Well, Christmas has come and gone, and the wind has stayed. We are in for some stinking hot weather this weekend, which just happens to be the end of 2011. Christmas Day was fairly hot, but we managed. Laird Peter made some mulled wine which the family tasted at lunch and it rocked our socks somewhat. I managed to drop not only a jar of Cranberry Sauce on my sister's tiled floor, but a jar of Redcurrant jelly as well (one rolled out of the cooler bag after the other). Fortunately the apple sauce didn't follow. Lunch was lovely and we finished off with my elder sister's famous Christmas pudding.
It was fabulous to give and receive presents - including the ones from Santa - all the giggles and jokes and lovely surprise, all good for the soul. We watched several Christmas specials from the UK and that made us very sooky and keen to return. Scotland is high on the list, of course, particularly our little plot of land in Glencoe Wood.
And I must add, Happy New Year to all Lairds, Lords and Ladies, and the good folk at www.highlandtitles.com The picture at the top is from the Skye ferry. Nice and cold. Wish we were there.
Today is quite chilly. A bit unusual for this time of year. It is Australia, and it is summer. We've shared afternoon tea this afternoon with graduating students from our Skene Street Specialist School. Only another week after this one and it's Christmas! I've let myself get a bit wistful this afternoon, thinking of Christmas, and the one we had 2008/2009 in Cumbria. It was really chilly, and was fantastic. That led me to Scotland, and I've found pics from our time there. A few today of Lady C keeping warm in a variety of ways. Pictures tell stories.
Yesterday we had our brunch on our own for a change. Saturday mornings of late have been happy occasions with family, full of laughter and craziness. However, we don't mind being on our own either. The weather is still unseasonably cold, and we have the heater on! Time for a wee drink, we have decided. On Friday I was in Ballarat, and near the end of the day a work friend dragged me away from my computer, drove me to her home in the lovely forest, got changed into her carolling clothes and drove back into the centre of Ballarat for an hour of carol singing. Much nicer to stand listening to carollers in the sunshine, than hanging around work until time for the train home. We had enough time for coffee and cake before she drove me to the station. A lovely end to the week, so here's to the spirit of friendship, Anna. Christmas isn't far away now, and we had a small sense of that today when our mailman arrived at the front door with his little daughter. The sweet little girl handed over my parcel and asked could she pick a flower. Of course! She eventually chose a pale pink geranium to take home to her Mum. That's the best parcel delivery I've had yet! Now it's time for dinner.
I am still about. It's been busy with marking assignments (all of them long ones) and having a migraine that didn't want to go away. So here I am, hanging out for a cuppa, and it's cold and windy outside. You wouldn't think that it is the first day of summer... I now have a lovely little Christmas pack from www.highlandtitles.com for being an early bird blogger. The pack included a cool pen with 'Lady of Glencoe' inscribed in gold. There are other treasures too - a little Glencoe crest pin - very nice. My big news of the week is that I won $200 worth of fuel from a local raffle! Whoo-hoo! Fuel is so expensive, so this is very welcome. Thanks must go to Laird Peter for purchasing the winning ticket.
