A Celebration and a Surprise

This weekend we celebrated with another man dear to our family's heart; Happy Birthday Syd! Also a member of L'Arche and a faithful friend to my wee lads. It is surely a sign of his significance in our community that many of us braved icy winds to pack into Syd's living room (and up the stairs) to share this most auspicious of days - it's probably impolite to share exactly how many years he has been walking and cycling the planet...anyway, the scones were fantastic and we hope you have a wonderful year ahead.

A bit of a surprise this morning - snow! Well, it has been freezing for a couple of days and there's been that certain smell in the air, but even so, what a delight to wake up and find this...I'm almost as excited as the boys about it.

Normally I'm not a winter person, I usually retreat into my duvet and have to prodded hard to come out before spring. However, to my surprise, I'm loving winter this year. Moving last August out of Inverness and into the wilds has given me a new energy and intense appreciation for where we live. This contact with nature makes me feel alive and peaceful, in a way even a lovely city like Inverness never did. Nonetheless, when it gets really icy, and the wind is howling, where do I like to be?

This evening, not too far away from this particular spot...