Softly Shouting

  It was little wonder that I was looking over my shoulder in the following days. Nothing untoward happened and as the days went by without any threat or anything unusual, I began to relax a bit. The week after the Christmas party I went to the Police station to give a statement. I was pleased to know that they were, up to a certain extent, taking this seriously. The sergeant who was dealing with my case was certain it was a fairly juvenile prank. 'You know,' he said, 'the blood isn't human. It is bovine and probably the run-off from a packet of mince. I really don't think it is anything sinister, Ms Ferguson, but if you are at any point worried, or feel threatenend, or is anything strange is happening, please get in touch. Cite this case number,' and he handed me a slip of paper. By then I was convinced it wasn't anything to be worried about. A stupid prank, that's all.  My bet was on Little Alan. Unhappy with me spurning his advances, he probably enjoy...

 This weekend, as we pensioners are wont to do, we made a last-minute decision to go a few days to the West of Scotland. I wanted to visit the area of Kilmartin. Although the museum is not open (yet - and no announcement, neither onsite nor on the website when it will open) you can visit many of the ancient monuments. We drove around a lot (the weather not conducive to a beach walk) and followed little lanes which promised access to ancient monuments. And there are so many in that area! We got to Kilbride Church and saw the magnificent medieval grave slabs, (https://www.friendsofkilbride.scot/ , if you are interested), saw a lonely standing stone at the end of the road in Ardpatrick and went along another lane that brought us to Kilberry Church. Although the church doesn't exist anymore, some of the glave slabs had been rescued and were on display. All these medieval dignitaries, portrayed with their regalia, their swords and in their harness or mail-chain protection - they all got...

 Prompt: You're at the Office Christmas party. You unwrap your secret Santa present. It is a bloodied glove, with a note that says: 'You're next.' (Nikesh Shukla) First draft and unedited. The Secret Santa Mandy was already getting sloshed on the cheap rosé. It was the same every year – desks were moved to create space, one table was laid with a paper tablecloth and then a buffet, consisting of cheap party food (3 for 2) laid out on paper plates. Sausage rolls, mini sausages, dips and mini vol-au-vents. The food was on one side and the drink on the other side of the table. Mandy wasn’t the only one tucking in. Astrid, the new girl in accounts was gulping down her fourth glass of prosecco, holding a cocktail-stick olive in her hand in the shape of a Christmas tree with a cube of cheese and an. Tinny versions of ‘I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas’ sounded from a set of small speakers attached to a computer. Mark came back in, his normally handsome face set in a frown....

  Look at your labels! We all know that buying food that is produced locally is better for the environment than food that is flown all over the world. But what do you know about the carbon footprint of your clothes? Did you know that the fashion industry (clothes, no other textiles) produces between 8 and 10% of all global emissions? This is more than the aviation industry and the shipping industry combined.   The clothes on our back come with a very high hidden price tag, even though you can buy a summer dress for under a tenner. Out of the 3.1kg of textile waste each Briton produces every year, only 0.3kg are recycled and 0.4 kg are reused. The rest goes into landfill. Textiles are said to be the world’s second biggest polluting industry, responsible for 92 million tonnes of waste annually. Not all textiles are breaking down in the environment and herein lies a problem. On a very simple level, we can divide textile fibres in ‘natural’ fibres and ‘man-made’ fibres. Ex...