Porty and Nearby Places

Ice Rink, Ferris Wheel, Helter Skelter, Christmas Market, Farmers' Market and Chair-0-plane ride on Princes Street means two things. 1. This is the start of Edinburgh's Christmas and 2. Everyone seemed to be in town - including me. ( I was on a training assessment - which went well and only saw this Christmas circus from the top of homebound bus!)

As an antidote to all the commercialism three miles to the west we took a walk from the house into the nearby countryside this afternoon. It is good to keep a connection with the seasons with walks though farmland, woodland, meadows and even a secluded valley formed by the Brunstane Burn. ( The path through this valley is part of the long-distance coast to coast John Muir Way

Today I extend enormous respect to those NHS volunteers heading to Sierra Leone to engage and assist with the Ebola crisis there and also to the next wave of volunteers who are preparing to follow them early in the new year.