The first snow of the season arrived last Friday. We didn’t get a huge amount in Aberdeen but enough for me to get excited and for it to look Christmassy. I went for a bike ride on Sunday and this was the scene.
On Friday night we got hit by Storm Arwen which was fierce and claimed three lives. Many people are still without power since Friday night including Braemar which went down to -8C. It must be very cold to not have any power in -8C temperatures.
I went to my allotment yesterday expecting things to be in disarray but everything was fine. I was amazed. All my structures were still standing and the plants survived.
We’re enjoying the leeks very much.
Elizabeth has her national highland dance exam next month and just got her uniform. She tried it on today and looks splendid! If I’d known the paraphernalia for highland dance would be so expensive I. may not have signed her up for it but she loves it and it’s wonderful to see her dance.
rachel.blog 
The scenes look so picturesque – but I agree that -8 degrees without power would be bitter! It’s the official beginning of summer here on 1 December, and we’re having some lovely days. I’ll be spending Christmas day at my sister’s lifestyle property near Oxford as usual, where they most definitely do not farm animals. However, I’ll post some pics this year of a Southern Hemisphere Christmas day to go alongside your Northern Hemisphere Christmas day 😄 Unless it rains, and then I’ll flag that idea – lol!
That sounds so lovely. I’d love to see photos of the farm rain or sun. I quite like rainy days, especially if you can sleep in or lie in bed reading a book listening to the sound. There’s something soporific about it.
I get messages from National Power grid as I’m on their vulnerable list. Lots of power cuts but thankfully not here. Elizabeth does look splendid.
What happens if there’s a power cut where you are? Do you have a backup generator or does the power company supply you with one? I asked a friend of mine who lives in Braemar what the people without a fire do and she says most will have a gas heater as backup.
No generator. Its an idea (a small one).I guess we’ll find out what the power company does if it happens. We have a gas fire in the living room, so we’d be OK there. Cooking is all electric now.
Someone I know wanted to play the Irish pipes but they are £10,000 a set. I suppose it keeps makers of traditional gear in work, otherwise those skills would be lost.
I used to love having a woodstove, we used to get a lot of power cuts. Although they put in a big thick cable just after I got it installed and I never got to use it in a power cut. Glad you weren’t hit too badly by the storm.
That is insane. How does anyone learn the instrument? They must have to borrow them. Highland Dance thankfully isn’t anywhere near that expensive although a pair of highland dance socks will set you back £100.
I love wood stoves too but they’ve gone out of favour because of the pollution. We have an ethanol burner which we like and use a lot in the winter. It doesn’t produce much heat though but I think it’s just because it’s a tiny one. We’re thinking of upgrading to something bigger with a better heat output for emergencies.
I thought you wrote shoes at first and then I realised it was socks and nearly fell over. His teacher moved house as well so that was that for the Irish pipes. There are only two makers in the country and not that many more teachers.
I should add that the expensive socks are not the ones she’s wearing in this photo. This is the National uniform which required only plain white socks. The Highland Dance uniform has the special expensive socks. They are very nice and they call them hose rather than socks – https://bonnietartan.com/tartan-hose/