:: back in the real world ...

Holidays vanish like spit on a griddle, don't they?

However, there are lots of upcoming visits and fun times to keep life interesting. Andrew's coming down for a few days at the end of this week. We're having a night out with his cousin, Grace, so that should be fun, and we'll maybe catch a movie one night too.

Then next month, Faye passes through en route to New Zealand. Yes, I know it's a considerable detour -- especially since she's going right up to Inverness -- but she's leaving her car in Scotland. She'll be back in February.

She may get here in time to go with me to my next door neighbours' tenth wedding anniversary bash, a ceilidh in a local pub. My other next-door neighbour had a 50th birthday party on Friday but I was working. All her line-dancing pals were there, so I imagine there was some boot-scootin' going on!

I'm negotiating to get Christmas week off (we work statutory holidays: the only guaranteed day off is Christmas Eve, because we don't publish on Christmas Day) because I've been invited to the farm, hurrah. I haven't been there for Christmas for years. My visit was memorable for me because it was soooooo cold the windscreen washers froze up on the way back and I had to keep stopping to wash it. Every layby was full of other cars with frozen windscreen washers -- the roads are salted, so even though it was 15 below zero there was a constant spray of wet slush. Which dried white, due to the salt. My visit was memorable for my hosts because they got me to film their granddaughter opening her presents and I had the video recorder upside down the whole time.

So yes, I'm looking forward to that.

I've applied for some Hogmanay street party passes even though I won't have New Year's Eve off -- it's always nice to have the option.

Nothing much else to report. I'm well and so is Bertie. The weather's turning cold and wet, leaves are falling, Christmas decorations are appearing in the shops.