Notes on life and living from a Scottish writer in Caithness. Quiet lifestyle, travel, books, the simple things and home.
Over the last few days, I’ve found myself returning time and again to the same question: how on earth did we get to the point where our eldest son is just about to leave primary school? The second half of the academic year has literally flown by, and it seems only a blink since I wrote about our year of small goodbyes as…
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At this time of year, I usually like to take a look back on the twelve months that are about to leave us, but this year I have to admit I’m thinking more about the twelve months that are about to begin. This year has been a relatively stable one for me, without some of the…
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Anne of Green Gables once said: I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. I’m with you, Anne, I am. Autumn has to be one of my favourite of all the seasons (I know, I always say that – I’m fickle). But crunchy leaves, abundant colour, the seasonal harvest – what’s not to…
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Recently, my youngest son received a green Blue Peter badge for his efforts in picking up litter around our local community. He didn’t just do it for the badge, though: it’s something he’s done quite naturally for a long time on dog walks and on the way back home from school. The sight of him laden…
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With school holidays just around the corner (well, at least if you live in Scotland 😉 ), the attentions of parents everywhere turn to keeping little ones entertained during the lengthy summer break. CBBC and PlayStation marathons notwithstanding, there are lots of things you can do to avoid wails of ‘I’m bored’, or ‘are we…
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This week marked the end of the long summer holidays here in the North of Scotland, and called a halt to lazy weekday mornings, clock-watch free afternoons, and kids playing out late on balmy summer evenings (ok, the balmy bit might be pushing it – we do live in Caithness after all). Before we knew it the start of the new school…
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One of the highlights of our school holidays each year is taking part in our local library’s Summer Reading Challenge, a nationwide initiative run by the Reading Agency to get more children reading during the six week summer break. The idea is that children aged 4-11 sign up to read 6 books over the holidays…
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Last week I picked up a book called ‘Present Over Perfect’ from my local library and read it in the space of one weekend. I can’t remember the last time I did this – but something about this particular book resonated with me deeply, and brought to the surface a lot of things I have…
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A few weeks ago, while chatting about his day at school, my eight year old told me he was feeling happy because he had spent his day ‘spreading joy’. When I asked him what he meant by that, he told me he had said something nice to a Dad at the school gate, and written…
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My eldest son recently had a talk on bullying at school, and it got me to thinking how important it is as parents to encourage our children to be kind. In an age where cyber bulling and feelings of social isolation amongst young people seem to be on the increase, finding ways to teach our…
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