We're ALL off to the Waddin' o' the year !

The eldest child is being married ,.,.
It's something of a "rush affair" ,,,
( no, no, no, I don't imply anything on the "shotgun" front ,,,
nor do I suggest that this is any short lived "affair" either !
It's just that it's all happened with a bit of a rush at the end ,.,..,,.
( Oooh gosh Missus ! )
You see, the bride & groom suddenly & without warning almost, found themselves out of a job and so the planned bigger wedding complete with all family & friends reception at the Golf Club in June had to be postponed.
As the We'an herself said ,,,, To lose one job, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like damned carelessness.
So they thought ... Do we wait ,,, 'till we find new jobs or 'till the World Resession is over ?...
or do we just do the daft thing and get married NOW ? ,,
So now it is ! Today in fact ,, in about an hour no less ! Help ,, I have to go !
Fortunately the Groom's parents were over for a wee visit so they are here already ,,
His sister dropped everything ( 3-kids & a husband to be precise ! ) and flew in last night ,,since when the poor soul has been baking a wedding cake ( Danish style ! )
The Bride's eldest child, Marcel, has even had a haircut ...
Her 2nd. Lottie has agreed to wear a dress !
Leon the 3rd. thinks the groom is going to poison the bride ( a slight mix up with his Danish language skills ...)
Baby Anna doesn't care a hoot as long as she gets her night-time fix of mummy's milk ..
So no quiet honeymoon on the horizon tonight for the happy couple, I'm afraid !!
The Bride's brother & sister-in-law have kindly given over their home to accommodate the aprés event cake & bubbly reception ,..,
The rest of the family have been running around like headless chickens for a week now trying to get outfitted !
Why is it women NEVER have anything to wear ??
The quickly revised plan was to have the family ( all 14-of us ) plus a few invited close friends to celebrate with a glass of something and a bit of cake.
But alas, the Bride is a BLOGGER .,,.,. ( and she used to Rock 'n Roll ?? )
Ipsofacto after mentioning the Happy Event on her Blog we now appear to have upwards of 50- "drop-in friends" coming for said wee refreshment !!
Hope the bro & sis-in-law know what they've let their home in for ?
Are there enough seats I wonder ?
I'll need a rest by 3pm for I'm also the "Official Photographer" !
Och who cares ,, I'm sure we'll all have a ball & the Buchanan's now have a brand new Danish wing on the family tree !!
C'mon, one & all ,,, everybody's welcome .,.,, let's make this the happiest day of their lives.
It was ,,,, And now for the REAL photos !!
How's that for a Wedding Cake, Bride & Groom ?

I suppose I should have known !

Read a story today in the newspaper ,.,.,. Some reporter or other was going on again about us rough, hairy arsed Scots and our habit of going Commando when kilted.
All the reasons for and the rights of our forefathers ( and ourselves today of course) to behave in this manner were dragged out and aired again ,, ( aired indeed Ha ,,, )
However .,.,., after the rights came the wrongs !
I have to state right here and now ,,, and not because I have just bought my own kilt this past week, that I will NEVER ,, ever again hire a kilt !
The newspaper article was trying to convince us that for cleanliness sake & common decency it would be good if we finally put this ancient custom to bed,.., Fair enough ,,, that's one viewpoint I guess ( English probably and without the necessary manly equipment I figured ) but alas no !
There was then a footnote from one of our leading menswear Kilt hire outfitters ,,, who explained ,, and in graphic detail, about all the exceedingly badly stained & soiled kilts they receive back the day after Scottish Wedding nights !!! It seems the cost of hire could be reduced substantially if the boys would just wear a pair of underpants & save the laundry bills ,..,.,
Oh Yuk ,,, like I said ,, Never Again !

The Bastards are at it ,,, again !

You won't believe this ,,, :>(
It was bad enough when Penguins got smaller, ( the biscuit that is, not the cute wee guys that walk about the Arctic ! ) & our beloved Mars Bars shrunk.
Marathon did a swift name change & also started to grow backwards in size ( a bit like that curious Benjamin Button ! ) I haven't bought one since !
I even recently found a bag of the we'an's sweeties double wrapped ,.., to add to the weight no doubt and give the poor we'an one sweetie less in her packet.
But now the bastards have gone too far ,,,
My decorating assistant ( the wife paster { non religious of course } ) & I have spent some time choosing new wallpaper to re-decorate our living & bedrooms. Having now purchased umpteen rolls, we find to our horror that we are short ,,,, each bloody roll is 1/2" narrower than the ones we've just taken off the walls !
How low can these people go ?
Did anyone in the wallpaper shop advise us of these new sizes ?
Aye sure they did ( NOT ! ) ,,
& I'll lay odds they're also shorter in length when I get round to checking ,,,
A shower of bloody thieves & charlatans.
If I now can't match the batch number on any extra rolls I might need, they'll bloody hear from my lawyer !

The Tartan Question

My dearest, newly divorced daughter is to be married again !

Three days after her divorce became final she was engaged !!

I'm delighted for her ,.., truly I am !

I know I make daft comments about her having learned nothing after her first marriage but her "new guy" is quite different ,,, In the space of the last few years he has given us back ( all of the Buchanan family ) our daughter, our sister, our sister-in-law and I know she is a much happier mother for her kids. What a change .,,. thank-you Thomas.

However, now, to add to his woes, the brave Thomas has decided to get married in Tartan !

Thomas is Danish !

Denmark is not in Scotland ! But wait ,,,

We now have Scottish World Tartan Register No. 3129

The historical association between Denmark and Scotland extends over 900 years to the age of the Vikings. Their influence can be traced through some of the Festivals still celebrated to this day in the North and East of Scotland, in the numerous Norse place-names around our coastline, and in the original language of Scotland – Gaelic. And perhaps most importantly, many of the Norse invaders married and settled in Scotland, so that we share a common blood-line to this day.Although tartan is associated with Scotland it has been known in Denmark for almost 400 years, for some 40,000 Scots mercenaries, mostly from the Highlands, fought in the Kalmar Wars between Sweden and Denmark. Many of these Scottish soldiers eventually settled in Denmark and became integrated into the local community, thus adding to the common blood-line.

The new Danish tartan has been designed and woven as a gift to the people of Denmark.

The colours of the tartan combine the colours in the flags of Denmark and Scotland.
The Danish tartan was officially launched at a reception organised by the Danish-Scottish Society at the Danish Cultural Institute in Edinburgh on Saturday 27th. May 2006.

About fifty or so Danes living in Scotland, including the Danish Consul and the Director of the Institute, were present. to see the Director’s three-year old son Sebastian model the kilt in the Danish tartan.
With the approval of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, the kilt was specially made for Prince Christian to wear when he attains the age of three, and Sebastian’s father, Mr. Kim Casperson, who left his post as Director and returned home to take up a new post in Denmark last week, delivered it personally to the Crown Prince and Princess at Amalienborg Palace.
The Danish tartan was designed to reflect the strong historic links between Denmark and Scotland. Although brought up in Australia, Crown Princess Mary’s parents hail from Scotland, and the Prince’s kilt is a potent reminder that the links between our two nations continues to this day.

So there you have it !

Thomas has debated wearing The Buchanan, ( his new daughter is half one of course ), the Glasgow, ( he lives here ), the McNeil ( his mother's maiden name was Nielsen ! ) so with all this confusion going on in his head I felt duty bound to give him my best, considered ( fatherly ?) advice .,.,.,

Ok Thomas here it is ,,, Having now given your question two or three days very serious thought .,,. I’ve checked out various sites re the question of “proper dress”, tartan wise, for your up coming nuptuals as well as other possible options for you on the kilt front and it seems to me that you really only have one choice ! Sadly, it’s probably also the most expensive choice !

You should obviously wear your own tartan .,., The Danish ,..,.,You could wear a small token Buchanan something with it ,, say our Kilt Pin or Clan Crest Badge maybe ?

But for your own National pride, for your parents and countrymen, it has to be The Danish ,,, a fine cross of our Scottish & Danish National flags and not at all a bad looking tartan.

And just for the record Thomas ( even if you didn’t ask formally for my daughter’s hand :0) ) you will be a most welcome addition to our Clan Buchanan.