We hope the festive season brought you together with friends and family, that Father Christmas (or whomever) was good to you in the gift department, and that you face the new year with hope, renewed optimism, and maybe even energetic enthusiasm. This will be the first year since moving to Comrie that we won't be joining our fellow villagers in the main square for the Flambeaux parade just before midnight on New Year's Eve. 
Instead of giving you photos from it this year, I'm providing you with a photo of my quilt, "Flambeaux," which was inspired by the flaming torches being carried to all corners of our village by strong--and sober--men. By the way, this is the quilt which has been in The Artery Gallery for the past 2 years but, sadly, hasn't sold. We collected it a few weeks ago and are enjoying having it in our dining room.
Of course there were festive occasions, parties, and dinners out during December. Earlier in the month, Don produced a most entertaining and well-received program at the St. Fillans Music Society's Christmas luncheon. We also had two Friends of Cognac events in early December: a reception in the Perth City Chambers by the Lord Provost given in honour of a visit from Cognac's mayor, M. Mouhot, and the annual Christmas Party, also attended by Mayor Mouhot and Annik Billaud from Cognac. What a great party it was too, including a riotous gift-giving session presided over by Father Christmas and his wife. We had a small dinner party mid-month to celebrate Channukah and introduce some locals to that observance, at least the gastronomic part of it. And there have been--and continue to be--other social gatherings around the general festive season.
We didn't decorate for Christmas until the 24th, but if you check out the blog from around that date, you'll see Kip in his Santa hat and beard with his little "family" under our wee living tree. We had a quiet and very pleasant Christmas, going to St. Fillans to have Christmas dinner with David and Juliet Sutcliffe. Juliet prepared a delicious meal which we enjoyed too much, of course. We did manage to waddle away from the table long enough to have our photo taken in our party hats (see blog for the 26th). Our big celebration was our 27th anniversary on the 28th of December. We went to the Deil's Cauldron Restaurant for a romantic meal.
Two major house-related accomplishments we must announce are that the last two items on our renovation "snag list" were completed this month: placing the vent cover on one of the new windows and putting insulation in our attic. Of course, timing is everything, isn't it? The joiners came the day after the flood in our back garden. When they went to get the rolls of insulation out of the garage, where they'd been stored for months and months, they discovered that water had leaked into the floor of the garage and had soaked the bottom of several rolls. Fortunately, they could cut off the wet part and install what was left, but we have a wee bit less insulation in the attic than was intended. They couldn't have come a week earlier? Ah well, at least the renovations are now complete! Then this morning, Archie McKee came by to drop off our new fencing materials. He says he'll be here next Wednesday morning to start work and that the new fence will be up by the time we get home from Ireland on the 8th of January. Hooray!
Tomorrow morning we leave for Prestwick Airport and our flight to Shannon Airport where we'll pick up a hired car and drive to the town of Dingle on Ireland's west coast. We'll join our friends Kay Mussell and Boris Weintraub for a week's self-catering in a 2-bedroom cottage. During the days we'll explore the area, perhaps do some walks if the weather cooperates. In the evenings, we will visit the nearby pub to enjoy traditional Irish music and the Guinness, of course. The owner of the pub also owns the cottage we'll be staying in, which is right behind the pub. Not a bad arrangement, eh?
Now you know why the Highland Line is a couple of days early. We will return late on the 8th and so it will be the 9th before the Highland Line returns. Once again, we wish you all a very happy and peaceful new year.
Love,
Lynn and Don
Instead of giving you photos from it this year, I'm providing you with a photo of my quilt, "Flambeaux," which was inspired by the flaming torches being carried to all corners of our village by strong--and sober--men. By the way, this is the quilt which has been in The Artery Gallery for the past 2 years but, sadly, hasn't sold. We collected it a few weeks ago and are enjoying having it in our dining room. December was an eventful month both activity-wise and weather-wise. On the weather front, we began the month with unseasonably warm weather, so much so that spring flowers had begun to bloom again. Then came the rain followed by more rain and then even more rain. The burns were in spate and the rivers became swollen and, in some places, moved right across the road. Then the rains stopped for a while and the waters receded. After another week or so, however, the rains returned and this time, it rained so hard and so long that the drains simply couldn't keep up. Low-lying gardens were standing in water.
Our house had water standing in front of our new entrance and all around the back of the house. The River Earn which flows through Comrie burst its banks just a bit on the other side of the river from us, but that was too close for comfort. (If you click on Older Posts at the foot of this page, you should be able to get back to the blogs for 14th and 15th December which have photos of the flooding. You may have to click Older Posts, scroll down and click it again to get back to the 14th.)
Once the rain stopped, the waters again receded fairly rapidly, but this time, we were left with a musty odor in the house. The locals call it a "fustiness." We are trying to solve the problem by turning the radiators up and keeping them on. That works out just fine because since the rains stopped, the weather turned colder and we have been having some hard frosts. The fusty odor is fading, but slowly. We seem to be ending the month and year with occasional rain but some sun as well. More troubling are the winds which gust to gale force at times.
Of course there were festive occasions, parties, and dinners out during December. Earlier in the month, Don produced a most entertaining and well-received program at the St. Fillans Music Society's Christmas luncheon. We also had two Friends of Cognac events in early December: a reception in the Perth City Chambers by the Lord Provost given in honour of a visit from Cognac's mayor, M. Mouhot, and the annual Christmas Party, also attended by Mayor Mouhot and Annik Billaud from Cognac. What a great party it was too, including a riotous gift-giving session presided over by Father Christmas and his wife. We had a small dinner party mid-month to celebrate Channukah and introduce some locals to that observance, at least the gastronomic part of it. And there have been--and continue to be--other social gatherings around the general festive season.
We didn't decorate for Christmas until the 24th, but if you check out the blog from around that date, you'll see Kip in his Santa hat and beard with his little "family" under our wee living tree. We had a quiet and very pleasant Christmas, going to St. Fillans to have Christmas dinner with David and Juliet Sutcliffe. Juliet prepared a delicious meal which we enjoyed too much, of course. We did manage to waddle away from the table long enough to have our photo taken in our party hats (see blog for the 26th). Our big celebration was our 27th anniversary on the 28th of December. We went to the Deil's Cauldron Restaurant for a romantic meal.
Two major house-related accomplishments we must announce are that the last two items on our renovation "snag list" were completed this month: placing the vent cover on one of the new windows and putting insulation in our attic. Of course, timing is everything, isn't it? The joiners came the day after the flood in our back garden. When they went to get the rolls of insulation out of the garage, where they'd been stored for months and months, they discovered that water had leaked into the floor of the garage and had soaked the bottom of several rolls. Fortunately, they could cut off the wet part and install what was left, but we have a wee bit less insulation in the attic than was intended. They couldn't have come a week earlier? Ah well, at least the renovations are now complete! Then this morning, Archie McKee came by to drop off our new fencing materials. He says he'll be here next Wednesday morning to start work and that the new fence will be up by the time we get home from Ireland on the 8th of January. Hooray!
Tomorrow morning we leave for Prestwick Airport and our flight to Shannon Airport where we'll pick up a hired car and drive to the town of Dingle on Ireland's west coast. We'll join our friends Kay Mussell and Boris Weintraub for a week's self-catering in a 2-bedroom cottage. During the days we'll explore the area, perhaps do some walks if the weather cooperates. In the evenings, we will visit the nearby pub to enjoy traditional Irish music and the Guinness, of course. The owner of the pub also owns the cottage we'll be staying in, which is right behind the pub. Not a bad arrangement, eh?
Now you know why the Highland Line is a couple of days early. We will return late on the 8th and so it will be the 9th before the Highland Line returns. Once again, we wish you all a very happy and peaceful new year.
Love,
Lynn and Don
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