Christmas

There has been so much going on around me in preparation for Christmas and I've been able to get involved in quite a bit too. The Scottish country dance class had a christmas party, with dancing, a buffet and secret Santa too. Everyone took some food and one gift and we all enjoyed a chat over delicious nibbles and received a lucky dip gift too. Lovely.

The rowers also took the skiff out on the Saturday before Christmas, as usual. We all wore Santa hats and enjoyed a very choppy row over to Bute for picnic tea and cakes and then battled the wind and the tide back home. We were very tired by the time we struggled to shore, including me being knocked off my bench by the waves taking hold of my oar, sweeping me backwards into the bottom of the boat and pinning me down. I had quite a good bruise on my bum to show for it where I landed on the wooden stretcher (foot rest).

Heather and Dave, next door, held a lovely gathering at their house with a nice group of friends. Dave prepared a wonderful selection of homemade food and Heather delighted us all with her sparkling hostess-ness and funny stories and we all had a very enjoyable evening.

I decided to go to the carol service at Colintraive church, which was lovely too. The singing was not strong, but there was a good number of carols to join in with. The Bute Ukes played us a few well known Christmas hits and we had the grandson of a local lady to play the organ. He is a student at a prestigious music school and also has an amazing singing voice. It was very briefly like watching a very young John sat there at the organ as Findlay had the same neat, dark, wavy hair and big NHS style glasses and slim figure. Several people I knew were there to chat to over cake and tea afterwards as well.

Then, after our annual Christmas quiz at work, which got quite competitive, I headeed south to spend a few days with my lovley daughters. Christmas eve was Polish Christmas, with Mat leading us through making pierogi and borscht, which were very tasty. We all went to midnight mass at St James (minus Hugo) and it was a lovely service. Christmas day was spent doing art and watching Watership Down whilst eating nothing but snacks. On Boxing day Amber created a spectacular Christmas dinner for us all despite having trouble fitting it all in the oven! This was Mat's first proper English Christmas so Amber had gone all out to do it well. Along with a roast chicken, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes and homemade Yorkshire puddings we also had roasted carrots and sprouts and homemade cauliflower cheese. We played a few board games and then we left Amber and Mat to pack their suitcases ready for flying out to Poland early the next morning. My last day in Leamington we drove further south to Amersham to see John's brother, Richard and Jenny, their eldest Tom, Dawn and two small children. We had a wonderful afternoon of warmth and generosity and immersion in the homely chaos of two small and lively children. We had a lovely time. The next morning I fed Amber's cats and then headed home feeling very blessed as having such an amazing family.

I don't normally see in the new year. The 1st January is much like the 31st December and I don't get excited about it. But this year was a real treat. I was invited to Dunans castle to celebrate. Charles and Sadie are such kind and warm hosts and their family is vivacious and exuberant, which made for a very entertaining night. There was ceilidh dancing, enthusiastic karaoke and plenty of nibbles and drinks to encourage participation. John was very much with me in many small details. I wore the same outfit I wore to his funeral (perverse but now it holds happier memories), and his watch, and the earrings he bought me a few years ago. Dunans castle is a beautiful, Scottish castle - a large, grand mansion house. Sadly it was burnt down 2001 before Charles and Sadie bought it. They plan to restore the main castle over the next ten years and are currently raising funds by allowing people to buy a plot of the land and selling gorgeous Dunans tartan clothing. The night was wild in the most joyous way, with everyone vying for control of the karaoke, chaotic ceilidh dancing and laughter and silliness. As we counted down to the bells I charged my glass with Champagne, which I first (and only) drank on the night John and I met. Only the lyrics of Auld Land Syne were a problem and I suddenly felt the tears welling up. Heather squeezed my hand and the reassurance was much apprecited. But it was a stark reminder that a whole year has passed since I lost my soulmate.

In the middle of all this I finally sold my soul to Elon Musk and had Starlink installed. What a game changer! I now have fast, reliable internet at last. And I even managed to get out of the £460 I was supposed to pay to EE to see out my contract. Very happy.

And to round off the New Year celebrations I ate breakfast sat on the back step listening to the birds and then went and joined the loony dookers at Kames beach for a quick dip at 1pm on New Year's day, followed by delicious free soup at Kames Hotel. It was gorgeous sunshine when I arrived at the beach but soon clouded over and began to spit with rain. We all charged into the water (about 40 of us), and then most people got straight out again - the water is probably about 8 degrees C right now. Once acclimatised I closed my eyes and bobbed around a bit until realizing there was only myself and one chap left in the water. I called over to him to ask who would be the last one standing. He said he could do 16 minutes, which I know I shouldn't at this time of year (after my near brush with hypothermia last year). So I conceded after five minutes and he got out just a few seconds later! By the time I was dressed ten minutes later the sun was shining again and the bliss set in. The soup was amazing and I enjoyed catching up with a friend from work who had just done her first ever dook and enjoyed it!

Thanks to Paul Paterson for the group dook photo - I'm somewhere on the far side of the crowd.