I got back from Scotland on Sunday night and only got out of bed a few times since for food and tea! That was until the coo juice ran out and I was forced to wander down to the farm shop for that and a few other essential provisions (how did cake make it into my bag?). I’ve had man flu and have slept most of the time.

When awake, I managed to catch up with the ITU triathlon from Cape Town at the weekend. Two British victories, one from Al Brownlee who did an amazing run and the other from Vicky Holland. What was weird was only spotting one black face in the crowd, despite the race being in Africa!  I also watched 3 episodes about a chap walking the Trans Pennine Trail……hmmm sounds like a nice thing to run in its totality when I’m well again!

Jo my lovely neighbour, spotting I wasn’t well because of my Facebook post left a jar of wonderful jam on my doorstep! Totally yummy…..it was infused with star anise!

Later, I found myself gripped by intrigue, drama, big money deals, backroom deals and bitterness. I watched a sitting of the Edinburgh City Council Planning Committee in its entirety…. I had picked up a story on Facebook from The Friends of Craig House, a community group contesting a planning application put forward by land and some 
remarkable buildings in the Craiglockart area. There were impassioned pleas from highly informed group members, representations from MP’s and MSP’s, architects and so on! The case seemed clear cut as the planning committee were clearly riding roughshod over planning policies and bending rules to suit themselves and the developers. A nice lady representing an old people’s home actually argued for the development but very poorly! The nail in the coffin came from Scottish Conservative Councillor Dominic Heslop who I’d disagree with even if he was suggesting removing VAT from single origin coffee…..He was like a Scottish JR Ewing without the personality.

But wait…… the property developer from Craighouse Partnership had his turn and spoke eloquently and with reason. He was only knocked off his stride when someone in the background let out a belly laugh when he suggested that he was not motivated by profit. In summing up, many of the planning committee councillors gave their reasoned intentions for the vote! Oh my……..I was almost convinced that planning should be granted. I may have been entirely convinced if they said their decision would be made without prejudice to future planning applications. In the end, despite over 1000 objections from people in a small area, the application was granted. I learnt a huge amount, the complexity of planning, how certain types of committees work and many of the processes of local government.


After a further snooze, I was feeling a bit better so weeded the garden!