This morning I got an email from my sister, and was once again reminded that we are very, very different. She spent her morning, voluntarily, at a museum coin club. I spent it suffering the aftereffects of enthusiastic wine consumption at a party last night in Toronto. My sister and I are a year and […]
Tag Archives | aefa mulholland
Hielan Calf picture of the week
For the second captivating installment of this thrilling series, here’s a wee Hielan’ calf with her maw, also in a field in Tennessee. It was a very damp and muddy field, full of retired US army guys who were a bit too enthusiastic about drunkenly waving round broadswords for my liking. Despite the damp and […]
Hielan Coo picture of the week
I probably won’t actually get around to posting one coo picture every week, but I don’t have a whole lot else to do with myself over here in Berlin (other than puzzling over the numbers of bear-shaped meat products on sale and finishing the Scottish Ambassador book), so maybe I will. Anyway, this is a […]
A visit to the Luftfracht
Berlin, Day 6 Excitingly, today was the day we got to trek out to the northwest of the city to Tegel airport to retrieve the boxes we’d shipped. I was sure the message had said we were to collect them from the “Luftwaffe”, but Adrian thought this was unlikely. After a friendly German in a […]
Plumbing in German
Berlin, Day 5 Some things are definitely harder in German. Such as simple domestic tasks. I discovered this today. After my attempts to assist with working the coffee machine resulted in both Adrian and I (and all surrounding walls, floors and kitchen appliances for 15 feet) being pelted with generous servings of boiling coffee grounds, […]
Kinderbeasts
Berlin, Day 3 Our new abode is gargantuan! If we crammed my last three apartments and one of the more compact Getrankeshops from Frankfurter Allee in here (and made them wear lederhosen), there would still be enough room for a currywurst stand. I am getting a lot of exercise loping between my desk and the […]
The Scottish Ambassador to Germany
Day 1 We’re on an EasyJet flight from Glasgow to Berlin. So are a number of exceptionally inebriated Scottish stag party loads. The seats all around us are filled with the distinctly boisterous stag crew for an Aberdonian called Flumpy. His shiny red face beams out from all of 15 matching t-shirts his friends wear. […]
Portland Oregon and Sloe Gin Fizz
“Well Portland Oregon and sloe gin fizz, if that ain’t love then tell me what is. Well I lost my heart it didn’t take no time, but that ain’t all. I lost my mind in Oregon.” So warble Loretta Lynn and Jack White on the track, “Portland, Oregon.” It seems that Loretta and Jack are […]
Crosschecking
I stand in line for U.S. immigration at Vancouver airport, beside a sign warning that maple syrup is among prohibited items in hand baggage, and entertain myself with syrupy sweet plans to wreak havoc and destruction on an unsuspecting world. I smirk at my sticky schemes and an elegant East European woman moves away from […]
Learning to be Scottish in American-English
The last couple of days, I’ve been working on pesky wee details about the book. Like whether it’s in British-English or American-English. At the moment it’s mid-Atlantic. Half and half. I live considerably to the left of the Atlantic and write for a slew of US outlets, so writing in US English makes sense. But […]
