What a shock I got when I fetched out the cachaça (the vital caipirinha ingredient): the bottle was nearly empty. I had only enough for three or four decent caipirinhas. I was labouring under the misapprehension that I had a nearly full bottle of this Brazilian nectar; but then I remembered that I had a few caipirinhas during the summer, and had made a mental note at that time to bring some more cachaça back with me from Lisbon. Well, as could be predicted, I forgot, and now I am in a pickle: I need to find somewhere in or around Dundee that sells cachaça if I am to have any more home-made caipirinha before my next sojourn to Portugal. I suppose in the meantime I'll just have to settle for port! Anyway, Santa was good to me. I hope he was good to you too. Merry Christmas.