George Shepherd's Page

I had the sad task of burying another ferret today. Whisper was 8½ years old and until her death was the last surviving member of her litter.
She had adrenal disease like her sister who died almost a year ago.
Whisper, the recipient of a number of prizes at ferret shows organized by the Scottish Ferret Club was a good looking, polecat coloured ferret but she was also, like all my ferrets past and present, an extremely gentle ferret. In her lifetime, she was handled by literally hundreds of peopl… Continue

I received an e-mail recently from the owner of another Ning network of which I am a member. The body of the e-mail contained the following lines:
Ning corporate has sent us an email telling us that unless we increase our activity on the site, they may discontinue it by December 18, 2009.

I don't think that The Thursday File will ever receive such an ultimatum thanks to the immense amount of work Steve puts in to this site. However, I do think it is unfair to expect Steve to do it all.… Continue

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