ad, post-jesus, does christmas right: pressies wrapped & stockinged well in advance!

first day of the xmas holidays saw us blessed w. some sumptuous sunlight. most saturday mornings in december felt similarly divine. on one of these saturdays i'd forgotten my headphones & ended up having many chance encounters w. strangers, including w. a dog who'd lost his sausage roll...

drive to scotland, pt. i.

arrived in the motorway hotel near the lake district (one i'd stopped at w. tam for a monstrous BK back in april) after listening to jerry flowers for, circa, cinq heures. no doubt was tearing up at multiple points such are the healing powers of his biblical exegeses.

lauren et moi au gym, « barr fitness », à blairgowrie. i taught her to lift.

christmas eve craft night pt i. -- the process.

christmas eve craft night pt ii. -- the end result.

christmas eve craft night pt iii. -- the meal. after this, we got deep into uno. this tested my patience.

somehow i snapped no photos of xmas day itself, so here's a selfie w. g & lauren while out for g's xmas pressie: a meal at the atholl arms.

atholl arms w. g pt ii.

on brother duty having driven lauren to ossian's falls w. the dogs for a stroll.

obligatory away-in-scotland-&-out-for-a-walk-w.-the-dogs snap. the second morning in a series of heaven-lit scotch mornings -- rare, given the smothering grey of the days prior.

drove g to the community hospital in blair & was shook that the furniture was the same as st. george's in tooting.