Christmas music #16

The final preparations for Christmas. Today we're expecting the farmers brother to deliver the Turkey and the fisherman to drop off the promised lobster and langoustines. 'The Fonts' desk top and laptop both gave up the ghost earlier in the week ( what are the chances of that ?)  A replacement desk top got here in 18 hours and the laptop in 24. That's pretty miraculous service at this time of the year. Today is also the day when the postman and the dustbin men get their Christmas boxes. We're not sure if this is still a Scottish tradition but we're old fashioned enough to stick with it. Anyone who's willing to come along our unpaved road in the winter is worth thanking. On our way out of the door we meet the farmers wife heading down to the shore.  'Puppy' was due at the vets today for 'that' operation. The vets down with a bad bout of Covid so the procedure has had to be postponed until after the New Year. Our young cleaning lady also has Covid so we're hoping this is just one of those pre-holiday 'blips'.

This is the third day in a row when Chinese visitors can be seen around the tourist sights. Perhaps the town has been featured on TikTok ? What else can explain the large number of Mandarin speakers wandering around at the crack of dawn...in December ? There again in this pre-Christmas lull even a couple of bus loads of tourists stands out.

Down by the harbour a group of a dozen Chinese ladies are watching a black Labrador playing with his frisbee on the beach. The ladies are all wearing identical clear plastic rain wear even though its not raining. This is not as odd as it sounds as wind is  blowing at a robust 70 miles per hour. The Chinese ladies seem unperturbed by the weather and clap every time the Labrador retrieves the frisbee. if I didn't know better I'd say the dog was showing off for his enthusiastic audience. 

 

At the pier the yellow mechanical digger is piling large pieces of stone into the gap created by the October storms. One man operates the digger. Two men watch him. This is an oversight to work ratio that seems to apply to all public works projects. It was as true in France and Italy as it is here. 

Christmas almost upon us. We pick up Brussel Spouts from the farm shop. 'Picked this very morning' says the lady behind the counter. The use of the word 'very ' in the sentence is strangely archaic.

We also pick up a couple of boxes of Clementines. Neither of us is that keen on Clementines but they are an integral part of a Scottish Christmas. Amid the darkness of the shortest day they're a reminder of sunshine and warmth.

Sung as it should be sung. Christmas music #17 from Germany :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra7FB0D1dTM

If I understand this correctly AI is pushing the boundaries of research into new or replacement antibiotics . Even if its only a first step that would be huge in addressing antibiotic resistance :https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06887-8

How long do chocolates last on a hospital ward ? :https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24333986/