Ö÷²¥´óÐã

Scottish dancing, ceilidh and traditional music events taking place around Scotland over the next seven days, brought to you by the Take the Floor team.

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I've been off the airwaves on Sundays since last year. Now that I'm back you're getting me for two hours. It's a real pleasure to be on this show again. Especially when my great producer Amraine has come up with a Pakistan theme for our first programme. We will hear old and young voices, hear stories of survival from the disasterous flood of last summer and hear how young Scots are facing up to issues of identity now. Sadly the only thing we can't do is eat the cuisine - we'll save that for another time!

Joining me in the first hour is Habib Malik, the head of . Habib is a tireless worker for a great charity. This year he was honoured by the Pakistani Government for raising so much money from Scotland for the Flood Appeal. We're lucky to have him as he is about to hop on a flight to Nairobi to get stuck into the famine problems of Somalia and Kenya.

Later on I'll be joined by two great Scottish Asians. Firstly , who has served as Scotland's first Muslim politician and as a Justice of The Peace and from Chicago a self-made millionaire and founder of the which specialises in educating young people away from violence. They'll be talking about Scottish/Pakistani identities and the future of Pakistan itself. We'll also hear from 's foreign editor, David Pratt about how he has seen Pakistan change and develop over his time reporting from there.

It's also important to know where things are going artistically so we will speak to Alina Mirza who organised the first ever in Glasgow in 2005.

Lastly Arifa Farooq will help me discover how young Scottish Muslims reconcile faith and lifestyle choices.

Oh, yes.....and we'll give you a very wide sample of Pakistani pop, jazz and classical music. All in two hours from 7 on Sunday morning.

I'm in such a state of anticipation over the royal wedding, I've hardly had time to think about the programme this week! Imagine... a lassie who is 13th in line to the throne and loves horse riding gets married to a rugby player with a broken nose. It's hot news, especially for Hello! magazine and the Scottish equivalent, Hiya! which has a Glasgow edition called What Are YOU Lookin' At?!

However I drag myself away to the mundane matters of the budget impasse in Washington and the precarious state of the Euro. These are the trivial matters with which we concern ourselves this week. I'm intrigued by the Democrat/Republican stand-off in the States where the President is asking for permission to borrow even more money. I thought that was ridiculous since they already have borrowing bills so high they're stratospheric and threatening space travel. Why do you think they grounded the shuttle?
Then I heard that was the same argument as that of the Tea Party and changed my mind. Am I secretly turning into a right-wing nutcase? (Please send your emails to the producer) We hear from of the Guardian who's in Washington and is one of at least two Gaels on the programme in order to keep up our quota.

Does the demise of the Euro - if that's what it is - matter to us? Isn't it too boring to think about on a Saturday morning when there's a wedding on... well the producer says it won't be dull if I do my job properly and ask intelligent questions, whatever that means.

We have a really interesting take on incapacity benefit and how the high ideals of Iain Duncan Smith are being traduced. A doctor tells us how it is in Paisley which has its fair share of those unfit to work. And there's the paper review with Angus Macleod (the other gael). But back to the wedding. I wonder if the bride will arrive on horseback... Meanwhile join me tomorrow at 8.

Firstly, let me start the latest installment of my novice gardener blog (as featured every Monday on Radio Scotland's MacAulay & Co) by apologising for the fact there was no blog last week. This was because I was up in the highlands attending a wedding, so consider this week as a double-helping of blogs!

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Albums are like buses, sometimes you wait years for a new one to come along and then you get two together. This week we hear from the three original remaining members of Blondie who have just released their ninth studio album . It's their first new material for eight years but already they're half way through finishing their next album. Debbie gives us a sneak preview right here...

You'll hear more about the influences behind Blondie's music as Debbie, Chris and Clem reveal the albums they couldn't live without. All of their choices are historical albums that have contributed to the sound of Blondie.

Also this week Edith interviews a brand new group from Los Angeles called Foster The People. They're three guys that have just released their debut album which has shades of pop, rock, indie and electronic. All of this makes sense when you hear the music they grew up listening to. Edith will also play you music from some great new Scottish releases and following last weekend's sad news, one of Amy Winehouse's finest album tracks.

Hope you'll join us Friday night at 8.05pm and repeated Sunday at 10.05pm

Good to hear from ace drummer of the east coast parish, Ali Wilson, on the subject of bairns' parties. And we're not talking treasure hunts here...

A seventeen year old known to me was allowed a house party "for 12 friends" two weeks ago while his mum was away. It went very well indeed...according to said acquaintance. Four days later the police turned up at the door to tell his mum that it actually hadn't gone so well after all. Sixty teenagers had turned up and breached the peace somewhat, causing neighbours to complain. I should've known something was up as when I visited the house post-party it was unusually immaculate! However, I found it difficult to be angry as, let's face it...we've all done it. The secret, of course, is always to attend parties...but never host them, especially in your own home...that's just nuts!

The Tom Morton Show: Mon-Thurs 1430-1600, Fri 1400-1600

Here's the latest recipe from The Kitchen Cafe, by chef Michael Smith, to be downloaded, kept and printed.

Download the recipe.

The Kitchen Cafe is on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio Scotland every Wednesday, 1315-1400.

As Mark Beaumont makes final preparations to Row the Arctic Fred caught up with him on MacAulay & Co on Tuesday. Mark was speaking to the team from a sunny Resolute Bay...

Even though it was five forty in the morning, by the sounds of it he and the team have had a couple of close encounters already.

Listen to MacAulay and Co. Monday to Friday, 1030-1200 on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio Scotland.

What a grim week for news. As details unfolded of the horrific events in Norway, there was disagreement among my panel on whether the Sunday papers crossed a line in their coverage of the story. felt some had gone too far with their use of graphic images of bodies at the scene. felt that they needed to be shown to convey the enormity of the crime. It's a fine line and journalists don't always get it right.

Another story that journalists were accused of not getting right this week is the phone hacking story. Many felt it had been given undue prominence in news bulletins at the expense of the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Somalia. One aid agency said there were more column inches devoted to shaving foam than famine. He may be right, but gradually the balance was redressed as more horrific events unfolded.

In the midst of all this we had the death of Amy Winehouse, a sad inevitability perhaps. Quite a lot of double standards from the papers paying tribute to her, the same papers who stalked her every move and relished every lapse and breakdown.

On such a miserable week for humanity it was refreshing to hear from someone who's done nothing but good for her community. Shaheen Unis (founder of Mrs Unis Spicy Foods) talked to me at her warehouse about how she built up her business and why she's committed to giving something back to the ethnic minority communities in Edinburgh. A breath of fresh air.

Visit Shereen website to listen again to the show and an extended interview with Shaheen Unis below:

Out of Doors: Helen Needham

Shetland is the place to be right now. 53 berthed in the two harbours at Lerwick with around 2000 crew from all over the world. Shetland fiddlers providing non stop entertainment for the international crowds. And the changeable weather isn't dampening the spirits of everyone who has come here to enjoy the spectacle of the Tall Ships Race. My colleagues here at Radio Shetland have been putting on extra shows to capture the atmosphere, broadcasting from a modest marquee on the pier and featuring live music and interviews with folks from the Race - you can listen to them online.

I joined Radio Shetland's Mike Grundon to climb the mast of the beautiful Christian Radich tall ship from Norway. Although the ship was docked, it was still pretty hairy climbing up the ropes - unattached, I may add - as a howling gale swept around the bay at Lerwick. But we laid our fears aside after crew members described what it's like being up there on the high seas, and trying to unfurl flapping sails whilst balancing on the booms. We made it to the top, feeling very pleased with ourselves...but the elation soon faded when we realised we had to get down again - a much more tricky task.

Tune into Out of Doors on Saturday morning from 06.30 or on Sunday from 11.00 to hear Mark Stephen and Helen Needham from the Tall Ships Race in Shetland.

Scottish dancing, ceilidh and traditional music events taking place around Scotland over the next seven days, brought to you by the Take the Floor team.

Dancers at Take the Floor event : April 2011

FRIDAY 22nd JULY

CONCERT
Portsoy - Folk At The Salmon Bothy - Folk At The Salmon Bothy - 7pm - *Tickets £7*

FOLK CLUB
Tarland - Aberdeen Arms - The Cromar Folk Club - 8.00pm

SATURDAY 23RD JULY

CLASS
Dundee, Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library - Fiddle with Karen Hannah - improvers' class - 11am

Dundee, Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library - Whistle with Helen Forbes - 12:30pm

SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING
Pitlochry - Pitlochry Town Hall - David Anderson

Elgin - Bishopmill Hall - Marion Anderson - 8pm

SUNDAY 24TH JULY

Arbroath Accordion & Fiddle Club

CLASS
Fife - Old Parish Church Hall - Kirk Wynd - Ceilidh, Old Time & Social Dance Club - 2-5pm - *Tickets £3*

East Kilbride - Girl Guide Hall - Ceilidh, Old Time & Social Dance Club - 7:30-10pm - *Tickets £2*

MONDAY 25TH JULY

ACCORDION AND FIDDLE CLUB
Banchory - Burnett Arms Hotel - Neil Hardie Scottish Dance Band - 7.30pm

CLASS
St Andrews, SCD Club - live music from Dierdre Adamson on Accordion (learners welcome) - 7:30pm

FOLK CLUB
Glenfarg - Glenfarg Hotel - Singaround session - 8.30pm

HIGHLAND NIGHT
Pitlochry - Pitlochry Recreation Ground - Vale of Atholl Pipe Band - 7.15pm

TUESDAY 26TH JULY

CLASS
Dundee, Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library - Scots Song - suitable for beginners - 2pm

WEDNESDAY 27TH JULY

CLASS
Fife - Kenoway Community School - Accordion Class - George Lawrie - 7-9pm - *Tickets £5.60/half price first lesson*

Midlem - Village Hall - Live Music - Old Time Class (GB Scott) - 8-10pm - *Tickets £2*

CONCERT
Edinburgh - Pleasance Cabret Bar - Paul McKenna Band

Inverness - Thistle Hotel - Scottish Cabaret Evening - 8.00pm

Ullapool - Ceilidh Place - Alistair McCulloch Trio

SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING
RSCDS - Aberdeen -The Boys Brigade Hall, Crimon Place - 7.30pm

THURSDAY 28TH JULY

SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING
RSCDS - Alva, Summer Dance, Cochrane Hall, West Stirling Street - various musicians - 7:30-10:30pm

Windygates - Windygates Institute - The Bruce Lindsay Band - 7.30pm

CLASS
Penicuick - Town Hall - Ceilidh Class - 8-9:30pm - *Tickets £2.90/£1.50*

CONCERT
Edderton - Edderton Hall - Alistair McCulloch Trio

22-24 July
The Traditional Singing Weekend at Cullerlie, guest include Steve Bryne, Fay Hield and Gordon Hoyland.

Adventurer is setting off on his latest adventure - Rowing The Arctic with polar explorer Jock Wishart. Both of them caught up with Fred on MacAulay & Co on Monday morning before they set off.

MacAulay and Co is Monday to Friday, 1030-1200

Sorry... don't have much time for a blog this week...I'm wall to wall with meetings in true Ö÷²¥´óÐã style. One is with the satirist Alistair Beaton, author of , The Trial of Tony Blair etc. His people called to say he has a new project for a satire on Scotland and wants to talk to me about politics here. I started to tell the woman on the phone about each year of my 40 years of reporting politics going back to the Wilson government and had only reached Devaluation when she put her hand over the phone and said:" God, this man is sooo boring". But I think she must have been talking about somebody else. Then, as I recalled how George Younger stood aside for Alec Douglas-Ö÷²¥´óÐã in the Kinross by-election in 1963, she said:" I have to get on with the rest of my life now" and hung up. I think she was rushing off to tell her friends about me. Anyway I'm sure Alistair will set aside a few hours to listen to all my reminiscences.

Next it's a production meeting with Pauline the producer to discuss the Big Stories. The focus of the Murdoch saga has moved squarely on to David Cameron who really does look vulnerable. Just imagine what either Andy Coulson or Rebekah Brooks could say which could destroy the PM's current defences. In fact it may be that his whole future is now in the hands of two former tabloid hacks who themselves are growing increasingly desperate. Not a comfortable situation. We hear from James Cusick and Steve Hewlett.

Trevor Salmon and John Palmer lead us through the Greek debt crisis which is creeping this way whether we're in the Euro or not. One solution is deeper integration of a kind the original Common Marketeers favoured... in other words economic union not just currency union. The truth is of course that none of our countries is going to dig our way out of this debt morass without economic growth. Which brings us to . The economy in this non-EU land between Europe and Asia is booming at a terrifying rate and development is burgeoning. Why and will it last? We hear from Istanbul.

Our reporter Gillian is with the newspaper vendors of the world and, as yet another conference take place, this time celebrating the 300th anniversary of birth, we speak to someone who could almost be his modern-day equivalent - the historian, raconteur and Edinburgh bon viveur Michael Fry who as always is great value on anything to do with his native land. Now I have to get on. Meetings, meetings, meetings. Join me tomorrow at 8.

This Friday Edith has a session and interview with Miles Kane who performs tracks from his debut album Colour Of The Trap. Miles is a young singer/songwriter from The Wirral who was one half of The Last Shadow Puppets with his best friend Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys).

Edith Bowman and Miles Kane, July 2011

On Wednesday the Tom Morton Show was talking about learner drivers. This story from Chris is an absolute joy...

Chris wrote "I only learnt to drive about 4 years ago and about 2 weeks before passing my test I had to drive my partner, Susan to hospital. She was in reasonably advanced stages of labour. She was getting a little 'irritable' as I put on the magnetic 'L' plates and went through my routines of adjusting my seat and checking mirrors etc before we set off. I continued to drive like the very careful learner that I was with this sweary woman beside me all the way to Stirling Royal. I ended up having to abandon the car there for the week as obviously I couldn't drive by myself! Had to get the bus at visiting times until I got to drive her and my Son, Sandy home."

Visit Tom Morton web page and listen to the programme.

Here's the latest recipe from The Kitchen Cafe, by chef Ghillie Basan, to be downloaded, kept and printed.

Download the recipe.

The Kitchen Cafe is on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio Scotland every Wednesday, 1315-1400.

Week two of the story that keeps on giving and it's been a struggle to keep up with developments. Needless to say my panel of , , and were well across all the twists and turns of the phone hacking story. Much discussion about the murky and increasingly blurred relationships between journalists, politicians, and the police, with more allegations in the Sunday papers.

The team took great relish in going through all the freebies and giveaways being offered by the tabloids trying to grab the News of the World's lost readers. Everything from grow bags to free copies of The Dandy. No prizes for guessing which paper was offering that one.

This week's special guest was writer whose novel "Go to sleep" draws on her own experience of being driven to the brink of insanity by a baby who wouldn't sleep. If you're thinking of having children perhaps this isn't the book for you. If you're a parent it will be all too familiar. As a non parent, I didn't expect to enjoy it but it's actually a real page turner - listen to the interview below.

Paul, Lyndsay , and I are all big Apprentice fans so we had a go at predicting tonight's winner. By the time you read this Lord Sugar will have uttered the words "You're hired" so listen again to see if we got it right. Needless to say David "I Only Watch Politics Programmes" Torrance is not a fan. He thinks it represents "the downside of capitalism". One day I'm going to get him drunk and force him to watch back to back episodes of "".

Having successfully lifted the tattie crop as documented in last week's blog, I was soundly criticised by resident garden-guru Craig Holland on this week's garden item on Monday's edition of MacAulay & Co for basking in past glories. Damn cheek! It seems that a week is not just a long time in politics...Apparently I was not doing enough to encourage the germination of the salad crop. In fact, apart from the few rows of onions, the veg patch resembles the now abandoned Balado festival site following this year's T in the Park; well minus the litter and sea of vacated beer-stained tents of course. This wasn't altogether my fault though, as the earth gets very tired producing a crop of tatties and needs to rest a while in order to regain its nutrients. Adding compost can certainly assist in this process, but really leaving it to have a long lie down is the best course of action.

Richard Cadey's 'Garden of Earthly Delights'

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Here are the Scottish dancing, ceilidh and traditional music events in Scotland for the next seven days, brought to you by the Take the Floor team.

July 17th- August 14th
Dancing During The Summer - St Andrews, 80th Summer School - Org. The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society


Monday 18th July
Glenfarg Village Folk Club - 830pm - Alex Hodgson (Members £5, Non-members £8) www.glenfargfolkclub.com


Thursday 21st July
Isle Of Skye - The Royal Hotel, Portree - Ceilidh Dance with Ally K Macpherson & his Band - tel: 01478 612 153

On Strike!

Still hoping to have a programme...listen in to find out. Tomorrow at 8.

I've decided I'm not going to grow tomatoes ever again - not unless I get a greenhouse or a man-servant! I don't like to be negative, but the tomatoes are driving me nuts. This is my third year with very limited success. They've taken over my life and the living room. The curtains haven't been closed since May, a jungle has engulfed the bay-window and Mr T is getting quite irate. Tomatoes take a lot of looking after, what with the feed, the water and the constant turning to catch the vital rays of the sun, and quite frankly I'd rather be doing other things, like gardening. So I've decided to throw the trowel in after this year. But this isn't about giving up, it's about deciding what gives us pleasure in the garden, and there are enough battles with nature without piling on the pain!

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Here's the latest recipe from The Kitchen Cafe, by chef Mary Contini, to be downloaded, kept and printed.

Download the recipe.

The Kitchen Cafe is on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio Scotland every Wednesday, 1315-1400

As we all know, T in the Park is Scotland's biggest party of the year. It's a mammoth logistical task for the organisers to arrange, and now its success is rivalled by nothing else in the UK, other than Glastonbury. 85,000 people attended in 2011 as it reached its 18th year. The event is an all-encompassing carnival that pulls together huge mainstream acts and household names, as well as the cream of the underground from across Scotland. Whether it's Beyonce or Coldplay on the mainstage; or United Fruit or Conquering Animal Sound on the T Break stage, it's fairly certain you'll find something, somewhere to your taste over the 3 day extravangza.

As many of you slow down and settle in your lives, the idea of stumbling around a muddy field in Kinross surrounded by inebriated, party-loving, face-painted punters may not strike you as your idea of fun, but don't be too hasty to judge...

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Well, what can we say about last week! Only one story in town on Sunday's show: the end of the World. As the was published we had a heated debate in the studio about the rights and wrongs of tabloid journalism, the too cosy relationship between politicians and media moguls, and the role of the police in the whole scandal.

My guest , a Sun columnist, was angry that so many of his colleagues had lost their jobs. And he rounded on other journalists from the so-called quality papers who he accused of being sanctimonious and disingenuous by trying to distance themselves from the murkier practices of some of the tabloids.

There has been a lot of mud slinging and political point scoring this week but there were two moments which for me cut through the empty platitudes and well and truly skewered those who delivered them.

The first came from Hugh Grant on Question Time. Responding to Douglas Alexander's moralising spiel on the Murdoch empire, he said "Weren't you at Rupert Murdoch's party three weeks ago?" Ouch! Douglas's face was a picture.

But more powerful than that, and this goes to the heart of what this whole thing is all about, was Sean Cassidy the father of a 7/7 victim on Five Live talking to a News International executive. The executive said they would be contacting the families to apologise to them. Without skipping a beat Sean shot back, "Well you've got my phone number."

Visit Shereen website to listen again to the show and an extended interview with Dougie MacLean below:

Mark Stephen sent me this blog ahead of Out of Doors (9/7/20011) featuring St Kilda.

Mark Stephen
once had the reputation of being The Islands at the Edge of the World. They are islands plural, rather than just the one. Hirta, Soay, Boraray and all the associated sea-stacks are all that remain above the surface of a vast volcanic caldera. Take an empty ice-cream cone, nibble most of the rim away so that all that's left are some jagged pieces sticking up and that's what's happened here.

We left Miavaig just before 8am and just before lunchtime we started to see the islands capped with cloud.

We were landed at Settlement Bay by rubber boat. This is for reasons of Bio-Security - the NTS don't want rats, (the real kind), getting onto the island.

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We have two strong Scottish stories to tell this week which I hope will keep you hooked. We return to the bank bail-out question which has produced a kind of mantra in some political quarters which goes:

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SATURDAY 9th JULY
CLASS
Dundee, Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library - Fiddle with Karen Hannah - improvers' class - 11am

Dundee, Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library - Whistle with Helen Forbes - 12:30pm

CONCERT
Kelso- Cobbles Inn - North Sea Gas

SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING
Pitlochry - Pitlochry Town Hall - Frank Thomson

SUNDAY 10th JULY
CLASS
Fife - Old Parish Church Hall - Kirk Wynd - Ceilidh, Old Time & Social Dance Club - 2-5pm - *Tickets £3*

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This week I have mostly been eating potatoes. No ordinary potatoes mind, oh no, my potatoes, grown by me and cooked by me, fresh from my garden! Oh yes, and what a marvellous feeling to eat something you've grown yourself, very satisfying indeed and so tasty.

Richard and his potatoes

I then set about lifting the rest of my crop and although we fell short of our predictions of around 300 potatoes, (by the small matter of about 200), Craig and Fred were very impressed at my first attempt at growing veg. Explanations as to why we didn't reap the full extent of the original estimate were possibly because of the cramped planting of my tattie crop (this was down to a miscalculation on my part somewhat akin to that of a Greek finance minister) as well as the extremely wet weather that we've experienced this year. Once lifted, the potatoes should be stored in a cool dry place, and preferably in a hessian sack, or alternatively an old laundry basket - take care to remove the old laundry first...ahem.

I was thrilled to have my very own tatties and set about serving them boiled with lemon juice and mint fresh from my herb garden. I'm like Monty Don and Nigella Lawson all rolled into one....well sort of...My tatties are called Epicures, but there are many varieties on the market including one called Vivaldi; are they called this because they're good for the four seasons, I wonder? A question for the Guru perhaps...'til next week, happy gardening!

MacAulay and Co. Friday events guide features a selection of festivals, competitions and galas happening in Scotland. To search for more events in your area, visit the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Things to Do website.

Tall Ship Races 2011

Thursday 7th - Sunday 10th July

Castle Stuart Golf Links, situated between Inverness and Nairn on Scotland's Moray Firth coast, is the venue for The Barclays Scottish Open. Watch first class golf being played by some of the biggest names of the golfing world.

Friday 8th - Sunday 10th July

Scotland's much loved and most successful music festival returns with an award winning line up which just keeps getting better and better. if you can't make it then watch our coverage online of our Ö÷²¥´óÐã T in the Park 2011 site.

Sunday 10th July

Volunteers from the WDCS Shorewatch team will be at the aquarium from 10am until
4pm during which time you could become a dolphin scientist looking out for these
fantastic creatures from outside the aquarium, play some dolphin games or get
your face painted. Visitors can also come face to face with hundreds of native
fish inside the award-winning aquarium.

Saturday 9th - Tuesday 12th July

The Greenock leg of the Tall Ship races takes place this weekend, playing host to around 60 ships and with around 80,000 visitors expected over the weekend. The quayside will be taken over by music stages, street theatre and circus workshops.

The very best of local talent combined with national and international acts including Lulu and Deacon Blue.

Saturday 9th - Sunday 10th July

Thomas the Tank Engine visits the Caledonian Railway and travels down 4 miles of preserved line in Angus running from Brechin to Bridge of Dun.

Saturday 9th - Tuesday 12th July

A rally as well as a show, featuring demo rides, stalls, wellie whanging, tug "o" war, dizzy sticks and live bands on Friday and Saturday night.

Saturday 9th July

Raft race and full canal festival with music, stalls and activities, organised by the Re-union Canal Boat Charity - free boat trips, Gorgie Petting zoo, bike course - starts at 12 till 5.

Saturday 2nd - Sunday 9th July

The final day of the festival takes place on Saturday and includes an incredible swimming choir, music and Spanish workshop and various other theatre and fun events.

If you're visiting these or any other events around Scotland over the weekend, why not keep up to date with the traffic and travel situation with Travel News Scotland.

You'd asked about getting stuck I've got many family stories about getting stuck mainly in loos.

When my sister Angela and I were toddlers probably about 2 or 3 we were in the toilet happily guddling away in the sink and flushing the loo which we liked to pretend was a juke box, we locked the door so that we wouldn't be interrupted.

We had also got dressed up in our Mum's high heels. Once we took the high heels off we could no longer reach the lock and were now stuck in the loo getting more and more hysterical. At first Mum tried calmly to give us instructions to open the lock but after a few hours this hadn't worked, so she resorted to getting an axe and knocking through the door - rather like Jack Nicholson in The Shining!

The Tom Morton Show Mon-Thurs 1430-1600, Fri 1400-1600.

Just heard from my colleagues that the Ö÷²¥´óÐã L.A.B and Ö÷²¥´óÐã Comedy are running 3 x 1 day stand up comedy workshops at the Edinburgh Festival. The dates are 23rd/24th/25th August 2011. More details about how to apply for a workshop place and full terms and conditions can be found here.

Here's the latest recipe from The Kitchen Cafe, by chef Dave Aspin, to be downloaded, kept and printed.

Download the recipe.

The Kitchen Cafe is on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio Scotland every Wednesday, 1315-1400

My team in the studio this week were 's Robert Dawson Scott, Martin Raymond of Cloudline PR, and journalist Christine Jardine. Good to have Christine back after a long leave of absence.

This week public protests were very much in the news, with the strikes over pensions here in the UK contrasting with much more volatile demos in Athens over the Greek government's austerity measures. Some disagreement among the panel as to whether strikes achieve anything and Robert did a find job of unpicking the complexities of the Greek bail out package.

This week's special guest was , who's just become Sir Harry in the Queen's Birthday Honours. He's a very unassuming and modest man who's almost embarrassed by his new title. A father of six, he tells me his children are distinctly unimpressed.

I've interviewed Sir Harry many times on Scotland's dubious health record but it was interesting to hear more about the man behind the soundbites. It's clear that it's his own strong sense of family that drives his passionate commitment to finding solutions to the social inequalities he sees as key to addressing the country's health problems. He spoke very movingly about the sacrifices his own father made for him and the opportunities his children have compared with the youngsters from chaotic backgrounds he meets in the East End of Glasgow.

On a lighter note, the biggest talking point of the week had to be the "Mother in Law from Hell" whose email to her prospective daughter in law on her rules of etiquette went viral. As a step-mother who's just about to host a visit from the twenty one year old's boyfriend, I was interested to hear my panel siding with the mother in law on this one. Think I'll fire off a pre-emptive email.

Shereen is on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio Scotland, every Sunday 0900-1000

Here are the Scottish dancing, ceilidh and traditional music events in Scotland for the next seven days, brought to you by the Take the Floor team.

FRIDAY 1ST JULY

SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING
Glasgow RSCDS - New Kilpatrick New Halls, Bearsden - Jim Lindsay Band - 7.30

SATURDAY 2ND JULY

ACCORDION AND FIDDLE CLUBS
Uist and Benbecula - Dark Island Hotel, Benbecula - Monach Isles Ceilidh band

CLASS
Dundee, Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library - Fiddle with Karen Hannah - improvers' class - 11am

Dundee, Wighton Centre, Dundee Central Library - Whistle with Helen Forbes - 12:30pm

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We return to a couple of popular Newsweek themes this week. Who said journalism has to be ground-breaking? We don't just dip a toe into an issue, shake it and move on, you know. We like to build up the journalism in layers so that if you listen regularly you can observe how issues evolve - and hopefully your knowledge and understanding evolve too. The last time we spoke to Professor Andrew Hughes-Hallet of , he caused a flutter in the doocots by categorically rubbishing the idea that Scotland was "subsidised by England", giving chapter and verse on how the truth was the other way round...not a view you hear often outside nationalist circles (that sounds like those celtic designs you get on standing stones, doesn't it?)

We speak to him again this time about the statement by Michael Moore at Scottish Questions in reply to a Tory backbencher in which the Scottish Secretary stated Scotland could not have afforded the £27 billion bail-out of and , implying an independent country would have been bankrupted. That was almost an identical answer to that given to another Tory backbencher by Jim Murphy in the last Labour government. The professor, who is on a break in Western Australia, is, shall we say, not impressed by those arguments and explains exactly what would have happened to the bail-out had Scotland been independent. He is, as always, controversial.

As is Harry Shutt who is a kind of guerrilla economist. After our ding-dong last week on pension reform in which it was made clear that directors have no plans to cut back their pensions - au contraire, they boosted their pension pots by £400,000 on average last year - we speak to Harry on his solution to the crisis in pensions for the low-paid. He says the markets have simply failed to deliver a return to small pension investors and the pension managers have ripped them off with exorbitant fees. So we should abandon stock market gambling and concentrate on boosting the state pension and add to it an occupational top-up. (He explains it much better than I do) It's well worth thinking about.

Other items we are chasing - for we never rest - include preservation of ancient buildings with atmospheric in mind, and what should we do with all this rain? Are you, like us, tempted to think of selling it to England where the south is in a drought? If we have to put up with wetter weather, shouldn't we turn entrepreneur and make a few quid from our liquid assets?

Oh, and naturally we ruminate on the Inverclyde by election with Angus Macleod who will review the papers for us as usual. Join us tomorrow. At 8.

MacAulay and Co. events guide features a selection of festivals, competitions and galas happening in Scotland. To search for more events in your area, visit the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Things to Do website.

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Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd July

As in previous years traditional boats from far and wide will congregate in the historic harbour at Portsoy. The Festival puts a special emphasis on boat building, restoration and sailing and on associated traditional crafts including knitting, weaving and embroidery and on music and art. The 2011 programme will also include the very popular Food Fayre showcasing all that's best in Scotland's food and drink. It all adds up to a feast of opportunities for all to see, take part in and enjoy.

Beech day in Denny

Sunday 3rd July

VOLUNTEERS will be needed on Sunday 3rd July in the beautiful Carron Woods at Denny near Stirling, where they'll be pulling up beech seedlings to prevent them taking over the wood.

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"Herbedacious"! To readers of a certain age this word will conjure up memories of the . This was a Ö÷²¥´óÐã children's television programme from the late 1960's which subversively attempted to teach the children of the nation the names of the herbs through the means of animated animals such as Parsley the Lion, Dill the Dog and Sage the Owl. No doubt endorsed by Richard Briers and Felicity Kendall, I, for one, loved it. And this week's Monday morning Garden item on MacAulay & Co certainly was herbedacious.

Now, why are herbs a useful addition to a veg grower's patch? Well, put simply, they make our food taste better. I mean who can imagine chicken without tarragon, fish without dill, bolognese without oregano, or Simon and Garfunkel without parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme?

For the most part they are easy enough to grow in tubs, containers or directly into the veg patch. A word of warning though, mint should definitely be confined to tubs, as it can apparently give the a run for their money when it comes to vegetal world domination! My gardening svengali Craig Holland was on hand as usual, though he generally likes to dispense his words of green-fingered wisdom a comfortable distance from my actual garden, and this week was no exception as he was based in a studio in Tunbridge Wells.

Basil is one of my favourites and delicious with anything containing tomatoes, but of course terrible at running a hotel in Torquay. I was looking forward to growing this herb more than any other. It has such a wonderful smell. Alas Craig pointed out that it suffers from something called "damping". Obviously, this is a condition that everyone living in Scotland can empathise with, especially this summer, but it does make growing basil a bit of a tricky business. It is possible to grow it, but the process seems so long and drawn out that I decided to continue buying my supplies of this particular herb from the supermarket. Until, that is, a damp-proof version becomes available.

So there you have it, grow yourself some herbs, only the ones that won't get you into trouble with the local constabulary of course, because it is easy to do and they turn good food into great tasting meals!

p.s. One week on from the setting of the slug beer trap and so far there are no captives to report. Either they've gone away on their holidays or they prefer the more expensive brands of beer. 'Til next week, bye for now.