Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Spring has almost sprung

Post Thumbnail

Happy days. This last weekend proves to be the mildest of the year. The sun shines. Drifts of snowdrops bob in the breeze. The trees are budding and the daffies are almost out.

It seems awfully early for the arrival of these cheery yellow blooms. And it makes me fear for a local daffodil tea planned for the end of April. At this rate we will have to call it a tulip tea…

No matter, a splash of spring is a spur to don wellies. The chief oils the chain-saw and I sharpen secateurs. Everywhere you look things large and small need pruning. On the plus side, bothersome brambles are easier to spot when bushes are bare.

All this human effort is doggie heaven. The Norfolk Terrier pootles in and out of the undergrowth. The Cocker Spaniel digs in the wooded area and returns looking like the lead actor from the TV series, Voodoo. You know the man I mean; the handsome one with the greying mud-caked five o’clock shadow.

The MacNaughties love it when we spend the day in the garden. And it gets the humans out of lazy winter armchairs.

We enjoy the exercise, but the truth is the MacGregor garden will never win a medal. Unlike other floral places like Aberdeen, Coupar Angus and Kilconquhar. These have all been praised by the ‘Beautiful Scotland in Bloom’ group and this week I visit another community hoping to join their ranks.

A former mining community in Upper Nithsdale, Sanquhar, (pronounced Sanker) is being brightened up. Hanging baskets are being filled and folk are growing flowers in greenhouses and polytunnels. Not that the place needs too much more colour to its story.

Robert Burns stopped at local hostelries on his way from Dumfries to Alloway. And Sanquhar boasts what is thought to be the oldest post office in the world; a tiny high street business that has been operating continuously since 1712.

Sanquhar is famous for its knitting and in times past every lassie in the locality could fashion the distinctive black and white patterned socks and gloves.

Sanquhar is also home to a legendary figure known as the ‘Admirable Crichton’. In the 16th Century young James Crichton travelled from in the south of Scotland to the Kingdom of Fife. He would become one of the University of St Andrews more memorable students. This child prodigy would have two degrees by the time he was fourteen.

Crichton could speak at least twelve languages. He was a skilled horseman, a practiced fencer, a good singer and musician and debater. Irritatingly this Scottish genius was also handsome and charming.

Which was all very admirable. Until the brilliant young man was killed in a fight in Italy, aged just twenty-one.

A plaque in Sanquhar’s church remembers a gifted son. Which, this year, will no doubt be decorated with flowers this year. It encourages us to smarten up our own patch of green. I just hope the MacNaughties can manage to stay out of the borders…