Damp, Dark December

We are most definitely in that time of year when getting anything done outside takes a monumental effort. We currently seem to be enduring a particularly protracted spell of wet and often windy weather. The heavy leaden cloud hides much of the little daylight we get, so this morning it was still fully dark when I set out to walk Cupar at ten to eight, and was still nearly as dark when we returned at about eight thirty. It was fully dark again this afternoon by four. It has rained or drizzled nearly all day. On the plus side, it is very mild - there's certainly no risk of frost, ice or snow!

Sue has been out at work during the days this week, and when she is home, she is writing Christmas letters to go with her cards to far away friends. As for me, I am at serious risk of running out of useful things to do indoors. I've done all the washing and ironing. I've cleaned bits of the kitchen that haven't been cleaned for a while. I've tweaked and updated our SkyeHolidays website, and now I'm writing a blog post. I would like to have the weather to get some jobs done on the allotment, but it is so wet over there that even when it is not raining or blowing a gale, the ground conditions are hardly conducive to digging the soil. As for going for a walk on the hills... not just now, thankyou!

But there is a bit of brightness ahead. This weekend I am visiting a new client in Inverness who has asked me to create a website for her B&B business, so working on that will keep me busy into next week, and then we have Rowan Cottage to get warmed up and ready for visitors who have booked it for a Christmas holiday. After that, we have our own Christmas to think about. For the very first time since we have been married, Sue and I are having Christmas alone together, so we have some of our own Christmas traditions to establish. It's quite exciting! I have rescued a small self-planted spruce tree from the side of a forest track, and have it planted in a tub ready for Sue's decorative magic, and we are talking about when in the big day we should open presents, have dinner, and so on. But it will be mostly a quiet day here

After Christmas, Sue heads off south to visit her family and friends, and then we will be into January and before we know it, we'll be back into turn-rounds, lawn mowing and laundry mountains again.