MIKEY and Dougie head off after (a late) breakfast...and we have the place to ourselves for what seems the first time in weeks.
I prep a piece of brisket – a crappy wee bit of beef from Tesco bought out of curiosity! – and rub with salt and pepper then clean out the smoker and get it on to smoke.
Margaret needs some stuff from the village so I go with there and take a walk back bumping into a music pal Stevie and his son along the way.
I'm ready for something to eat and a nap when I get back then hit the studio to work on mail list stuff.
Having finally finished the housekeeping and aggregation of various lists I set about opening a Brevo account but there's a bunch of errors and I can't get a subscription to go through. Jeez.
The brisket is done and surprisingly good for a wee piece of rolled brisket – BBQ really needs a packer brisket with flat and point, but this has turned OK.
ANOTHER year starts…and we celebrate with breakfast burritos.
Mikey and Dougie go for a walk and we go to first-foot Betty. When we get back I hit the studio and carry on with email lists and aggregating various sources for a ‘clean’ start.
I spend the rest of the day and early part of the evening on the same task then back to the house – Margaret’s made steak pie.
I’m pretty done with everything and head off to bed soon after dinner.
AFTER breakfast I get the (electric) smoker ready for the pork and start things off for Mikey’s birthday dinner this evening.
I have quite a lot of work to get through in the studio, including trying to organize and aggregate all my email list stuff to see if I can migrate away from Mailchimp to another provider. Mailchimp has just got too expensive.
Mikey's meant to be meeting his pal Dougie in Dundee at midday to come throughout it looks like they're a good few hours behind schedule.
Meantime I make some salsa to go with the pulled pork tacos then go out for a wee walk, stopping off at Betty's to drop off a dod of Christmas cake and have a blether.
The guys still haven't arrived by the time I'm back home so I get busy with the email list stuff in the studio 'til they roll up.
The pulled pork tacos go down well then we chat for a while before watching Big and Dorothy's new year livestream from Florida.
I get out for a paddle – it’s gonna be windy for the next few days….
MARGARET’s not feeling great when we wake up so we hang out in bed, drink coffee and I deal with emails, socials and stuff.
After breakfast I set up some locally-focussed ads for the Gartmore show then get sorted to go out for a paddle. It’s a nice, albeit cold, day and the forecast isn’t great for the upcoming week so I take the chance to get out on the water while I can.
I pull up on the shore at Betty’s and nip in to see her then paddle back to the bay.
There’s time for a quick shower before we get the bus to Martyn and Louise's for drinks and have a grand afternoon and evening catching up before Louise runs us home.
MIKEY heads off after breakfast and we drive round to Kilmaronock Old Kirk to see the newly completed renovations.
It’s all very impressive and there’s a nice local heritage exhibition….and good to catch up with some of the folks behind the development. I’m keen to arrange a date for the fundraiser gig I’ve offered to set up to say thank you for all the access we were given to film the videos for the singles off the new album.
Next stop is Costco which, once again, is mobbed and neither of the options for Mikey’s birthday meal are available – I’d hoped for beef short ribs or a pork butt. Luckily Tesco has a bit of pork shoulder – not as big or good quality as we get at Costco, but hopefully it’ll do the job for smoked pulled pork tacos.
Margaret’s been fighting off the lurgy all day and puggled when we get home so I dal with dinner and we chill the rest of the night.
MATTY and Mikey head off to Catriona’s mid-morning – their dad and his partner are meeting them there for lunch.
Mikey’s coming back here afterwards – Matty’s off to Dundee. I spend the day in the studio filming some stuff for online promo/content, including a piece to help promote the Gartmore show in January.
I’m not that happy with the result tho’ and end up creating a different video in various formats to spit round my socials. If it looks like it’s getting traction and the show needs an extra punt I’ll maybe use it a the basis for a local advertising campaign. I wanna wait for the press to land first before I decide.
When I get back to the house Mikey’s back and we have some dinner then chat for a while before bedtime.
THE KIDS have us awake early…and we’re all up by the time Catriona and Will arrive after their night at the Oak Tree.
The house is a riot when they leave – Matty, Mikey and Lesley are still here…Lesley heads off early afternoon. Matty and Mikey were due to leave today too, but seems they’re staying on. I’m kinda out the loop on all that!
I take a walk up the lochside to escape the chaos and get back just as darkness is starting to fall then head to the studio to get some promo done on the upcoming Gartmore show(14 January) and a landing page on the website. I also notice there’s no Facebook event for March’s show at the West End Centre in Aldershot so I sort that out.
We have some dinner then Matty and Mikey plonk themselves on the sofa and watch Star Wars. I’m not interested enough in Star Wars to sit on the floor so I catch up on some work at the table.
WE DON'T have much for breakfast 'cos Catriona, Will and the kids will here soon and need fed.
In the kitchen I prepare some Alabama white BBQ sauce and tidy up a little.
I get the smoker ready and once everyone's had some snacks and the kids have opened their presents it's ready for the bacon-wrapped pork loin to go on.
We spend the next few hours hanging out and chatting until the pork's ready then we all sit down for an early dinner.
The kids are staying in the house with Margaret, Les, Matty, Mikey and myself...Catriona and Will are staying at the Oak Tree Inn. We sit round the table then the kids go to bed and we all chat for a while.
IT’S CHRISTMAAAAAAAAAS! Matty’s up early to go out for a run….meantime, the rest of us get up, showered and breakfast on the go.
Before we open presents I get the smoker fired up, the turkey out the brine and rinsed and we’re all systems go for later.
Presents and buck’s fizz next then the kitchen activity starts in earnest.With the turkey well underway on smoker Matty and I go for a walk up the lochside while Mikey dozes on the sofa.
Soon we’re all round the table enjoying a fantastic Christmas dinner then there’s some tidying up before Margaret opens up a 100-piece headfuck of a jigsaw…everyone gets involved until it’s completed at 2am!
Nice Christmas Eve paddle…got a bit choppy later…and Santa had an impromptu dip!
GLAD I remembered about my early online guitar lesson otherwise I coulda slept right through!
After the lesson – and subsequent breakfast – I prep a brine solution for the turkey. The water, kosher salt, slices of orange, garlic and peppercorns needs time to cool right down and will be sorted this evening – 12 hours is plenty for tome to brine the turkey. It’ll stand up to 24 hours, but after that it has a negative effect and can make the meat a weird texture.
Next job is prep for the cherry stuffing which will be made after then I start putting up a couple of pictures in the hall before Fiona arrives to go for a paddle.
It’s pretty calm and the sun’s shining as we paddle to Port Bawn and Torrinch but as we start back to home the wind picks up and it gets unexpectedly choppy. And I take an unplanned dip. Fun paddle tho’.
Back home I have a late lunch then make the stuffing – I get it in the oven too so it just needs heated up tomorrow. The result looks good and is put aside to cool before I take it to the fridge outside.
Meantime Lesley and Mikey arrive.
Next, brining the turkey – the turkey and brine is topped up with the recommended additional water in a brining bucket along with a couple of ice packs and left outside in the shed.
Catriona, Will and the kids are coming on Boxing Day and I’m doing a smoked bacon-weave pork loin – normally I’d trim the pork add a rub and wrap in bacon the day before, but something tells me that might not be practical tomorrow (!!) so I do it now and find space in the fridge outside.
Finally, I sit down and join the others for a drink and dinner. Phew!
