Our sitting room.

For how much longer?

We find out tomorrow whether it carries on being or whether it's action stations.

It is very difficult to get on and do anything! The house is so clean and tidy I dont recognise it. I have nothing to do....

We have a guest in tonight and I have prepared her room.

We also have Mike's sister staying with us for a few days. Mike and she have gone out today, leaving me to twitch about.

It is a beautiful sunny day. But bitterly cold.

So - heres me, in the warm, just twitching.

January sunset.

The spinney, gilded tree trunks, courtesy of the sunset.

The sunset is now at 5 p.m. as opposed to 3.30p.m. which it was a few weeks ago.

Just after the sky gets to this stage is when I put the ducks to bed.

SIX TIMES I rounded them up, only for them to glide off into the pond.

Today they have had their pond cleaned out and their sleeping hut has fresh straw.

If that were me and I were to come across a lovely clean bed I would dive in - to bed - not the pond.
I swear they were chuckling away to each other as I slithered and slipped in the mud, ducking under the pine tree. Perhaps they were wanting me to join them in the pond. Very nearly did.

Then, they both just trooped in to their hut, "Oh, you want us in bed do you? Why didnt you say so?" This after I had shouted, "Go to bloody bed will yer."

This morning I drove to the next village for petrol for the car. I just needed a blast of Il Divo and to get out of the house. As I was coming out of the shop I realised it was snowing and like an idiot asked this woman, "Is that snow?" She must have thought I was a tourist, "Didnt expect that did you, " she replied.

I also didnt expect every house that had been for sale for months on end to now be displaying, "Under Offer." And despite Il Divo my spirits plummeted.

Ho hum. Tomorrow is our second viewing of the house from the family who have not as yet even got their house on the market, unless they have since the first viewing. Slight bit of hope dredged from the depths of my soul.

On the b&b front bookings are flooding in. By the end of February we might just be solvent again.

May all our sunsets be golden.

The day after...

Our Rotary Burns Supper.

Here is Tam o Shanter. Riding across the wall of the Bancar Hotel Dining Room. Cool.

So - the day after, today, was our Best of Banffshire and Buchan Bed and Breakfasts meeting at Monicas in Macduff.

Our first task was to collect Lucy and Sandy. Sandy had decided not to go as their Schnauzer had given birth two days ago and was not at all interested in the results. So he was having to feed the two pups that had survived. Lucy was making up the feed and ensuring Sandy let the milk cool, "Don't burn them, will ye."

So all the way to Macduff we had the troubles and traumas, (and loss of income), from this birth.

The other bitch who had produced pups - all still born - was already being advertised in the local paper, (due to loss of income) so we also had Lucy's mobile going off every five minutes with people wanting to buy her.

"Ye should get a dog, Jill, yed make some money." Hmmm.

This was then followed by the tale of Lucy having obtained a cat. She had said she would never have another cat, as the last one sat in the middle of the road, the main road, and joined the angel cats up above.

But having visited her daughter in Auchterless and there sat this cat on the windowsill, which her daughter said had been sitting there for three days, and no way was she going to feed it. Within seconds Lucy had it in her car boot and away home. This cat has now been to the vets, been castrated and micro chipped and is currently living in what was a bird aviary. (She has also contacted the Cat Protection League, who have no record of anyone saying they had lost a cat. I doubt they would have realised they had lost the cat before Lucy had it to the vet. And the Cat Protection League paid for the castration etc. so no loss of income.)

Our meeting went very well. We all exchanged stories of being snowed in, state of business, scams, frauds, and what was going on aroond and aboot. And had a good laugh. Also some very nice home bakes.

Monica has a beautiful house. She is also an accomplished seamstress. Not sure that is the right word. She produces the most amazing embroidery and cross stitch, pictures. Huge framed beautiful pictures. One is of a ploughed field, sheep in the next field, lovely autumnal colours. Another is of different plants and trees and these are not just flat stitched pictures but the threads used make it 3D . You want to touch. Amazing. Monica runs her three bedroomed b&b on her own, and I was put to shame as it is a lovely home, and immaculately presented, and she still manages to produce these wonderful works of art. Her garden is equally lovely. And she is older than me and looks younger in fact I hate her.

On our return to Lucy's to drop her off I went in to the aviary to visit the 'rescued' cat which was looking, understandably, confused. He is a really beautiful cat, ginger, which I do have a soft spot for. And very affectionate.

Its a long way to get back to Auchterless. In fact I am not sure I know where it is. I was sorely tempted to put him in my car boot. If only to save him from the 'main road'.

Strange mixture of attitudes towards animals I have experienced today. The deep rooted attitude in making money from animals. And then the wanting to provide a better life, equally deep rooted in another part of the psyche.

Finally home again. And the realisation that the animals here, who live with us, totally rule.

The ducks mess about when I put them to bed. The cats decide where they will sit even when it means I have to perch on the edge of a chair so they can be comfy. I get up let them in, I get up let them out. And theres no income at all.

Thats him done for another year.

Burns night. Okay, we are a day late, twas his birthday yesterday. But as he has been dead for some years I doubt he is going to complain.
Such rituals! Addressing the haggis, then stabbing it..... The excitement is just too much. Mike got to drink off the dram of whisky - so he was happy. One of our rotary members recited the whole of Tam o Shanter, without a script, which was some feat, with modern technology, pictures from a 'notebook' projected onto a screen.
We had a quiz on Burns, which we didnt win, despite my having watched a programme on tele on his life the night before......
But I did win the raffle, as I do a bit too often to be honest, only time I have any luck, but as it was a bottle of white wine, which I dont like, I said magnaminously draw it again! Before remembering I had Mike with me who does like white wine. Fortunately, the people who had got second prize in the quiz and dont drink were equally magnaminous and gave Mike their bottle.
What was particularly nice about this evening was that Mike and I were driven there and could both have a drink. Albert, my fellow rotarian, was taking a guest. She lives just up our road so he took us as well. A rare occasion when we can both have a drink, in fact so rare I dont think its ever happened before.
As rotarians we are encouraged to bring guests and hope they will enter the fold. But as some of us chatted at the end of the evening we were all in accord that we like our Rotary just as it is now.
And if I were really well up in Burns I would be ending this with a quote from one of his many poems.
Well, I can think of quite a few, but not very appropriate. "A mans a man for a that "- well some of our members can be pretty sexist, though they are shouted down. And not one of us is a "wee timourous, cowering beastie" but the females are all as lovely as a red, red rose. So Scots Wahey, which I believe is another of Mr Burns, to you all.

Bullers of Buchan.

Fantastic cliff formation, not far away from here. Smugglers tales abound, and puffins nest every year.
I find it quite amazing at the different shore scenarios within a few short miles. They go from swathes of golden beaches, to pebble beaches, to sand dunes, to cliffs. We have the lot. The steep sided cliffs with almost vertical roads down to small fishing villages, then the fishing villages perched atop cliffs like this. You could spend a life time visiting and discovering the history of each.
Greenbrae, being first built in 1860 something, has a lot of history of course. Most of which we know from being given some of the deeds, or copies I should say. I have them all in a folder to which we have added to, so as to be able to hand over to the future owners. With today's technology, there are also photographs in the folder. Some of before, during and after when it was a care home for Polish Men. Many pictures of what the house was like when we moved into it - and the changes we have made.
I dont think I have ever been so personally aware of history till I came to live here.
In our library is a book titled Longside, our village's name. This was produced by the Church of Scotland village members. A fascinating read. All the villages in this area have their own history. All of which are equally fascinating.
We also own a much older book, Pratt's Buchan. This is a first edition I came across in a National Trust second hand book shop. I bought it for Mike's birthday, some years back, and paid £85 for it. It is worth far more than that. Not only in money terms. I may leave the Longside book for future owners of Greenbrae, although it is much sought after. It had a limited run and all have gone, but we receive many requests from our ancestor hunters.
I will not be leaving Pratt's Buchan! We will still be living in Buchan after all.
We had another viewing of the house this afternoon. I doubt it will come to anything. But what a difference to have a couple who were appreciative, asked intelligent questions, and were here longer than twenty minutes!
I wouldn't mind, too much, handing Greenbrae with all it's history to them. There was no talk of, "Oh we can knock all these walls out." (You can feel the house cringe.) "Build another house at the front" (What about the views.)
Then the ones like we had on Saturday who are in awe of the house and it looks down its nose at.
I swear this house is alive. I well remember when we moved in and Iswear I heard a big sigh of relief.
I don't think I have ever mentioned our ghosts on this blog.
One, who we call the Admiral, is in the snug. (When the house was a care home, this room housed a retired Polish Admiral.) It is a lovely cosy room with the open fire. But sometimes the door will close of its own volition. (There is no subsidence here.) It can begin to close and you say, "Can you stop that," and it will! Forgot to mention it only does this door closing when you are inside the room. You can leave the door open and it will stay open if you are outside the room. And no the floors are not wonky!
Our other spiritual friends are outside. I have got used to it now. But in our early days here I would frequently see, when in the kitchen, out of the corner of my eye, someone coming past the window. I would go to the entrance door and there was no-one there. This was also experienced by others. " I could have sworn I saw someone come up the drive.".....
Some years after we came to live here we were informed that urns had been found at the top of our drive local gossip say they contained human hearts. Documentary evidence now in our Greenbrae archives.
Of course our drive way ghosts could just be the spirits of the workers coming to the cattle barns,which were at the rear of the house, so at the end of the drive way. Greenbrae was a dairy farm.
Note I said spiritual friends. I have been far more scared living in the depths of a built up area in the Midlands. If you hear a creak its possibly a burglar, mugger, or worse. Dawn chorus = car alarms. A crash means just that - your car windscreen gone. Or as once happened, a motor cyclist underneath your car.
Of course it isnt all Lark Rise to Candleford - not so many heaving breasts for a start. Or snakes under the wood pile, goodness how I laughed at this weeks episode. (Totally off subject here I note they arent going to make any more of LRTC as they are quitting while they are winning!)
Guess I had better stop all this meandering and will quit before I lose the plot. Cheers.

House viewing.

About as house doctored as it gets. I only use this cover when the house is being viewed! Although my washing machine has a tub larger than average, I doubt I would get this in, and no way can I afford to have it dry cleaned every week. So for normal use, and cats, the throws are washable and a variety of colours and finishes and not that posh.
I dont think our viewers today would have noticed what was on the bed, as by the time they got to this room, their eyes were well glazed over, this being the seventh bedroom.
You know how they say the average family is a couple and 2.5 children? Well these two hadnt got beyond the point 5.
As soon as I heard, "Oh, isnt it big?" - my heart sank. According to Mike, who does the outside showing, the man was walking with stiff and rigid legs upon seeing the size of the garden.
Can't these people read?
What does their brain work out what seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms, half an acre of garden, etc. look like in real life?
Apparently they have no family living locally and wanted somewhere for the family to visit.
I am still pondering that one.
Our intention is to get a three bedroomed house, hopefully with a summer house (if we get the one I want) and if there still isnt enough room the family can put up a tent, or go to a bed and breakfast! No way would anyone in their right mind have a house this size sitting empty most of the time - would they? Whoops, guess thats what we are doing. But not by choice.
Back to normality. Although with all the presentation, presentation, all done, I am struggling as to what to do!
I'll have a drink while I think about it. Good idea.

Brrrrr.

Peterhead lifeboat rescued a windsurfer the other day. Can you imagine wind surfing in the North Sea, at this time of year? Brrrr. Or indeed at any time of the year. We have lived here for nearly nine years now and I haven't even put a toe in!
It is beautiful to see though. When I go to the supermarket I always drive past the sea. The multitude of colours, its moods, sometimes a mediterranean blue and very calm, other times, great white horses and other times just heaving away, looking cold and grey, and mountainous swells. Awesome.
Another day, today, of cleaning, mopping and tidying. It doesnt do me any good being this clean and tidy. I just can't relax. And the cats think its Armegeddon.
"Look at yer PAWS, they are filthy. Get out."
"You'd better eat every bit of that mouse, I've just vacced."
"Not on THAT chair!"
Back to normal after the viewing tomorrow.
On another subject. Many of the fishermen are deeply religious. Probably to do with putting your life in the hands of God every time you set sail, or power up the engine. Peterhead has many religious churches as I have mentioned before. If they have a fall out, they just set up another.
There are more churches than pubs in Peterhead, which is quite something for me having had my early years in Wakefield, which I think had a pub for every day of the year.
On a lighter (?) note, the following picture of a church notice board made me smile.

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