The big day is here – our annual Burns supper for friends took place today. Unfortunately some of the invitees couldn't make it, so we were only six, but still we had a great time (if I say so myself).

Marie managed to locate some “neeps” on the farmers' market, and all the other food preparation was well in hand, so today most of the chores left over were cleaning the flat, preparing the neeps and tatties, and putting the haggis in the oven in time for it to be nice and piping hot when it was time for dinner.

The Burns supper itself was a nice and sociable evening, complete with Marie's memorable Immortal Memory speech and the usual toasts to and from the “lassies” (we always skip the “Loyal Toast” because it is never clear who we're supposed to toast – not King Charles because we're not his subjects, not, as some do, Mr. Steinmeier in his capacity as president of the Federal Republic of Germany because we're not his subjects, either). We always come away from an event like this thinking that we should invite people more often but then never seem to get around to it …