Uisge-beatha: the water of life. Whisky is to Scotland what maple syrup is to Canada. Maybe even more so. When I first moved to Scotland I admit, I wasn't much of a whisky fan. But then, about 8 years ago I attended a malt whisky tasting at MacSorleys (RIP) organised by the Good Spirits Co. and I learned to appreciate whisky (and also got quite drunk, to be honest). Since then I've been to Islay twice now and have visited every distillery there bar one. If you're not really a whisky fan but think you might appreciate the odd dram now and then, I would highly recommend attending a tasting to learn a little bit about whisky and the different...
Today is Canada Day: a national holiday in Canada celebrating the union of various colonies into a single dominion. Canadians across the country celebrate in various forms: concerts, BBQs, fireworks and hanging out with friends and family. Modern Canada owes a lot to Scotland: Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A Macdonald was actually born in Glasgow (sadly what is thought to be his birthplace was torn down in September 2017 - although be sure to check out this 1967 clip of Sir John A's Great-Grandson returning to Glasgow to see his Great-Grandfather's birthplace ending up in a pub, of course) and many Scots contributed to the very foundations of Canada such as the railway, education, and banking. Scots also played an integral...
Since moving to Glasgow from Canada 12 years ago, we have lived all over Glasgow: from Maryhill to Hillhead to Govan to yes, even Finnieston; we lived in Finnieston before it was named the hippest place in Britain. When we lived in Finnieston there certainly wasn't anywhere near as many bars/ pubs/ restaurants/ shops as there is now. We liked living in the area because the rent was reasonable and it was halfway between the West end and city centre. Back then you had the option of The Big Slope for drinks and food, Fanny Trollopes and Mother India for a nice meal, The Grove and Ben Nevis for decent pubs and MacCallums for lovely fresh fish (now Wilson's Catch of the...
Lake and Loch? Lake & Loch? LAKE&LOCH? We are LAKE&LOCH. When we were setting up, we wanted a name that would evoke not only where we're from but who we are. Although I am Canadian, I have lived in Scotland for almost 12 years (!) and consider myself an honorary Glaswegian (hope that's ok). Initially, I came to Glasgow in 1999 as an exchange student at the University of Glasgow and like most people, fell almost immediately in love with the city and people. After completing my degree in Canada, I would often come back to visit and finally decided in 2006, to make the leap across the water. It was scary, sometimes isolating but often exhilarating. 10 years later...
We are officially open for trade! After many months of planning, designing and making, we have officially launched. It's been a long and mostly slow process of designing, sourcing and sample testing. Throughout the last few months I experienced crippling fear; a sequence of "What ifs..." rumbled through my head. 'What if this fails?" "What if I lose all my money?" "What if no one buys anything?" I seriously considered each question. I mean, whoever said that entrepreneurs must be crazy is onto something because faced with the reality that half (most?) businesses fail, I STILL had the notion to do it. Obviously I'm not a tech start-up and it's mostly myself - with a little help from my friends...
