Don't miss

The Dundee Literary Festival on Friday 20th June

Nicholas Hogg will be there reading from and talking about Show Me the Sky. "Authors and guests on the programme include, William Boyd, Ian Rankin, James Kelman and Vivienne Westwood."

Show Me the Sky is a complex, unusual and ambitious first novel. It will certainly leave you thinking. The cover/cutout case/artwork is amazing too. Well done, Canongate. This author will one day write a very, very big selling book. One to watch.

Ae Fond Kiss

Eddi Reader

The Nine Maidens of the Well

"The legend of the dragon that ate the nine maidens of Strathmartine. The story is one of a peasant farmer of Pitempton – about 3 miles from Dundee – who had nine daughters. One summer evening he sent the eldest to a nearby well for water. She did not return and, one by one, he sent her remaining sisters after her.

Eventually, having run out of daughters, he armed himself and set out to see what had happened. At the well he found the mangled remains of his daughters and beside them an enormous serpent.

He fled only to return with a large band of neighbours, among them Martin, the lover of one of the girls. The crowd attacked and the dragon fled first to Baldragon, a marshy area about a quarter of a mile away. It was then chased on about two more miles until Martin attacked it single-handed. The crowd encouraged him with cries of 'Strike Martin' (the origin of the name Strathmartine).

Eventually the dragon was killed at Balkello. It is recorded as the last dragon to be killed in Scotland. There is a stone there bearing the outline of a serpent.

As an old rhyme says:

'Tempted at Pitempton

Draigled at Baldragon

Stricken at Strathmartine

And killed at Martin's Stane.'"

The picture has been taken in Dundee City Centre. Kids love to climb all over him - fierce as he looks. Other statues in the town centre include Desperate Dan and his dawg etc and can be viewd here Dundee Views

on the inside looking out...

This is the view from our bedroom window on Christmas morning looking to the right...no snow but the next best thing for Christmas day. To the left are the Sidlaws and for the life of me I dont know why I didnt take a picture of them in all their winter glory - watch this space - first sign of snow and Ill snap them!

Happy Christmas Flu, to you and you and you...

there was no snow on christmas morning this year but everything was perfectly sprinkled with frost, got a really good one ( i think ) of a perfect web frozen in time. anyway - as i said, perfect christmas, shame about the rest. this is my first day out of bed since boxing day. been totally floored with unbelievable flu bug which is sweeping through our town. people are dropping like flies with it and this was the first hogmany since i was 18 that ive spent sober and not at a huge hogmany bash. gutted. anyway -

lang may yir lums reek.

Christmas is over...

we had ten for christmas dinner this year. first christmas in our new home. it was good. everything was good - the food - the company - the feeling of family- even the crappy table setting ( done by my uncreative self ) looked not too bad once the lights were dimmed. I watched christmas cooks in the run up to christmas and linda barker was full of good table ideas for amatuers like me ( especially ones working on a budget! ) she came up with this idea that if you dont have enough matching cutlery, dont worry about it - tie it in a little bundle with a ribbon an no one will notice. it works - shame about the sore fingertips from tying ten finicky bows - but hell - it was worth it. was so pleased i took a photo!

My favourite girls

after 25 dud shoots, a whole load of messing round and shoving an laughing, I finally managed to get these two dafties to stay still long enough to get a piccy to give their gran with her Christmas present. Took the memory card in and had this one blown up only to realise that it was too soon after tea and no one had bothered to brush their teeth! ugh.

Christmas is Coming.

I've spent the last two days buying lots of Christmas stuff, some of it necessary and some of it tat. The tat I love best. I got this absolutely tacky reindeer in TKMax - he's soooooo Christmas, made from some kinda metal or iron or something he's standing upright wearing clumpy santa claus style boots and has on winter woolies - stripey scarf and mitts,( painted metal ones of course! ) he's holding an Ivy wreath which says welcome and from his antlers are dangling little multicoloured jingle bells. I cant wait till I can put the Christmas decorations up this year - it must be new house syndrome or something - my mums been asking if Ive had a brain transplant cos Im usually Mrs Bah Humbug right up until Christmas eve and then I chill and start to enjoy it - but this year Ive got ten coming for Christmas dinn er and Im looking forward to it and Ive started buying stuff already. Cant wait. Im gonna try holding off till Monday and then do it while the kids are at school. I must take a picture of tackyclaus and blog it - I bet you'll all be running down to your nearest TKMax to get one too!

For all you writers out there....

Featured in the Guardian today (click the link for the complete article):

Willesden Short Story Competition
Latest news

Zadie Smith to judge 2007 Willesden Herald competition
Oct 19: Zadie Smith, the winner of this year's Orange prize with On Beauty, is to judge the 2007 Willesden Herald short story competition.

Help us out

If you've got a spare two minutes surfing time I'd be dead grateful if you could go and sign this petition for me - and the thousands of other Coeliacs in the UK ( and anywhere else they might be! )


Coeliac UK Petition

Christmas is coming......

Really looking forward to Christmas this year, its our first in our new house and our first together ( officially ) usually we spend most of Christmas together then eat with our separate families. Anyway - this year its at OURS How weird. And we've got family coming, there'll be ten of us so Im kinda nervous about it, also theres the making sure that everything is gluten free so I dont have to cook separate meals, hopefully the gluten free stuff will taste so good no one else will notice they're eating gluten free food and enjoy it anyway. I've already planned where Im gonna have the tree and what we're gonna eat, now I just have to work out where the hell we're getting seating space and eating space for ten people!

some holiday snaps - me and my best girls.

its been a long time

since I blogged. thankfully theres no one actually reads these things so no worries there. no pressure. Ive no idea why i came here today - other than i was reading over at Sloe wine - one of my favourite blogs, and remembered I actually had one of my own. So much has happened since i last blogged, i may just take entries from my website and copy paste some of them.....
only i could find a lazy way to blog. my best friend used to say if theres a shortcut to something maggie'll find it - she still phones me looking for quickie solutions to those things we can never be bothered doing....

some quick catch ups -
the gym - down from five times a week to maybe two, three on a good week!
the wedding in Ireland - absolutely fantastic, best wedding Ive ever been too,long to revisit Dublin.
the cat wars - still in full force, not a clue who's winning, but they are both getting less interested since the start of the november rain.

My friend who writes the crazy poetry cack sent me a poem she wrote for her daughters 17th birthday - heres a wee look

My Greatest Success

my greatest success wears a lip ring
proudly - declaring her independance
possibly from me, or maybe just
whatever

she colours her hair black, emulating emos
but blasts life and happy into everything
the dusty sills fear her passing
more than sunshine

the girl with five colours in her heart
has only one door thats closed
one street we can't walk - alone
or together

she knows exactly where lifes going
but she might just miss the bus
having ten more minutes sleep -
pray she'll always have a next one

her special, special pulls my words,
tugs them to my throat
until im choking on the glad
unable to swallow - killed by the static.

S.K. 21-11-06