263. Lights out at sea

The lights on this ship caught my eye as it passed by yesterday.  This was taken quickly from my living room, and as it sailed by quickly I only had one chance to snap it!

262. Remnants

Dotted along the old railway line path are rusted reminders of what this popular walking route was originally used for.  

261. Winter grasses

Looking at the sea through some wintery grasses and seed heads.

260. Long nights

This was taken shortly before 4pm one day last week.  Every year it always amazes me just how early it gets dark.  My daughters have been catching the school bus in the dark each morning (7:40am) and getting off it at night in almost darkness (4:10pm).  Still, the nights are now drawing out, as they say.

259. Feed the birds

Here's a colourful bird table beside the sea.  

258. Boxing Day sunrise

This was taken from my living room shortly before 9am this morning.   The sun was a big ball of orange, hovering over the sea - absolutely beautiful.

257. Merry Christmas!

Was Santa was good to you?  Here's our mini Santa in the window at Johnshaven Stores.

I hope you have a wonderful, happy day today, whatever your beliefs.

256. Christmas Tree

The Ship Hotel have erected a beautifully decorated tree in the beer garden opposite the pub.
I'm sure its lovely lights will help guide Santa into Johnshaven tonight.

255. Christmas lights in the Square

The Christmas lights add some festive cheer to the long, dark nights.  These were generously paid for by the Community Council, local businesses and individual members of the community.

254. Johnshaven Stores at Christmas

Johnshaven Stores is open every day of the year apart from Christmas Day.

Changes to the usual opening hours over the festive period are as follows:

Christmas Day - closed

Boxing Day - open 10am-2pm

Tues 27th - open as usual, closing at 6pm

Wed 28th - Sat 31st open as usual (till 8pm every night)

New Year's Day - 12-2pm

Mon Jan 2nd - 10am-6pm

then back to usual until the same time next year!

Merry Christmas from Ewan & all the staff. 

253. Christmassy window

Here's another lovely Christmas window display in the village, this time courtesy of Holly in Fore Street.  There's loads of detail - the more you look, the more you see!

252. Stunning sunrise

I had planned to have a week of Christmassy photos, but this morning's sunrise was so beautiful that I just had to include it!  This photo was taken from our attic window, looking out to sea.

251. The Old Toy Shop

Lovely and festive!  Every year this house on Castle Street decorates one of its windows to look like an old Toy Shop. 

250. Station Place, now & then

This is Station Place on the site of the old railway station.  In the distance you can see the railway bridge that was the Photo-of-the-day a few days ago.

Below is a photo of the station as it once was before the line was closed in the 1960s.  This photo was pinched from Johnshaven.com where you can see lots of photos, both old and new, of the village.

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249. Colourful rocks

Down by the Narrows these colourful rocks form part of the coastal defences.

248. Milne's Wynd

Here's the view looking along Milne's Wynd towards the sea on a crisp December morning.

247. Santa

Ooooh such excitement!! 
The man in red came to Johnshaven this morning to visit the youngsters at the Little Nippers parents, babies & pre-schoolers group.

Before meeting the children Santa did a bit of research, checking who has been naughty or nice this year.

Many 'Ho ho hos' later, all the children had received a wee gift and are undoubtedly now as high as kites - how many sleeps until Christmas?

246. Railway bridge

This bridge, which carries the bulk of traffic into Johnshaven, once spanned the railway.  Now it frames an area known as the Beechgrove Garden.  This section of the former railway line was revamped some years ago by the TV programme of the same name, and is now maintained by a group of volunteers.

245. Buzzard

There genuinely is a buzzard in this photo, but I doubt very much that anyone can spot it!

This was taken this morning, looking towards Golden Acre from the old railway line.

244. Water

This tap is located near the slipway for the convenience of boats in the harbour.

243. Looking inshore

A sunny December day down on the beach.

242. Winter sun

The winter sun is very low in the sky in this piccie taken from Cemetery Road.

241. Power cut

Hurricane Bawbag blasted through the village yesterday afternoon and left us without power for many hours.  The electricity was off from about 4-8pm and (when my daughter had just stepped into the shower) at 9pm it went off again!  We had no power until it came back on a little after 9am this morning.

When I say 'we' I mean the entire village apart from the residents of Herd Crescent and the end of Castle Street whose power never seems to go off.  Bizarrely, they are on the same line/ circuit/ whatever as Lathallan School and whilst the rest of us were shivering in the dark their Christmas lights were twinkling away. 

The photo is of my hubby, Ewan, keeping Johnshaven Stores open by gas light.  He had to give up at 7:30 when the gas cannister ran out.

240. Amber alert

The Met Office has issued an Amber Alert for this area for the storm that's coming this afternoon.  These photos were taken at about 11am this morning and the wind was already pretty strong.  It's going to be really, really wild later.

239. Alison's window

If you've ever wandered along the coastal path you'll have walked past Alison Stewart's house on West Street, and chances are you'll have spotted her window with its permanent display of her lovely seascape paintings.  Her house is right next to the beach so she has amazing views to provide constant inspiration.

You may have seen the window, but just in case you haven't seen the lovely lady herself, here's Alison shivering outside her house yesterday morning!

238. Nae sna

While much of Scotland is currently covered in snow, this was the scene down at the harbour this morning.

This time last year the kids had already had several snow days off school, but we've not seen a flake of the white stuff so far this winter.

237. Blue sky

What a stunning colour the sky is - beautifully reflected in the water too.

236. December sunshine

It's a beautiful, sunny day here today. 
This photo was taken from the beach, looking towards Balandro Cottages up on the hill beside the main road (A92).

235. Golden windows

I love the way the early morning sun reflects off the shop windows.

234. Red cloud

Here's this morning's sunrise as seen from our living room.



233. Sunrise

About 8:45am today down at the harbour - big waves in the beautiful morning light.

232. Creels

Some time ago the Photo-a-Day pic was of a new delivery of creels sitting at the harbour.  Some of them have now had the netting added.  I'm sure there's a technical term for this - can anyone educate me?

I think I've changed the settings so that anyone can post comment without having to register/ sign in.

231. Impending storm

It's not actually impending, there is a storm blowing right now, but at least it wasn't raining when I took this photo at about 9:30 this morning.  What the photo doesn't show is the fact that I was struggling to hold the camera still as I was being buffeted about by the wind.

No doubt these plastic boxes and all of that seaweed will be thrown onto the road at high tide.

230. Down on the rocks

Down on the rocks by the Hardgate.  

229. Wonky bench

This is one of the newest features in the village.  Hmmm....    

228. Christmas Fair

Here's the Christmas Fair in full swing in the Village Hall today.  It is organised by a different village group every year - they hire tables out to other groups and provide refreshments in the wee hall at the back. 

This year it's the turn of Johnshaven Primary School to run the event - you can just make out the Santa hats of some children on the stage, singing Christmassy songs.

It is a great fundraiser for all the participating groups and is always very well supported by the community. 

227. Now you see it, now you don't!

I've tried to add short video clips to the Photo-a-Day blog but, infuriatingly, they've never actually uploaded properly.  So, these photos will have to do - a wave - now you see it, now you don't!
These were taken this morning.  It's beautiful here but very, very chilly.

226. Walk this way

Keeping the walkers on the right path. 

Apologies for the slightly squint horizon!

225. Choppy sea

A choppy sea yesterday morning. 

224. Unseasonal growth

Even a plant ignoramus like me can see that these bulbs are popping up a bit early in the Starfish Studio tubs.  On Radio Scotland this morning Fred Macaulay said that there's snow on the way, so I hope they're not doomed.