There’s a goat behind the sofa

It is the law in Norway to have winter tires and in 2024 I treated myself to a new set with studs. After a few nightmare issues in previous years I was initially very pleased with my new purchase - not a hint of worry as I ploughed up and down the hills on Dønna and Herøy. However, it quickly became clear that there were problems with them - I was frequently disturbed by an orange flashing light warning me that at least one tire was under the recommended pressure. Almost every time I went to Herøy I would have to take a detour via the one place there appears to be on the 2 islands that had an air pump. Obviously it would have been simplest to go back to the workshop and "discuss" this with them but their English isn't great and obviously my Norwegian isn't top notch either and frankly my English isn't great either when it comes to automotive things. So I just grinned and bore it. When the time came in October '25 to change the tires over I just decided it was simpler to get new another new set and when I took the car over for the changing of the tires I asked if they could replace them all together and dispose of the old ones. He asked me what size the tires were and with my extensive knowledge of these things all I was able to reply with was "round?" He came out to look at them and said they looked absolutely fine but I tried to explain the issues and he said they'd take a look. A wee while later I came away feeling quite cheerful about the fact I'd saved myself a fortune by not buying a new set. Amazingly enough the chap who was doing the tires not only was wearing a Star Wars hoodie (respect), he had actually spent a bit of timing living in Scotland - Edinburgh, St Andrews and Dundee. What are the odds? One week later the light flashed on again and the gloom descended. However this time I resolved to get it dealt with. So back I went and tried to explain the problem again and I got the tire fixed. Sadly a different chap served me at the desk so I got charged for changing a full set of tires again and my initial elation about saving money was starting to fade. And a week or so later yet another light came on and back I went again a third time (always a different tire). This time it was a young lady in the workshop and once again I tried to explain the problem. I was quite depressed when she said she hadn't understood a word I had said - I thought I was doing quite well with the Norwegian but it transpires she was also foreign and her own Norwegian wasn't great so we conversed in English. I did try and ask her how she ended up in Sandnessjøen of all places but I think she thought I was trying to chat her up so the conversation didn't last long. By this stage they were starting to feel sorry for me/ dreading the sight of me so wasn't charged full whack. And a week or so later another light came on. But by this stage I couldn't face the thought of going back for a fourth time so went to a petrol station in Sandnessjøen to just top it up with air. And so far so good no more flashing lights. I fear I must have been heck of a bore over this as I was gifted an air-compressor for Christmas.

The first Sunday in Advent is when the Christmas Tree Lights are switched on in both Dønna and Herøy. It always struck me as strange that with only about 2 1/2 hours between sunrise and sunset that the Herøy lights were switched on in the middle of this very short period of daylight. I have floated the idea of changing that so we shall see if that changes this year. As well as all the Christmas Eve services we usually have services on the 25th and 26th. I've also floated the idea of changing that as well so that we have both services on the 25th - this would mean I would get at least one day completely free over Christmas. But anyway.....

After the Herøy Christmas Eve service and the switching on of the tree lights we adjourned across to the local museum where grøt was served. Grøt is traditional Norwegian rice pudding and it gave me a chance to reminisce about Sunday lunches during my childhood. I waxed lyrically about my gran's magnificent recipe for rice pudding. Perfect every time. My dad also had a recipe for rice pudding. Very cruelly my brother and I would ask mockingly every time whether we would require hammer and chisel or a straw as we anticipated dessert.

The following weekend I was playing with the Sandnessjøen Storband at their Christmas concert. Full of fun Christmas tunes and they played really well. That being said, we did a version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer which did involve a 5/4 section - I got flashbacks to massacring Take Five live on National TV when I was still relatively new here.

An important part of the Christmas tradition (certainly here in this part of Norway) is the Julevandering. This is a short nativity play put on for the local children (the 6 year olds or something I think). This year we added an extra date on our "tour" and also performed on Løkta. Last year, as related in the appropriate post I was the Angel Gabriel and this year I was to repeat the part. After all the "actors" were introduced to the kids at the start we took our places - my place was hidden behind a curtain and at the appropriate moment I would "appear" and tell them all to "Be not afraid, I bring you good tidings etc".

Suffice to say that I was such a success in the role that when we reconvened in Nordvik for the 2nd of our 3 performances I was unceremoniously sacked. "Graeme, if you really, really still want to be the angel of course you can be but it's not a problem if you'd rather not". No mistaking the subtext there. Haha.

We were back on Løkta for a service on the 28th December which was to be followed by a JuleTreFest. As I am sure I have mentioned before, we under no illusion that the service is regarded as something that they have to do before they get to the "important" part. It's also good for the ego as it's probably the one time a year where I'm regarded as more important than the priest!

Due to the service needing to be v short I take this into account when choosing a last voluntary but for whatever reason I couldn't think of anything to play this year - I find places like Løkta more awkward because I'm at the front and therefore find myself heck of a lot more self-conscious. So for the first time I resorted to AI and asked it to suggest some short pieces and I have to say it came up trumps. The congregation were treated to a short and snappy ditty by César Franck.

Unusually for me I was very much into the Christmas spirit this year - certainly at home. All the decorations went up, I went through all the my CDs and made a specific Christmas playlist which covered Bach right up to "A Progressive Rock Christmas" (which includes some grim arrangements it has to be said) and even bought myself a "Christmas Meal in a box". Should you choose, the whole thing could be ready after 8 minutes in the microwave - a true sign of quality.

Alas we didn't have a white Christmas and indeed the weather was so bad that our service/JuleTreFest on Husvær was cancelled due to cancelled ferries and power cuts. Sadly wasn't able to enjoy this extra free time because we were also enduring our own power cuts.

The other services went well - there were some very healthy turnouts. There were over 200 in church for the Christmas Eve service in Herøy - indeed there were so many there that some people had to sit upstairs in the organ loft ie invading my personal space.

It was also really full for the school service at the end of term and I was chuffed to get 2 waves and 1 thumbs up from some of the kids. High praise indeed.

I still regularly go to the cinema and sometimes have been surprised by audience numbers. Avatar was really busy and Nuremberg was surprisingly busy. I actually went to see Nuremberg after all the Christmas Tree light festivities - as I told my colleagues, nothing says "Christmas!" like a movie about Nazi war criminals. As I said, it was surprisingly busy and I ended up on the "love seats" in the back row. Unfortunately there was a young couple beside me who took the idea literally. Really? At a movie about the Nuremberg Trails? Jeez. There were a lot of movies on around Christmas so some of them were in the Storsal which is usually used for theatre and concerts and seats well over 200. I went to one movie there and there 4 of us.

Numbers of the year:

Swimming:

Start of the year - 20 lengths, breathing every 2 strokes and a break needed every 2 lengths.

End of the year - 49 lengths, breather every 4 (sometimes 6) strokes and no substantial breaks needed. I had planned to finish the year on 50 lengths but I didn't discover the changing opening times until after my last visit otherwise I would have finished the year on 50. The reason it was an odd number is that the steps out of the pool are at the other end from where I start so due to the extra lengths I needed help getting out the pool

Books:

I appear to have read 131 books this year (anti-social? moi?)

First one was John Grisham's The Last Juror and the last was Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White. Spoiler alert: this year's list will also begin with a John Grisham

Films:

I saw 23 films at the cinema.

First one was Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim and the last was Marty Supreme

Organ Music:

I appear to have played 287 different organ pieces this year and of those, 51 were pieces I had played in Dundee.

Broadway:

Number of show previews seen: 3. Number of those shows that went on to be closed early due to awful reviews and low audience figures: 2