I’m sometimes asked what happens when I have no ideas for writing the Border Post. The answer, which will be immediately obvious to anyone who reads it often, is that I write 500 words about nothing and hope no one notices. Much the same as this week…
Continue readingBrowsing Category The Weekly Blog
Moonshine
Given the restriction on travel to the Central Belt of Scotland, we’re all looking for alternative safe places to do our Christmas shopping. Which is why NASA’s discovery of water on the moon this week was a particularly important breakthrough.
The discovery, by the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), holds particular significance for the future of space exploration and could make it easier to travel to places where there are currently no recorded cases of Covid.
Continue reading →Light in the Darkness
The nights are drawing in and, while walking the dogs of an evening, I find that I’m encountering more and more people wearing head torches as they stumble around the local lanes.
They frequently get quite close before starting in surprise, tripping and cursing – because there is no doubt that wearing a torch actually reduces, rather than improves, their field of vision. While a bright beam illuminates the short space in front of their feet, it also plunges everything else into darkness…
Continue reading →Home from Home
I’m one of those annoyingly happy people who loves the place where they work.
Few destinations match the appeal of Kelso Racecourse, which makes it difficult to find anywhere to go away on holiday. While that hasn’t figured high on my list of problems during the 2020 stay-at-home-athon, it didn’t stop me getting quite excited when I spotted the perfect place for a future relaxing break…
Continue reading →A Time to Plant
To plant a Cedar of Lebanon takes a very special kind of generosity. The trees, which grow to more than 100 feet tall, take decades to mature and are a gift to be enjoyed by future generations.
It is just one of the reasons that I have so much admiration for Alfred Day who not only created the figure-of-eight steeplechase track at Fontwell Park, but also planted an intricate garden that featured a box maze, yew topiary and a beautiful cedar tree.
Continue reading →Weights & Measures
When it comes to weighing things, accuracy is a relative concept.
So three-quarters of an ounce makes quite a big difference if you’re buying a bag of Liquorice Allsorts, not so much if you’re weighing a horse.
Continue reading →Economy & False Economy
Having been interviewed for a local TV news feature recently, I’ve been receiving feedback. The people that care about me most had two main questions: what’s with the Rupert-the-Bear scarf and why was your hair brushed forward like that?
Continue reading →The Phantom Racer
A recent report by the National Audit Office has indicated that banknotes worth £50 billion appear to have gone missing. It said that there is little reliable information regarding the whereabouts of the notes which are not used in transactions or held as savings.
It could be that they’ve been taken overseas, tucked away in homes or that they are being used in the ‘shadow economy’. I’ve checked under my mattress and they are not there.
Continue reading →Kindness in the Community
The chances of a healthy white male of my age dying in the next year is roughly 300/1. Whether you think those odds are high or low may depend on whether you work with me (in which case it’s possible you think the odds should be much shorter) or upon your attitude to risk and your experience of gambling…
Continue reading →The Green Side of the Fence
They say that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, but that’s not strictly true. The grass on the track at Kelso has been lovingly tended so that it is now a dark shade of ‘ICI’ green…
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