Cultivating something precious for the kingdom takes time and patience—but it's worth it!

Meet Linda Villanueva, the first missionary sent out from the rural area of Talamanca, Costa Rica.

A glance through Jamie Genevieve's social media pages and a fairly intimidating impression emerges.

To try and make life a little easier for you when trying to navigate the minefield of skincare, we’ve compiled a list of some of the companies out there making an effort to have cruelty-free products.

SPENDING less on skin care products can be tempting. Aren’t all the products the same? Don’t they all just use the same ingredients? You’re basically just paying for the brand name, right? It’s far too easy to fall into this trap – the trap which leads us to try and convince ourselves that the dollar store brand stuff is just as good as high-end beauty products.

Choose a fragrant gift for your gardening mum, whether it's plants, flowers or botanicals. Hannah Stephenson sniffs out 10 ideas.

Prudence Wade chats to self-confessed 'skincare junkie' Dominic Skinner, one of MAC's top make-up artists.

Give your skin a tasty treat and cook up your own beauty recipes, says Sandra Dick

NICOLA Sturgeon hopes to reopen IVF clinics “as quickly as possible” to stop the closure having a “devastating” impact on families’ lives during the pandemic.

SCOTLAND is struggling to meet its targets for new affordable homes despite government funding.

The flow of homes coming on to the UK market is at its weakest level in three years as "endless wrangling about Brexit" continues, according to surveyors.

Farmfoods, a Scottish family business, has served the nation for over 60 years - and has never faltered in selling the finest farm  produce the country has to offer.

Having car insurance is a legal requirement for motorists, but whether it’s valid or not depends on how accurate the current information your insurance company holds is.

SCOTS have been urged to give up smoking and cut down their alcohol consumption in a bid to reduce “complications linked to conroavirus”.

THAT potato paratha then, being freshly made as I stand by idly at the counter, spring rain pouring from those raised shutters above and streaming onto open decking right behind. It would be miserable waiting for it out here were it not for the following.

I’ve been longing to eat Korean food ever since seeing Bong Joon-Ho’s phenomenal Oscar-winning film, Parasite, his interrogation of class and wealth on the plate. The wealthy mother tells her housekeeper to prepare jjapaguri, essentially an everyday dish, commonly made with two sorts of instant noodles. What makes this one exclusive and upper class is its topping of steak, from indigenous, highly prized Hanwoo cattle, which is way more expensive than Waygu beef would be here. Only the Korean

Dandelion Cafe

MY mother was known for her pizza but they were never round, not when we were growing up anyway. She would pull them from the ancient coal-fired cast iron range in the living room on long blackened oblong trays, the dough she had spent the day making puffed and undulating but always thin and super chewy.

This typical dish from Puglia, the region in the south east of Italy where you see the beautiful white trulli houses in the holiday brochures, is one of our customers’ favourite dishes from the menu in our Valvona & Crolla Caffè Bar in Edinburgh.

LEARNING from the hands of her grandmother in Italy, it was perhaps always going to be Giovanna Eusebi's destiny that she would go on to create culinary masterpieces of her own one day.

MARC Mazoyer is getting ready for the week ahead. He’s made soup, and a loaf of bread, and roasted a chicken and he’s thinking about what he’ll do with the food over the next few days. Some of the chicken can go into a dahl, and maybe a risotto, and he might make some quesadillas with it too. And the leftovers can go into a caesar salad. This is how Marc keeps physically well. But it’s how he keeps mentally well too.

During lockdown I’m less busy than normal so I have started making marmalade. It’s a lot of fun. Choose small oranges, lemons, grapefruit, limes…whatever you find. The rule of thumb is to use the same quantity of fruit to granulated sugar.

Big Zuu is headed back out on tour - but not as we know it.

Some things just instinctively go together, brandy and a good cigar, vintage port and blue cheese, then there's Chardonnay and oak barrels!

Soda bread is a quick and simple treat to make. I think most of you will have all of these ingredients in your cupboards right now. Soda bread is traditionally made with bicarbonate soda instead of yeast. Here I have added honey and oats for a slight flavour difference.

Anna and Sarah knock boldly on brothel doors in Central Europe, requesting permission to speak to the ladies inside.

"In order to fulfil our mandate, there are several needs we must invest in," says Stephan Bauer.

When it comes to reaching the least-reached, OM workers are using new technology to make ministry more effective—one byte at a time.

OM is known for action, not reflection; for pioneering, not reminiscing. Still, we are wise to celebrate milestones and learn from our past, whatever will serve us well for today and tomorrow.

OM Director's Update from Lawrence Tong, International Director

"Do we sometimes feel uneasy that our business-as-mission and vocation models are so dependent on the very people that we are trying to reach? Does this make us feel powerless and needy?" asks Seang Pin.

"Indeed, the Christ-like patience which the church fathers extolled is much deeper than waiting quietly for a bus," says Arley. "Rather, it is a sacrificial and enduring compassion for others, which our Lord embodied in His life and ultimately on the cross."

Inspired by the Good Shepherd who leaves the flock to look for the one, workers publish the Truth in Nivkh dialects though the people group is small.

OM Director's Update from Lawrence Tong

Small outreach teams will share the life-changing message of the gospel with hundreds of women in brothels and on the street this Easter.

“Enough is enough,” said one Edinburgh resident, about the scene of desolation in Princes Street Gardens. Following this year’s bigger-than-ever Christmas Market and Hogmanay celebrations, the mudbath left after the festive village was dismantled is disgraceful. I’m tempted to say it looks as if a herd of belted galloways has run amok, but that would be unfair. Cattle don’t make half as much midden as the city’s annual cash-cow.

On the potholed drive home from the pub the other night, a creature ran into the beam of our lights. Long, low and lean, for a moment it looked like an otter. One has occasionally been sighted in our village, though like Loch Ness’s fabled monster this is a source of some dispute. But in another second it was clear that this beast was not from the riverbank but the woods.

I dimly remember a time when the subject of keeping a house warm would have left me cold. In a previous existence, my brother-in law would visit in the depths of winter and complain about how chilly the place was. The problem was not our thermostat, however, but that he chose to sit in a bay window overlooking the Firth of Forth, through which the wind would find him in his short-sleeved shirt.

A young American dressed for the hills wandered past our cottage last week with the air of someone lost. Alan who, since we moved here, has found his calling as a human Google map, asked if she was looking for something. “Yeah,” she said, “a Diet Coke.” He told her that, despite our community’s many attractions, a shop wasn’t one of them. Pointing her in the other direction, towards a village two miles away, he said she’d find what she needed there.

There was a time when I would sit up late in bed, reading novels. As a reviewer, this was often for work, but that didn’t diminish the pleasure of ending the day in another world. Of late, however, I’ve hurried through ordinary books the way you rush the main course in expectation of pudding. The reason? I’ve discovered the joy of gardening catalogues, and of roses in particular. As a result, my evening ritual is extended to include a last look at roses that ramble over walls, or join hand

When I first moved to the country, I anticipated taking long sturdy walks every few days, filling my lungs with fresh air, and gradually – proudly – achieving the weathered complexion of a Norwegian fisherman. Such is the variation in outdoor complexions in rural parts, Farrow & Ball could start a new range: shepherd’s sunburn, builder’s brick red, farmer’s frozen snout.

One of the loveliest towns in Italy is the walled city of San Gimignano, an hour’s drive from Florence. When I first visited it was bleak midwinter and all but a few shops and cafes were shuttered against the sleet. Its claim to fame is a profusion of medieval towers, hence its hyperbolic label as the Manhattan of Tuscany. When I arrived these fortresses soared overhead, making shadowy streets even darker.

In search of peanuts for the birds, I stumbled across an agricultural shop in a nearby village. From the outside it was unspectacular, but opening the door was like stepping into an episode of The Archers. They did indeed have peanuts, in sacks the size of whisky barrels. I wouldn’t have been able to drag one as far as the till, and I wondered if other weaklings had ever secretly slashed them open and let nuts pour into their pockets, gloves and wellie boots, before staggering out like overstu

There is little to like about the present predicament, but one thing I don’t miss is checking my diary every evening for a reminder of what tomorrow will bring. Our social life is not what you’d call a whirl, so usually memory can be relied on for the occasional gatherings. Here in Hoolet, socialising is often impromptu, a random encounter leading to a casual evening drink a few hours later, or a last-minute supper in a kitchen, so soon after the invite that nobody could possibly forget.

Sunday, April 19, 2020.

Strimmers, bonfires and netting are among garden hazards that can harm hedgehogs, so take precautions during Hedgehog Awareness Week and beyond.

Are you frightened of your garden? Terrified of killing your plants and overwhelmed by the sheer choice of species?

If you're yearning for all the gardening shows that have been cancelled, you can still be inspired by exploring gorgeous virtual gardens now and throughout the summer, from the comfort of your armchair.

During the present crisis, many more of us are turning to Grow Your Own. This lets us enjoy much fresher and tastier veg than from a weekly shop, especially if that languishes in the fridge for days. And we won’t be relying on imports that could become less accessible.

Inverness Botanic Gardens