Congratulations to Georgie Futong and Clare Alexander of Kilgraston School, Perth who have produced the first issue of an outstandingly good magazine, The Habit, as a school project. It is a really professional publication.

Georgie and Clare approached me a while ago for an interview which is reproduced below. If you double click on the image you should be able to read it.


The girls have so far been nominated for 5 awards for their magazine including, rather amazingly, Scottish Magazine of the Year. Looks like there are some journalists and editors out there who should be watching their backs!

OK, how on EARTH did we not notice this?! Prepare to say 'Ahhhhh'.

This is where the children keep their riding hats. Some of them are too small now and so they don't necessarily get moved that often. Some of them obviously not very often at all because yesterday we discovered something in the hat right in the middle -

Right under our noses in a place where people are coming and going all the time a blackbird has produced this:

It is the snuggest nest you have ever seen, taking up the whole of the inside of the riding hat. It's got bits of baler twine and lots of hay and leaves and even some bits of plastic in it. And tucked in tight are four blackbird chicks.

I looked up blackbird nesting on the interweb and found this:

"The nest is an untidy cup built by the female from vegetation, such as grass and twigs, and bound together with mud and finer grasses. The nest is usually in a hedge or bush, though they will use shelves in huts and other outbuildings."

Apparently the incubation period is 10-19 days, so it's possible that she's done this in under two weeks. It is extraordinary that we haven't noticed as we've had two horses in the stables for most of that time. As you can imagine, we're all amazed, amused and doing a lot of 'Ahhh'ing!