Category Archives: Animals and birds

Staying in one place: an interview with the naturalist Barbara Mearns

Having first come to the Nithsdale parish of Kirkmahoe in 1997, it’s a joy to still be getting to know people around here with extraordinary interests, passions and talents. Barbara Mearns is one such person. We live just a couple of miles apart but until this year we had only met a few times, althoughContinue reading “Staying in one place: an interview with the naturalist Barbara Mearns”

April come she will

April can seem full of deception. Promising much, then failing to deliver. Eulogized by the poets for its splendour, but also exposed by them as painful and cruel. The gateway to Spring, it still has frost on its back. Not for the first time in my life, I associate it this year with death andContinue reading “April come she will”

When Spring arrives

The man of March he sees the Spring and wonders what the year will bring* My early days of March are blighted by a heavy cold that vitiates productivity. The flu-like symptoms are made worse as our household struggles with the loss of a dear friend. On the weather front, it’s a month of hail,Continue reading “When Spring arrives”

February’s charms and alarms

The February man still shakes the snowFrom off his hair and blows his hands (1) For the Romans it was a month of purification. British weather lore declares it brings rain or snow, or both. The Venerable Bede called it the month of cakes. From Brigid to Valentine, many saints are associated with it. TheContinue reading “February’s charms and alarms”

Wintering through January

With the Christmas decorations packed away and the New Year holiday behind us, I found myself pondering on those moments in the depths of Winter when the darkness persists and the weather forecast hangs over our plans and commitments. Too early yet to think of Spring, despite the slender daffodils in the shops, but maybeContinue reading “Wintering through January”

Where the music takes me – an interview with Stuart Macpherson

Among the many pleasures of life in Dumfries and Galloway is its thriving music scene, the product of a rich and varied community of singers, players and composers. It’s a place that fosters collaboration and, with that, experimentation across styles and musical genres. In recent times it has also produced creative partnerships with poets andContinue reading “Where the music takes me – an interview with Stuart Macpherson”

Frog seasons

The tell tale signs began to emerge a few weeks ago. Shifting a pile of newly delivered logs, a couple of semi-comatose puddocks required relocation to a safe damp spot. Then one wet late evening as I left the house for a dog walk, an inquisitive member of the family Ranidae, hopped straight towards meContinue reading “Frog seasons”

Heading Home: a miscellany of writings

In late 2020, on saying goodbye to four decades of work in academia, I resolved to devote time to something that had been bubbling up in my thinking for quite a while: the desire to continue writing, but to do so in a more creative and inventive manner. True, I’d recently written a biography whichContinue reading “Heading Home: a miscellany of writings”

The Hare, the Heron and the Professor: a story for ‘children of all ages’

Late one Spring evening, with the sun’s rays slanting low in the sky, the Professor took a walk around his garden. Pausing for a moment to admire the view to the hills beyond, something in the grass caught his eye. Lying next to a stone that had been warmed in the sunshine was a smallContinue reading “The Hare, the Heron and the Professor: a story for ‘children of all ages’”