Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Christmas song #20

A lovely start to the day. From the village the towers of the old cathedral are just visible in the distance. The farmers wife is happy. She's seen an egret wading in the fresh water pool down by the rock stack and is off to tell her husband and sons. 'Puppy' and her elder sister rush ahead. This is what passes for excitement in these northerly rural parts.


We pick up the Christmas door wreath from the florist . To say she is busy would be an understatement.


The two ceramic dogs are still sitting in the window of the art gallery waiting for new homes.


Chapel door is open.


We pop inside to enjoy the warmth. Is this the only church building in Scotland that's kept as warm as toast ? The organist is practising this :https://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/Music_P000_files/P173_Ber.htm which neither of us has heard before.

There are Christmas decorations but they're of the minimalist Presbyterian variety. 

A week ago we said there was plenty of time to get ready for Christmas. Now it's the 23rd. Where did the time go ? Why has the fridge shrunk in size ? Today Angus will drive off to get the Christmas Eve lobsters from Lob the fisherman. 'The Font' will be getting the wee house in town ready for Hogmanay visitors. The cleaning ladies came in yesterday but were surprised to find an  American professor and family were still there. They will be joining the crowds and flying back later today.


Christmas song #20 and what can best be described as a 'lovely' wrap around sound from Regensburg Cathedral :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaLdiWwIN0A&list=RDz5suXifRlVs&index=3

Intriguing discovery:https://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/surprising-demographics-physician-mortality

Proof that it does exist. Some Scandinavian humour. 'The Font' finds it side splittingly funny . Angus rather less so :https://youtu.be/OSacz4GHQjs

It's the time of the year when the 2026 entrants are being offered places .The Med School has rushed out a video suggesting they confirm their offers asap as demand is high. There are Scottish accents and then there are SCOTTISH accents. This lad is pure Morningside. When was the last time you heard the words 'dissection' and 'implore' being used in the same sentence ? The enthusiasm makes us smile  :https://youtu.be/4VuJywdNNYw?t=140

A cheery piece about good people :https://www.edwest.co.uk/p/running-towards-danger

A final letter :https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mary-queen-of-scots-wrote-this-letter-hours-before-she-was-executed-her-words-are-going-on-display-for-the-first-time-in-years-180987885/


5 comments:

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Perhaps the demographic interested in purchasing ceramic pups has been saturated... And I got a few warm smiles out of the young Nordic comic. I know folk from all the countries targeted in his set and think they would 'get it' too! YAM xx

Travel said...

Happy Christmas and thank you for taking us along this year.

Lisa in France said...

I finished wrapping packages yesterday, picked up my husband at the airport this morning and also took Charlie for a much needed bathing and clip (lots of rain and mud in southern France this week), so today, for the first time in a while, I was able to really relax and enjoy your post at leisure. And what a post! My mother was a florist, so I can relate to what might be a slightly forced smile in the second photo. Christmas is critical for florists, but also exhausting. (And then the funerals inevitably follow in January.) The poor dogs look rather forlorn, but hopefully someone may wander by in need of a last-minute gift? I enjoyed the Scandinavian standup - my Instagram feed is for some reason full of these rather mysterious (to me) comparisons. And then the brave man in Bondi - I've been trying to make sure everyone in my family has seen this video. I hope he is recovering well.

Stephanie said...

The link "Running Toward Danger" is excellent. The Babe in Bethlehem might also be described as one who came to run toward danger, as those bringing a message of love and reconciliation so often are.

Anonymous said...

I’m with “The Font” on the Scandinavian standup. Coming from a multi-lingual family, I get his humour about the intonation and inside jokes about different languages. I think he was hilarious.