THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

We will all have witnessed how young children behave and react when they receive a present; it is usually with massive excitement, unrestrained enthusiasm and an explosion of noise and ripping of paper! The thought of birthdays and Christmas for youngsters will no...
A FLY ON THE WALL

A FLY ON THE WALL

There used to be great enjoyment in the series of jokes centred on the opening remark that, “Waiter, waiter, there’s a fly in my soup”. The waiter’s responses varied from “No, sir, that’s a cockroach; the fly is on your steak” to “Keep it down, sir, or they will all...
A DEDICATED AMATEUR

A DEDICATED AMATEUR

One of my earliest memories is sitting at the kitchen table, aged six, parroting Latin conjugation of the verb “Amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant”, meaning (for those of us who were denied such a vital lesson) “I love, you love, he/she/it loves, we love, you...
A CHALLENGING WORLD

A CHALLENGING WORLD

In Scotland, there are two very evocative and effective expressions that suggest people are in imminent danger, primarily as a result of their own actions, it has to be added: “you are heading for a spreading” is one such expression while the other is “you are...