The Daily Thistle

Tuesday 11th October 2016

The heavens are full of twinkling lights this morning.. Stars for as far as you can see, a thick belt much like a rope stretches across the sky, the “Milky Way” in all it’s glory… what an amazing sight.. I watch with awe as a meteor strikes the Earth’s atmosphere at 35,000 mph and start to heat becoming incandescent as it descends towards the planet.. then as fast as it came, it vanishes from sight, burnt to nothing but gas…..

Good Morning Fellow Scot I’m Robert McAngus and this is The Daily Thistle…. Would you like a really good job, travelling all over Scotland and getting paid for it.. Well, Nearly 80 trainees are being sought to drive Britain’s newest express trains, Virgin Trains East Coast (Vtec) announced today. The 78 drivers will earn more than £57,000 when qualified. They are required for the operator’s new Azuma fleet, which is to run between Scotland and London from 2018. Virgin said a “significant” number would be based in Scotland, with Edinburgh one of five recruiting centres. It will be the first time new drivers have been recruited for the route since before British Rail was privatised in the 1980s.

An 87-year-old American man has been crowned World Porridge Making Champion at an event in the Highlands. Bob Moore, from Portland, Oregon, won the coveted Golden Spurtle for his efforts at the 23rd World Porridge Making Championships in Carrbridge. The title is awarded to the contestant who makes the best traditional porridge using just three ingredients — oatmeal, salt and water. Mr Moore said the win made him “so happy”. The 87-year-old, who used to run a wholegrain food business, said: “I couldn’t believe it when my name was announced. It is so meaningful to me to win the Golden Spurtle.
“I’ve devoted my life to eating and producing good wholegrain food.” There is also a speciality competition for sweet or savoury porridge dishes which was won by Norwegian Thorbjorn Kristensen for the second year running. He combined eggs, butter, vanilla sugar, cream and liqueur with porridge in a dish titled ‘Unexpected Guests’. The event is organised by Carrbridge Community Council and sponsored by Hamlyns of Scotland… I think the Scots are used to getting it out of a box…..

Farmers have warned the Scottish Government it could face a compensation bill for hundreds of thousands of pounds if it fails to eradicate wild pigs that are destroying crops. The animals, which have escaped or been released from wild boar farms, are increasingly being reported, amid warnings that if something is not done soon their numbers will be unmanageable. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is studying the extent and impact of escaped or released wild boar in the Invergarry area of Lochaber and at a handful of sites in Dumfries and Galloway. It was due to issue a report to the Scottish Government in July with recommendations on how to deal with the animals, but that has been put back to November. In June, SNH warned that if the Scottish Government does not act quickly it will be impossible to eradicate them. However, some farmers fear the SNP administration will decide to allow the pigs to carry on living in the wild. John Bruce, a wheat farmer in Perthshire, said: “There are those who say pigs are marvellous for re-wilding the countryside and you get down to whether the government values farmers making use of the land in a manageable fashion or are they all for chaos, because they seem rather keen on chaos. “The chaos they are keen on are species that we have got rid of previously, like beavers, lynx and wolves — society said they don’t want these creatures and here we are prevaricating about reintroducing them.”

As an 11ft shark was gutted in front of a huge crowd in Dundee, out fell the usual spoils of the ocean. Cod, dogfish and bit of seal landed on the harbour floor — and even a man’s bonnet was set free, much to the delight of the gathered spectators. But then a clink on the ground signalled a different sort of find. The cutter crouched to the ground to retrieve the item and emerged with a glass bottle. In it was a message written in a “lady’s neat hand”. To much excitement, the message was read aloud to the jostling crowd. It said: “On board the Beautiful Star, Sunday, 1st September, 1872. “We have cross’d the line, and all’s well. Last night the Captain’s lady had a pretty little boy.” The message was signed by Annette Gordon, and also contained a poem dedicated to the new-born baby…. quite how it got into the sharks gut I haven’t been able to ascertain,..But I’m working on it..

Well my Fellow Scot, That’s the news for Tuesday, so now you know…

Our photograph today is of Butterdean Wood in Gladsmuir near Edinburgh. Malcolm Parnell took the photograph and he said it’s a Beautiful place for a walk at any time but the early autumn light can be magical…. I must admit I agree with him…

As always It’s a pleasure to have your company this Tuesday 11th October 2016 , and as I always say, it’s great to have someone to talk too in the wee hours as I write…And I do mean it when I say Thank you for your comments and memories please keep them coming.. Have a comfortable and safe day, but please remember it’s a dangerous world we live in, be safe out there.. now I don’t know about you but I’m off to the kitchen to get myself another cup of coffee, Colombian of course…I made enough for you two..but I also have hot Chocolate Do You Want One??

Robert McAngus

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