Happy #InternationalJazzDay to all who celebrate.
I’ve just got back from the Isle of Skye, thanks to the generous ScotRail over 50s deal (for £17, holders of a Club 50 card can get a return ticket to anywhere in Scotland, available until 20th March).
I’ve done previous trips to Dalwhinnie and Wick on the same deal, but this was my first time on the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line. I spent a couple of nights in the Waverley Inn in Dingwall which is very cheap, and provided a base for my day trip to Skye.
I try to be mindful on new rail journeys and just enjoy the view from the window, which is easy on the Kyle line. I saw highland cows, deer, stags and two hours of water and mountains between Dingwall and Kyle of Lochalsh.
Kyle of Lochalsh station is right on the water and I enjoyed a day of sun and blue sky, crossing the Skye bridge by bus to Broadford and then on foot.
On my final day in Dingwall I visited the stone in St Clements churchyard and the Windhill standing stone, south of Muir of Ord.
I bought far too many books from the Blythswood Care shop in Muir of Ord and enjoyed the all day breakfast at Wimpey in Dingwall, although my curly sausage wasn’t curly…
From this story about a statue of Atlas, found in Sicily.
I well remember the first time I heard the Orb (A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld, John Peel session, Plashet Grove bedsit, 1989) and their Wikipedia page is a good reminder of why I like music.
I very much enjoyed their show at La Belle Angele last week, along with support from violinist Violeta Vicci:
I had a great time last night at the McDonald Road Library 120th Birthday Party, featuring Elsie MacDonald, Lou Maclean and Suffrajitsu (Suffrajitsu’s Facebook page has pics)
Thanks to Neil Cooper’s Substack newsletter The Noise of Art for the tip off.
Recent charity shop haul — (yet another) 5 CDs of Northern Soul vs 5 CDs of Orange Juice
And for those who might need it on this cold January morning, an early highlight of the Northern Soul compilation:
Sunny New Years Day with blue sky over Prestonpans…
And grey sky over Edinburgh today
Farewell to 2023, a year when I went to York twice, London twice, Glasgow twice, Basingstoke once, Bishop Wilton once and Northallerton once.
I passed the ISC2 CISSP exam and the Amazon AWS Certified Security exams.
We converted the garage to an office space and built a corrugated acrylic roof to some of our outside space.
And I did a whole year averaging 10k steps per day…
2023 was pretty good, but it feels like 2024 is going to be great. I might even get a job 😉 Happy New Year everybody!
(Our traditional New Years vegetable pie)
Today’s old Peanuts strip is surprisingly topical…
