Can you hear me?

Can you hear me calling?

No, probably not as the Blog and Duck has had an absentee landlady for many months now! *sighs*

Nowt much to say .... except thank you! Thank you for being such good friends, for blogging your thoughts, ideas and musings, for your faithfulness! I may not get to blog next door much, but I do love to read what the BlogMeister muses and what that inspires in everyone else!

Anyhoo - I have a new blog here too, do feel free to 'follow' and comment!

Love and huggles!

Oh - the new blog is http://kirabosthoughts.blogspot.com/

At last! After the support of Chris Evans, the Drivetime team, and the loyal BBC Radio 2 listeners and bloggers, Sir Terry Wogan and Aled Jones' magnificent recording of the Bing Crosby and David Bowie classic, Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth, is set to be released as a single.

The single will be available to buy from today, Monday 8 December, to help raise money for BBC Children in Need.

I did my best to notice
When the call came down the line
Up to the platform of surrender
I was brought but I was kind
And sometimes I get nervous
When I see an open door

Close your eyes, clear your heart

Cut the cord
Are we human or are we dancers?
My sign is vital, my hands are cold
And I'm on my knees looking for the answers
Are we human or are we dancers?

Pay my respects to grace and virtue
Send my condolences to good
Give my regards to soul and romance
They always did the best they could
And so long to devotion
You taught me everything I know
Wave good bye, wish me well

You gotta let me go
Are we human or are we dancers?
My sign is vital, my hands are cold
And I'm on my knees looking for the answers
Are we human or are we dancer

Will your system be all right
When you dream of home tonight
There is no message were receiving
Let me know is your heart still beating

Are we human or are we dancers?
My sign is vital, my hands are cold
And I'm on my knees looking for the answers

You've gotta let me know
Are we human or are we dancers?
My sign is vital, my hands are cold
And I'm on my knees looking for the answers
Are we human - or are we dancers?

Are we human or are we dancers?

Are we human or are we dancers?

Feast Day of St Andrew

St. Andrew's Day is the day we celebrate our culture, food and dance in Scotland - celebrations are held by Scots around the world! But I wonder how many Scots know why St Andrew is our saint, or even who he is!!

Andrew was born in Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee, son of Jona and Joanna, and he and his younger brother Simon (renamed Peter by Jesus) were fishermen. Andrew was the first disciple called by Jesus, who said that, if he followed Him, He would make him a fisher of men. Following Christ's death and resurrection, it is believed that he preached in Asia Minor and Scythia, spreading the Gospel along the Black Sea as far as Kiev and Volga. He founded the See of Byzantium, which became Constantinople (modern day Istanbul in Turkey).

He was martyred at Patras in Achaea, by crucifixion on a crux decussata, an X-shaped cross, at his request - he felt he was unworthy of being crucified on the same shape of the cross that Christ died on. It is said that he hung there for three days and that, even in his pain and agony, he continued to share the Gospel.

Tradition says that his relics were moved from Patras to Constantinople. In 1210 a large part of his remains were stolen and taken to Italy, where they can still be seen in the town of Amalfi. In 1879, Amalfi's Archibishop sent a piece of shoulder bone to help re-establish the Roman Catholic faith in Scotland. In 1964 relics held by the Vatican were returned to Patras to the Church of St Andrew, where they are revered in a special ceremony every November 30th. Further relics were taken by Pope Paul VI to Scotland, during his visit in 1969, saying "Saint Peter gives you his brother". These can be seen in St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh.

So, why is he the patron Saint of Scotland? There are several theories as to why he was adopted as our patron Saint.

Legend says that a monk, before Emperor Constantine could have the relics moved to Constantinople, was told in a dream to take as many of the bones as he could to the "ends of the earth" for safe-keeping. He took a tooth, an arm bone, a knee cap and some finger bones from the Saint's tomb and set out on a journey which saw him shipwrecked on the east coast of Scotland, at the headland of Muckross in Fife. He found himself at a Pictish settlement, Kilrymont, where modern day St Andrew's now stands. The relics were given to the Pictish King Óengus mac Fergusa (729-761), with the promise that he would have victory over his enemies. A see was founded and pilgrims flocked to the site to receive healing. (The Cathedral of St Andrews was to be built on the same site in the 1200's.) It is believed that the relics there were destroyed during the dark days of the Scottish Reformation, when many a beautiful church was ransacked and treasures destroyed, and the celebrations on 30th November were banned.

Legend also says that Óengus was spoken to in a dream by St Andrew and that he was promised victory in an impending battle. During battle with the Northumbrian King Athelstane, Óengus saw a cloud shaped like a saltire, and announced that St Andrew was watching over them and would grant them victory, which put fire in the hearts of the Scots. Sure enough Athelstane was slain at the ford over Cogtail burn. King Óengus ordered that the Cross of St Andrew, the saltire, to be the badge of the Picts.

It was during the reign of King Malcolm III (who's father was killed by Macbeth in 1040) and Queen Margaret that devotion to St Andrew became nationwide and a national festival was established. Malcolm defeated and killed Macbeth in 1057, and Scottish soldiers fighting in the Crusades honoured St Andrew as Patron of Christian Knighthood.

At the Battle of Bannockburn in June 1314, Scottish soldiers, under Robert the Bruce, wore the white cross of St Andrew on their tunics. Prior to the battle where they faced the far superior in numbers army of King Edward II (estimated at 3 to 1), the soldiers knelt in prayer, and sought St Andrew's protection. Against all odds the victory was to the Scots and Bannockburn was to set the seal for Scotland's bid for freedom from English rule. It was then that St Andrew was officially named patron Saint of the nation, though it was 1385 before the saltire became the nation's flag. in 1318, Robert the Bruce, at the dedication of St Andrews Cathedral, placed a parchment at the High Alter expressing the nation's thanks to the saint.

Might as well JUMP!

My dear sister, Ali, Nairn Beach

Come now, you didn't think I was heading to the Kessock Bridge, did you?? Things may be bad, but there is always some light in each day!

'I get up, and nothing gets me down', says the dear Van Halen, but what one would like to know is how does one do that?

Well, one way is by realising what wonderful friends one has!! Thank you kindly, dear patrons of the Blog and Duck! Drinks are on me! How can anyone stay down with you guys propping up the bar, and bestowing words of wisdom and encouragement?

And, then, when I look into the eyes of my baby girls ... well, enough said!

'You've got to roll with the punches to get to whats real' - well, that has an ring of truth to it! It is often when we have come through pain, or suffering, or hurt, or trials, when we get to that light at the end of the tunnel, that is when we realise what (or who) is real.

'Oh can't you see me standing here, I've got my back against the record machine' - have you ever felt utterly invisible and unappreciated? I was ranting about that earlier, and where does it get me? More stressed and avoided!! So I realised that I have to hold backon the ranting and instead let the me that I am proud of shine through - surely someone will notice that!!?

And if all else fails, then you might as well ....

Trentretro, Charis and Ali,
Flickr Meet, Falkland Palace

MrT, Trentretro, Charis, Ali and Stonefaction,
Flickr meet at Falkland Palace

Jumping is the best tonic, especially when done with friends!!

Right, let's throw a few more logs on the fire, open a couple of bottles of red and white, order some food and enjoy each others' company! Raising our glasses to the birthday girls, Hazel and Gaby! *clink*

Relight my fire!

I took this shot on the shore at Dores on the side of Loch Ness. We'd had a BBQ with another family and gathered wood after to make a fire from the embers.

Do you ever get moments, days, weeks where you feel you have lost that spark? That fire within you? I seem to be getting more and more moments, days, weeks like that, yet what a cheek I have! I have so much that I never dreamed of having - in my hubby and my girls and my home. I have parents and family whom I adore (even when they really annoy me), my Mum is my best friend. And I have good friends who are there for me and, I hope, whom I am there for.

But, who doused my fire??!

It doesn't take much to brighten my day, to be honest - a bit of consideration, like someone else doing the housework, dressing the girls, giving me a lie in, accompanying me for a coffee (I do like my coffee!!!). Some days though, I feel utterly taken for granted at home, and the spark that is still striving to burn, dims a bit more. Conversation - hubby is not a big conversationalist so if I don't have Mum or Dad up for a break, or don't see my coffee mate, conversation is, well, minimal.

So, I ask myself, what would relight your fire?

A tidy, organised home.

50/50 responsibility with the girls.

Time for me, for the realisation of some of my dreams.

A closer walk with God.

There is more, but I won't bore you!

Hey-ho. Best restock the bar, get some more logs in and check out the colours for the snug. Oh, and who's dog stole the bone for the soup?? Huh?

Never enough hours in the day!

"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein."

~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

How often do we say that to ourselves?? That there are never enough hours on the day?!

Every day I list to myself the things I want to achieve, whether it's the mundane things like ironing (like that ever gets done!!), or more interesting things, like writing my novel. And I get to the end of each day utterly frustrated that I have barely achieved any of my goals.

But now I'm thinking that it is exactly that that has to change - my thinking.

I can achieve exactly what I want to, if I just change my way of looking at things and stop putting pressure on myself! I'll never be a Mother Teresa, Da Vinci, Einstein or JK Rowling - but I can be the very best that I can be!

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Anyhoo - welcome to the Blog and Duck - play nice!!