Dry January

Dry January has begun. 'The Font' buys a bottle of ( alarmingly expensive ) alcohol free wine. The label promises tannic tones but one sip is enough to know that any claimed relationship with 'wine' is purely coincidental. Words cannot do justice to how truly foul it is. Grapes are clearly too sensitive to go through whatever process is required to take the alcohol out of them. I settle for sparkling apple juice mixed with Perrier. I can guarantee that after a few days the cheerful sweetness of this will become unappetizing.  Any ideas on an 'adult' alcohol free option gratefully received.

The radio this morning full of praise for the bravery and efficiency of the US armed forces in removing Venezuelas dictator. One commentator suggests that Cuba now faces an 'existential' moment as it gets all its oil from Caracas. The 'excitement' in the region may not be over yet. Another commentator makes the slightly delphic remark that with America controlling Venezuelas oil reserves Riyadh will need to find new ways to make itself indispensable.

Snow covering the hills on the Highland side of the bay. Here, on this Lowland side of the water there's been a few isolated flurries but they don't settle. This mornings waning moon shines through super chilled air . The forecast says it's -1 but unhelpfully adds that in the wind it feels like -9. 

Half an hour later and the sun is up and the squalls have moved out towards the open sea.

The retired nurse has taped a small bunch of lilies to the wooden post where the 'event' happened.

We think of keeping the decorations up until the 6th but opt to take them down early. The crib is packed into a wooden Chateau Ausone case that has been its home for forty years.

Sunday reading: 

Some of these new museums look stunning :https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/01/the-most-exciting-museum-openings-in-2026

January :https://romanticon.substack.com/p/happy-new-year

Nursing homes game the inspection system :https://nicholasdecker.substack.com/p/improving-nursing-homes-in-america

The things this generation of parents have to worry about :https://reason.com/2025/12/31/study-short-form-video-isnt-rotting-your-brain/

Permafrost hides all sorts of things :https://www.the-scientist.com/what-are-giant-viruses-and-are-they-dangerous-73880

Sudden and unexpected.

"We'll know more about the explosions in Venezuela tomorrow morning " says the news reader on the six am radio broadcast. The New Year is already fast looking like the old. Quite what happens to the 30,000 Cuban troops who have been guarding Maduro is left to consider another day. This writer got his (bullish ) views out early :https://substack.com/home/post/p-183340848  Let's hope he's right.

It's below freezing this morning. The local dogs are out on the beach modeling their Christmas outfits. Archie, the arthritic labrador, is not out. It's too cold for him and he's asleep at home in front of the AGA. His owner tells us this is the first day he's ever missed his morning walk.

The crows continue to congregate in huge numbers. Must be a thousand of them out in the potato fields today.

Yesterday, the gas cylinder runs out as the last of the blinis emerge from the oven. The replacement canister is empty. Three months ago the gas man replaced one of the empty bottles but forgot to replace the other. We give him a call and ask if he can come next week. He says that he'll happily tack us on to the end of his delivery schedule and come over in the afternoon . " It's quiet. I should be with you by five ". We are more than delighted when he shows up at six thirty.

An hour later two no nonsense Policemen show up at the gate. It seems the driver got to the main road and had a sudden and massive heart attack. A man out walking his spaniel found him slumped in the cab of his truck which had clipped a parked car and come to a halt by the 'T' junction. The retired nurse was soon on hand and used the defibrillator from the village hall but it was too late. We were the last people to see him alive. The Policemen ask if the man had been acting strangely. He hadn't. In fact he seemed the model of good health. Neither policeman seems to think this is an unusual occurrence. "Life is a fragile thing " says one with a sensitivity that you wouldn't expect from a bearded 6' 6" former professional rugby player. He adds ' we see it all the time '. 

This event casts a sad cloud over the start of the New Year. A bouquet of flowers already marks the spot on the grass verge where it happened.

The police were marvelous. Efficient and kind in a no nonsense way. Statements taken, traffic diverted, family informed and an ambulance despatched with a smooth  professionalism that reminds us how much of our day to day well being we owe to public servants. Theirs is another of those jobs I would not like to have.

Be cautious of self driving cars :https://strangecosmos.substack.com/p/self-driving-cars-arent-nearly-a

Not sure what this insight into the car industry says about the economy :https://www.carscoops.com/2026/01/car-inventory-surge-2024-2025-models-not-selling/

2025's best buildings :https://www.azuremagazine.com/article/15-projects-that-will-shape-architecture-in-2025/

Had never heard of exposomics :https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2535078122

Climate change reflected in insurance premiums :https://substack.com/home/post/p-183243295

The place to go if you're building a new ballroom :https://www.arcstonegranite.com/

Acts of congress.

The wee house in town is full of first footing neighbours. Some Scottish New Year traditions remain robust. Champagne and canapes are consumed at a healthy rate. One lady is ' keeping busy' by writing a thesis on the architecture of Roman Bologna. She is 82. Her husband has no interest in her studies but enjoys heading off in their little Citroen to Italy for four months of the year. They stay in a monastery which is cheap but not luxurious. The food there is good and the wine, he informs me, better. They take their own pillows as the Italian ones are too soft and give them a 'crick in the neck'. They do not consider themselves to be 'retired '.

All of our neighbours are at an age where they hold exceedingly strong  curmudgeonly views about everything. This ranges from home schooling to the state of the pavements. The recently retired Church of Scotland Minister is having a new flat roof kitchen extension built to the side of his house. He has, we all agree, a grand view over the cathedral from his kitchen sink. He's annoyed because the builders leave their ladders outside at night and students  ( being students ) can't resist climbing up an unattended ladder. " I don't mind them climbing onto the roof so much as the fact that they and their lassies are forever engaged in noisy acts of congress right outside my study ". He's reported this to the university authorities but they've told him that they're not sure what they can do . They suggest the builders put the ladders under lock and key . They also suggest he write his sermons somewhere else. 'The Font' wonders if some carefully positioned  planters with roses or yuccas might do the trick.

By four in the afternoon it's getting dark and the sports bar that has opened up in the old cinema is doing a roaring trade. French holidaymakers who have booked into hotels for three nights are now at the bored to distraction stage of their celebrations. They flock to the bright lights of this ESPN and beer on tap haven.  Messrs. Timberlake and Woods must be raking it in.

The weather on New Years Day has remained glorious. Last year there were gale force winds and torrential rain.

This year the sky has an almost Caribbean blue depth to it.

 The supermarkets are open and busy. The Tesco on the shopping street has the unusual reputation of being the most expensive in the whole of the UK.

Germany and fax machines :https://www.dw.com/en/germany-struggles-to-go-digital-stuck-in-analog-era-fax-machines-paperwork-bureaucracy/a-75206481

Dogs:https://www.sciencealert.com/we-may-be-misreading-our-dogs-emotions-in-surprising-ways

A florist in Sheffield has a great website :https://www.swallowsanddamsons.com/

This view of San Francisco was amusing :https://danwang.co/2025-letter/

A hearty welcome to 2026. It will amaze us !

You couldn't conjure up better New Years Day weather if you tried. The sky clear and the sunrise red and pink and golden all at one and the same time. The beach surprisingly busy with people walking off last nights festivities. The three surfer lads have returned. The light frost and 'cheeky' wind doesn't seem to bother them although they don't so much run as sprint across the sand. I wonder if they ever stop to think about life before neoprene ?

Back here in the village Puppy is up at first light to welcome in the New Year. She is full of energy. The farmers sons are nowhere to be seen.  They went on to a party in Crail after the villages White Heather Club gathering ended.

Best, good and every day sporrans were located. There was a moment mid-afternoon when thought was given to going into town to buy a new one. They were discovered in a drawer in the old dressing table in the garage. 'Someone' had put them there.  'The Font' thinks the best sporran is looking a bit moth eaten. It looks a little better after the silver tassels are polished.

The New Year speech of a brave man :https://x.com/United24media/status/2006485952995442929

2025 was a pretty good year :https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/eight-fascinating-scientific-discoveries-from-2025-that-could-lead-to-new-inventions-180987916/

More interesting things :https://zhengdongwang.com/2025/12/21/the-best-facts-i-heard-this-year.html

A realistic perspective on what's going right  ?:https://x.com/DKThomp/status/2006047834819219779

Have just ordered this. Am told it's well written :https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/bookreview/charles-sumner-conscience-of-a-nation

At the still point of the turning world.

Town is fast filling up. Down by the golf course we watch some visitors taking photos of other visitors taking pictures of themselves on the 18th tee. There are hundreds and hundreds of French tourists who have shown up for tonights festivities. They wear black city coats that are slightly too stylish for the Scottish seaside. The French have that ' what shall we do next ? ' air about them. By 10 am they'll have walked the beach, bought some tartan souvenirs, seen the town and be waiting for their hotel bar to open.

'Decadently' is doing a lot of work in this local hotels Reveillon advert. 'The Font' wonders if a 3 course celebratory dinner washed down with a single glass of champagne is truly 'decadent'. Maybe it's the 'indulgent surprises ' that push it into the realm of  unrestrained gratification.  For Valentines day 'decadent' will be replaced with 'romantic'. The menu will stay the same.

Dogs waiting impatiently outside the bookshop. I stop by to pick up two books - the Taubmanns new biography of McNamara and Gotham at War.

The kilt has been found as has the Sgian Dubh. The sporrans have been put away somewhere so obvious that we I can't now remember where. Two  searches have failed to find them. A third will soon start.

2025 is nearly done and so from all of us here at the last wee house before Denmark best wishes for a 'guid' New Year brimming over with health and happiness. May your 2026 be filled with hope and joy and all sort of unexpected good things that flow from them. May this be the year the madness of the powerful meets reality. May kindness flourish. For friends in less fortunate parts of the world the simplest but most heartfelt of prayers - May you have a year without fear. 

Here, sung as it should be, the song that will mark the arrival of the magic hour  :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMFnqj6aFwY  And for lovers of the song an Oregon version that , in its simplicity and diction , could almost be Scottish :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXNMKtzYrHs&list=RDsXNMKtzYrHs&start_radio=1

What doughty souls

The weather has turned colder and the wind has a distinct bite to it . That may explain why there's no sign of the surfers.

Two indomitable ladies are ignoring the weather and from the cliff top can be seen enjoying a lengthy post-swim chat on the small beach by the castle. What doughty souls.

This morning town is dreamily quiet. The Christmas visitors have gone and the Hogmanay revelers will only start to show up around lunchtime. Lob, the local fisherman, delivers lobster and shrimp ( and some lemon sole ) caught earlier this morning. How's that for fresh ? He tells us all the hotels are booked solid for the next three nights. This is good news for him ... and the price of his fish. In contrast with our provincial quiet big city Edinburgh is already well into Hogmanay season :https://youtu.be/UdX74xCpIRQ?t=46

The farmers artisinal Christmas decorations are still on display. They weren't a great success. The price point may have had something to do with it.

Preparations for the New Year now well underway. The shuttle from Edinburgh airport busy. Angus continues to believe a Grand Cru Chablis is the greatest bargain in the wine world but prices have climbed ( alarmingly )  over the last couple of years. There is the usual debate about who will want to drink a sturdy Bordeaux and who will want a lighter Burgundy.  The obvious solution is to take down plenty of each.

A well known modern composer is interviewed on the radio. He says this is the one piece of music he wishes he'd written. I'd never really listened to it before  :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gec7OUrj87M

Things to remind you that life progresses :https://www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/medical-breakthroughs-in-2025

These also make me feel good particularly the one about Virginians eating at least one hotdog a day :https://probablyinteresting.substack.com/p/52-things-i-learned-in-2025

Jeans :https://nymag.com/strategist/article/cheap-vs-expensive-jeans.html

The #1 song on the local radio at this time of the year. It made a great 80's beer advert :https://youtu.be/TX9h558Tz1E

The year is racing along .

The days are getting longer. Not long ago it was pitch dark by three thirty in the afternoon, now it's light until nearer to four. Such things are noted in these northerly parts. Soon the mornings will be bright enough for a walk on the beach by eight. The cheese monger continues to look festive and the little restaurant near the post office has taken delivery of some jolly  yellow pavement furniture. In the village the ladies are already  busy decorating the hall in readiness for the Hogmanay gathering.

With the students away evening events in the book store appeal to an older audience. Questions tend to be more academic and more direct.

I pick up Volker Ullrichs latest book. I've enjoyed, or at least been impressed by, his earlier works. He may be Germanys leading historian although there are other worthy contenders for the title.

The opening lines of the first chapter are a reminder of Mark Twains belief that history doesn't repeat itself but it does rhyme.

The wee house in town now ready for Hogmanay. Even the small ( and neglected ) ground floor bedroom has been made ready by the cleaning ladies. 'The Font' thinks it looks spartan but it's too late to do much about that now.  I shall go down later this morning and dead head the roses in the garden. I'll also take the leaf blower as the flower beds are looking a little wild. The year is suddenly racing towards Hogmanay. Later today I shall go in search of my sporran and sgian dhub.

It was only a matter of time before this song made its first appearance :https://youtu.be/CQxbWeJGoI0?list=RDCQxbWeJGoI0&t=128

A polite Scandinavian disagreement :https://www.sciencenorway.no/children-and-youth-vitamins/is-it-actually-dangerous-to-give-children-multivitamins/2590204

The head of the International Relations Department isn't pulling any punches :https://phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/weekend-update-165-why-the-pantomime

This is what Pluto looks like:https://x.com/konstructivizm/status/1578070981947658241

Better than the real John Lewis advert ? :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w97a6jUbbRw