Laphroaig

For one night only – Hog 2020

bruceonthefringe 2020, Hogmanay, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

It’s nearly midnight, well, twenty minutes to go. I have a glass of cider and a bottle of Laphroaig for the odd medicinal swig and to toast the bells, of course! On visuals I have Jools Holland’s Annual Hootenanny on the telly, just dipping in to listen occasionally, as on primary audio I have Des Was A Bowie Fan: A New Year’s Eve Dance From the Valleys a find on Facebook which is wonderfully like a night at old favourite the Citrus Club, formerly of Grindlay Street. Just up for the occasional bop, otherwise I’m sofa-ing tonight……

Resting my hip ready for the morning
Guarding my Laphroaig from that bloody owl

Happy New Year, my darlings 💛

Happy Not-Quite-New Year!

bruceonthefringe Christmas, Happy New Year, New Year's Day, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Hello, dear friends! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy Hogmanay wherever you are! My family Christmas was fine, thanks, until a nasty little coughing lurgy attached itself to me somewhere amidst all the farewell hugs in the last days before I journeyed back North.

I soldiered on, went back to work to earn my crust, ignoring how my whole body shuddered at each cough. Hogmanay was spent by the fireside with a hot toddy watching the telly til after the bells, well, there was no point going to bed earlier – those fireworks are very loud and they went on longer than ever this year!

New Year’s Day morn I rose with one mission, to climb the Seat That Belongs To Arthur, no lurgy was going to hold me back. And, by George, Andrew and Murgatroyd, it didn’t!! My adrenaline pumping, my dander up, I was gonna scale that Seat or die in the attempt. Dear reader, I nearly did! (thank goodness I had my emergency hipflask of Laphroaig to revive me)

Since then I’ve been confined to bed and fireside, but am starting to feel much better now, so I thought I’d drop you a line. Expect stuff soon on Dr Who, Dracula and Dark Materials, also some Tuck and squirrels’ nuts.

Yours truly on reaching the top…

20200101_122621

And after a reviving glug or three of Laphroaig…..

20200101_141459

Hello 2019!

bruceonthefringe Edinburgh, Edinburgh traditions, New Year's Day, Places to go, Uncategorized Tags: , , Leave a comment

On New Years Day I made my traditional trek up Arthur’s Seat to welcome in the year. This year along with my hip flask of Laphroaig, I took a slice of my rather damn fine Christmas cake, a reward for reaching the top and sugar rush to get me back down! It maybe somewhat tiring going up, but it’s trickier getting down again (well it is for me, I’m much more sure-footed ascending but descending I go so gingerly and worry about slipping).

Twas a beautiful sunny morning and rather breezy at the top, thankfully not as windy as when I did my practice run two days earlier, I almost took off in the wind a couple of times! So many different languages and accents can be heard at the summit, most heard is “Could you take a photo of me/us?” I do like to oblige when asked.

From there I scrambled down from the peak and explored the other areas around the top, finally heading back down via a path I’ve never used before and probably never will again. It took bloody ages to negotiate the slip slidy mud and steep parts. By the time I was back down to the road the annual triathlon was in full swing with cyclists whizzing past, it was a while before I had a chance to leg it over to the pavement.

I really should go up Arthur’s Seat more often, there’s so many paths to follow and such beauty to behold. I used to wander around the park much more in the past, ah yes, New Year Resolution – must walk in the park more often.

Toodle pip!