Barbara's coat-tail

It started off with storming squalls and interesting stuff going on over Authur's Seat. Later it was cold with a cold wind blowing.

I did a long shop at Waitrose and Sainsbury. I was defeated by my search for Dill but we eventually got some dried in Cannonmills.

I've always like going shopping in towns as Christmas Eve draws to a close. It's not so much to shop as to experience that collective sign of relief and the lights and sparse traffic. The Principal bought me a lovely Tilley hat from Tysos which should see me through the next few years. And we stopped and had a little Chinese meal on the way home.

On the way to walking into town the bin men finally arrived to take out the overflowing bins. I slipped them a tenner for their trouble. Later as we walked down Inverleith Road the bin truck came thundering by. The driver tooted the horn and the entire crew gave us a big wave, rolled down the windows and shouted in broad Edinburgh, 'Merry Christmas, pal'.

The last little bit about the shout-out  isn't true but it felt like a kind of arrival in this fascinating and friendly city.

It's still hard to believe we are actually here even as we prepare for the next leg of our journey.

(In a hat nod to our post-truth world The Principal reminds me that the dill was bought on Broughton Street and that I have mis-splet (sic) Tisos.)

Happy Christmas Eve my lovely fellow Blippers.