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Hello, Elle!
My soup has no name, there is no recipe to it.
Mainly lentils and I throw other stuff in as well.
it usually turns out OK, though.
It has not been a great day here, too.
I have been out for a short walk.
Now I am writing out my list for Hogmanay shopping.
Will be at shop earlyish tomorrow.

Hi, Rusty!
Are you shopping for food for Hogmanay? or presents?
A list sounds important!
I know that for all of you up in Scotland, Hogmanay is more usually a bigger celebration than is Christmas.
My cousin would rig himself up in all his glory - kilt and all - and go first footing.
Are you going to do that this year ...I know that you often do?

Hello, Elle!
I am buying no presents!
Just enough food etc to do me for a couple of days.
The shops will be busy tomorrow, especially after ten o'clock.
Yes, I'll be first footing, I think, or I may receive first footers.
Or both!
To early to plan anything, yet.
Looking forward to it, though!

Good evening, Rusty!
All being well, if they have recovered sufficiently , my elder daughter and family will be joining us tomorrow, and we shall no doubt spend the day playing board games with the children and getting organised for the following day's festivities.
New Year's Eve is a relatively quiet affair down South......nothing like it was at home in my younger days!
We shall be busy instead, here, on New Year's Day itself.
What are your granddaughters planning for New Year's Eve?

Good evening, Elle!
Hogmanay is not the way it used to be up here, too, Elle.
Much quieter nowadays.
I do not know what the young ones are up to, if anything.
Maybe find out tomorrow!

Hi, Rusty!
We have fireworks here already!
The dog is becoming stressed......
Grrh!
Would that I could get my hands on these people!
I 'd tie them to the end of a rocket!
Now....I am going to take a deep breath to calm down.......make a coffee......
And phone my cousin!

Hello, Elle!
Well, thankfully there is no tradition of New Year fireworks here.
Except for the midnight rocket from the town hall roof to bring in the New Year.
It is a blooming shame for your pets, though.
Yes, try and stay calm for your dog's sake.
They can sense things.
All well with your cousin?

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, strange, isn't it, really, that, when New Year is so much more greatly celebrated in Scotland, there should be no fireworks there .......yet here, especially down South where very little importance comparatively is attached to New Year, there are always fireworks?
They have been going off intermittently all evening...
And tomorrow will be very much worse!
Yes, thank you ,all is well up North with my cousin and family.
They all had a good time over Christmas.

Hello, Elle!
Mind you, New Year here is not the way it used to be.
We used to walk miles (no transport on) first footing!
Half bottle of whisky in the pocket and off we went!
Happy days!
It used to last several days partying etc.
But never a firework.
It is much quieter here nowadays, alas.

Good morning everyone. I hope your family is much better, elle, and that they come to see you bug-free. I hope your back is slowly getting better still, pigale, and that rusty sees some of his highly supportive family (they and friends are very important in living longer) today or soon.

I spent quite a lot of last night reading the newly-published book "A Statin Nation". It isn't, as you might imagine, a barrel of fun but I really did laugh out loud when I came across this-

Dan Buettner (very focussed on the benefits of a high-vegetable, low-meat diet) wrote this about the diet of those who live in Sardinia- 'It's loaded with homegrown fruits and vegetables, such as zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes and fava beans, that may reduce the incidence of heart disease and colon cancer' (he adds dairy produce), The Sardinians were outraged by this and insist that 'the secret of their long life can be found in their traditional diet of lamb, roast piglet, milk and cheese'.