Welcome to 2024! The 1st of January is just another date I know, but there is something about the first day of a new year that engenders a little feeling of hope and renewal. I had a lovely birthday yesterday. We went for a walk on Achnahaird Beach in the morning; the weather was absolutely beautiful. The sky was completely blue, which was very welcome after all of our recent rain, and it was very warm considering that it was the last day of the year. We met two Icelandic ponies who were out for a walk, they were both a beautiful auburn colour. All around us we could see the mountains of Assynt, dusted with snow. After a dinner of tasty fish suppers from Deli-ca-sea, we headed to the Village Hall for the Hogmanay Ceilidh. It already busy so it was “every man for himself” when it came to securing chairs, but we managed to get hold of four, which we arranged along a wall where we had a good view of the dancing. The ceilidh was great fun; most of the crowd had more enthusiasm than skill but there were enough people who knew what they were doing to help show the others the steps, as well as a pleasant compere who explained the dances. Strangely enough, the more drink was consumed the better the dancing became! James and I did a fair amount of dancing but not as much as the tireless Davie and Chanel who are very good dancers and also had the energy of youth on their side! They were even helping less experienced dancers to follow the steps. A piper heralded in the New Year and after the countdown we all sang Auld Lang Syne and danced some more.
This morning we had a leisurely start to the day before Chanel cooked us a delicious brunch of sausages, burgers, black pudding and scrambled eggs. James and I went for a walk around the village which was very quiet, but we found that the Caley Coffee Shop was open so we popped in there for a coffee. Later Chanel and Davie made a very lovely dinner of chicken parmigiana and aubergine parmigiana and we played the “Shakespeare Board Game” (a birthday present for me from Ally and Cat) It took a wee while to get used to the rules, but once we got going it was very enjoyable, set on a map of 16th century London with lots of Shakespeare quotes and references. At this point we should have gone to bed because it was quite late, but instead we watched the much maligned 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters, which I actually found to be very entertaining.
Here is my favourite quote,
Kevin: “Would it be okay if I bring my cat to work sometimes? He has major anxiety problems.”
Abby: “You know what? I would love to let your cat come here with you, but I have a pretty severe cat allergy.”
Kevin: “Oh, I don't have a cat. He's a dog. His name's Mike Hat.”
Yes I know, so silly, but it made me laugh a lot.
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