Taexalia

wild.life

Howkin Neeps

In the interest of preserving traditions and the need to do something with the largest neep in Scotland, I decided to get creative this evening. Not only am I making about seventeen pots of soup, but I revisited my childhood and howked a neep. Neep lanterns, or turnip lanterns for those of you wha dinna ken, are believed to have originated in the North East of Scotland - long before the ubiquitous pumpkin. It has to be said they are harder to create , which is probably why the Asda Masses ... read more

Eco-Friendly Cleaning Is The Most Fun!

I kid you not, I have just had a blast! I am now bereft because my wee abode only boasts three plug-holes and I am considering going door to door with my cup and ingredients offering to do domestics for free. You see I am a child of consumerism, by the time I came along marketing had become big business and the simple pleasures in life had been obscured by catchphrases teaching us that the only way to domesticity was the use of the latest triple action wonder product. The problem is that ... read more

NaNoWriMo 2007

It's that time of year again when the excitement is building and thoughts of characters, plots and rattling keyboards run rampant in my mind. I see before me a possibility, a challenge and an excuse to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. In previous years I have failed in the sense that I have never managed 50,000 words, although I've usually written more words than I wrote the previous month - so the word failure is perhaps too harsh. This year I rise to the challenge yet again with ... read more

Museum of Broken Relationships

Well I'm up and about early today ~ as usual the pre-6am-outdoor-shoe-clad-wanderings of the man upstairs on his laminate wood flooring have roused me unceremoniously from the land of nod. Often I wait it out until he leaves for work and then get some more kip, but today I am excited as I have a friend arriving from across the pond via Berlin! Yay! And my sister is sleeping on the sofa-bed :) Yesterday I had a mild moment of panic because despite all my clutter clearing, I still seemed ... read more

Donald Trump – Environmental Destruction – Trumpton and Aberdeenshire

Nope. He hasn't run away with his tail between his legs yet. He even promised to if we said we didn't want him. We even wrote to his friend neil@trumpgolfscotland.com and told him - which was funny because if you were an American you got a lovely paragraph from said Neil explaining how positive the people of Scotland were towards the idea. If you were, like me, actually from Scotland you got a curt one liner telling you your comments had been noted (translation - ignored and deleted). So if ... read more

Clutter and Me

Actually it's clutter and us, but I am only responsible for my own shit (although I confess to seeking creative ways to hide house his). I hate clutter. I really do. So if you were to walk into my home on any day this year knowing this, you could be forgiven for being confused. Of course this year I have had the luxury of "being gentle with myself" based on the fact that we had our central heating hauled out and replaced. We also had half a kitchen, for several months, before the incompetent ... read more