Christmas song #8

Gusting wind and torrential rain leave the town deserted. It's also cold. Far out to sea the sky has a deep blood red glow which doesn't auger well. There's a large fleet of idle golf trolleys lined up outside the starters hut. The locals for whom  sensible rainwear is a given now have the place to themselves. The hotels and restaurants are super quiet apart from a few parents here to pick up offspring that have finished their exams. You can see them at night peering at the gloom from brightly lit restaurant windows and wondering why their little angels chose to come here rather than Oxford. Next week the exodus of youngsters will become a flood. The cannier amongst them will have made seat reservations on the (super crowded) trains heading south.

With the arrival of winter the turf outside the golf club has four months to recuperate before next years golf addicts arrive. The grass already has a pristine look to it.

We head off to the fancy food shop. They have French and Venetian candles.

They also have exotic Christmas puddings. There was a time when 'The Font' made them but now we buy them. Some Christmas tasks are too labour intensive for a small kitchen.  This years pudding is coming from a restaurant we ate at in the Lake District a couple of months aga. A backup ( should the courier not arrive ) has been ordered from Bettys.

'The Font' is delighted to discover Italian Truffle Honey on the shelves.

Christmas song #8 . Three Tirolean men with golden walking sticks. One of them maintains a wry smile throughout which suggests he may have had a glass of schnapps beforehand :https://youtu.be/ClZmDIJ0u7Y?list=RDClZmDIJ0u7Y&t=2

This helps me understand what's going on in Venezuela better :https://fpif.org/the-geopolitics-of-trumps-venezuela-campaign/

Proof the vaccines were worth it :https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2842305

Mysteries:https://www.nasa.gov/missions/osiris-rex/sugars-gum-stardust-found-in-nasas-asteroid-bennu-samples/