Civilisation!

Having been so remiss in keeping the blog up to date it is difficult to know quite where to start. The weeks between the last entry and Christmas passed in a whirl of activity so I think I will have to update in instalments!!
We had a lovely trip South and enjoyed time with the Oxford and Winchester branches of the family while Sarah and Joe held the fort here. We had our first snowfall during the previous week and so the snow plough was put to the test - and failed! Subsequent trips back to the workshop have left it useable but with some problems ie it can't be fixed in the 'up' position and so when reversing it has to be held up manually otherwise the snow is scraped back onto the part that has just been cleared. At least we can get the drive clear tho' and that has made a huge difference and was really important as we were still needing to get vans up and down the drive for the workmen, let alone our calor delivery.
That week-end was the first one where the central belt of Scotland became gridlocked by the weather and as we drove back we became stuck at Edinburgh at nine o'clock at night, when finally the last road into the highland was closed. Fortunately we were able to book into a travelodge for the night and fared much better than the 700 people who were put up in halls in Perth and the hundreds who spent the night in their cars on the motorway.

We were in constant communication with Mum and Dad as Sarah and Joe had left to travel South (and also had a very tedious journey) and were grateful that our plumber was on site when the decorator said that he thought there might be something wrong as steam was coming up through the floorboards!! It turned out to be a joint weakened by the radiator being taken on and off several times rather than a burst pipe but it sounded very dramatic when recounted to us.
Once back, the house began to resemble the set of a programme such a '60 minute makeover' with contractors of every description working to deadlines - with the family all arriving for Christmas we had no leeway at all. Two weeks before Christmas the living room was still piled high with boxes and covered in a thick layer of dust and grit from the removal of the fire,(which was successful and we are enjoying the woodburning stove immensely), the two shower rooms were unusable and we were still camped out in Sarah and Joes spare room with our spare room still full of furniture.. We finally moved back into our bedroom the week before Christmas and although for some reason our shower only pumps out tepid water and the underfloor heating isn't connected everything else was able to be put back in its rightful place just in time enabling us to accomodate thirteen people over the Christmas/New Year week.
In the middle of this of course the turkeys were still needing to be fed and the snow meant that the tups, who shared the paddock became very hungry as they couldn't get to any grass. Feeding the turkeys became an exercise in ingenuity as the tups followed us and pushed their way into the feeding troughs. In the end we had to feed the turkeys in the enclosure morning and evening to keep the tups away but one day they manged to knock the top off the metal trough that we kept the feed in and demolished two sacks of feed which diminished the profit margin considerably! Eventually the turkeys had to be slaughtered and they went for their final journey in the back of Petes van in the middle of December. The abbatoir were very impressed with the condition and size of them - all over 20lb and they came back to us a few days later neatly packaged in plastic bags. I wasn't sure how I would feel about eating something I'd nurtured for several months but in the end they bore no relation to the boisterous birds that had followed us about the paddock since august and tasted delicious. We sold all but one and that one is in our freezer due to be split with some friends when we can find a mutually convenient date.

The chickens have not been impressed at all with the snow and stopped laying for a few days. The white one then started to moult and looked very bedraggled so now they get porridge and poultry spice for breakfast in addition to their normal rations and we are getting a couple of eggs a day again. Keeping their water from freezing is a constant battle and no, we can't put anti-freeze in it as one rather dim poultry keeper did....They cluck reproachfully at us and prefer to spend their time in the stable given the chance but with temperatures as low as -20 it isn't surprising that a bird descended from a jungle fowl wouldn't take kindly to the snow.
The snow caused a few other problems as well: - Richard got hit in the face with a lump of ice falling from the roof and had to make a trip to casualty to have a couple of stitches in his lip and had two impressive black eyes for a week or so afterwards and as it continued to thaw, horror of horrors , water started to come in again over the stairwell and in our bedroom! Fortunately the thaw was quite rapid and it stopped after a few hours but we are left with a watermark on our freshly painted wall! The snow we have had since then has thawed rapidly each time but we are aware that there are several months to go yet before we can say winter is over.
Despite the busyness we were able to take part in a number of festive activities. Mum and Dad arrived in time to attend the SWRI christmas meal, the pensioners Christmas lunch and have started attending the regular community coffee mornings and the local church where they are beginning to get to know people. We attended the service of nine lessons and carols, both in Inverness cathedral and at midnight in the tin church at Tomatin - as we left, guess what, snow was falling! We also went to the parade in Grantown where Santa is pulled into town by real reindeer, similar to the one in Aviemore that we went to last year but smaller, and we felt, more enjoyable. The Choir that I am part of entertained a group of around 100 senior citizens who turned up, despite treacherous conditions to their Christmas party in Kirkhill.
It was wonderful, finally, to be able to have family and friends to stay again and we had a great time with much feasting taking place (and much snoozing afterwards). We enjoyed a meal together at The Dairy ( a favourite local restaurant of Mum and Dads) before Matt flew back to Sutton for his New Year celebrations. Bethan, I think, opened just about every present, taking her role of father Christmas very seriously and enjoyed making a gingerbread house with me. Toby was entranced by the sparklers on New Years Eve when Joe and Dan put on some fireworks for the kids (big and little). Mum and Dad, who had returned from spending Christmas with the Nottingham branch of their family, had a ringside seat in the conservatory, tucked up with a glass of mulled wine and a plate of nibbles and were joined by Rhema who used to sit in the garden in Belmont watching fireworks in the sky but clearly wasn't so keen close up. The year was rounded off in the time honored manner of games and yet more food and as we started 2011 and my birthday we were thrilled to get a phone call from some of our longstanding friends from Sutton. We are looking forward to seeing some of them up here later in the year.