The Naughty Corner

I thought I was early getting to M&S at 8:45 this morning to meet the daughter who was manning a gallery later, but the place was already busy with shoppers , their baskets and trolleys filled to overflowing. One might think we were entering a period of extreme food scarcity rather than one day next week when the shops will be shut. We had a coffee, I bought some oranges and we parted company. On the way home I bought some wash sachets and a paper, reading the latter filling the time before I had to meet up with another Stromness Selkie down in the big smoke for Christmas.

Our venue for lunch was Andaluz in GeorgeIV Bridge where we dined royally on ‘potatas’ in different forms, chicken and black pudding. We even had room for a dessert.
The Selkie’s husband caught up with us and we all came back to the Dower House for coffee. Conversation ranged from the sublime to the mundane and ridiculous but was never boring . They are off to a candlelit concert in St Giles this evening and have a full schedule for the next few days but we might fit in a coffee on Boxing Day before they go back up to Orkney.

And that is how I have spent the winter solstice. It’s gone in a flash and we can all look forward to the daylight lasting longer. If only we could guarantee the weather getting better……