Fay Young

Trees in full leaf, bright green under a blue sky reflected in the pond: The Pond picture by Fay Young

One thing always leads to another

I’m a journalist. I’ve always been curious about people and places.

I started writing about other people’s gardens a long time ago and somehow I’ve ended up having a wild garden that’s open to the public.

This site is a collection of my writing on gardens, culture, wildlife, the environment and even a little politics.

The garden is open through Scotland’s Garden Scheme supporting Children’s Hospices Across Scotland.

We are open now for spring walks. Please don’t hesitate to let us know when you’d like to come. Just fill in the Contact form. Give us a call. Find out more about Pond Cottage Garden

  • First catch your swan

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    ‘You know those ducks in that lagoon by Central Park South?  That little lake? By any chance do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over?’ I blew the dust off my old copy of The Catcher in the Rye to find that quote. Rather eerily it fell…

  • The art and craft of making a good town centre

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    The Post Office closed and reopened as a DVD shop. Then the DVD shop closed and reopened as a shop selling…well, to be honest I’m not sure what it is selling, the window display does not tempt me to cross the street let alone go through the door, but it looks like they are selling…

  • In these shoes?

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    One of the perks of my voluntary work with Leith Open Space is an occasional chance to peek behind the scenes at the Scottish Parliament.  Recently it gave me an unexpected view of the Deputy First Minister.

  • Found in India

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    “Daily life is soundtracked by a cacophony of car horns. After a few minutes in a taxi, you see why”, Tommy Perman’s guest blog describes what Found discovered on a whirlwind tour of India.

  • RIP the quick brown fox

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    Ah, the typewriter. I’m sitting, hands on laptop keyboard, staring at the screen but my mind’s eye looks back to an old Royal machine in a long-ago newsroom where I sit, fingers poised above firm round buttons, piles of screwed up copy paper on the floor, staring into the middle distance, waiting for words.

  • All the world’s a market place

    All the world’s a market place

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    “I hope you don’t mind”, says Kerry, “I’ve put you down for leading a workshop on Open Space Community.”  I’ve just arrived at the conference and within minutes I find myself sitting with a microphone in my hand in a circle of people of all ages from all over the world inviting them to join…

  • Beware the Tigers of Florence

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    Florence: Friday 3.00pm (ish).  Beneath the pomegranate tree, a pleasant softening of focus after lunch of melon, bought in the market at the far end of our street, prosciuto from the scary supermercato way over the railway bridge, and a glass of red wine.

  • Into the unknown

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    Another step into the unknown, I’m on a train hurtling south from Edinburgh to London. Of all unlikely things I find myself an ambassador for Leith Open Space on my way to take part in an international conference of open spacers, more precisely the World Open Space on Open Space (WOSONOS) for participants of this…

  • The mystery of the Hogwarts Treehouse

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    A new book burst on to the scene this week, a best seller on Amazon before the shops opened on Thursday. And no, I’m not talking about Ray’s book this time, I’m just grabbing a sneaky chance to revisit the mystery of the Hogwarts Treehouse.

  • HBOS: how banks became big, bad news

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    Monday morning, no time for coffee.  The week is off to a sprinting start already.  Ray’s new book arrived in a cardboard box at the weekend. The Scotsman plan a feature this week and the Telegraph covered it  yesterday.  Anyone would think banks were big, bad news.

  • Mad hatter’s tea party at Balmoral

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    This is the hat that I did not wear to meet the Queen.  I did not wear any other hat and I did not meet the Queen. But I got near. As a would-be republican I have not been flaunting the invitation but yesterday Ray and I went to our first Royal Garden Party at…

  • Duckling: handle with care

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    What to do with an orphan duckling?  The internet is not helpful.  We better be prepared for two months of hard work. Ducklings take a lot of looking after, they are messy and time-consuming.  They need a diet rich in protein – plenty of slugs and worms – and ideally, a specialist  ‘duckling mash’.  In…