Small plates.

We go to try a new 'small plates ' restaurant in town. It is very 'hip'  ...  by the standards of anywhere north of Edinburgh . Two stern young men in plaid shirts look at us from behind the bar as we enter. Angus says ' Good evening ' rather than 'Hi'. This marks us out as being less than cool.  

'The Font' orders a Negroni. Angus orders a Manhattan. We start off with caviar, whipped cream and waffles. A third, friendly,  young man in Chinese style black pyjamas ( the sort that were chic in LA hotels in the 90's )  appears, tells us the waffles are freshly made, and then pours maple syrup over everything. 'This will fire up your taste buds' he says. The combination is interesting but swamps the caviar.

After that we settle back to savour some cheese profiteroles and something green and trouty in wafer flutes. The decor has that neon lit 'we could be anywhere' vibe.  If you were blindfolded and  transported here you'd think you were in Denver on a quiet night.

The medieval view from the restaurant window , on a dark winters night, is great fun. Unsure of how many small plates to have we finish our drinks and then head off for a pizza. Small plates along with pretentious Tasting Menus are developments in the restaurant industry that leave us unimpressed. Sometimes you just want to go out, order something you want ( or recognize ) , have a couple of glasses of wine and then go home. We had no luck seeing the 'spectacular' northern lights. The moon shining off the sea and its  reflection  off the snow covered hills put paid to hopes of seeing anything . 

This morning the view from 'The Fonts' cabin is so so.

Then with a whoosh the sun pokes above the horizon and light fills the sky. We see two badgers drinking from the pond in the potato field. How cool is that ? In fact we've never seen two badgers together , let alone two drinking from a pond in a potato field. Until now I'd always thought badgers hibernated. 

It may be cold but life this far North has its own rewards ... and surprises . Two youngsters in a  Subaru with surf boards strapped to a roof rack arrive on the track outside. They're Americans and despite the early hour  talkative. He is exceedingly tall and thin and dressed in brown bib overalls and matching hat. She is small, dainty and very pretty. They both met here as students, returned to the States, got jobs, she got pregnant and they're now considering moving to Scotland to bring up their expected child. ' With what's going on we reckon it'd be a good place to be '. This is surprising because it's usually retirees who move here. I don't ask them the meaning of  'What's going on'.  It's best to let somethings be.  'Puppy' and her two sisters race along the lane to greet them ...noisily.  The youngsters leave us ( and their Subaru ) and wander hand in hand down to the shore. They're followed by three hyper active Jack Russells. I am left wondering why they could possibly be up and about so early ?

Time to think about ordering the smoked salmon for Christmas :https://hebrideansmokehouse.com/hebweb/webpage/109 . This year we've noticed that even the smallest stores have upped their web design.

And our last visit to the Scotties ... who all found good homes :https://www.facebook.com/standrewsharbour/