This morning there was wind and rain here on the outskirts of Perth in Scotland, but the walls of our cottage are so thick, and the beds so cosy that we barely noticed. It was only when we stepped outside that we felt the soggy impact of the day.

Here we are surrounded by farmland. It stretches away to all sides beneath damp curtains of sky, held up occasionally by oak trees. Today the land oozes water. It floods along the verges and into the dips, backing into spreading pubbles where drains are blocked by fallen leaves.

It is properly dreich. Apparently this little word originally meant “enduring, persistent”, although nowadays it seems to carry added shades of gloomy when applied to weather – weather that hangs as though it will never leave, falling on and on forever.

So what do you do on days like these?

We sat in a warm kitchen and chopped a thousand vegetables, chatting on into the afternoon, and then, dishes prepared and tables laid, we celebrated a couple with feasting and dancing, and whisky to ward off the cold.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023