wealth is through property and pensions You work hard and you stay poor, struggling to pay the bills. In essence nothing has changed since the middle ages. Back then...
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The Moka pot
Sweden and Finland are the biggest coffee connoisseurs in the world. Pods are the most expensive way to drink coffee not including the eco footprint. I use recently roasted beans a Sage burr grinder and a Gaggia manual espresso machine. I should probably...
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San Francisco and Parking
San Francisco did the census of parking spaces on the street and at expensive garages so the city could install demand based meters with parking rates increasing at individual meters during periods of greater demand. What is not revealed in the tiny bit...
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Street names
Street names The very fact that very few streets have really wonderful names like “Massacre Lane,” or “Poison Avenue,” or “Stench Street” does suggest that when cities were first developing the people naming the streets associated some with interesting...
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The Shared Place
The shared space The shared space was created and designed for residential areas where traffic and cars would be a guest there the shared space layout should clearly indicate that the primary function of the area would be and should be residential. There...
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Crocus ready for planting
Crocus We plant our bulbs in September in containers with good drainage. In a 24-inch container I plant either 50 tulips, 30 large-flowered daffodils, 50 small-flowered daffodils, or 100 minor bulbs, like Crocus, Muscari, Scilla, or Iris species or cultivars....
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Otters and Squirrels
Otters and Squirrels. Lions and Tigers are very fierce, but so is another group of mammals which are much smaller. These are otters, weasels, stoats, ferrets amd mink. All of these are hunters and so have strong jaws and sharp teeth. They have lithe bodies,...