James makes elderberry wine

Antoine will be leaving us tomorrow to return home to France. I think ten days is too long for a family to host an exchange student, which of course is not his fault. He is such a nice chap and has tried really hard to be helpful, and I hope that he has had a good time. We have done our best to entertain him, and David deserves a medal for his hosting skills, Ally and Jamie have been helpful too. I think he has enjoyed his two football matches and his go-karting, and he and David have also been to two parties with their schoolfriends. And he has had lots of activities and visits with the school during the days. We have given him some goodbye presents; whisky for his Dad, tins of haggis and a box of shortbread for his Mum, tablet for his brother and a SPL magazine and stickers for Antoine. Tomorrow David and I will be taking him over to school at 6.45 a.m. for his bus back to Edinburgh Airport, then we are going for a wee breakfast at McDonalds, just the two of us. I don't like McDonalds except for their pancake breakfasts, so that's what I shall have. James is busy in the utility room cleaning used wine bottles so that he can fill them with the elderberry wine that has been fermenting since last autumn, or should I say festering. He made it from elderberries that he and the boys picked in my Mum's garden and used his Dad's old wine making equipment; it promises to be an evil brew. I dare say we shall be trying it out on some unsuspecting friends on Saturday night heh heh!