And here we are, heading home again. Quick as a flash our winter months in Scotland are coming to an end as we gear up for lambing and springtime. With that comes a smattering of hard work as we dust, clean, paint and repair our house in Fife ready for the influx of holiday-makers who ‘staycate’ here from now until November. Paint will be the order of the day back at Chauffour too, as we just picked up 25 litres in B&Q at a third of the price it is over there. Sounds like there will be some fence repairs to do as well, as we just received a message from our local Mairie saying our sheep have spent more time on the road than in their designated confinement. We do have a house-sitter looking after them, a Kiwi at that, but seemingly he cannot count!
This time of
year is also rugby season and I have recently been mentally slapped around by
the locals since Scotland once again ‘defeated England in a fast and furious
game’. The following week we headed to Murrayfield, not only to watch them
defeat Wales but to cheer on a Herculean effort from a few friends of mine who
had cycled up from Cardiff to Edinburgh in just 52 hours, raising over £50k for
the Doddie Weir Foundation in the process. By the time this goes to print the
next couple of rounds of the 6 nations will also be behind us, and I am not too
hopeful for an English team who shed their manager less than one year before a
world cup.
It seems we
won’t be the only ones to be leaving Scotland this week, as our First Minister
has found the exit door, maybe just moments before it was shown to her. Who
will replace her is as yet unknown but they surely cannot continue with her
absurd opinions on issues of ‘trans indie ref’ of whatever terms the media are
using. After a salmon and a sturgeon, one would expect someone equally fishy,
if only to hold the front page? I will admit her reign has done us no favours
when it comes to business and I for one will be glad to see her departing the
coop, brutal politics or otherwise.
When it
comes to leaders, I would like to put forward Jeremy Clarkson for Prime
Minister – of the world, possibly! I know there are a few out there who dislike
his bombastic straight-talking attitude but I bet he would have more votes than
Boris, let alone the more recent two, and he certainly would redress the
balance of a society that is spiraling its way into woke-land. Once or twice I
have been likened to the great man in the way I try to sort the sensible from
the absurd in some of my publications but I categorically deny that I am any
match for his talents. Those of you who have watched Clarkson’s Farm would have
to concur that he has done more for farming in 2 series than any minister or
other TV programme, exposing the industry warts and all.
I may have
mentioned my latest crime novel a few times recently, although I am not sure it
had any effect on sales. However, last month I was invited to do a book signing
in a distillery which went swimmingly well. From that a few other similar
establishments have started stocking copies and I have had an ingenious idea
that maybe Wendy, I and Haggis should take it on tour. There are a 143 whisky
distilleries in Scotland, let alone those few in England and Wales, so we may
be some time but if we can have a dram in each, and they take a few copies
each, well that has to be a win-win doesn’t it? More promotion is now underway
including an article in the Courier Newspaper next week and a promo video just
live on social media. I can’t say it has been easy writing and promoting in a
new genre where I am an unknown quantity, so my next one will track back more
into my comfort zones around livestock. Now well underway, possibly the world
first ‘sheep murder mystery’ is destined for publication in time for Christmas
- which at this rate, will be here before we can say ‘Sam Smith, what the F are
you wearing!’
