Day Twenty-Four: MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Picture One: Halfway round the windfarm this evening for our Christmas Eve walk!

Picture Two: Hoping to encourage the snow we were promised to fall!

Picture Three: Yes, this chap is made of pipecleaners, but he's lasted more than forty Christmases with us!

Picture Four: The reason for the season!

Picture Five: A rather unusual decoration, but it looks lovely when it's lit.

Picture Six: The crib is always doubly lovely on Christmas Eve.

Picture Seven: In the other room the presents are amassing.

Picture Eight: The roast beef in the oven ready for tomorrow's breakfast

Picture Nine: Holly butterflies climbing the lantern chain

Picture Ten: The Fimo crib set up. And yes, the star is hanging from a paperclip!

Picture Eleven: A little Nativity scene on a misty window

Picture Twelve: The glow from these lights is just amazing!

 

Picture Thirteen: The once-a-year weasel socks being worn by Chief Weasel

Picture Fourteen: Of course, it had to happen!

Picture Fifteen: Setting up the silhouette... It sort of worked!

Picture Sixteen: Walking away into the sunset!

Picture Seventeen: The view of the house at the start of the walk

Picture Eighteen: Ready, set, round the windfarm we go!

Picture Nineteen: The sun was setting by the time we reached the lochan

Picture Twenty: Where we stopped to sing "Silent Night"

Picture Twenty-One: A truly Christmassy sky

Picture Twenty-Two: The first mince pie of the day (there were more later!)

Picture Twenty-Three: We managed to have dinner at dinner time!

A first for Christmas Eve!

Picture Twenty-Four: Orlando sporting his Christmas finest!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Day Twenty-Three: Christmas Eve Eve

Picture One: We made a start on cleaning the windows. One of those jobs which we've been meaning to do all year, but the result was a very clear view of the bird feeding station!

Picture Two: Everyone queueing up for a Click and Collect at Tesco!

Picture Three: Playing Santa and going dropping off presents.

Picture Four: But we only needed a little bag instead of a sack!

Picture Five: A flying sleigh would have been useful to avoid these potholes though! 

Picture Six: Ginny with a very moody sky. 

Picture Seven: An even moodier sky as we headed towards Wick harbour.

Picture Eight: Thurso Christmas lights are beautiful! 

Picture Nine: I know you can't see it (!) but I promise there was a deer in this field just across from our house!

Picture Ten: The hall looks quite different when the door is open, though no less Christmassy!

Picture Eleven: We're no longer looking through a layer of green!

Picture Twelve: A perfect cross on the door. A bit weird as none of us made it!

Picture Thirteen: From this...

Picture Fourteen: ...To this!

(Moving) Picture Fifteen: Off they go to Bethlehem!

Picture Sixteen: It may look like an Ent, but it is in fact a nearly finished Advent Candle.

Picture Seventeen: Only 24 left to go...

Picture Eighteen: ...Until we reach the baby in the manger.

Picture Nineteen: The ham (cured by Clemency) for Christmas Breakfast is now boiled ready.

Picture Twenty: And the biscuits we baked a couple of days ago are already going down!

Picture Twenty-One: The Snowman is ready for its first musical outing in Stempster!

Picture Twenty-Two: We've had almost the entire Christmas story on the Advent Calendar.

Picture Twenty-Three: But this is the one thing which never tires!

Day Twenty-Two: A Full Day with Many Adventures

Picture One: Orlando was pretending to scuba dive with his stick today! 

Picture Two: Orlando and Ginny on the walk - with our house too!

Picture Three: Ginny paused to sing While Shepherds Watched to the sheep.

Picture Four: They were very interested!

Picture Five: Orlando was very excited to find his toy basket!

Picture Six: Driving through Thurso as it was getting dark was very Christmassy!

Picture Seven: Railway Stations are always very excitig at this time of year - lots of people coming home for Christmas!

Picture Eight: The long road home!

Picture Nine: Heading out in the dark to fetch fish and chips!

Picture Ten: A zoomed in (so fuzzy!) view of a beautiful house!

Picture Eleven: The first Irish Coffee of the year! Mmmm....

Picture Twelve: Puppy cuddles!

Picture Thirteen: The Fimo crib made its way upstairs!

Picture Fourteen: A pile of presents, ready for the big day.

Picture Fifteen: The kitchen fireplace all bedecked.

Picture Sixteen: The greenery is still hanging on, turning the house into a castle!

Picture Seventeen: Still enjoying the reflections in the conservatory...

Picture Eighteen: ...even found some in the ceiling, like a newly discovered constellation...

Picture Nineteen: ...But it doesn't compare to the real thing!

Picture Twenty: The kitchen door looking very exciting and inviting!

Picture Twenty-One: 🎶Just before the dawn, at the paling of the sky 🎶

Picture Twenty-Two: The welcoming decorations in the hall.