~Annie~

Not sure that's the case, Annie. I home educate my kids, and keep my ear quite close to the ground on these issues. I've not heard of any proposed changes......can you point me at some details? There was the Badman review in England, if that's what you're thinking of, but that was thrown out with the Labour govt, and had no bearing on Scotland. Mind you, the educational fascists are always cooking up something, so I wouldn't be that surprised to learn I've missed something! I'm not in Shetland yet , either, (working on that!) but if I make it happen soon, then I'll continue to home educate. I'm always surprised its not a more popular choice in Shetland, especially where children travel quite far to school, or even have to board during the week. Sorry, only just seen this, bear with me please as I'll have to check back with the friend I got the info from ... it may have been a proposal rather than an agreed change, nothing to do with Badman though. I happily admit to not having my ear to the ground any more, my youngest is 20 now ... my how time flies !

I'm not on Shetland (yet) and my kids are all grown, but I did homeschool two of the four and would be happy to share my experience if that is helpful to anyone. That said there seem to be nearly as many reasons for homeschooling as there are homeschooled kids - my two boys were/are super bright and were not sufficiently challenged by mainstream schools - so how much help swopping notes will be kinda depends on your reasons for homeschooling and what you hope to gain from it. Also the law re. homeschooling, particularly in Scotland, has/is changing. Hope you can get your group off the ground

Silly question, but anyone know how you tell a girl snipe from a boy snipe?

This might be your best place for info http://en.vedur.is/#tab=skjalftar

Utterly brilliant, thank you ... it's been a sh1t day, I needed a good giggle !

That's not quite what I said. I said *I* believe that there may be things beyond human understanding and that faiths of everykind represent mankinds struggle to understand them ... at least I thought that was what I'd said. I respect that others believe in 'answers' those various struggles have led to but personally I remain unconvinced by any of them. But I certainly don't think we can only believe in what we understand ... I believe that the sun isn't going to fall from the sky, but astrophysics is way beyond me

I also agree pretty much with the two posts above. I should say that when I referenced my experience re. anti barking collars I was refering to my experience of their use by others I have been involved with, through agility/lurecoursing/obedience training/canine rescue work etc.. I have never had need of one myself. I do think that one of the first keys to managing our dogs behaviour though is understanding the breed we own, before any consideration of 'pack' behaviours (our dogs know we're not dogs after all ... when did you last sniff your dogs bum, or wee on top of his/her wee ). I have owned a variety of breeds (and always three or four dogs at a time) over nearly thirty years and though they all spoke the same language they all spoke different dialects (and displayed different kinds of intelligences). My APDT friend sees a constant stream of people who picked up on suggestions regarding 'making sure the dog knows it's place', misapplied them without a proper understanding of their dog and it's breed specific characteristics, and caused more problems than they solved.

A friend and I have a 'quote for the day' affair running on facebook, anything we read or hear, her turn one day, mine the next, hope you don't mind GR but I've borrowed this for todays. My family all know that when I die I want a woodland burial ... I find the thought that I will 'return' to the earth (and feed a few trees in the process) quite comforting. I do not want a church service (although there is time for my views to change I suppose). Why? For the same reasons I generally don't go to church ... I can accept that there may be forces at work beyond my own understanding, but if so I believe that they are beyond anyone's understanding, that all faiths are the product of man's struggle to understand and nothing more. In almost every faith it seems to me that struggle has led to both the most beautiful expression of the most profound truths in various writings, art and music, and also to conflict and even war. That said, the Christian places of worship that dot the UK connect me to the past of my countrymen as nothing much else can ... so hypocrite that I am I attend services at Christmas, at harvest, and to celebrate births and weddings and mark deaths ... attendence at church, regardless of faith, is for me about celebrating the continuity of human endeavour and human hope.

I know this is an old thread but I noticed that the OP never really got an answer about the bark activated spray collars. In my experience they are a bit hiss and miss ... if you have other dogs then their barking can also activate the collar, cue one very confused dog ... and it's not unknown for other noises to activate them. Much better are the collars that you remotely control so the dog gets a quick blast of a citronella spray just at, and only at, the right moment. I have a good friend who is an APDT dog trainer and she swears by these. They aren't cheap - the best come in at over £100 - but dog trainers often have one folk can borrow.

I've only been a Shetlink member for a few weeks but have read through a number of the major threads and it looks to me like the mods do an amazing job

But how you say something can change what you say. Even a tiny thing like a misplaced comma can cause havoc It's dinner time, let's eat, Mummy. It's dinner time, let's eat Mummy.

Tesco Value Scented Nappy Sacks about 50p for 300 ... so anyone within reach of Tesco has no excuse for not having bags for poo picking I actually get unscented ones at 9p for 100, but they come from Sainsbury's. Can't abide folk who let their dogs foul public spaces ... grrrr !

Brilliant weather site ... thanks for the link

I bank with RBS and my branch is in London. Like you, I too have received the letter re the sale to Santander. That said, there is nothing to stop you transferring your RBS account to a branch in Scotland or, for that matter, the one branch that will remain open in London! I'll be transferring my account to the Lerwick branch of RBS. ... Thank you I feel like a dork saying it but I just hadn't thought of that Ditto, and I echo the sentiment

Thank you. It's the missing the kids that worries me ... I think I'm secretly hoping that even though they're all adults and doing their own thing one or two of the four might make the move with us. But good to hear that you have no regrets