It has been a quiet few days. Berwickshire weather a trifle moist. Most of the wheat, barley, oats harvested in the county. It has been a dry old summer and a bit of rain is welcome.

My daughter obtained(at the height of the foot and mouth epidemic) an orphaned lamb. The ewe turned out to be a tup(!) and spends his time between three bits of garden ground. He eats anything in sight, except nettles and brambles(unfortunately) but prefers white bread, by the loaf, and, unfortunately, tree bark. When we got the sheep, the name Morag was applied. When it became obviously inappropriate he got the shortened , more masculine version, Mo!

The time is upon us when we must "move the Mo." This is easier said than done, and involves, for example, crossing the Great North (trunk) Road. Mo is an obstinate sheep and puts considerable effort into opposing any attempt to get him to go anywhere he doesn't want to go.

We (my daughter's boyfriend and I) have been thinking about moving Mo for the last fortnight or so. It ain't easy, and the temptation is to provide him with extra bread in lieu of the verdant pastures which lie over the A1 road............to be continued............

Talking of the A1, a poor otter got splattered just up the road from the house. I had never seen one in the flesh, alive or dead, before. Shame. The Eye Water flows past on the other side of the road. Presumably (hopefully) there are other otters who will survive the road carnage.

Celtic managed to keep hold of Neil Lennon and Stephen Pearson, with no new arrivals by the close of the transfer window on August 31st. Things are looking good for the campaigns ahead. We lie top of the Scottish League, despite an indifferent start. The UEFA Champions League campaign will begin on Wednesday 13th September when we visit Manchester United. Injuries and suspensions (Ferdinand and Ronaldo) will undoubtedly weaken United. Our new signings will lack settling-in time, having played only two or three games prior to the United match. Jan Venegoor Of Hesselink, Thomas Graveson and Lee Naylor are seasoned professionals and will hopefully slot in well.

There are reports that Portugese teams will be banned from international competition due to involvement of courts in a football player registration issue. There are suggestions our group will be reduced to three teams with Benfica banned. I do not believe this will happen and look forward to our meetings with one of the European greats. Benfica have won the European Cup on two occasions and have contested no less than seven EC finals!

The Group has a nice balance to it with Manchester United favourites;Benfica, Copenhagen and ourselves are supposedly better suited to the battle for the second qualification place. Third in the group will mean entry to the UEFA Cup.

Another topic entirely is............... SOCIALISM,

about which I intend to wax lyrical!

I have applied to rejoin the Scottish Socialist Party.

All Hail the Scottish Workers Republic!