Galashiels Air Cadets received a visit from British Transport Police to help get their Borders Railway-themed safety course under way.

The entry-level course in Workplace Hazard Awareness, which is awarded by the British Safety Council, has been made possible thanks to the Borders Railway project and Scottish Community Safety Network (SCSN) community fund.

Transport police officers briefed Cadets on safety relating to the construction of the new railway. As the course develops, the Cadets will produce safety guides and posters.

More than 80 people and over 40 dogs (mostly rescues) turned out on for The BIG Borders Dog Walk in Earlston.

The sponsored event, organised by Borders Pet Rescue, was held to raise funds to create a secure exercise area for the canines.

The rain held off for the day and walkers enjoyed a six-mile circular trek on footpaths around the town.

Although the money is still coming in, organisers estimate that around £2,000 was raised by the event.

Centre manager Simon Cullum said: “It was fantastic to see so many supporters turn out with their dogs. Thanks also to our fabulous volunteers who turned out to marshal on the route and provide tea and cakes for the walkers. And, of course, to Earlston Paths Group for building and maintaining the wonderful network of footpaths.”

There are constant reminders of how different life is here in Afghanistan to what it is like back home at Kelso.

In northern Afghanistan, the mountains are highly unstable and not just prone to earthquakes, but also to landsides as unstable rock surfaces subside in heavy rains.

Sadly, man’s constructions are no match for these massive forces of nature.

After flash flooding in the northwest, this weekend we had the huge landslides in the northeast which caused further loss of life.

Although Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are in the lead, ISAF forces are on alert to assist if requested.

Two weeks ago we were asked to help with strategic airlifts of drinking water to assist those flooded out of their homes.

This past weekend, ISAF has been assisting with the movement of humanitarian aid, including tents, blankets and carpets for those left homeless by the huge landslides.

Part of my role is to ensure that we don’t just help our ANSF colleagues, but are seen to be helping all Afghans.

Hence, we arranged for key journalists to be escorted on one of our C130 planes carrying aid to Faizabad in Badakhshan, just 30 miles from the disaster zone.

One of the guys escorting found himself physically helping reload aid from air pallets onto a local truck to deliver to those in need.

Not something I had to do very often when working in my London office.

Caddonfoot village hall was the stage for a comedy night hosted by comedian Bruce Fummey.

The event raised £2,350 for Caddonfoot Parent and Toddlers Group and was supported by local businesses.

The group meets every Monday and Friday (9-11am) during term time. For further information, contact 07840 701953.

A ground-breaking outdoors initiative to help people with mental health problems has won a national award from NHS Health Scotland.

Branching Out, the innovative outdoor activity programme for adults who use the region’s mental health services, has received the Physical Activity and Health Alliance (PAHA) award in recognition of its commitment to encouraging more people to be more active.

The Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) initiative is designed to improve the health and well-being of people with long-term mental health issues. And the programme locally is delivered by FCS and NHS Borders, with support from Borders Forest Trust.

FCS’s Hugh McNish said: “People with mental health problems are less likely to engage in physical activity for a number of reasons, including social isolation, low self-esteem, physical health conditions and medication side effects.

“Branching Out aims to act as a stepping stone to encourage individuals to move on to more inclusive activities within the community, whilst also acting as s crucial part of their treatment for their mental health issues.

“Winning this PAHA Award is testament to all the hard work of the partners involved and the clients it benefits.”

The project offers about three hours of activities – including health walks, conservation projects, bushcraft activities and tai chi – per week in a woodland setting, over 12 weeks.

PAHA coordinator Sharon Allison said: “Branching Out has been running in Scotland since 2007 and continues to flourish, developing new ways to support NHS boards to enable their patients to become more active. The partnership working approach and knowledge of the outdoors make the Branching Out opportunity a fantastic first step into activity for often vulnerable mental health users. Attendance at the Branching Out programme has been unusually high for a mental health group. Part of the appeal seems to be that the physical activity is incorporated within activities rather than being a purpose in itself.”

The award was presented at the 7th National PAHA Conference in Edinburgh, attended by Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport Shona Robison, last month.

This week, Shoogly Towers has mostly been recovering from the Wedding of the Year.

Well, when I say Shoogly Towers I actually mean the Shoogly nippers, myself and Mr E. Gamford stayed behind to tend to our three house dogs, poultry flock, pack of beagles, herd of Highland ponies and the two pet Llamas.

Aha! I knew that the mention of Llamas would wake you up – any regular readers will know that I am not over-fond of Llamas or Alpacas or anything of that ilk which puts me in mind of a sheep with a stretched neck.

And so to the Wedding of the Year, a wedding so brilliant that it would have had Kirstie Allsopp crying into her hand-embroidered hankie. It was so home-made, so vintage, and so amazingly cool that I just have to share.

I think it would have chimed with any smallholder or wannabe smallholder, as the principles were very similar – from the hedgerow home-brew to the home-made bunting. For a start, it wasn’t in a church in the middle of town, it was up a hill, with a reception in a community centre at the bottom. No air miles.

There was a definite recycling/re-using theme, from the old spade found dumped by the path which was then used to stick in the ground to hold a ‘wedding this way’ sign, to the ‘bridal bower’ at the top of the hill which was a borrowed gazebo decorated with ‘flags’ of sumptuous material and home-made bunting radiating out from it.

Once the very moving civil ceremony was over we all trooped down the hill to a jam-jar of one of a wide variety of home-made ciders, ranging from deep russets to hospital sample yellows. Delicious.

Then we went to ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ over the tables, each one with a different home-made fabric table cloth and assortment of candles and mementoes from the bride and groom’s home. Every single item told a story about them individually and as a couple. We had a lighthouse ornament and two cat candles on our table, so I’m not quite sure what that says about them – kindred spirits drawn in from the darkness by a beacon of love? Or any port in a storm for something the cat dragged in? I jest.

The tables were laden with an eclectic mix of bottles, all labelled, from ‘perfectly acceptable tap water’ in old whisky bottles to ‘rhubarb wine’ and ‘stove wine’ (I think it had fermented by the stove, rather than been made from one, in an Irn-Bru stylee), representing months and months of foraging and brewing.

A selection of glasses from half-pint mugs to horn beakers and sherry glasses meant those who like a good kick of the ball could have one, and those who get tiddly on more than a thimbleful could moderate. Not that I saw many of the latter at this wedding.

I sampled well and happily, just stopping short of ‘tattie wine’. Why? A) It was in a teeny tiny miniature bottle, pointing to the fact it was probably lethal, and B) It’s smell (definitely lethal).

Borders College catering students did a fab job on the food, with guests pitching in with tray bakes and cheeses for the board.

And the highlight for the Shoogly nippers? Playing the spoons on stage with ‘Uncle Bob’ Burgess and the Bogie Close Stompers. Bob, we will blame you if they grow up into Chas ‘n’ Dave.

Thank you, June and Kev. Slainte mhath!

Entries are up for the second Muckle Toon Adventure Festival (MTAF) at Langholm next weekend from May 15-18, following the success of last year’s inaugural outdoors activities event.

Headlining this year is record-breaking cyclist Graeme Obree who is giving a talk on the Saturday (May 17) and a film on him, The Flying Scotsman, will be shown next Thursday (May 15) evening in the town’s Buccleuch Centre.

One of the organisers, Eve Johnson said: “Entries are about 10 per cent up on last year, but there is still space on the walks.

“The highlights will be the talk by Graeme Obree on the Saturday night and the sight of around 300 runners going through the town and up the hill where the horses go during the Common Riding.”

New this year is the family geocaching afternoon.

Eve said: “The committee came up with the (geocaching) idea. We’re doing a simplified version for the whole family. We were aware of geocashing all around the country and we wanted to do something that was fun for families and younger children, which they can do on a lovely scenic route. It should only take them an hour or two to do.”

She highlighted, too, the chance to learn more about the moor above Langholm: “The walk early on the Sunday morning is a real opportunity to have some insight into what’s happening on the moorland with Dr Cat Barlow (educationalist and ecologist with the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project, investigating marrying conservation and shooting interests).”

Last year’s runs for 200 people sold out so the team have upped numbers to 300 this year and expect to fill the places.

The first festival attracted more than 800 participants for the mountain biking, road cycling, running and walking events. And as well as more participants, organisers also expect more visitors.

And they hope the new family geocaching will compliment the other children’s activities including a bike skills course, a fancy dress bike competition, stream dipping, running races and games.

Speaker Obree is regarded as one Scotland’s greatest cyclists, an ‘underdog’ who built his own bike from washing machine parts, trained without technology and went on to break one of the most prestigious records in cycling, for the longest distance cycled in an hour, twice.

Festival chairperson, Dawn Lamb said: “The inaugural festival in 2013 was an overwhelming success in terms of the number of participants, the visitors that were attracted to the town, and the fantastic support we received from our Muckle Maker volunteers and local community.

“We would like to extend our gratitude to Buccleuch Estates and Langholm Initiative for their continued help and support in delivering what will hopefully be another successful festival.”

Festival events include an uphill time trial for the King and Queen of the Mountain titles, mountain bike marathons of 25 and 15 miles and 30, 60, and 90-mile sportives.

There are six guided walks of varying degrees of difficulty; the runs are a half-marathon and 10km, on off-road trails, and Sunday morning’s moorland nature trail leaves at 7am

For more information or to book visit www.muckletoonadventurefestival.co.uk

Government targets for renewable energy using wind turbines and solar panels have led to endless protests, neighbours in conflict, family rows and friends falling out. Just occasionally they have produced unlikely bedfellows, as with the recent support for solar panels by the National Trust and the RSPB.

The argument for and against wind turbines, whether in ones and twos or tens and hundreds is well known to most of us by now. It has been rehearsed more often than any other topic in local newspapers throughout the country for more than ten years. At times the argument has created more passion than I would have thought possible except at a Newcastle – Sunderland game or a Borders rugby clash.

For exactly the same reasons that it’s best for the neutral not to get involved – “Are you fae Hawick? No. Are you fae Gala? No. Then what’s it got to do with you?” – it’s best to stay clear of any specific wind turbine row. Which I do, while admitting that my general view has changed in the past year or so.

That is, I still don’t accept that wind turbines are an eyesore. Compare and contrast with the pylons strung across the countryside and along skylines in the 1960s and 1970s and say that wind turbines look worse. But we’re all happy to use the electricity pylons carry. The case is slightly different with wind turbines because of the subsidies involved. I now think opponents and protesters are probably right about the dodgy economies of wind-generated electricity and the difficulties of matching unreliable supply with demand.

So are solar panels a better bet, acres of them on the ground or on house roofs and the roofs of some giant sheds? The National Trust and RSPB apparently think so, offering support as the number of solar farms has quadrupled in the past two years to more than 180, each covering five acres or more with a further 250 being constructed and a further 100 at the planning stage.

A good thing? Certainly for wildlife, particularly bumblebees and butterflies and wild flowers, compared with their prospects on farmland, according to Dr Guy Parker, an ecologist, who carried out research on four existing solar panel farms. His report noted: “Because panels are raised above ground on posts more than 95 per cent of a field utilised for solar farm development is still accessible for plant growth.”

What could revolutionise the intermittent production of renewable energy sources such as panels or turbines, of course, is a method of storing the energy produced. That doesn’t seem imminent.

I have no sympathy for the farmer on whose farm Scotland’s first case of cattle scab was confirmed recently. Farmers have been warned since 2011 of the dangers of psoroptic mange reaching Britain, but the first confirmed case was found on, guess what, an imported calf. Shoot and foot come to mind.

Guineas winners don’t normally return at 40/1.

It’s not like the Grand National where everyone’s ‘shocked’ to see a supposed rag roll in at a big price but no one’s really that surprised.

Not the Classics though.

The irony of course here was that Night Of Thunder was no rag. Personally, as I quoted a few weeks back, I had him down as a possible French Guineas horse. Why then he went off at the price he did is quite astonishing. Of course there was the Greenham form to reverse with the mighty Kingman but, if you were to presume it a good Greenham, 40/1 was very decent price value.

Places were of course not all King Kieron Fallon had on his mind last Saturday, as was proven with the supreme ride he gave the winner. A quick glance at the sectional times shows the patience with which the experienced head held his mount.

In the final furlong Night Of Thunder quickened by over half a second compared to that previous, and that was despite venturing across half the track in the process. Kingman on other hand appeared only managed to accelerate by 0.12 seconds, leaving the figures of his final 2 furlongs pretty similar. Did the experienced head tell? Maybe in the bluster of it all young James Doyle pushed the button too soon aboard the favourite.

One to take out of last Saturday’s spectacle was the third placed Australia, who surprised me and I thought ran out of his skin. I never expected him to possess so much speed. He clocked pretty similar speed figures to Kingman, although at the trip you would have expected him ridden a lot closer to the pace in the manner he was. No blame on young Joseph’s shoulders from me, just a thoroughly decent Derby workout. No wonder he’s now 7/4 for Epsom.

That leads us nicely onto this weekend’s cards – a Derby/Oaks trial double from Lingfield and the Victoria Cup handicap from Ascot. Ever the gent, I’ll say ‘ladies first’ and start with the Oaks trial….

As has become the norm in this race over the years, many of the market protagonists for Epsom have shirked the challenge. We’ve still been left with a decent looking field though with several Oaks entries, including a longshot for this one, the once raced Madame Chiang.

Despite only being seen the once, the visual impression on those watching that day was striking. She was never going a yard but burst through like she’d been stung by a bee to win handsomely, eased up. The bad ground that day may have been the cause for her awkwardness and her pedigree suggests she’ll improve for a sounder surface. Despite the manner of victory, from the little we know about her would give you little confidence in backing her for this. Worth the watch but I couldn’t back with confidence.

Ralph Beckett has taken this twice in the past, including last year with the extremely smart Secret Gesture. This year he saddles Moonrise Landing, another who’s just been seen the once and left a fair mark in that run. Unlike Madame Chiang, she was in against the boys that day, a mighty hard task for a filly to overcome on debut. She travelled well though and put the race to bed with a powerful turn of foot, leaving little doubt that a step up in class was required.

She goes into this however as one without an Oaks entry, leading me to question whether she’s be up to this. I’ll look elsewhere.

Should Queen’s Prize be successful here then we could have another royal Classic contender on our hands, once again for Sir Michael Stoute. She’s another who left a clear impression to onlookers on her debut, quickening markedly inside the final furlong to win cosily in the hands of Tom Queally. She didn’t appear to beat much that day but she’s stoutly bred and could be an improver this term.

For my money the one they all have to beat in this has yet to shake off her maiden tag, Andrew Balding’s Casual Smile. Her record of 232 from last season does tells only half the story. In her first outing the penny didn’t seem to drop until late on, where she finished fast and was unlucky to be held at the line. She was upped to a conditions race next time out where her and a rival had a barging match right to the line which impeded both of their chances. On her final outing her and the eventual winner, current Oaks favourite Taghrooda, pulled clear of the field and she was just touched off by a quarter of a length.

Being by Sea The Stars she’ll almost certainly progress well from 2 to 3 as many of his first crop already have this year. She’ll prefer the top of the ground, which she’ll probably encounter here. Andrew Balding is also currently bang in form and I imagine she should take some beating in this.

In the colt’s equivalent, Aidan O’Brien looks to continue his good record in the race. As per usual he’s made it pretty hard for the Tom Boardman’s of the world by firing a few bullets at the initial entry stage. His two most likely candidates here though would probably be Mekong River and Blue Hussar.

The former is the top rated in the race, having won four of his five starts at 2 (one of those wins as a result of first past the post being disqualified). His fourth in his final start in France seems better than first appeared after the winner, Prince Gibraltar, rattled home in the Prix Greffulhe. Despite having clear claims for this it really is difficult to say who he’ll send over at this stage. I’ll leave him out on that basis.

His stablemate Blue Hussar is another from the once-raced maiden winners list we’re so often bumping into here, but my did he make an impression. He would have been on very few peoples’ radars up until that Leopardstown success but I’m sure he entered a few people’s minds after it, coming from last to first in the blink of an eye to win by three quarters of a length. Unfortunately he is another that I just couldn’t guarantee making the trip across, so on those grounds he won’t be my fancy here. If either of these two Ballydoyle runners do line up though, they’re worth taking seriously.

One who’s definitely being targeted at the race is John Gosden’s Munjaz. With this horse it’s much more about potential than what he’s actually achieved so far, as on literal form he has no chance. He’s another well bred son of Sea The Stars though, so better ground and the progression from 2 to 3 should have brought him along. He broke his maiden tag last time out, albeit narrowly from a horse worth following called Venezia.

Gentleman John’s taken his time with this horse and seemingly expects a lot. Could it be another Gosden-trained Al Maktoum-owned Epsom hotpot? It’s doubtful, but I think he’ll come out on top in this.

Onto Ascot now and it’s the Victoria Cup. 7 furlongs and countless runners, it doesn’t get any easier! We’ll start with the current favourite, one who I’m very keen on for the season ahead, Horsted Keynes.

He’s another who’s had the benefit of a patient trainer on his side. Roger Varian has bided his time with his 4 year old, so far limiting him to just six runs, five of them on the all-weather. It was certainly no coincidence that his turf debut last time out saw his finest display to date, travelling typically strongly (a wonderful trait of this horse) throughout and making mincemeat of his rivals. He looks way ahead of the handicapper and will surely progress as the year goes on. A slight concern for me would be his inexperience. In a big field like he’ll encounter Saturday it could count against. Whatever happens I think he’s definitely one worth keeping on side.

One of his market rivals, Brownsea Brink, comes here with a really strong chance in my opinion. The form of his third in the Spring Cup last time out looks rock solid, with winner Gabrial’s Kaka going on to finish second off a higher mark and the horse behind him, Ocean Tempest, winning in listed company. He also, for me, holds a strong advantage over fellow rival Purcell, in that he met him as recently as March, going down by just a head but on 8lbs worse terms. The Richard Hannon horse looks a rock solid punt in this for me.

One from left field who could run a big race at a price is Majestic Queen. The Irish filly has often met conditions unfavourable to her, but in a 7 furlong handicap last summer on decent ground she made light work of her opposition. When reappearing this term, in a two runner event she beat a smart filly of Mick Halford’s convincingly, giving her 10lbs in the process. Trainer Tracey Collins has been looking to step her up in grade and must fancy her chances as it’s very rare that she’ll send one to these shores. 25/1 looks like decent each-way value to me.

SATURDAY SELECTION

Lingfield (2.20) Casual Smile

Lingfield (2.55) Munjaz

Ascot (3.50) Brownsea Brink, Majestic Queen (each-way)

Today, the first set of twin brothers to represent Scotland at the same time could be set to pull on international jerseys together in the modern era.

Jedburgh’s Gregor and Lewis Young are both named in this weekend’s Scotland 7s squad to compete in the final leg of the 2013/14 HSBC Sevens World Series at Twickenham and though Gregor has already won five Series caps, this is the first time Lewis has been in contention.

As well as growing up through the Jed-Forest club, the Young twins also played together in this year’s HKFC Tens in Hong Kong for the Scottish Exiles.

What’s more, the Borders brothers have been playing against each other on the Kings of the Sevens circuit, Lewis for his home club and Gregor for Gala.

The closest twin brothers to date in representing Scotland were Jim and Finlay Calder. Jim won his last cap in 1985 and Finlay his first in 1986.

Lewis said: “I’m very excited to have the opportunity to win my first cap and what a place too: in front of 75,000 at Twickenham.

“It means a lot to me and my family, who are coming down to watch Gregor and I this weekend, to have the chance to play together. There are only a few who have the chance to represent their country alongside their brother.”

Scotland finished fourth in last weekend’s Emirates Airline Glasgow 7s and topped their group. They will look to back that performance up as they go head-to-head with France (10.28am), Portugal (1.34pm) and South Africa (5.22pm).

Gregor added: “It is very important for this team to go out and reinforce the performance of the squad last weekend. We must put in a solid showing and take the opportunity to prove we deserve selection as Stevie (Gemmell) finalises his Commonwealth Games selection.

“We have a good group. We have played all three of the teams this year and the last time we met each of them we have won. This gives the team confidence going into the weekend.

“Preparations have gone well this week and the team are looking sharp. It also means a lot to me to play with Lewis. We have played in the same teams since we started playing rugby and we work well together, so it’s an exciting opportunity.”

Scotland 7s squad to compete at the London 7s: Scott Riddell, Colin Shaw, Gregor Young, Michael Maltman, Struan Dewar, Jack Cuthbert (Edinburgh Rugby), Colin Gregor (captain), Scott Wight (Glasgow Warriors), Mark Robertson, Lewis Young, Andrew Turnbull and James Fleming.

The Selkirk-based Scottish H.A.R.T. charity found itself well and truly pampered when a student of Telford College in Edinburgh chose them as her favoured recipient of a special day in the education establishment’s calendar.

Selkirk resident Rebekah Turnbull, who is attending the college’s hairdressing and beauty department where she is a third-year student, has a placement once a week at Haircraft in the town’s High Street. It was there that she handed over a collection can containing £170.30 to Wilma Gunn MBE, founder and national chairman of Scottish H.A.R.T.

This was the amount Rebekah collected during her part in the annual Pampered Day where students are encouraged to support charities and also to have their clients who come to the college for the day to have their hair styled or their nails done, or facials and beauty treatments.

Within Sage Accounts there are several powerful tools for reporting and data interrogation.

The program itself comes with many reports for each module including detailed nominal activity, profit and loss and balance sheets, so looking at the standard reports should be your first port of call.

Sage Accounts also comes with a report design program as standard. This can be used to customise existing report templates.

This also enables you to edit invoice and statement layouts, add logos, boxes or additional data as required.

Reports can also be created from scratch, so you have a specific new report within the program. These can be customised, allowing grouping, filtering and totalling.

Batch reporting gives the facility to run a set of reports all together. Perhaps you always run the same set of reports at month end, these can be grouped and criteria specified for each one from one screen.

There is the facility to create favourites, similar to those you would find in an internet browser, so you can quickly find the report you need.

However, you may wish to work outside of Sage, and transfer data to a Microsoft product.

There are several ways of transferring data from Sage Accounts to a Microsoft program, for example Excel. If you are in a “grid” screen then an option exists to simply send the data exactly as it to Excel.

This does not allow any criteria change, so may require further manipulation in the spreadsheet.

Once enabled you will also find a new tab in Excel for Sage. This allows you to connect to your company data and gives access to data fields to build up your own spreadsheet, using Excel functionality.

Gail Kristiansen is a book keeping manager for Rennie Welch. For advice contact gail.kristiansen@renniewelch.co.uk or 01573 224931.

The Queen has appointed well-known history professor, Sir Hew Strachan, as the new Lord-Lieutenant of Tweeddale.

Sir Hew will succeed Captain Sir David Younger KCVO, who retires on 20 May 2014.

The Chichele Professor of the History of War, Sir Hew is a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and has served as a Deputy Lieutenant of Tweeddale since 2006.

He is also an accomplished author and historian, and currently serves on both the Prime Minister’s and Scottish Committees for the Commemoration of the First World War.

Sir Hew lives at the family farm of Glenhighton, near Broughton, in Tweeddale, and was Professor of Modern History at the University of Glasgow from 1992 to 2000.

He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Historical Society, and was knighted in the 2013 New Year Honours for his services to the Ministry of Defence.

Sir David, who was commissioned into the Argyll & Sutherland 
Highlanders in 1959 and was a co-founder of Broughton Brewery, has been Lord Lieutenant since 1994.

The Haining Charitable Trust (HCT) is setting up shop for the day at 1 Tower Street, Selkirk, on May 12, in a bid to update the local community on progress concerning the estate, and encouraging support and feedback, as well as stories about the Haining, from the people of the area.

For the HCT is embarking on a project to write up the history of the Haining and would like to hear from anyone who has a personal experience, whether it was a visit to the house, fishing on the loch, or working with any of the previous occupants.

The trust would also like to hear from anyone who was around at the time the house was occupied by the army that have some interesting stories to tell.

“We encourage everyone to come to the pop-up shop where you can find out about the progress being made, and to provide us with their own stories from living memory,” said Lawrence Robertson, a trustee of the estate.

Staff and volunteers at The Haining will be manning the shop. Any information gathered will be used to compile a collection of anecdotes, adding to the history of the house now being compiled for publication.

For more information visit www.thehaining.co.uk or email: carolbyers@thehaining.co.uk

Greenlaw goalscorers William Smillie and Dean Carruthers on their team’s Waddell Cup final triumph.

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Delighted Greenlaw manager Lawrie Dunn was full of praise for his team after their 4-1 victory over Gordon in the Waddell Cup final.

“Up until 75 minutes, Gordon were well in this game,” he said. “We were worried they were going to pull a goal back, but a bit of magic from Dean Carruthers and Chris Robertson, who I would say was man of the match, made it 3-1 and it was game over.

He added: “The key was that we defended well. We knew they were a bigger team than us, but we coped with it well.

“With players like Chris, Dean and William Smillie up front, we knew these boys would score goals. That’s what happened.”

May is a marvellous month ... the garden is blooming, plants are beginning to flower and show their true colours and it’s Chelsea Flower Show (May 20-24).

We may not all have award-winning gardens, but our outside space is beginning to come into its own again - to be enjoyed and experienced by friends and family.

Beds and borders are beginning to fill out and have definition again, and early colour comes from the popular pelargonium, commonly known as geranium. So long as they have a bit of sun, they can be grown pretty much anywhere, as pelargonium fan Baroness Floella Benjamin OBE says,

“When I see pelargonium my heart sings with joy. They are one of my favourite plants and they are such an easy patio plant to grow. They also look great in flower beds and window boxes and are very versatile.

“I particularly love the vibrant flower colours that look stunning against their dark green foliage. Their scents are irresistible and fill the air with hints of rose, lemon, mint, fruit, nut, and spice. When they are in full flower they are spectacular and amazingly beautiful. “Every year I can’t wait for summer to arrive when my patio is full of large tubs overflowing with dozens of pretty pelargoniums.”

Pelargoniums flower from spring right through to late autumn. If you protect them from frost during the winter months they will continue to thrive for many years. There are seven different types of pelargonium – Angel, Decorative, Ivy-Leaved, Regal, Species, Scented Leaf and Unique. They also come in different varieties such as upright, trailing, climbing, ivy-leaf, ‘balcon’, rosebud and dwarf.

Great to grow in pots – pelargoniums are very easy and simple to look after so ideal for novice gardeners. If you go down to your local garden centre or nursery they can give you planting tips as part of the nationwide ‘It Starts with a Pot’ campaign running through the Summer to encourage everyone to give gardening a go.

An exciting month

May is one of the most exciting months in the gardening year. Growth is well under way and watering and weeding are both key, as is sowing and planting out, depending on regional weather. It’s also the month to get back into the swing of mowing the lawn. Here are some top jobs for this month from the Royal Horticultural Society and National Garden Gift Vouchers ...

Top Tips

1. Watch out for late frosts and protect tender plants

2. Liquid feed containers every two to four weeks

3. Plant out summer bedding

4. Collect rainwater and look at ways to recycle water for irrigation

5. Regularly weed

6. Open greenhouse vents and doors on warm days

7. Mow lawns weekly

8. Sweet peas need training and tying in to their supports

9. Watch out for greenfly and black spot on roses

10. Plant hanging baskets

There is nothing worse for calves than an outbreak of diarrhoea, write SAC Consulting’s veterinary investigation officers at St Boswells.

The losses can be high and it is hard work to nurse affected calves back to health. Oral fluids will help many calves, but some can be so badly affected that they cannot stand and will die without treatment from your vet.

Diagnosing the cause of the diarrhoea is important as there are specific medicines for some of the causes and it helps in taking decisions on whether or not to use vaccines next year. But it is also important to remember that some of the infections can also cause disease in humans.

At our lab in St Boswells we found Cryptosporidiosis and rotavirus to be by far the most common infections identified in 52% and 34% of the cases respectively. Other causes were found, but much less frequently. All these agents attack the gut lining stopping nutrients being absorbed leading to diarrhoea, dehydration and sometimes death.

Ensuring that your calves are born into a clean environment and receive adequate colostrum will give them a good start in life and help to prevent them picking up these infections.

Think carefully before buying in calves as they are a potential source of infection and could be carrying disease such as Salmonella, Johne’s disease and BVD virus.

By following good management practices you can reduce the likelihood of a diarrhoea outbreak in your calves.

Speak to your vet about preventing losses from calf diarrhoea this year.

The new state-of-the-art sports facilities at Peebles High School have been opened to pupils and the public just 11 months after work started.

An indoor four-court games hall, general purpose hall, fitness suite, classroom and associated changing facilities have been created at the cost of £4.8million.

They are complemented by a new 2G synthetic sports pitch, sprint track and long jump track and pit.

The council spent £4.3m on the project, with sportscotland contributing £500,000.

Councillor Vicky Davidson, executive member for culture, sport, youth and communities, said: “Peebles and the surrounding areas will reap the benefits of this major investment in sport for years to come.

“These fantastic facilities are not only available to pupils during school hours but are already available for the wider community to enjoy in the evenings and at weekends.”

Councillor Sandy Aitchison, executive member for education, added: “Pupils have already started to use the new sports centre and the feedback so far has been very positive.

“We need to do all we can to help our young people, and by providing first-rate facilities like these, we can enhance the experiences offered to pupils in physical education and extra-curricular activities.”

Borders Sport and Leisure Trust (BSLT) will manage community use of the facility.

Ewan Jackson, chief executive of BSLT, said: “The new facility is perfect for hosting an extensive range of sports and activities that are suitable for all age groups, from inflatable fun, teen zone and gym sessions to football tournaments.

“We are looking forward to welcoming the wider community to the centre outwith school hours and are ready to take bookings now.”

Members of the public can book the new facilities by contacting the Gytes Leisure Centre on 01721 723688 or gytesdutymanager@bslt.org.uk.

The facilities were designed by the council’s in-house architects and were built by GRAHAM Construction, who started work in June last year.

An official opening c­eremony will take place on May 21.

Do you walk, cycle, horse-ride, canoe or own/manage land? If so, the Outdoor Access Team at Scottish Borders Council (SBC) would like to invite you to an open meeting being held by the Local Outdoor Access Forum on Tuesday, May 20.

The forum is an important guiding influence that helps the council to manage public outdoor access under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

The meeting is being held at Old Gala House in Galashiels from 6.30-8.30pm. Light refreshments will be available. More details at: outdooraccess@scotborders.gov.uk.