Café highlights: embracing grey hair

Our opening debate on the Culture Café this week was a bit close to home - when should women go grey and is it becoming more fashionable/acceptable to have silver hair? As a brunette of a certain age, I am a slave to the rhythm of the dyeing rota. Every two weeks (or is it ten days?) I spot the first ominous stalks of grey peaking through. They scream out of my dark barnet and cannot be ignored or else I risk looking like a skunk. I love it when it's coloured and under control again but it is a real tyranny. It's time consuming (you load it on for around 30/40 minutes looking for all the world like a cow has just defecated on your skull and then you have to rinse.. and rinse... and rinse....zzzzz... till the water runs clear.) Then there's the collateral damage to consider because white towels are a no-no. And, no matter how fastidious you think your dye application is, you will always find a stray darkish streak on your clothes, the floor/sink etc. Oh and I haven't even mentioned the cost of keeping your colour vibrant; it's almost a re-mortgage job every time I book to get it done professionally. That might explain why it's been a year since I last had my colour done at a salon. Sad but true, once you start fighting the ageing process, you have to keep up. Caryn Franklin the chic fashion commentator we had on the show is a great role model. Her hair is grey but only partially. She sports an artfully dramatic slash of grey at the front that looks as if it's been designed for maximum effect. I believe it's an entirely natural phenomenon - lucky woman.

Men have it so much easier - a fact acknowledged by our other greying guest, journalist Roddy Martine. Frankly grey for them equals distinguished. Bald? No problemo either- being a slap head is cool these days with many young guys opting for the "prisoner" buzz-cut look. In fact there are really only two ways a man can get his hair wrong: opting for the much derided mullet, or sporting a Barry Gibb/ Robbie Savage bouffant "do". Womankind has the rough end of the deal.. so for the time being, I'll continue to fight the grey encroachment every fortnight. It's turning into a bigger commitment than having a dog.

With that bitter thought at the back of my mind, I boarded a train bound for Inverness after Tuesday's show. Kitchen Café host Pennie Latin had the audacity to take time off so I was asked to stand in. This is a positive development because I am a greedy food obsessed soul (when I'm not dyeing my hair!) I hadn't been up to Inverness for ages so imagine my joy when I managed to combine catching up with an old friend and eating out in a wonderful riverside fish restaurant. One broken glass and a full stomach later, I trotted off to my hotel to engage in a battle with the alternately boiling/ freezing shower in my bijou bathroom before quite literally throwing in the towel. Next morning when I awoke, the sun was splitting the skies and I couldn't help but think that someone had been keeping Inverness a secret for too long! It is a truly beautiful place and I drank it all in on my short walk to the office. There's that sparkling jewel of a river, the surrounding countryside, the castle, a host of quirky restaurants (including a Jamaican establishment - Cool Runnings?) and the charity shop where I did a double take; sitting in the window, a green, severed T-Rex head. Sure makes a change from charging into Pacific Quay in the car and seeing everything as a grey blur. I'm definitely up for going back North - early November's my next scheduled date. I'll have just missed Halloween which is a pity. I know exactly where to lay hands on a decent dinosaur head.