Talk of the Town: Estate agents' prose is slippery and wet

You have your optimists, talking about the market "warming up" the "pent up" demand, and the visible "green shoots" of recovery.

Then there are the pessimists, fearful of a "double dip" recession and a "buyers' market".

So credit to Steven Currie and Richard Murray, joint directors of estate agent Murray & Currie, for saying things in a different way.

In their latest monthly newsletter, they believe the market will remain relatively static until at least 2014.

"Put it like this," they say. "A lot of water has to flow under the bridge until the soil can be reinvigorated and the crops can again start to flourish."

Quite.

Salmond digs Foulkes

ALEX Salmond never misses an opportunity to take a dig at Lothians Labour MSP George Foulkes.

At the weekend, the First Minister even managed to give the noble lord a mention in his keynote SNP conference speech.

Mr Salmond was quoting the findings of a BBC poll which found 42 per cent blamed Labour for the current economic situation while 39 per cent blamed the Con-Dem coalition.

He added: "A mere 13 per cent blamed us - and they were all Lord George Foulkes' relatives."

Council's pool resources

A money saving tip for the city council from one of our readers.

Following this year's Spring storms, the local authority is looking to spend 100,000 replacing sand that was washed away from the east end of Portobello beach.

One reader, a keen swimmer, suggests savings could be made by dredging the bottom of the small pool at Porty baths.

So much sand has accumulated there that it could save the council a few hundred quid if it simply scooped it out of the pool and chucked it back onto the beach instead.

Three men in a camper van

ATTENDING party conferences can prove an expensive business for delegates, but three cost-conscious Edinburgh councillors have managed to come up with a clever solution.

Scottish Nationalists Ronnie Cairns, Colin Keir and Tom Buchanan regularly take a camper van with them when they go to the SNP's gatherings around the country.

The intrepid trio's visit to last weekend's conference, which was held in Perth, was no exception.

A campsite on the edge of town and a short trip into the conference venue saves quite a bit compared to hotel or B&B prices.

We presume they try not to fall out over who was snoring.