Gung-Ho New Year Blogging Spurt

Book of the Week: The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers

I had to work on Hogmanay and after I came home we spent an uneventful evening in typical couch potato style, watching TV (we both got lots of cartoon DVDs for Christmas – Dogtanian and Willy Fogg for Gareth and the X-Men and Justice League for me), before heading up to Dalgety Bay to look for a good spot to watch the celebratory fireworks over Edinburgh. We first tried the Harbour Drive development (fantastic views of the Forth and the bridges, but not so good towards Edinburgh), then down Moray Way to Lumsdaine Drive and Donibristle Gardens (views completely blocked by houses) before finally parking by the Dalgety Bay Sailing Club – fabulous panorama of the Edinburgh skyline. It was horribly romantic: a clear, bright sky and full moon overhead (the next time we'll see a full moon AND a partial eclipse is in 2400), a riot of colourful fireworks across the water, ships blowing their foghorns on the Forth. And all I could think of was... gee, I hope we don't catch any radium particles. Oooh... discovered how to use the "starry night" function on the Lumix too and got a couple of good photos. Unfortunately wasn't quick enough to capture the glowing orange lights in the sky that hovered over the Forth... probably Chinese lanterns but wonder if they could be aliens? Might have planned to visit Earth but decided to go home after finding everything was shut for New Year.

I've resolved to do something on New Year's Day each year now, rather than vegetate at home – don't want the day to be for me like it is for a lot of people in these parts, one of the year's "forgotten" days, because they're all too busy recovering from hangovers. So we went out for a good tramp around Culross, during which we discovered two castles – Blair and Dunimarle – within a stone's throw of each other. We use this road regularly, yet had not known they were there until yesterday. Really enjoyed the walk – had the paths largely to ourselves and only saw maybe four other people the whole time. Wasn't too bright and just enough sunshine to make it a clear, wintry day. It was a bit hairy at times with some sections of the route completely covered in ice (and don't even get me started on the horse shit outside Blair Mains Farm) but overall a lot of fun, with the only sounds being the crunch of snow underfoot. Saw an interesting sign for "Plague Grave" on the return path through the conifer forest – am sure there's an interesting story there – and have made a mental note to come back to the fields on Culross Moor for sledding the next time we get heavy snowfall!

Came home, had a lovely steaming plate of chilli and rice made by Gareth (he's getting on so well with his house-husband training!) then sat back for an enjoyable evening with Doctor Who (David Tennant's gone, WAAAAH!!!) , Gavin and Stacey and plenty of coochies. All in all, a quiet, relaxing and enjoyable weekend – it sounds soppy but as long as we're with each other, we're happy. And thanks to the weather, Dunfermline v Raith this afternoon has been cancelled as well – so I get the afternoon off! Yay!

Factoids of the Week:
Culross saw its last outbreak of plague in 1645 and the "Plague Grave" might have been the resting place of a girdle-maker and his family. A recumbent burial stone last seen in 1953 supposedly bore a shield, crown and hammer (insignia of the girdlesmiths) and the inscription, "Here lyes Robert, Agnes, Jeane, Baids, children was to ...I C ... (girdlemak)er bvrges of Cvlros (who departed) af this Lyf in the Visetaseon 24 Septr. Ano 1645". But by 1960, the area had been planted with conifers and no trace of the grave could be found.

Culross is associated with St Kentigern, a.k.a. St Mungo, the patron saint of Glasgow. The legend goes that a princess (and future saint) named Theneva or Thenaw, daughter of King Lleuddun of Gododdin (somewhere in the modern-day Lothians) was seduced by the legendary Owain mab Urien and fell pregnant before marriage. Her family threw her from a cliff (said to be Trapain Law) but she survived the fall and soon met with an unmanned boat. She got in and it sailed her across the Forth, landing at Culross where she was cared for by St Serf, founder of Culross, who became foster-father of her son, Mungo.