ACHILTIBUIE JOURNEY

Iain drove up north to Achiltibuie, Wester Ross, with Alastair and Dawn. The MacLeods are from Achiltibuie and the youngsters wanted to visit the croft to see where Alastair's ancesters lived as well as visit the site of the smiddy where William MacLeod, Iain's grandfather, was the blacksmith.

They took lots of photos as the weather was particularly fine - clear and cold with frost, snow on the mountain tops and low cloud in the glens.

Buachaille Etive Mhor with Black Rock Cottage in the foreground, in Glencoe.

On the road to Ullapool is Loch Droma in the foreground with An Teallach, the mountain in the background.

Altandhu village, near Achiltibuie, in the foreground looking out to the Summer Isles.

Cloud over Loch Garry. The hills of Knoydart in the background.

DUNIRA CHRISTMAS - THE SETTING

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the wee ones waking up early and/or keeping folk awake half the night.

So it was with wee Alastair who kept chuntering in the night so that sleep for most of us was somewhat broken. Never mind! The only thing for it was to get him out of the house so people could get on with making breakfast and clearing up.

It was a cold morning dawn at 8:30 am and I pushed him in his pushchair out to greet the rising sun. The temperature was -0.5 degrees C.

An Alastiar-eye view east.

The road to the arboretum and the Hidden Garden.

Garden House in the morning light.

Early morning in The Sqaure.

The place is alive with numerous pheasants - male and female. Here are some feeding in the walled garden. A number of pheasant chicks were purchased with a view to future pheasant shoots. Either the birds have eluded the guns or the pheasant shoots never transpired ... there certainly are a lot of birds who have taken up residence!

DUNIRA CHRISTMAS - DRAMATIS PERSONAE

We all gathered from the airts and pairts at Dunira (Perthshire) for Christmas dinner on Christmas Day. Alastair and Dawn drove north early in the morning from where they had been staying at a hunting lodge B&B in the Lake District.

Mairi and John and wee Ish and wee Alasair set off from Glasgow; we set off from Helensburgh and collected Big Ish and Bruce in Stirling.

Duck (cooked by Iain) and Dumpling (cooked by me) for Dinner.

The Welcome Party was out for Alastair and Dawn's arrival! Iain played Alastair't tune that he wrote called Alastair Mhor.

Left to right: Mairi with Ish, Alastair and Dawn, Iseabail with wee Alastair in pushchair, Iain and Bruce. John was unloading the car.

Pressie Time

Wee Ishie and Mum. Ishie will be 2 years old next week (New Year's Eve).

Dawn and Alastair brought lots of fun things to the party. Here is a Rudolph Wannabe wearing her Oshkosk overalls!

CHRISTMAS FLIGHTS OF FANCY

Alastair and Dawn are winging their way across the North Pole today ... along with that big jolly fellow -getting ready to depart - with his sleigh full of toys and 8 reindeer!

And speaking of reindeer .....

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December. Female reindeer retain their antlers till after they give birth in the spring.

Therefore, according to EVERY historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, EVERY single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen, had to be a girl.

We should've known... ONLY women would be able to drag a fat-ass man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost!