I am quite peeved about this mild winter. After all my careful preparations around food-stashing, fuel-acquiring, remedy-preparing and thermal underwear, the temperature seems scarcely to have gone below zero. Snow came and went without restricting activities, and even the latest tree to...

If you drive up or down the A9 just beyond the Dalguise junction, you may notice some rather tall and fragile-looking trees, in the field to the west, bearing copious blossom in spring. These are veteran pear trees, probably grown in wild pear rootstocks and towering above the average...