Happy New Year!

Lang May Yer Lum Reek

The absolutely terrible...but only...picture we took on Hogmanay

We had a very traditional Hogmanay; the day was spent sweeping out the old, i.e. ensuring the house was spotless before the bells...'out with the old, in with the new' and 'start as you mean to go on' the old adages I remember hearing ever since I was but a wee lass.

Steak pie is the meal of choice on this night or the next; we prefer to have it on the 1st as a good start to the year soakin' up the hangover food more like and had a light supper before heading over to our friends Val and Ian's for a party and a late dinner. We brought shortbread as it has became the new year equivalent to 'black bun', the traditional offering...along with whisky or wine of course.

Having settled in really quite comfortably, we reluctantly had to shift ourselves to do a few rounds of houses before settling at another friend's house for the bells and to see in the new year. Every house we went to, kilts were in full flow and it was lovely to see the Englishmen who were visiting also donning the tartan and loving every minute of it.

The host Ken had to go and wait outside just before the bells so that he could 'first foot' ; first footing is the first foot in the house after midnight. To ensure good luck, the first foot should be a tall, dark (and preferably handsome) man. A blonde man meant trouble; in the days of the Vikings, a blond stranger arriving on your doorstep was no good thing! The first foot should bring a lump of coal or shortbread, salt, black bun and whisky or one of these things.

A hearty rendition of Auld Lang Syne was sung and haggis, neeps and tatties were put on for the late night snackers.

The kids were in their element, being allowed to stay up so late but by 12.30 I could see Fraser struggling to stay awake and so we bundled them up to walk home in the freezing weather; the streets were paved with ice and it was treacherous but also quite good fun with people calling out "Happy New Year!" as we passed them.

I had promised the kids anything they wanted for breakfast and when Brian tried to offer them a paltry bowl of cereal this morning, they retaliated; my morning was spent making pancakes with various fillings including chocolate chips, marshmallows, raisins and scooty cream! We always go for a big walk on New Years Day (Ne'er Day) and when our friends called about the trip to Mugdock, we just couldn't bring ourselves to hike in -7 degree weather so for the first time in a long time, we're staying in.

I hope you all have a wonderful new year and I wish you the very best to come.