Breaking news

Spurtle's printed January issue will be published as soon as the fog of festive war has cleared and our printers bound cheerfully back into work – probably on Friday 6 January.

Contents may settle between now and then, but are likely to include locos and madhouses, disturbing crime and supermarket news, flood-related ephemera, and a call to deploy the wonders of science in the ceaseless battle against unpleasantness.

High winds across central Scotland wreaked havoc over the last few days on Broughton's roof slates and wheelie bins, mercifully toppling one Spurtle TV aerial just before the Christmas Strictly Come Dancing special was due to begin.

Beside the Water of Leith – just upstream of the weir below Redbraes – the gale felled a splendid old tree which had so far escaped the flood defence contractors' chainsaws. It will be missed, especially during the summer.

IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

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[Freedman's, Antigua Street]

AND being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

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[Fringe trio on Broughton Street]

The A-board artists at Artisan Roast on Broughton Street are well known for a sense of humour as dark as coffee.

In recent months they have brought us Frankenstein's monster, skeletons, mysterious blob people and a marauding octopus. Now it is Rudolph and Father Christmas who come in for their unique take on the world.

Spurtle wishes them and all the other traders who contribute to making Broughton independent, quirky and vibrant a merry Christmas and prosperous new year.

Please let Rudolph go, and spare that bird.

... and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts ...

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[St Andrew's Square]

The clever technology available at http://yearinstatus.com allows Twitter users to create a 'cloud' of their key concerns, as previously expressed in tweets throughout 2011.

We were not surprised to find Spurtle's attention had focused on terms such as: Broughton, Scottish, city, housing, council and exhibition. More unexpected were our apparent preoccupations with: intrigue, force royal, Cincinatti, capitalism and coitus.

AND when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him.

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[St Giles Cathedral]

WHEN they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

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[Princes Street Gardens]

No sooner has listed building consent been granted for a restaurant at 1 Royal Terrace Gardens (Breaking news, 12.12.11) than those behind the scheme are seeking to extend its hours of business. When permission was orginally granted two years ago, the agreed opening hours were 9.00am–10.00pm. Now an application has been submitted for hours starting at 8.00am and ending at 12 midnight.