Five Star Hotel

See extra for the larger structure. A log pile house being built this morning by the local environmental volunteers. It's very cold - snow on the Ochils - and there's a lot of storm debris to tidy up.

My trip to Edinburgh for lunch with friends is off. There are no trains running because lines have been damaged by the high winds. Luckily we can have lunch locally. It won't be Dishoom standard but the food will be fine and it's the company that counts.

To put a postponed lunch into perspective:

The pop up cafe/bar was destroyed by the storm. I went in this morning to commiserate. They're hoping the structure is salvageable but at the moment it's a pile of twisted and buckled struts.

My Saturday morning coffee zoom friend doubts she will get to Melbourne to meet her 18 month old granddaughter for the first time. Things had been looking hopeful, or at least possible, for a December trip. The Omicron variant is probably going to put paid to that. I feel so sad for her. If we didn't realise before what a global crisis means surely this must be it. While some countries have hoarded or even chucked away vaccines others have been left with scarce resources. For once the trainted-by-Cameron phrase, "we're all in this together" means what it says.

Stay safe everyone.