top of page


John Burkinshaw
3 days ago3 min read
Dining Room Decoration
What we call the dining room is actually a room without a purpose in mind right now. Originally it was a dining room 3 owners back, the...


John Burkinshaw
Feb 153 min read
Picky Bits
Life has its ups and downs and over the last year or so I've tried some new hobbies, and had a couple of set backs. Mum introduced me to...


John Burkinshaw
Feb 82 min read
Living Room Perfect
The living room has kind of been put off because it was going to be a lot of work. When thinking about the painting there is the window,...


John Burkinshaw
Feb 11 min read
February in Glendaruel
Enjoy this little video of February in Glendaruel to give you a little taster of what life here is like at this time of year - beautiful,...


John Burkinshaw
Jan 305 min read
Riding Out the Storm - part two
The metaphorical storm. How do the ones left behind carry on? I would love to continue our adventure but the prospect of doing these...


John Burkinshaw
Jan 286 min read
Riding Out the Storm - part one
As I was writing this I realised that it was very long, and the first half was about the literal storm, and the second half was about a...


John Burkinshaw
Jan 253 min read
More maintenance work
Eyeing up a few more jobs in the garden which needed sorting, and having some free time on my hands while John was sleeping his way...


John Burkinshaw
Jan 182 min read
Walking in Colglen
Colglen is the name used locally for Colintraive and Glendaruel together. Although we have the right to roam in Scotland it is usually...


John Burkinshaw
Jan 113 min read
New Year in Glendaruel
Well, I was expecting a quiet couple of days (we have Hogmanay off work in Scotland as well as New Year), to go swimming at the beach at...


John Burkinshaw
Jan 11 min read
January in Glendaruel
Enjoy this little video of January in Glendaruel to give you a little taster of what life here is like at this time of year - beautiful,...


John Burkinshaw
Dec 26, 20243 min read
Updates - Clacheranmor meaning and St Modan's well mystery
Well, an interesting turn of events means that we now know exactly what the name of our house means! We ended up meeting the lovey...


John Burkinshaw
Dec 21, 20241 min read
A Year in Our Garden
When we moved up in November 2023, the garden had had little 'love' from us for 12 months - we'd tried to do some basic maintenance. We...


John Burkinshaw
Dec 14, 20242 min read
Out and About
Kames Horticultural Society show Living in the country, there's always some kind of show going on, we headed over to Kames to see theirs...


John Burkinshaw
Dec 9, 20242 min read
Nigel's Tribute to a Colleague and Friend
John Burkinshaw, Mr Burkinshaw, Mr B, Johnners, Burko, and my fave and that of many others was simply to call him JB. There were others...


John Burkinshaw
Dec 8, 20242 min read
Martin's Tribute to a Friend
Here is Martin's beautifully heartfelt tribute to John, read out at the farewell service last week. When Liz asked me to say a few words,...


John Burkinshaw
Dec 7, 20242 min read
Charlotte's Tribute to Her Dad
My favourite memory is with my dad so I’d like to share it with you today. My dad is a wonderfully committed man and I think this shows...


John Burkinshaw
Dec 6, 20243 min read
Amber's Tribute to Her Dad
This is what Amber wrote for the blog, but I decided to also read out a slightly shorter version at John's cremation service as it was so...


John Burkinshaw
Dec 5, 20245 min read
My Tribute to My Perfect Husband
This is my original version of what I wrote before it was edited to be read out at John's cremation service. I have put off writing this...


John Burkinshaw
Dec 1, 20241 min read
December in Glendaruel
Enjoy this little video of December in Glendaruel to give you a little taster of what life here is like at this time of year - beautiful,...

John Burkinshaw
Nov 29, 20241 min read
Live Stream Details for John's Farewell
Dear All, Please find below the details to log into the funeral service for John, along with details of when. This is a small, private...
bottom of page