Feels like it's getting further and further between blog posts, but you'll just have to believe me when I say it's because we are having too much work fun.
Once back from the October break, it was straight in to cultural and extra-curricular activities, including birthday parties, Halloween, swimming lessons, and French classes on a Saturday (which little crevette doesn't attend yet, so which we use as an excuse to go to the nearby Modern Art museum and have a coffee look at the art and use their fancy loos.
Fingerling had her first piano recital at the Church in which her mum and dad got married in, in Dunblane (our first trip back inside):
And of course, what we do best in these parts: Bonfire Night. Basically just a sweets-fest.
Then it was Remembrance Sunday in cold but beautiful Inverurie and the evocative sounds of the pipes and drums, still dear to my heart.
And then Small Fry turned ELEVEN. He might need a new blog name soon.
Two cakes needed - one for the actual birthday and one for the party. Spot the theme.
And November was also the month I did some work travel again - quite a change to the previous academic year when I was zipping about everywhere. This time the destination was Paris, worse luck. And even more delightfully, the OECD. Nice to come back as the meeting Chair it must be said.
Of course there were a couple more presentations scheduled: one at the University itself, so that was easy, and the other was in Vietnam, which I then combined with a presentation at COP-28 in Dubai (well, it was on the way home....).
While in Vietnam I visited my dear friend from Brussels who now works at the United Nations School in Hanoi and got to attend their Christmas Fayre:
Dubai, was more about trying to find a weekend in between all the meetings:
A big plus was keeping grounded with my brother-in-law, Joel, who revealed all the inner workings of COP-28 which I immediately included in my speeches ;-)
Once home, it was in to winter and Christmas feet first.
But thankfully, those cousins and family trips can bring light and warmth to any dark/cold place. That and the Baileys hot chocolate.
Yes, my favourite time of the year: advent.
Which also means lots and lots of Christmas concert attendance, and spending an inordinate amount of time trying to reposition naughty elves.
Our naughty elf, pirate, got his tail chomped and had to spend 2 WEEKS inside with various contraptions around his neck. This is a cat who just spend the previous week outside in -7 temperatures, so he was hugely unimpressed, and so were we with emptying his litter trays.
Look away now if you're a bit squeamish!
But Christmas finally arrived, and with it most of the family, one way or another. Not having to travel (much) for Christmas. Unheard of in this clan. So we thoroughly enjoyed joint-hosting, and all the washing that came afterwards. Genuinely. So nice to be home. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day below:
And within 24 hours of the family leaving, our dear friends from Paris arrived. We stay at Eva's whenever we are in Paris as a family, so it was wonderful to host them all and show off Scotland. Which totally lived up to all its promises: snow, rain, sun, hills, lochs and decorated cities.
Climbing Ben A'an for the first time since 2016:
And Hogmanay. What a laugh. We went through to Edinburgh for a 'mass karaoke'/ceilidh event which was unexpectedly hilarious.
Which only left the annual (well, when we're here) Loony Dook to be completed - this time in Elie. WAY warmer than the north coast ;-)
And a few more visits around Stirling before Eva + co returned to Paris.
That left us just a couple of days before school started to get into the Highlands near Perthshire for some family alone time in the ice and snow - a great break before the new term.
And here we are: 2024 and some things never change:
And some things do: me eating in Edinburgh with work colleagues with Ralph Fiennes behind me. Just saying.
So here's to you and yours: Bonne Anneee!
