On my birthday Ewan went off to St Anton for a week's skiing.  I went to the Cameo to see Tokyo Godfathers. It's the second time I've seen it and I'd go again. It's a great Christmas story about three homeless people who find an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve and set out to find its mother. I don't know whether Japanese cinema audiences flock to see It's a Wonderful Life around Christmas as people do here but if they do they should dump it in favour of Tokyo Godfathers.  In the evening I went to Claire's for her traditional drinks party.

Nothing much happened then till New Year's Eve.  Edinburgh's outdoor festivities were cancelled for fear of being blown away.  This didn't matter to me personally but it's a shame for visitors (at least the tourist tax wasn't in operation)  and no doubt was a financial blow to the town.  Ewan, back from the slopes, and I found ourselves at Claire's for her traditional gathering and got home full of delicious food which had been suitably washed down at an appropriate hour.

On New Year's Day we went to see the Turner watercolours. This year the Scottish National Gallery and the Irish National Gallery who had both been recipients of a number of Turners through the generosity of Henry Vaughan had swapped their holdings so the pictures were all new to me and I guess to most of the people who'll come to see them this January.

We ate at Vittoria's that evening in honour of Ewan's departure the following morning.

My next treat was a return visit to the Kimono exhibtion at the V&A in Dundee. I had company this time and enjoyed a bonus in the shape of a Japanese inspired afternoon tea.  Siobhan took a couple of pictures which I've pinched

My usual activities are resuming.  The band started up again and I went to the Queen's Hall for my first concert date of the year.  I was somewhat surprised to find the place locked and bolted. Had the gig been cancelled and no notice given?  Should I have been at the Usher Hall?  I've made that mistake before.

None of the above.  When I checked my ticket I discovered that the concert had taken place in the afternoon, unusual in the Thursday evening concert season and something that had simply not registered with me when I booked up. I gnashed my teeth and went home to a book.  

Although I didn't see more of it than clips on the news I was well aware of the recent World Darts Championship and the excitement that the young Luke Littler, nicknamed Luke the Nuke, created.  Television audiences were thrilled. 

Television and darts are natural bedfellows in the entertainment world but wouldn't seem a natural retail combination.  But there's been a shop in Leith Walk for years whose shopfront declares them to be a darts and television emporium.  Luke the Nuke seems to have been good for them.  On Saturday afternoon  as I passed it on my way home not only was it full but there was a queue on the pavement waiting to get in.

There's a TV series called Villages by the Sea which I stumbled on recently.  I saw about 90% of the episode devoted to Culross and enjoyed it thoroughly.  There are 37 episodes on iPlayer at the moment and I may well make an effort to see them all. I believe that I visited Culross sometime in the dim and distant past but I've been on the verge of visiting again for many years.  This programme tipped me over the edge and I took advantage of yesterday's lovely sunny weather to go.

It was a good trip.  I spent a couple of hours pottering about in the village and by the shore.  Disappointingly the Palace was closed.  That's what it's called but in truth it's a 16th century house built by George Bruce who was an innovative industrialist of the time. The National Trust for Scotland who look after the building don't say on their website why it's closed or when it will reopen but I must go again when it is.

It's a lovely spot and sitting by the Forth as it does you get some lovely views to the southern shore of the firth but you need to nurture a blindspot to avoid the smokestacks of Grangemouth.  That's the picture at the top of this post.  Fortunately or perhaps not those smokestacks may vanish in the near future as Scotland's industry further contracts.  We need a new George Bruce.