Here's (some of) what I did in 2014

Major changes:  Alan took voluntary redundancy from the BBC in the spring and was unemployed for six months until he found a new job with the Royal Voluntary Service in the autumn.

Green Party:  I campaigned for the local and European elections and was rewarded with success for our candidates in both seats.  Alan has agreed to stand as a candidate for our ward next year so we'll have our work cut out for us in spring, canvassing for him and our parliamentary candidate.

Campaigning: I knitted 3 metres of the 7 mile pink scarf that Wool against Weapons used to link the atomic weapons establishments at Aldermaston & Burghfield to protest against the proposed renewal of Trident.  Alan joined me in Living Below the Line (£1/day for 5 days - harder than you'd think) and, at the other extreme, we hosted a Karma Korma curry evening in aid of Frank Water.

Singing:  In addition to continuing to sing with the Gasworks Choir, and the Gasworks Singers, I have also been involved with another local choir, Handfuls of Harmony, rehearsing children in the school where I work.  We've given four performances and, in November, won £50,000 in The People's Millions to help get the whole community singing together.

Culture:  I travelled to Birmingham with bluehands to see Grayson Perry's outrageously colourful tapestries (and to pop in to the gloriously shiny new central library).  In the autumn Alan and I visited Crucible 2, a stunning display of sculptures set in and around the magnificent Gloucester cathedral.

The Girls:  Iona graduated with an MA in History from Glasgow University in the summer, with Alan and I cheering from the gallery.  She now finds herself being drawn ever deeper into the world of politics.  Who knows where it will end?  Eilidh is now in her second year at Falmouth University studying illustration and enjoying life in her beloved Cornwall.

Holidays:  What with one thing and another we didn't have a family holiday this year.  We took a few mini breaks to visit the girls, and my sister in Edinburgh.  I'm enjoying discovering a bit more of Glasgow and Falmouth each time I visit.  We also treated ourselves to a few days out in the summer, including a long overdue trip to Tyntesfield and a morning of indulgence at the Lido.

Visitors:  We hosted my school's French assistante, who was very unlucky with the weather, and in the summer we welcomed my Canadian cousin and her daughter, whom we hadn't seen in years. 

Quakers:  In addition to weekly Meetings for Worship I've been attending a smaller discussion group, learning more about what it means to be a Quaker, and making new friends.

Bristol Pound:  The Bristol Pound goes from strength to strength and I've been steadily increasing the percentage of our weekly budget we pay in local currency.  Avoiding supermarkets helps and, after having sailed through my November no-supermarket challenge, I plan to buy most of our food etc at local independents in 2015. 

The Referendum:  Having lived outside Scotland most of my life, I didn't expect to become as emotionally engaged with the Referendum campaign, to find myself on the opposite side of the argument to members of my own family or to shed tears when the result was declared in wee hours.  Despite the belief that we missed our golden opportunity to explore a better way of doing politics, I was never prouder of my people and remain convinced that one day Scotland will be an independent country.

2014, the usual mixture of highs and lows.

What will 2015 bring?  Electoral success?  A return to Cornwall in the summer? Unexpected guests? 

Come back and find out.

Should Scotland be an Independent Country?

Yes or No?

As a non-domiciled Scot I have no vote in tomorrow's referendum but, and this will come as no surprise to any of you, I do have a view.

We have reached the end of a passionate debate, over many years and covering a wide variety of issues; nationalism, the democratic deficit, Trident, sterlingisation, the Barnett Settlement, oil revenue, the privatisation of the NHS, the Scandinavian model ... even pandas! Both sides have bombarded us with statistics, paraded experts before us and cited examples of the success or failure of small independent states to support their opposing arguments. So much information but no right or wrong answers.

However, the question being posed of every voter tomorrow is a surprisingly simple one: Should Scotland be an independent country?

If independence means the freedom to create a fairer juster country in which to live, and to leave to future generations then, for me, the answer must surely be Yes. No one should be under any illusion that the ride will always be smooth, but it will be the Scots who will chose the direction of travel.

Never has the much used phrase 'too close to call' been more apt. There is little more any of us can do except watch and wait to learn the settled will of the people. But, there is a sense that, no matter what the result, Scotland has already won so much more than anyone could ever have imagined. The debate has ranged over every nook and cranny of the land, engaging people who don't usually do politics, giving 16-18 year olds a vote and with it a voice in their future, provoking a 97% registration and promising a record 80+% turnout. The Scots have invested everything in this referendum, too much for this to be the end of the process, no matter what the result.

I have always been proud of Scotland, the land and its people (in a completely non jingoistic way, of course). This referendum has done nothing to diminish my pride and everything to vindicate it.

Colonsay

Don't worry if you've never heard of it.  I'd never heard of this Inner Hebridean island until we started researching last year's summer holiday.  It's a tiny gem of an island (8 miles by 3 miles, with a population of 144) just west of its larger neighbour Jura.

We stayed in one of a row of lodges (Geaspar, pronounced Jasper) adjacent to to the elegant Colonsay hotel.  We arrived to find the cupboards and fridge stocked with provisions pre-ordered from the Colonsay store and a bottle of wine and a packet of delicious biscuits from the cottage owner.

     

I awoke the first morning to the see a flock of sheep meander past the living room window.  The sofa overlooking the rock strewn hillside became my favourite spot where I spent many hours reading or knitting drinking in the solitude.

Scalasaig, the main habitation, was only a few minutes down the hill, with all its attractions, including a brewery (the smallest island in the world to have one!) and a well stocked bookshop.

We hired bikes and helmets from Archie who delivered them to our door and used them to travel the length and breadth of the island ... (riding a bike for the first time in over 30 years was an exhilarating, albeit painful, experience) 

Kiloran Bay where we sculpted a mermaid ...

Colonsay House where we explored the subtropical woodland and feasted on enormous slabs of cake in the cafe ...

Fresnel lighthouse lantern lens
 from Islay

8th-century
 Riasg Buidhe Cross

We climbed the hill behind our lodge and were rewarded with a panoramic view of the island ...

towards Kichattan

towards Oronsay

towards Kiloran

We followed the tide out to the tiny island of Oronsay to visit the ruined 14th century Augustinian priory ...

The Paps of Jura from Oronsay

The postie delivering mail at low tide

I have no photos of the ceilidh in the village hall, the quiz night in the hotel bar, the fresh bread and the spectacular seafood platter at the Pantry cafe, the local artwork, the church ... but they are all stored in the memory of a very happy holiday.

Iona

Quotations on the Abbey wall

My elder daughter is called Iona and it has been our intention, ever since she was born, to introduce her to the island after which she was named.  Well it took 21 year,s but last summer we finally made it.

Our visit was part of a mini tour of the Inner Hebrides.  We spent a few days in Tobermory before catching two buses and a ferry to the island.  The scenery was spectacular and the fine mist only added to the atmosphere.  

Iona Hostel

We were booked into the eco award winning Iona Hostel, at the north end of the island.  You can just about see it in the photographs, nestling under the hill.  There was no one around when we arrived, but the door was open and there was a message on the front desk inviting us to kick off our boots and make ourselves at home in the kitchen.  Which we did, and the memory of that cup of tea on a comfy sofa looking out over the sea to the Dutchman's cap and beyond will stay with me to end of my days.

View north from Iona Hostel

It wasn't long before the other residents began to drift back in after their day's adventures, followed closely by John, the affable owner, who showed us to our room and gave us a tour of the facilities.  The room was basic, two sets of timber bunk beds.  That was it.  The toilets and shower rooms were equally minimalist.  But the walls were dotted with poems!

The kitchen/dining/living room ran the length of the hostel and was very much the heart of it.  Visitors were encouraged to make full use of anything and everything on the communal shelves and although we ate separately there was much sharing of tasks.  While drying dishes I met a woman who knew folk I hadn't seen since I was a child in India over forty years ago.  We bumped into a French family we'd first met a couple of days earlier in Tobermory.  We played Articulate late into the night with a young couple from the north of England and the two resident hostel helpers.  And on our final night we were entertained by the arrival of a large Scottish/Italian famiily who filled the hostel with laughter, the pattering of little feet and the aroma of herbs and tomatoes.

With only two full days on the island we couldn't hope to cover it all, so we picked out a few sights.  On our first day we braved the mist to walk right down the island to St Columba's Bay at its southernmost tip.

Dun I

St Columba's Bay

The next day, as bright and sunny as the first was cold and wet, we headed for the abbey.  To celebrate its 350th anniversary Historic Scotland has produced an excellent audio guide which allowed each of us to explore the site at our own pace.

Iona Abbey

St Martin's Cross

St Martin's Cross

St John's Cross

St Columba

Descent of the Spirit by Jacques Lipchitz

Afterwards we took advantage of the weather to climb Dun I for a bird's eye view of the island, including our hostel and the island of Colonsay to the south, our next destination.

Iona Hostel from Dun I

But of course, no visit to Iona would have been complete without a pilgrimage to John Smith's grave, perhaps one of the best Prime Ministers we never had.

Next stop Colonsay!