It has been raining for the last days and it got colder here. So haven’t been in the garden for about a week. Today there were some hours of dry weather so I just went there for a look. The rhubarb is absolutely massive, although I already took out several plants , there is no way stopping it. It is quite expensive in supermarkets, I wish I could sell my rhubarb for 2pounds for 500g like in Lidl, too, and I could finance my whole year’s allotment rent with it. Honestly. Micah is already pleading with me not to dish up rhubarb more than 3 times a week.

In a motion passed by the Scottish Parliament last Thursday, the Scottish Executive pledges not to build any new nuclear power stations for the foreseeable future. All other parties were outraged when the Scottish Executive boycotted the discussion on nuclear issues in the morning, claiming it would be solely a Westminster Issue. The Scottish Green Party initiated the committee meeting about the building of potential new nuclear power stations in Scotland and how to deal with nuclear waste and transport. The renewal of Trident was also discussed. At the decision time, the motion not to replace Trident got defeated, whereas the pledge against new nuclear power stations in Scotland succeeded.

Miller’s Graphic, the specialised print and design shop situated on the ground floor at Merchiston Campus, is considered to be closed at the end of term due to loss of sales. The shop offers graphic materials for students and specialised pens, as well as hardback binding for dissertations. Design students have started a petition to rescue the shop, to be handed in at the end of the week. They are quite disappointed with the uncertain future of the shop and hope the management would change their mind. Shop-assistant May Henderson says: No company wants to run at a loss.

A new Tesco store will open end of May at the ‘Holy Corner’ near Napier University’s Merchiston Campus. The area is currently dominated by local, small, independent, high-profile shops, but worries of their sustainable future have been expressed at the newly launched Bruntsfield Consumers’ Forum. Tesco in particular, but also other major supermarkets, have been blamed for the phenomen of Clone Towns and Ghost Towns, where few independent shops and services are left after superstores were opened. Last week Tesco announced a 30% share of the UK supermarket sales and a £2.3 billion profit. The new Tesco Metro in Bruntsfield will cover a floor area of 13,500sq ft.

Fluffy has destroyed my sofabed. Not that he actually needed to do much: it was pretty brittle anyways. But I am still sour that he he chewed actually a corner off. And now the mattress cover has not only got a hole but has split apart. I wonder if he is actually now in the rebellious teenager age for hamsters, he was such a well-behaved little cute rodent before. Maybe it is also that his teeth are growing too fast for him to controll his urge to chew, but when I put some branches in he did not use them to shorten his teeth, but instead destroyed the mineralstone to little pink pieces.