Fyvie Geese.

Bad news on poor Mum's chest infection; she was so ill that on the 28th she decided to head back to Yorkshire with Dad, and make herself an appointment with her own doctor to get some more specific antibiotics. She's still not feeling any better at all, so I think she'll end up having to go back to the doctor's again. Poor thing, she was quite ill for a long time earlier and I think sometimes a bit of that resurfaces every now and again.

Yesterday M and I headed out to Banchory to see A and baby F for coffee and Christmas cake (made by A, it was lovely). A had been entertaining a multitude of guests over the last few days and was shattered, so M and I played with F while she got to sit quietly for once, and just chat. Her partner has been offshore over Christmas, so they'll have another one when he gets home!

Last evening M and I went out to Revolution for a drink with R, who is leaving the bar 8 and a half years after M hired him when he was manager there. Very fitting that M was there for his leaving do, too! It was a good decision to hire him, R has done an amazing job with the place - having inherited M's manager's role when he left. M and I ended up deciding to stay off the booze at the bar, so we left a bit early and M drove us out to the Torry Battery for a view of the city. When we parked, M suddenly on the mainbeam just as a fox crossed in front of the car - only about 3 meters away! I wound down the window for a better look, and although the fox looked up, he wasn't frightened at all, he just casually started eating the remains of a sandwich left in the carpark. Of course, I had no camera with me - typical! One evening we'll have to go back.

Today we decided to use our new National Trust memberships and have a wander around Fyvie Castle's grounds, where these geese had gathered to bathe in the lake. They were doing lots of flapping and diving under the water - such animated behaviour - but I couldn't seem to capture it without lots of tree branches in the way. I think I need a nice long lens. After a nice walk, we popped over to Banff to see Aunt Janis for coffee and more cake (I really need to get back on the Weightwatchers wagon). It's a long drive back to Aberdeen, I'm lucky M doesn't mind. When we got back, we lit the woodburner and just chilled out in front of the TV. New Year's Eve tomorrow... Phewf, this year has flown by.