After yesterday’s sunshine, the weather got back to normal here in Cruden Bay. When I went out for a wee walk, the sea was pretty choppy, but there were a couple of seals swimming about (they were camera shy though).
Now we are going to head south so that we can celebrate Hogmanay in Bathgate.
Up at Neils house in the north east for a couple of days. We got up early this morning and headed off to Peterhead at the crack of dawn so that Neil and 15 others could run along the beach from Peterhead to Fraserburgh (16 miles). It was fridge-freezing, so I let them get on with it and just enjoyed the nice scenery and went for a walk along the beach to the harbour…
By this time I was absolutely freezing so I made it to the only cafe that was open and had a coffee and a large piece of toffee cream cake. I did think about saving a piece for Neil, but quickly reconsidered.
The sun was really out by this time and the walk back along the sea was nice, especially the sand and the big waves crashing on the rocks at the south side of the bay.
Neil done well to complete the race quickly, and after lunch we headed off to Slanes castle which was the insperation for Bram Stokers, Dracula.
Neil got his own back on me for eating all the Toffee cake. Not only did he make me wear an Aberdeen FC scarf, (see above for proof), but he also made me carry home the logs for the fire. Can’t complain as he’s making the dinner while I’m typing this… 
Today I went to the Pentland hills which are just south of Edinburgh and about 30 mins drive from my parents house. We parked the car at the Flotterstone Inn and walked up to Glencorse reservoir and then further up to Loganlea reservoir.
One of the great things about being out and about in Scotland is that if you don’t like the weather, you only need to wait 5 mins for it to change. Because the wind was so strong, the clouds and sky were constantly changing so it was a great place to take some pictures of the sunset…
Today was a bit cold and rainy so me and my Dad headed through to his place of work which is located on top of a hill overlooking Loch Lomond.
It was too misty to see much, but there was the usual menagerie of animals walking about…
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After we had finished up, we crossed over the hills to the Clyde estuary where we had to rescue a stranded seatrout that had somehow made it into a big tank. We caught the seatrout in a net and took it about a mile down the road before releasing it into one of the burns. While we were doing this we also got a Christmas gift of a couple of phesants which someone is going to need to get the feathers etc. off.
That someone is probably me.
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After that we met up with my Mum and Neil at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. We started off with a lunch which was mussel chowder and then enjoyed the collection which included artifacts from Egypt and China as well as a few from closer to home. I couldn’t take any pictures of the collection, so here is the lunch!
Back in Scotland for Christmas and we thought we would try and add a little festive cheer to the neighbourhood by wrapping one of the trees in the garden with lights.
Unfortunately, it was Muggins here who had to scale the lofty heights of the massive rowan tree in order to make sure that the lights could be seen from miles around. Surely a beacon of hope to those brave souls who pass-by in this icy weather.
As soon as it got dark, it was time for my Mum to lead the switch-on ceremony and the fantastic occasion was made even more fantastic thanks to the plentiful supply of whisky (purely to keep out the cold).
Enjoy this little video of the gala event and prepare to be astounded. (Those with sensitive eyes may wish to wear sunglasses).
I think the answer is to do something original, have great music and keep the whole thing under 30 seconds.
A bit like this…
Also, it helps to have three hands so that you can play the piano and eat a lollipop at the same time!
On Sunday, after the Glögg fest, we went to a Christmas market in Sigtuna which is reportedly Sweden’s oldest town.
Model not exact scale.
There was a lot of fun things to buy, but I can’t reveal what they were as some lucky souls might find that they get them as a gift from Santa next week…
It was completely Baltic!!! Or maybe Mälaren-tic…
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Got most of my Christmas shopping done today when I visited Täby Centrum.
Although Täby is just 12km north of us, the weather was completly different. As soon as we got out of the city everything was covered by a couple of inches of snow.
I made a snowball.
I throwed the snowball at Maria.
I missed.
Christmas shopping combines my hatred of enclosed spaces, loads of people and spending money . Actually it went quite well and then we came back and headed around to Barbara and Nikolas for a Glögg party!
Last night we went to our favourite restaurant, Hermans in Södermalm.
It was the first time we have been on a Wednesday when everything is totally vegan. It’s also the first time I have ever eaten vegan food and I have to say it was delicious. Would have been better with a big slice of cheese on the top though…
The menu was a buffet of…
Blomkåls- och rotfruktslåda med sojapaté och fröblandat täcke.
Bouillabaise gryta med fänkål, potatis, färsk tomat, arame alger, saffran och kikärtor.
Which in English translates to tasty
This evening I finished the course in Social Entrepreneurship I have been taking at the Stockholm School of Economics by giving a presentation on my project work. As soon as that was over, I crossed the town and went to the Royal College of Music for a Christmas concert by some of their students.
Just like the course I took, the concert was superb. Everybody was great but my favourite was a girl called Ida Lindberg. You can hear one of her songs that she played tonight called “Springs from fall” by clicking here.
