Hogmanay
It's Hogmanay. You can tell by the queues of cars trying to get into the supermarket car parks and the wild-eyed shoppers with armfuls of Madeira cake and shortbread. Except in our house we add a Polish touch and have rings of Wiejska sausage (great when boiled and served with hard-boiled eggs, salt, pepper and crusty bread).
There seems to be many more outdoor parties happening this year. I can remember when Hogmanay was all about staying close to home, perhaps hoping a friend, neighbour or relative would drop by and be your first-foot. In fact, many a year we sent my dad or an older brother outside just before the bells so that he could be our first visitor of the New Year.
Inside we'd gather around the television set waiting for the stroke of twelve...those on the doorstep outside would have to rely on a portable radio. Then there would be much hugging, shaking of hands and my father's traditional toast of "absent friends" which becomes more emotional as every year passes.
So, tonight on Radio Scotland, we have a mix of the traditional and the new. Robbie Shepherd has a live band in Studio 1 in Glasgow and that's followed by the dynamic duo of Vic Galloway and Bryan Burnett taking us though midnight.
But if you want to know more about Hogmanay then try out the new online site and meanwhile have a good new year when it comes. And special greetings to my family in the Polish town of Rozprza. Hope you have a good sausage.
