Look below for greetings from:

Mike and Lesley; Donald and Joan; Catherine Joan; Lily and Charlie; Walter; Gay; more to come...

From Mike & Lesley

I've just returned from a hectic two weeks/three weekends in the ice and snow of northern Nevada and am a little behind in getting around to Xmas things. I was working with a colleague from my days with Quest, doing a consulting assignment for a gold mine 75miles (by dirt road) south of Elko. Up 3.30am, pick up 4am, to the mine 5.45, leave mine 4.15, back to Elko 6pm, dinner, hotel and bed about 8 to 8.30. For 11 straight days. Ice on the roads, snow on the roads, slush and sleet on the roads, watch out for horses, deer, elk...

But it was fun! We had a lot of laughs and did a good job. Happy client, and eventually I'll get paid.

Fairly quiet year apart from that, TimeTrackers keeps us busy, we're in two choirs with a few gigs here and there. Sang in front of a crowd of about 3000 last month, for the centenary of the opening of a great piece of industrial history, the Railway Workshops at Midland (now closed of course, and nothing but a museum and a memory of the past. Lots of ex-tradesmen in the audience, and a sense of pride and regret that such places are no more)

We're having a quiet break, beach, reading, catching up with a few friends and invigorating ourselves for the year to come.

And the wagtails are back...later than last year. New nest, same spot and they're sharing the duties of sitting on the egg(s).

So we hope you're all having a wonderful time doing all the things that have to be done. The list seems to get longer around here. I thought we were supposed to be slowing down about now?

Slainte and a happy 2005

Mike and Lesley

From Donald and Joan

Hi Everyone; It's hard to believe that another year has passed. The walldiary relates a seeming never ending stream of things to do and events passed, some nice and some not so nice . Still let's look forward to another year of good times.
Joan and I send our best wishes to everyone for a very happy Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
Fond regards,
Donald and Joan .

From Catherine Joan

Just to wish you both a great time at Chrstmas and wishing you lots of happy days in 2005!
(Had a note from Lily and they're well and have been to stay with Scott earlier in the year).
From Catherine Joan, Inverness

From Lily and Charlie

Hello fellow Tain Academites! I had a look at the website and decided to add
a message. We are still in Rosehall and keeping well and busy! I've just
been to Edinburgh to stay with family, first a few days with Kathleen who,
thanks goodness, is a lot better but always struggling to lead a normal life
despite her health problems. She will be returning tonight after a ski-ing
holiday in Andorra, so I hope it went well. After she left, I stayed with
Dougie, Deidre and the girls and had a great time, attending their school
and nursery nativity plays etc I was sung to every day and heard a lot about
the ox and "axe" in the stable bare! The highlight of Eliie's school show
was the sweet singing by her P. 2 class, of a lovely Gaelic lullaby
accompanied by two girls on clarsach. It was really beautiful ! However it
was very difficult for the audience to see anything as parents kept standing
up to video or photograph their darling child! I was appalled. Will people
shortly be doing this in the theatre or in concerts? I gather it's so that
they can watch it later on a screen, which will make it all the more real!

Christmas story: A certain lady was working in a Glasgow nursery school and
was teaching the children some carols. One wee fellow insisted that it went
: A wain in a manger, no crisps in his bed!

We've had a nice quiet Christmas - dinner with our neighbours Willie, Violet
and their son Neil, time to walk in the woods, read our Christmas books and
watch some films on T.V. Of course, the watchnight church service on
Christmas eve. We walked to the church in the snow! We had a white
Christmas O.K. but the roads are really icy and friends (car) went off the
road on Christmas eve, not really hurt but very inconvenienced by having to
get their car retreived on Christmas day!
We send our best wishes to you all. Love from Lily and Charlie
P.S. Actually it was last year we spent a wonderful holiday with Scott in
Basel. This year we went to Venice and Florence.

From Gay Russell

Hi Lesley and Mike and fellow academicians,
We'd just like to wish you all a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.
Two thousand and four seems to have flown past. It has been my first year of
complete retirement but I seem to have been busier than ever. Scottish
Country Dancing continues to take up a lot of time - dancing three / four
times a week. I'm secretary for one group, do the graphics, programs etc for
another group and Ian maintains the Melbourne Branch website. This year I
attended the National SCD Winter School in N.S.W. for a week in July. It was
a pretty strenuous week with at least 5 hours of dance each day but very
stimulating and it was a great joy to be able to dance to live music,
something we are rarely able to do in Australia.
Had a holiday in the South Island of New Zealand in March - spectacular
scenery reminiscent of Scotland.
Had a mixed year healthwise. Until November we were pretty fit but in one
week that all changed. Ian had a very sudden and unexpected problem with his
knee requiring immediate surgery. The day I brought him home from hospital
Jeffrey (son) was taken to hospital in a critical condition with a burst
ulcer and also had emergency surgery. Luckily he survived thanks to the
wonderful care he received in one of our public hospitals. All this happened
just as our kitchen renovation was due to start so we are looking forward to
a quiet and relaxing January with time to read, swim and catch our breath.
We hope to be in Scotland (Golspie) in May for about 8 days before going to
France for three weeks spending 5 days in Bangkok on our return journey. If
anyone is to be around in the second week of May it would be wonderful to
catch up particularly as I missed the Reunion in 2002.
Best wishes
Gay

From Walter Balfour

27 December 2004. Wishing all old TRA friends the very best for 2005:

We enjoy hearing from friends near and far and learning of activities and adventures. This time last year, Rosemary and I were in Costa Rica. What a relaxing trip it was - just the thing to take one's mind off marking150 Physical Chemistry exam papers! Our tour included hiking through tropical cloud forest, across volcanic slopes and along sandy beaches. The variety of bird life was truly amazing. We would highly recommend C.R. to anyone interested in eco-tourism.
In July daughter Jennie and significant other, Derek, moved to Vancouver. She is back to being a full-time student, this time at UBC in Computer Science. It is, of course, a contrast to her earlier degree in Music Composition but she is motivated and doing well. She did not have high school Physics, which is a program prerequisite, so took the course by correspondence and scored a perfect 100%. Maybe she wants to emulate her older sister. Annemarie's second degree is in Computer Science from the University of Victoria and she now works for Computer Services on campus. Whenever I pass by her office I have to peer past computer components in various stages of assembly.
Rosemary took the girls to Maui for a week in early May. They rented a marvellously furnished condominium by Kamaole beach in Kihei and did lots of snorkeling, exploring and bonding. Then, later in the summer Rosemary and I had two weeks in Taiwan where I was presenting some research results at an International conference. The five day meeting was one of the best of its kind I have attended. I was able to visit several laboratories and found them in most respects better equipped than any I have seen elsewhere. We had three days beforehand to see Taipei city and four days at the end to visit Taiwan's spectacular east coast and the north-central part of the island. We came away with a very positive impression of the country, its people, its society and its vibrancy. Late October saw me in Toronto for two days of meetings after which I was able to spend an afternoon driving through some of the farming district of my Butchart ancestors.
Victoria had a long, hot summer which necessitated water restrictions. The city was as popular as ever with tourists and cruise ships. During June, July and August Rosemary was part of a team of "ambassadors" in the downtown core, out and around to assist with tourist questions. Since then she has taken on a second volunteer activity: assisting in the gardens at Government House, residence of the province's Lieutenant-Governor. She has even found time in between to take Continuing Education courses at the University and is now busy in her role as registrar for our annual Scottish Country Dance Society Workshop and Ball weekend. We continue with dancing, and get to the theater, opera, genealogical society etc. when we can - never a dull moment as they say.
Jen was home for Christmas and Annemarie joined us Christmas eve. I'm booked to address and stab a haggis at a Hogmanay party!

Slainte and all the best from balmy (11 Celsius) Victoria, British Columbia, Walter.