Fungi and tree rings

Previous years would have seen us in Edinburgh for Hogmanay with Susan’s sister and all her family. For the past couple of New Years Eve’s we had a good meal at a Miller and Carter Steakhouse near Cramond and later a massive Chinese meal with a crowd of people, on to the Caledonian Hotel to watch the fireworks (via the Grosvenor Arms) then rounding off the evening with tea in the hotel lounge.

New Year’s Day would be another family day marked by a tremendous dinner of steak pie, neeps and tatties. And it’s what we’re having in Kent tonight! When we went up in September we procured a number of steak pies from the local butcher freezing them and keeping one for tonight.

We’re having it with spuds, neeps and cabbage from the allotment followed by cheese and biscuits. So although it won’t be the same as the gathering of the clan, it’ll be good as we can get.

We saw in the new year by the skin of our teeth, getting back from Doreen’s with minutes to spare in time to open a bottle of Prosecco to toast in 2021. We enjoyed watching the fireworks from Stirling on BBC Scotland and the whole show hosted by Susan Calman.

The evening was rounded off watching a Runrig concert from 1997, also from Stirling, which marked Donnie Munro’s farewell to the band. It was gone 3.00am when the light finally switched out.

Oh! I nearly forgot the first blip of my 9th year which was seen on our rather cold walk around the lanes after a very late brunch.

Happy New Year everyone.