Why on Earth should an organisation that holds all the cards - literally giving away money to good causes in exchange for nothing - bend to your demands, when they could simply walk away? I am constantly frustrated by the naïveté, and lack of self awareness, by 'activists'.

Fascinating open day at my local church, Stow St Mary of Wedale, this afternoon. Amazing to hold handwritten parish records from the 1700s in my hands! Church of Scotland

That's Scotland for you. Germany scored 6 goals, Scotland scored none. Final score: 5-1 😅 #GERvSCO #euro2024

Hahahahahaha #owngoal #GERvSCO

Stow Station House for the game #GERvSCO

It's because you don't look after your infrastructure - drainage, roads etc all neglected. We've seen decline for years. The place never sees a brush never mind maintenance. It's not all your fault - Councils are underfunded - but this shouldn't happen in a well maintained city.

Looking forward to meeting Woodland Trust🌳 board this evening here in Grantham, and setting out our advocacy priorities in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🌳 Woodland Trust Scotland

Google Maps will ask you 'do you want to add this detour to your straightforward journey? It'll add 20 minutes. No worries if not'

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❤️🇩🇪

I do not understand why Sunak doesn't just say, 'look, my family was and is very well-off. I had everything I needed growing up. I'm not ashamed of that but I do realise I'm very lucky.' Instead he insists he had to make major sacrifices growing up... like not having SkyTV?!

Our Tree Seed Collection Project has smashed its first-year target with our volunteers collecting 2.2 million rare native tree seeds! This will enable 1.5 million trees to be grown for rewilding across Scotland 🙌 Read more via the link in bio. Woodland Trust Scotland Alliance for Scotland's Rainforest

But on a serious note, it's important to remember just how much of a bubble Scottish politics is. Normal people don't know what the Barnett Formula is. I don't think anyone else in my family would be sure - some might have a vague idea it's 'to do with politics'.

It's 10th June here in the Borders and I'm seriously thinking about putting the heating on. It's 13°c outside. Exactly one year ago we had a heatwave of 30°c, following the 8th driest May since 1890. This May was the wettest on record in nearby Edinburgh. #Climatechaos indeed.

Voilà mon idée sympa qui s'en va... de partir en France début juillet pour échapper le cirque politique de 🇬🇧🤦

Having succeeded in removing Baillie Gifford from its place as the lead funder of Edinburgh International Book Festival for not being perfect, Fossil Free Books is surely now busy raising substantial, long term funding to ensure the survival of EBF and other smaller literary events.. isn't it?

Pour la liberté.
Éternelle reconnaissance à nos Alliés.

Scotland faces many, many serious economic and structural challenges. This, I would suggest, is an obscene indulgence.

Tentsmuir forest, Fife, one of the few places outside of the North East of Scotland that has a thriving population of twinflower (Linnaea borealis). Patch gets larger annually. Forestry and Land Scotland

Beautiful afternoon at Dryburgh Abbey today - final resting place of Sir Walter Scott. Historic Environment Scotland do you think you could clean his tomb stone? Coated in a layer of dusty grime. Looks a bit shabby for one of Scotland's most famous writers and a major Borders visitor attraction.

Beautiful day at St Mary's Loch on the first day of June. I think it's my favourite place in the world. Swimming amongst minnows to the sound of birdsong, bees, and the gentle rustle of the breeze in the birches.