The question of croft houses

Added on 10 September 2016

Assynt Foundation is moving ahead with the plan to create new crofts, and it has been great to see how many expressions of interest have been sent in. When I last blogged about this, one of the comments I received was an encouragement to write more about houses on the crofts. The call for interest t...

Under the Influence

Added on 02 September 2016

I went to an event at the Edinburgh Festival where a novelist was billed to read from a book of poems. As a poet-novelist I was intrigued. I like the novels, but I did not like the poems at all. They sounded old-fashioned in metre and arch in language, and I didn't buy the book (and no, I won...

Why sailing against the tide is boring

Added on 20 August 2016

For the past few weeks we have been sailing to Orkney, around the islands, and back. It feels like a major achievement to have rounded Cape Wrath, Britain's top left corner, in both directions. As always when we make a significant journey I am left with respect for the Iron Age sailors who manag...