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Hello folks and Happy New Year to you!

I'm delighted to be guest blogger this week, 2009 is a big year for us here in Scotland.

The Scottish Government have named it '' and it's basically a year to celebrate Scotland's contributions to the world.

Wwhy 2009? Well because it's the 250th anniversary of ' birth.

As well as Burns we're also celebrating our love of golf, whisky, great minds and innovations, culture and heritage.

So, a lot of celebrating going on!

But we're not just sitting around patting ourselves on the back, there is a humungous programme of events planned to attract visitors to Scotland, especially those who have ancestral links, and also to encourage us Scots to get out and about, holiday near to home and be proud of our roots.

So, Burns is very much on my mind and in the Scottish media at the moment - he's even on our milk cartons!

My contribution to the homecoming year is an album of Burns material for release later in 2009, particularly including some of the material he wrote while living in Dumfries and Galloway.

I grew up just 10 miles from where Burns had a farm so it's easy to feel a connection with his music, although I've not always appreciated his work - at school we tended to get a bit too much of Rab!

However, I'm pleased to say I now see his songs with renewed enthusiasm.

Hopefully by the time the album is ready we won't all have sickened ourselves of haggis and emigrated to Australia!