George Shepherd's Page

There can be fewer more stressful situations than that of providing full time care for someone. Around 6 million people (11 per cent of the population aged five years and over) provided unpaid care in the UK in April 2001. While 45 per cent of carers were aged between 45 and 64, a number of the very young and very old also provided care. There were 114,000 children (just over 1 per cent) aged 5 to 15 years providing care in 2001, with 9,000 of these (8 per cent) caring for 50 or more hours a wee… Continue

The Scotsman
Published Date: 05 November 2009
By Jenny Fyall

IT is a forest lodge, custom-built to the highest Scandinavian standards, in a stunning loch-side location.




The idyllic family home, built entirely from local materials, meets top eco standards. It boasts a private entrance, a drying area and cosy sleeping quarters.

But this desirable residence will never go on the market – even if th… Continue

I will never understand the public's obsession with so called celebrities. Over the past few years there has been a rash of "reality shows" featuring rich and famous (and not-so-famous people).
One of the first reality shows to be thrust upon us was the Osbournes. Ozzy Osbourne made his name as the lead singer with the heavy metal band Black Sabbath from whom he was apparently fired because of his drug and alcohol addictions.
The Osbournes Show was vulgar and vile. The "stars" of this show make… Continue

I was overjoyed to read a news report yesterday which told how a couple of drunken yobs attacked two cross-dressing males who turned out to be cage fighters in drag! The yobs were very swiftly given their just desserts by the two cage fighters and were later arrested and charged.

You might well ask yourself why any incident of violence would bring such joy to someone who will normally go to great lengths to avoid violence. The short answer is: I despise yobs.
Perhaps I should explain my reasons… Continue

Seeing Nathan's ferret pics recently reminded me that there must be many people who, when thinking about getting a small animal for a pet think along the lines of chipmunk, gerbil, hamster, guinea pig, etc. but would never dream of having a ferret. Why not? The simple answer is that for years ferrets have had a bad press. They are dirty, smelly vicious animals. At least, this is the image many people have of them.
In actual fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, some ferrets bite.… Continue