50 Things I'll Miss About Scotland (A Non-Inclusive List)

1. Irn Bru
2. Looking out my window onto the Clyde (and at the cruise ships in summer)
3. Slice rolls
4. Waking up to the sound of seagulls. Filthy creatures, I know, but I love their sound.
5. Hogmanay (which is never as exciting as it's built up to be)
6. Steak pie with mash and mushy peas the day after Hogmanay
7. Christmas day with Andy, Marion, Kate, Faisal and Adam (and it soon would've included Adam's baby brother/sister!)
8. Massive chocolate Easter eggs (OKAY enough with the holidays)
9. (Please just one more) BANK HOLIDAYS
10. Scottish words so descriptive they need no explanation, like 'drookit', 'glaikit', 'minging', and 'scunnered'
11. Yummy cheeses
12. A good slice of Plain loaf toasted with butter
13. The atmosphere of utter joy and excitement and goodwill when the sun comes out. No one appreciates the sun like Scottish folk.
14. Gaelic sign postings (and being able to read them somewhat accurately)
15. Cheek-kiss greetings and farewells
16. Humour
17. Using the letter U
18. A full Scottish fry-up breakfast
19. Jaffa Cakes
20. Weetabix
21. Scottish banter
22. Dairymilk and Galaxy
23. Mackie's Honeycomb Ice Cream
24. Trains, ferries and taxis
25. The smell of coal fires in winter
26. Church bells on Sunday morning
27. Sheep and coos everywhere
28. Aggressiveness
29. Craft Night every Tuesday (which includes missing Heather, Elaine and Paula)
30. The Gaelic Unit at Whinhill Primary (which includes Laura, Catriona, Sharon and all the other Gaelic mums, including...)
31. Robyn and Sheila and the Mount Kirk Church, which I wish wish wish I'd found sooner.
32. Childminding by day and cocktails by night with Maria
33. ...and Carol's summer visits from Abu Dhabi with Mick and the boys
34. Writing for SearchScotland
35. Scottish Blend tea with the perfect Scottish water
36. The lack of poisonous creatures
37. Foxes
38. The NHS
39. Multiple political parties to choose from (like the SNP!)
40. BBC 4 radio dramas and programmes
41. Spelling 'programmes' like that
42. Pipers at weddings
43. Kilts at weddings
44. Greenock's amateur dramatics clubs
45. Christmas pantomimes (and the Parish Players... Arthur, Lynda, Pauline, Sylvia, etc etc etc)
46. Drinks at the Spinnaker with am-dram folks, like Gordy et al
47. Friday afternoon lunches with Marion and Andy at the Mid Kirk Cafe
48. Sunday dinners with the family
49. Kate's cakes
50. Wine and Whine Nights with Lee

...to be continued...