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‘Is St Andrew Square a park or an event space?’ tweeted @speybaysoul this morning. ‘May as well just pave it.’
As she suggests, the available evidence now clearly points to St Andrew Square being an event space, on this occasion themed around the Ryder Cup from 23–28 September.
By our estimate, this will be at least the ninth major project hosted here so far this year.
'It may come as a surprise to you, but there is an exhibitionist side to my personality which sometimes just has to get out.'
James R. Faulkner's shock revelation was made exclusively to the Spurtle as he entertained visitors to the Stockfest stalls on St Stephen's Street this afternoon. His eclectic musical selections included traditional Dixieland jazz hits and some crackling operatic highlights from the work of Mozart and Puccini. They were played partly on the first such machine he ever owned, purchased from the Gramophone Emporium at No. 12.
In yesterday’s Independence Referendum, Scotland voted decisively to remain Better Together.
Or to put it another way, following Cameron, Milliband and Clegg's last-minute avowed 'clarification', all 3,619,915 Scots voted for changes of some sort. Some of these will affect 44,294,793 registered voters in the rest of the UK who didn’t take part in the Referendum (based on Office for National Statistics figures, December 2012).
Spurtle was out and about across Edinburgh today, starting with a tour of polling stations the length and breadth of greater Broughton.
The one in Bellevue Chapel on Rodney Street was the quietest we came across, with no-one visible outside the door and few signs of voters entering or leaving. They may possibly have been sheltering inside from the early-morning fog and drizzle.
By contrast, Broughton Nursery School on McDonald Road was abuzz. When the doors opened here at 7.00am, 63 people promptly flooded in with more following in their wake soon after.
A quick survey of windows this afternoon revealed a mixture of voting intentions in the heart of Broughton.
The sash pictured here is quite unambiguous. The flag draped next to the sign for Union Street says it all.
On this street alone, Spurtle counted seven separate households with referendum signs on display. Four were for Yes, three for No.
Walking along Northumberland Street the other day, my eyes were drawn to a plaque on the side of No. 25.
It’s not unusual to have plaques or names carved onto the side of houses in the New Town, but what struck me as strange was the description of the person. He seemed to be famous for being a son-in-law and then for being his father-in-law’s biographer. Does this warrant a plaque in his honour? Further research was needed.
This wonderfully grown-up version of an American classic is just about the perfect comfort food as the weather gets colder again.
Rather than the traditional roux-based sauce, it uses a white-wine base which adds a touch of luxury. Not that it tastes remotely boozy – the alcohol cooks off to leave the delicious flavour of the wine behind which sets up the mixture of cheeses perfectly.
Try it this way and I promise you’ll never make it with a roux again. I like this meatless, but a bit of shredded ham hock stirred through is delicious.
You always know when you’ve been love-bombed.
This Spurtle contributor passed a Canonmills A-board today – obscured in our photo by a large dollop of Bank Holiday weather – feeling distinctly better afterwards than on the approach.
Even though it was not aimed at anyone in particular. Or true. And despite the motives behind these flattering expressions not being clear.
Is Circle Café just after our custom, or is it telling us how much we're appreciated within the Union, or strengthening the resolve of nervous potential Yes voters?
An estimated 12,000 people paraded through Edinburgh this lunchtime in a pro-Union march organised by the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland.
The event played out peacefully in bright sunshine as friends, family and bemused tourists looked on with interest.
Yes campaigners had called on their supporters not to attend or counter-march today, for fear that feelings might run high and result in unnecessary flare-ups en route. Better Together had also distanced themselves from the event.
These eye-bogglingly beautiful plants are called Nepenthes, and they’re hanging from the awning outside Narcissus on Broughton Street at the moment.
They derive their name from a sorrow-banishing drug (nep=no, penthes=grief) mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey as helping Helen to forget her misfortunes. In his 1737 Hortus Cliffortianus, Linnaeus explained his choice of name: