Sophie and her companion have a tour of the village, climb up the hill and then detour to the waterfall for a lengthy drink and a chance to practise some inept minnow fishing. Then it's home for a napette, in the sun, in front of The Rickety Old Farmhouse. Being a Calvinist Angus knows that this balmy New Years weather is too good to be true. Punishment will surely arrive with a snow bearing isobar that links us directly to the North Pole.
Today is a day for taking down the decorations. It only seems like yesterday they went up.
Last night we had dinner in the Hammer House of Horrors dining room. The end of this Christmas seasons entertaining. Naked flames and fraying and inflammable wall coverings always make meal times in the old dining room 'interesting'. Tonight we can get back to eating in the non-combustible safety of the downstairs kitchen. Sophie loves having dinner in the dining room. 'The Font' thinks this is because she finds it warm and comforting. Angus thinks it more likely that two centuries of farmhouse dog odour have etched themselves into the floor tiles. It is just as likely she can hear the mice scurrying away in the attic.
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My theory: Sophie has worked out that the House of Horrors dining room is only used for special occasions, and special occasions mean special food, and the possibility of richer pickings in the kitchen before and after.
Cheers! Gail (currently wondering if it's wise to attempt to drive back to Aberdeen from Torridon this morning, as Bertie just comes back into the kitchen with his back and head covered in hail stones, and blizzards in the forecast...)
Sophie, not being a Calvinist, will no doubt be just as happy in the snow as in the sun (the wonderful video you linked yesterday was a good reminder of this general canine principle). The setting for your Christmas tree is quite perfect - we shall look forward to its return, along with the creche (our own creche stayed unpacked this year, after Charlie made off with a lamb last year).
That snow-bearing isobar has now arrived over Speyside - snowing heavily in the morning twilight (8.43 am) as I write. Memories of my father having to cut balls of ice off the hair on our Springer's paws after a day's shooting at this time of year.
That does look such an elegant place to dine. Though perhaps the kitchen is cosier, and more likely to provide some choice titbits that have miraculously escaped 'The Font's? attention!
Cold here this morning and each night we seem to be getting a heavy dew - it's not rain, but visible in the air. Clammy would be a good description. Later we'll get drive down to one of the beaches and take a walk along the promenade - once the sun has warmed the air.
Throughout the pandemic, UK supermarkets have done a marvellous job with food deliveries. Here, the moment we went into first lockdown last year, all home deliveries ceased. This meant that many of us had to brave the crowds to shop for ourselves, including people over the age of 60, who were not supposed to leave their homes. They still don't deliver, although later last year some take-aways and restaurants started to offer a home delivery service. No idea what the latest Omicron restrictions are here - they seem to change daily.
Isn't this the dining room that not so long ago the decorators repapered, with much time and effort (or at least much time)?
Indeed, we are in for different, more seasonally appropriate weather, arriving from Scandinavia. Already, the wind has really picked up. But here on the plain, it's unlikely to snow.
As for Covid, This Is Glamorous (probably not on your reading list, but on the intellectual side for a fashion blog) wrote about having caught it on a trip to London, despite being fully vaccinated, and how a "mild" case was miserable all the same. The only people I know here who have caught it are an unvaccinated family on the young side; otherwise my friends are retired and playing it VERY safe, going nowhere and seeing nobody. Tonight's "Swan Lake" has been rescheduled for the third time in two years, now planned for December 2022. Probably a good idea, but kind of disappointing all the same.
We too are playing it very safe. Our interactions with fellow humans for the next month are going to be restricted to the click and collect folk and possibly the faces behind the drive thru bakers window. A friend, my age, says he was surprised how tired he was - it was something out of the ordinary and he lost sleep worrying if the symptoms were going to get any worse.
Not having home deliveries in London would be a nightmare. Here, click and collect seems to work well although they've tightened up the system so that you stay in your car until the bags are dumped in the boot by the staff.
The layer on layer of cloud that settles over Scotland in January is something we don't miss.
Probably best to wait until the afternoon ( and warmer weather ?) before heading off in a car across the hills . You may be right about Sophie's dining room logic.
As a Calvinist Angus knows that Sophie will thrive on long , leisurely walks in frigid, sleety conditions. She will enjoy them rather more than he will.
A nice warm spot in the sun, wise girl!
So, have you heard what vitamins are helping? I did try to research on Google, no results. We went to the grocer's yesterday. Lots of empty shelves; few fresh veggies, etc. Prices really high. Waiting to see if my surgeon will see me in a week or if all eye surgeries will be set aside for a few months. Be well, friends.
Vitamin D, frequently, is the absolute key. I'll collate the lists and put them up soon.
Thanks so much! I think word of mouth is the best way to get info when there is so much word fog. Everything I saw said that there wasn't a study that confirmed anything. We generally do not get enough time between new variants to think, let alone learn. :-)
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