Its been a spell since I've posted here. A whole month. Its been a busy December.
Last month we decided that we couldn't afford to bring my daughter and son over from the USA here for Christmas. It was one of the toughest decisions I've ever had to make. The concession was for me to go over in January to take their Christmas presents to them and to bring the twins stuff back from their dad back with me. My plane ticket was about half of one of theirs. The airlines really get you during the holidays, don't they?
We had to discuss it with all the children. First was the twins - it was difficult but they understand that this was the only option we had at the moment. We have a wedding to go to in 2012 - and a college graduation. We can't miss that. So we have to make this sacrifice in order to make sure we go next year. So this was the sacrifice. Then I called our two in the States and explained it to them.
As I said, it was difficult but we got through it. Christmas was okay if weird without the kids. Even when we went to my in-laws for their part of Christmas, it just somehow felt different - just not "right" if you understand what I mean.
Well, now its 2011 and we all have a clean slate to start out a new year. I never ever make resolutions but I'm going to this year.
1) I'm going to write an actual letter to everyone in my address book (well, those that don't live in my village anyway). It won't have any =)'s or lol's or any references to anything like Facebook or emails, etc. I think that actual letter writing is a lost art. I hope I remember how to do it!
2) Swim as much as I can - its fun and its great exercise and a great way to get fit again. I want the inside of my body to be as fit as possible.
3) Learn a new skill this year. Not sure what yet but I'm going to take some kind of course.
4) Get a new job.
That's it. That's what I want to do. I just hope that I can stay motivated to do it. When I start to falter, I'll remember something my Grandfather said to me many moons ago - "I learn something new every day. The day I stop learning, is the day I die." He didn't stop learning until he was nearly 83. I'm only 42 so I've got a lot of learning yet to do.
So that's my New Year post. I'll update more frequently this year. I hope to impart some wisdom along the way and to make you smile a few times. And I'll add photos whenever I can. =)
May 2011 bring you health, happiness, and a sense of joy like you've never experienced.
Sunday, 2 January 2011
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Snowbound and Stircrazy
Two years ago, we got snow on Thanksgiving. As a country, we don't celebrate the holiday but our family does. But that's how I remembered we had snow this time two years ago. Last year, we got the worst winter weather that this country had seen in 30 years. I hope we're not in for another record-breaking winter!
It started snowing on Friday and by Saturday, there was plenty of snow on the ground but the roads were clear enough to drive on. But Sunday, we had more snow and the boys noticed that no buses were passing through the road in front of our house - which is the main road in the village. Sure enough, school was out on Monday, the car was snowed in out back, and the buses were still not running. I'm very thankful that I went grocery shopping on Saturday!!
I missed work yesterday and spent the day putting up double-glazing film on all the windows on the bottom floor. At least I made myself useful yesterday - even if it was just for us! We had a new coating of snow last night, topped with about an inch of sleet, then more snow. I measured it this morning - nine inches in the back garden!
I woke up this morning knowing I wasn't going to be able to get into work. I called the boss's wife and she was totally understanding - told me not to put myself at risk After I had breakfast and did a load of laundry, I went for a walk to take some photos around the village. As annoyed as I am with the snow this year, its still beautiful. It blankets everything in the same bright white colour - its like all the houses have on matching hats!
Trying to work from home but waiting for the boss to send me some work to do. Its warmer in the house today after putting up the double-glazing film but its still cold. The weather isn't improving - it was actually snowing while the sun was trying to shine a little earlier! Its been snowing again and is supposed to snow and sleet again tonight. I hate being stuck without a way to get out. We're rationing the milk we have left and I'm going to make some bread tonight so we don't have to ration that too much!
I really hope this is not a precursor for what this winter holds for us. I don't want to end up with another winter like last year. I'll settle with this for the snow for the winter, thank you very much! =)
It started snowing on Friday and by Saturday, there was plenty of snow on the ground but the roads were clear enough to drive on. But Sunday, we had more snow and the boys noticed that no buses were passing through the road in front of our house - which is the main road in the village. Sure enough, school was out on Monday, the car was snowed in out back, and the buses were still not running. I'm very thankful that I went grocery shopping on Saturday!!
I missed work yesterday and spent the day putting up double-glazing film on all the windows on the bottom floor. At least I made myself useful yesterday - even if it was just for us! We had a new coating of snow last night, topped with about an inch of sleet, then more snow. I measured it this morning - nine inches in the back garden!
I woke up this morning knowing I wasn't going to be able to get into work. I called the boss's wife and she was totally understanding - told me not to put myself at risk After I had breakfast and did a load of laundry, I went for a walk to take some photos around the village. As annoyed as I am with the snow this year, its still beautiful. It blankets everything in the same bright white colour - its like all the houses have on matching hats!
Trying to work from home but waiting for the boss to send me some work to do. Its warmer in the house today after putting up the double-glazing film but its still cold. The weather isn't improving - it was actually snowing while the sun was trying to shine a little earlier! Its been snowing again and is supposed to snow and sleet again tonight. I hate being stuck without a way to get out. We're rationing the milk we have left and I'm going to make some bread tonight so we don't have to ration that too much!
I really hope this is not a precursor for what this winter holds for us. I don't want to end up with another winter like last year. I'll settle with this for the snow for the winter, thank you very much! =)
Monday, 29 November 2010
Headline: American learns to swim in Scotland!
I have had an innate fear of water since I was nine years old. My family went on our one and only family vacation then; to Branson, Missouri. This was before it became known as Little Las Vegas and it was just really a resort town. We stayed at a hotel with a swimming pool. My family was poor (to say the least) so I'd never been in anything like it in my life. We had the odd wading pool that, even laying down, you couldn't possibly drown in, so I thought, "this is cool...."
On went the swimsuit and into the water - the shallow end, since I didn't know how to swim. I remember walking around in it, up to my shoulders. It felt all right and a welcome respite from the hot weather. My mother's husband was sitting on the side of the pool next to where I was walking around. I felt safe. Mistake! I slipped and fell into the water. As naive as I was, I didn't realize all I had to do was stand up. So I fought the water, not knowing what to do. I remember fighting and splashing around. Everyone around me must have known I was in trouble. I remember a black circle closing in and the last thing I remember seeing was someone swimming toward me, underwater, from the other end of the pool.
The next thing I remember is this rushing feeling of warmth and coughing. The man had pulled me out of the pool and hit my back to make me cough up the water that had found its way into my lungs. The man wasn't my mother's husband; he was a stranger. My mother's husband was angry with me. He stood me up by one arm and beat the holy crap out of me right there at the pool in front of God and everyone, telling me how stupid I was for not knowing all I had to do is stand up.
I spent the next 33 years terrified of the water. I've never let myself go enough to trust anyone in the water. No one. Not one single person. I've been in swimming pools. I've been in the ocean. I've been deep enough that the water came up to my neck. But I've never been confident enough to not be touching something (the floor, the sand, the side of the pool, etc). If I get unsure of my footing, I can feel panic rising inside me again and all those terrifying memories of all those years ago come up to the surface again.
A few weeks ago, I just decided - its time. I was recently at a hotel with my family and the boys were swimming like fish (they taught themselves years ago) and I was sitting on the side of the pool, just wading in the water. They were having races and really enjoying themselves. I thought it was well enough time for me to learn so I could join in the fun by summertime.
I got online and looked up local swimming pools (there are community swimming pools here that are all indoor pools). I called a couple and finally found one that had ongoing adult swimming classes. I happened to call at the right moment because the instructor had just finished the class and was near the phone. We discussed the sessions and the cost and I told her I would be there the following week. I was actually growing very excited about it all.
Saturday came and I was up early. Had a good breakfast and drove (with directions from the pool) to the town and finally found the car park. I walked in and told them who I was and why I was there. The girl behind the counter showed me to the locker room and told me the class began at 12pm. I had plenty of time to change and I headed to the shower before the pool.
I was nervous but excited. I was determined I was going to do this. There were four lessons left in that block, then they were down for Christmas and then back up again 15 January. These are half-hour classes. I thought that my goal was to swim before summer - sometime in the next block. I felt I'd give it a try in these last four classes and at least lay the ground work for the next block.
I got into the water and was given a noodle (in case you don't know what that is, its a long, round floatation device), told to put it around my chest and get comfortable in the water. I walked back and forth a few times and the instructor taught me the arm movements for the breast stroke. She showed me the correct placement of my arms and how I should bring them around. So that's what I did for the next few minutes, while she tended to the others in the class. I was told to "bunny hop" and pull myself across the width of the pool with my arms, not walking on the floor of the pool. I did better than that, I held my legs up and pulled myself right across without touching the floor the whole time.
It was time for the class to end. That's the progress I made in my first lesson - bunny hopping across the pool holding a noodle. That may not sound like a lot to you, but for me, it was like walking on the moon.
I went through the week as normal. I'd told a few of my friends that I was going to learn and posted on my Facebook page, too. Lots of support from everyone. It was a good thing!
It snowed on Friday night and I called the pool to see if they were open and if the class was still going on. They were and it was so I got my stuff together and headed to the pool. The roads were all right, no big surprises and I arrived very early. I tried having a cup of tea from the machine but it was awful, so I poured it out and headed to the dressing room.
After I got my suit on, I went out to the pool. I was 20 minutes early. The instructor saw me and gave me a noodle and told me to get myself comfortable in the water again. So while she finished teaching the other class (of children, mind you), I walked across a few times. Then I held my feet up and pushed myself across with my hands. I got tired after a few widths so I pushed the noodle out in front of me and kicked my feet. I was moving! So I did that a few times before our class started.
The instructor got me comfortable with spitting water out of my mouth (which is an area of great fear for a lot of people) and then put armbands on me. These are an adult version of the floaties and are not inflatable but made out of the same stuff that the noodles are made of. She held my hands and had me kicking my feet. She told me I had a "good line" - I guess that meant that my body was flat on top of the water.
She told me I was going to push my way across and if my legs did something, then great - if not, no big deal. So off I went, sort of swimming across the width, wearing armbands, and my feet kicking (like they knew what to do!). That was a huge deal for me.
Then she took the armbands! I begged her not to take them off me but she insisted. She promised me she would not let me sink and she told me just to do it. She knew I could. (That was one of us!) After a few seconds of hideous nerves, I pushed my foot off the side of the pool and I actually swam across the width of that pool!!! I got to the other side and stopped, wiped the water off my face, and stood there in shock. I SWAM!!!! How did that happen??
It wasn't pretty ... and it was quite splashy ... but I was swimming!
She told me to take a rest and she went to the other guys in the pool. Soon enough, she came back to me and showed me a leg movement that goes with the breast stroke (I was using a different one). I put the armbands back on, practised it against the side of the pool and I made it across again, this time with the proper leg movements. Ish.
She was with the other guys in the class and it was coming to the end of our time in the water so I pulled the armbands off and headed across the water again - this time with the right leg movements. I nearly made it to the other side before I had to stop - I was getting tired. At this point, I'd been in the water nearly an hour and my body was not happy!
I sit here two days later, writing this and am still in a sort of state of shock about the whole thing. I can swim. That's something off my bucket list!! And now I get to add something else to it - scuba diving!!! I am unstoppable! =)
On went the swimsuit and into the water - the shallow end, since I didn't know how to swim. I remember walking around in it, up to my shoulders. It felt all right and a welcome respite from the hot weather. My mother's husband was sitting on the side of the pool next to where I was walking around. I felt safe. Mistake! I slipped and fell into the water. As naive as I was, I didn't realize all I had to do was stand up. So I fought the water, not knowing what to do. I remember fighting and splashing around. Everyone around me must have known I was in trouble. I remember a black circle closing in and the last thing I remember seeing was someone swimming toward me, underwater, from the other end of the pool.
The next thing I remember is this rushing feeling of warmth and coughing. The man had pulled me out of the pool and hit my back to make me cough up the water that had found its way into my lungs. The man wasn't my mother's husband; he was a stranger. My mother's husband was angry with me. He stood me up by one arm and beat the holy crap out of me right there at the pool in front of God and everyone, telling me how stupid I was for not knowing all I had to do is stand up.
I spent the next 33 years terrified of the water. I've never let myself go enough to trust anyone in the water. No one. Not one single person. I've been in swimming pools. I've been in the ocean. I've been deep enough that the water came up to my neck. But I've never been confident enough to not be touching something (the floor, the sand, the side of the pool, etc). If I get unsure of my footing, I can feel panic rising inside me again and all those terrifying memories of all those years ago come up to the surface again.
A few weeks ago, I just decided - its time. I was recently at a hotel with my family and the boys were swimming like fish (they taught themselves years ago) and I was sitting on the side of the pool, just wading in the water. They were having races and really enjoying themselves. I thought it was well enough time for me to learn so I could join in the fun by summertime.
I got online and looked up local swimming pools (there are community swimming pools here that are all indoor pools). I called a couple and finally found one that had ongoing adult swimming classes. I happened to call at the right moment because the instructor had just finished the class and was near the phone. We discussed the sessions and the cost and I told her I would be there the following week. I was actually growing very excited about it all.
Saturday came and I was up early. Had a good breakfast and drove (with directions from the pool) to the town and finally found the car park. I walked in and told them who I was and why I was there. The girl behind the counter showed me to the locker room and told me the class began at 12pm. I had plenty of time to change and I headed to the shower before the pool.
I was nervous but excited. I was determined I was going to do this. There were four lessons left in that block, then they were down for Christmas and then back up again 15 January. These are half-hour classes. I thought that my goal was to swim before summer - sometime in the next block. I felt I'd give it a try in these last four classes and at least lay the ground work for the next block.
I got into the water and was given a noodle (in case you don't know what that is, its a long, round floatation device), told to put it around my chest and get comfortable in the water. I walked back and forth a few times and the instructor taught me the arm movements for the breast stroke. She showed me the correct placement of my arms and how I should bring them around. So that's what I did for the next few minutes, while she tended to the others in the class. I was told to "bunny hop" and pull myself across the width of the pool with my arms, not walking on the floor of the pool. I did better than that, I held my legs up and pulled myself right across without touching the floor the whole time.
It was time for the class to end. That's the progress I made in my first lesson - bunny hopping across the pool holding a noodle. That may not sound like a lot to you, but for me, it was like walking on the moon.
I went through the week as normal. I'd told a few of my friends that I was going to learn and posted on my Facebook page, too. Lots of support from everyone. It was a good thing!
It snowed on Friday night and I called the pool to see if they were open and if the class was still going on. They were and it was so I got my stuff together and headed to the pool. The roads were all right, no big surprises and I arrived very early. I tried having a cup of tea from the machine but it was awful, so I poured it out and headed to the dressing room.
After I got my suit on, I went out to the pool. I was 20 minutes early. The instructor saw me and gave me a noodle and told me to get myself comfortable in the water again. So while she finished teaching the other class (of children, mind you), I walked across a few times. Then I held my feet up and pushed myself across with my hands. I got tired after a few widths so I pushed the noodle out in front of me and kicked my feet. I was moving! So I did that a few times before our class started.
The instructor got me comfortable with spitting water out of my mouth (which is an area of great fear for a lot of people) and then put armbands on me. These are an adult version of the floaties and are not inflatable but made out of the same stuff that the noodles are made of. She held my hands and had me kicking my feet. She told me I had a "good line" - I guess that meant that my body was flat on top of the water.
She told me I was going to push my way across and if my legs did something, then great - if not, no big deal. So off I went, sort of swimming across the width, wearing armbands, and my feet kicking (like they knew what to do!). That was a huge deal for me.
Then she took the armbands! I begged her not to take them off me but she insisted. She promised me she would not let me sink and she told me just to do it. She knew I could. (That was one of us!) After a few seconds of hideous nerves, I pushed my foot off the side of the pool and I actually swam across the width of that pool!!! I got to the other side and stopped, wiped the water off my face, and stood there in shock. I SWAM!!!! How did that happen??
It wasn't pretty ... and it was quite splashy ... but I was swimming!
She told me to take a rest and she went to the other guys in the pool. Soon enough, she came back to me and showed me a leg movement that goes with the breast stroke (I was using a different one). I put the armbands back on, practised it against the side of the pool and I made it across again, this time with the proper leg movements. Ish.
She was with the other guys in the class and it was coming to the end of our time in the water so I pulled the armbands off and headed across the water again - this time with the right leg movements. I nearly made it to the other side before I had to stop - I was getting tired. At this point, I'd been in the water nearly an hour and my body was not happy!
I sit here two days later, writing this and am still in a sort of state of shock about the whole thing. I can swim. That's something off my bucket list!! And now I get to add something else to it - scuba diving!!! I am unstoppable! =)
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Scotland vs Arkansas
Obviously, living in another country has its pluses and minuses. There are good things about Arkansas and there are good things about Scotland. Neither one is better or worse than the other. Notice I'm saying "Arkansas" instead of "America" because I've only ever really lived in Arkansas so I can't really compare the whole country!
I could probably write an entire blog on just this one subject but I'll start here with a few posts. You never know where it'll lead me!
The most obvious difference is the accent. I've travelled here for years and I was used to the accent before we moved. I was, however, concerned about the children - would they struggle in school? Well, I should really learn to give them more credit - they've gotten along very well, indeed! In fact, after their first year, they sound like locals!
I have a theory about that. I once heard someone say, "You speak to be understood." I totally agree. The first thing that changed was everyone's vocabulary. I've heard my boys say things they'd never have inserted into their vocabulary in Arkansas. Things like "trousers" or "revision" (in reference to studying) or even "trainers" instead of tennis shoes. All these things slowly leaked into their Arkansan vocabulary, which was already vast in itself. Early on, I began noticing accent changes, especially in one of the twins.
Another thing is the weather. Wow - what a difference, too! The summers are mild enough that I can get outdoors! I have more colour in my skin than I ever did in Arkansas. I get outside at every opportunity to enjoy the fresh air, the sunshine, and just being outside. We live in Fife - one of the most beautiful parts of the central belt of Scotland. Mountains, the seaside, castles, fishing villages, and open countryside - all on our doorstep. Its so easy to find something to do!
We also have the NHS. There are plenty of people who complain about it and rightly so, but we've had nothing but great experiences with it. I don't mind paying money into it each month in my pay packet (which, by the way, is much less than I'd be paying for insurance that doesn't have anywhere near the same amount of care included!).
Getting paid monthly did take some getting used to, though. I was used to getting paid every two weeks. However, once I got used to it, I enjoyed it. It meant that all the bills came out at once, no need to keep up with due dates, etc. We have most of our bills set up to come out of our bank account automatically so we don't even have to worry about having to write a check (which they spell cheque here!) or make a call to pay with a card.
We also drive on the left here. That did take some adjustment on my first trip twelve years ago. However, it didn't take long for me to get it right and I've been doing it naturally ever since. I passed my test and got my UK driving licence last September. I did study for it and did take driving lessons beforehand - which saved my bacon! I passed the written test with 100% and I only had four very minor faults (you're allowed up to 15) on the practical part of my test. Since I've been driving for 20-ish years, I thought it would be just a case of signing up and taking the test. Well, not even close to that easy and I know people who had to take their practical several times before passing it. Its not cheap but once you've done it, that's it. You don't have to renew your license every four years and only have to update your photo every ten years. It is one of the most difficult tests to pass so once you get it, you can use it anywhere in the world!
Having to pay for a license to watch television was something a little strange, as well. We pay £135 a year for a TV license. They use that to keep people from having to watch so many ads on BBC. I enjoy watching a show without commercials but I'm not sure its worth £135 a year. You might think that it would be easy just not to pay the fee but they actually have vans that go through neighborhoods checking for TV signals. They have a list of households that have not paid for a TV license and if you're caught, you get stuck with a big fine. So we pay!
Petrol (instead of gasoline) is used to fuel most cars here, although there are some that run on diesel. Its advertised per litre, not per gallon, like it is in the States. Cars here are mostly standard shift (not automatic) and if you pass your test in an automatic, you're not allowed to drive a manual transmission car at all. They tend to get better gas mileage (for instance, I'm on a consistent 53+ miles a gallon in my car). Petrol (per gallon) at the moment is running around $8.25 a gallon. Ouch!
We heat our house with radiators instead of central heating. We don't have air conditioning and no screens on the windows. They call our radiators central heating but we don't have vents. A lot of the new houses being built are using under-floor heating on the bottom floors. Its expensive to install but in the long run it 1) reduces heating bills, and 2) frees up the wall space for furniture instead of radiators! We live in a house that was built in 1624. Its full of history and its a beautiful house. However, we don't have double glazing on our windows and we nearly froze to death last winter! We walked around with the heating on all day and sweaters and layers of clothes to keep warm! We do have a plan for this winter, though. We're going to put up plastic insulation on the windows that will mimic double glazed windows. Our house is listed so we can't install double glazed windows, which is a shame! I'm hoping to put down draft reducers under the doors, too. I hope that helps and we have a warmer winter this year than we did last year! Thirteen weeks with snow!! Yuck!
All the phone calls are toll calls, with the exception of 0800 calls. Those are usually reserved for companies who use them to get your money in other ways - like catalogs, etc. If I call my next door neighbour, I pay for the call. No incoming calls are charged - even on mobile phones (or cell phones). Which is great - because even if the boys don't have credit on their phones, I can call them and they can get the call. We use pay-as-you-go for the boys and we both have contract phones. I get up to 600 minutes and unlimited texts on mine and I think Peter has a similar package.
I think that should get us started. As I think of other differences, I will post them here. And of course, if you want to know about a specific difference, please ask! I think its fun to compare! =)
I could probably write an entire blog on just this one subject but I'll start here with a few posts. You never know where it'll lead me!
The most obvious difference is the accent. I've travelled here for years and I was used to the accent before we moved. I was, however, concerned about the children - would they struggle in school? Well, I should really learn to give them more credit - they've gotten along very well, indeed! In fact, after their first year, they sound like locals!
I have a theory about that. I once heard someone say, "You speak to be understood." I totally agree. The first thing that changed was everyone's vocabulary. I've heard my boys say things they'd never have inserted into their vocabulary in Arkansas. Things like "trousers" or "revision" (in reference to studying) or even "trainers" instead of tennis shoes. All these things slowly leaked into their Arkansan vocabulary, which was already vast in itself. Early on, I began noticing accent changes, especially in one of the twins.
Another thing is the weather. Wow - what a difference, too! The summers are mild enough that I can get outdoors! I have more colour in my skin than I ever did in Arkansas. I get outside at every opportunity to enjoy the fresh air, the sunshine, and just being outside. We live in Fife - one of the most beautiful parts of the central belt of Scotland. Mountains, the seaside, castles, fishing villages, and open countryside - all on our doorstep. Its so easy to find something to do!
We also have the NHS. There are plenty of people who complain about it and rightly so, but we've had nothing but great experiences with it. I don't mind paying money into it each month in my pay packet (which, by the way, is much less than I'd be paying for insurance that doesn't have anywhere near the same amount of care included!).
Getting paid monthly did take some getting used to, though. I was used to getting paid every two weeks. However, once I got used to it, I enjoyed it. It meant that all the bills came out at once, no need to keep up with due dates, etc. We have most of our bills set up to come out of our bank account automatically so we don't even have to worry about having to write a check (which they spell cheque here!) or make a call to pay with a card.
We also drive on the left here. That did take some adjustment on my first trip twelve years ago. However, it didn't take long for me to get it right and I've been doing it naturally ever since. I passed my test and got my UK driving licence last September. I did study for it and did take driving lessons beforehand - which saved my bacon! I passed the written test with 100% and I only had four very minor faults (you're allowed up to 15) on the practical part of my test. Since I've been driving for 20-ish years, I thought it would be just a case of signing up and taking the test. Well, not even close to that easy and I know people who had to take their practical several times before passing it. Its not cheap but once you've done it, that's it. You don't have to renew your license every four years and only have to update your photo every ten years. It is one of the most difficult tests to pass so once you get it, you can use it anywhere in the world!
Having to pay for a license to watch television was something a little strange, as well. We pay £135 a year for a TV license. They use that to keep people from having to watch so many ads on BBC. I enjoy watching a show without commercials but I'm not sure its worth £135 a year. You might think that it would be easy just not to pay the fee but they actually have vans that go through neighborhoods checking for TV signals. They have a list of households that have not paid for a TV license and if you're caught, you get stuck with a big fine. So we pay!
Petrol (instead of gasoline) is used to fuel most cars here, although there are some that run on diesel. Its advertised per litre, not per gallon, like it is in the States. Cars here are mostly standard shift (not automatic) and if you pass your test in an automatic, you're not allowed to drive a manual transmission car at all. They tend to get better gas mileage (for instance, I'm on a consistent 53+ miles a gallon in my car). Petrol (per gallon) at the moment is running around $8.25 a gallon. Ouch!
We heat our house with radiators instead of central heating. We don't have air conditioning and no screens on the windows. They call our radiators central heating but we don't have vents. A lot of the new houses being built are using under-floor heating on the bottom floors. Its expensive to install but in the long run it 1) reduces heating bills, and 2) frees up the wall space for furniture instead of radiators! We live in a house that was built in 1624. Its full of history and its a beautiful house. However, we don't have double glazing on our windows and we nearly froze to death last winter! We walked around with the heating on all day and sweaters and layers of clothes to keep warm! We do have a plan for this winter, though. We're going to put up plastic insulation on the windows that will mimic double glazed windows. Our house is listed so we can't install double glazed windows, which is a shame! I'm hoping to put down draft reducers under the doors, too. I hope that helps and we have a warmer winter this year than we did last year! Thirteen weeks with snow!! Yuck!
All the phone calls are toll calls, with the exception of 0800 calls. Those are usually reserved for companies who use them to get your money in other ways - like catalogs, etc. If I call my next door neighbour, I pay for the call. No incoming calls are charged - even on mobile phones (or cell phones). Which is great - because even if the boys don't have credit on their phones, I can call them and they can get the call. We use pay-as-you-go for the boys and we both have contract phones. I get up to 600 minutes and unlimited texts on mine and I think Peter has a similar package.
I think that should get us started. As I think of other differences, I will post them here. And of course, if you want to know about a specific difference, please ask! I think its fun to compare! =)
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Hollywood comes to the "holly wood"
A deep rumble shook the ground on an October morning. Was it an earthquake? Nah - it was just Hollywood arriving once again in Culross (which incidentally means "the holly wood" in a combinationof Gaelic and Brittonic). A few days to set everything up; a day to test their monstrous equipment; a night to film; two days to take it all away. All that for around thirty second of a movie!
No one was "officially" talking, but rumours spread like wildfire through our little village! Even theinternet was whispering "Culross" through cyberspace with film lovers requesting photographs of the filming! If we're to believe it all - "Captain America: The First Avenger" starring well-known names such as Samuel L Jackson, Tommy Lee Jones, and Stanley Tucci. We should be able to confirm our suspicions in cinemas next year, when the film is due to be released.
Our market cross will be a beautiful stand-in for a deserted village in Norway during WWII. They were careful to remove all evidence of our modern world - satellite dishes, window decorations, lights from indoors, and all the cars usually parked in the cross. Three-hundred people from all over, working in the "industry" descended on our village to set up cranes, light boxes suspended from above, tracks and cameras, and enough cable to stretch from here to Hollywood and back!
When this old American girl stood quietly by taking a few snaps during their lighting tests, the crew revealed their true feelings about Culross. The crew and support teams loved our village. They were very happy to support the Red Lion, the shop, and couldn't say enough good things about the locals. They felt welcomed and were happy to allow onlookers to watch them work - preparing the lights, the cameras, and the sound equipment for the shoot on that cold (but clear) Tuesday night.
The night of the filming arrived and although none of us could get very near, the market cross glowedeerily with the bright lights and man-made fog. Two soldiers dove for cover and ran from a phantom tank which crashed through the Study. The "tank" was represented by two sets of “headlights” mounted on tall poles and will be added in production by computers. Isn’t CGI a wonderful thing??
Two days after the filming, anyone passing through Culross would never have known that anything was up! Just as quickly as they came, they were away. And Culross is once again ... our peaceful little abandoned village in Norway!
Sunday, 17 October 2010
*NEW POST* - A Lost Walk
Note: I thought I'd take a break from the first trip stuff and post something more recent. So the story of the lost walk begins ...
I needed a day out. I asked the boys and the only one that was interested in going along for a walk was Casey - and that was only because there was a fort to be seen. We loaded up on a few snacks and bottles of water and we were off. I sent a text to my facebook page (which didn't show up until after midnight, making my FB friends think I was a nutter!) and then we were off.
We did get a later start than I wanted but we left anyway, thinking we had enough information and time to get through. We arrived shortly in the place where we thought the walk began. Turned out, we were in the wrong place and wasted about a half hour in the process. Second stop, long, tree lined path that after about ten minutes, stopped dead and had to walk back to the car. Both of us were a little disgusted about this time and we nearly just left for home.
But we weren't to be defeated! If we were going to come back another time, we would need to know where to start off. We kept driving along until lo and behold, we found a sign to Loch Glow! Driving down the long dirt road, we finally came to a car park in front of an amazing loch, tucked away in the Blairadam Forrest.
Casey suggested we go backward through the route to see the fort, which is why he came along in the first place. We started along the path backwards and after about an hour, found the fort. Spectacular views from the top - we could see Edinburgh, Grangemouth (not far away from home), and Loch Leven and Kinross.
While we were on top of the iron age hill fort, we could hear the sound of a tin whistle - which was being played by someone on the path below. With the wind whistling around, the two sounds blended perfectly and soothed the soul.
It was when we headed back to the car that we realized we'd made a terrible mistake. We were following a horse track instead of a foot path. It wasn't until we found ourselves ankle deep in murky water standing on a rain-soaked field that we our mistake was obvious.
Heading for what we thought was a road, we climbed fences and scaled stone walls before finding it was another dead end. Earlier, I'd noticed that there was a road to our left. Instead of heading for the car (which was within sight!) we headed for the road. I had no idea what was between us and the car so I made an executive decision.
Finally! We made it to the road and I called home. I told them what was going on and that we were on a road, we were safe, and there was still enough daylight left for us to get back without much trouble. I knew about where we were so it was just a matter of finding the road to the car. It was so nice to know we were on solid ground once again - ground that didn't give way under our tired feet!
It felt like we walked and walked and walked for ages! But at last, Casey spied a sign - the one we'd seen hours earlier - Loch Glow! I reckon it was another mile or so down the dirt road but I finally caught sight of the camper where the caretaker resides - right in the car park!
As we approached the car, I noticed the sunset burning up the sky! Immediately taking the camera out of the bag, I headed toward the shore of the loch and got some fantastic shots! The caretaker came out of his camper and told Casey to cover his ears. Then he set off an air horn - a quick way to tell all the fishermen to come in so he didn't have to personally go out and find them all. He told me he was getting a little worried about us but was happy to see us before dark.
We drove home with wet feet and tired bones. Peter had Chinese waiting on us when we got home. Curled up on a warm sofa, we watched Saturday evening tele and enjoyed each other's company. Solid ground is a great thing, you know!
I needed a day out. I asked the boys and the only one that was interested in going along for a walk was Casey - and that was only because there was a fort to be seen. We loaded up on a few snacks and bottles of water and we were off. I sent a text to my facebook page (which didn't show up until after midnight, making my FB friends think I was a nutter!) and then we were off.
We did get a later start than I wanted but we left anyway, thinking we had enough information and time to get through. We arrived shortly in the place where we thought the walk began. Turned out, we were in the wrong place and wasted about a half hour in the process. Second stop, long, tree lined path that after about ten minutes, stopped dead and had to walk back to the car. Both of us were a little disgusted about this time and we nearly just left for home.
But we weren't to be defeated! If we were going to come back another time, we would need to know where to start off. We kept driving along until lo and behold, we found a sign to Loch Glow! Driving down the long dirt road, we finally came to a car park in front of an amazing loch, tucked away in the Blairadam Forrest.
Casey suggested we go backward through the route to see the fort, which is why he came along in the first place. We started along the path backwards and after about an hour, found the fort. Spectacular views from the top - we could see Edinburgh, Grangemouth (not far away from home), and Loch Leven and Kinross.
While we were on top of the iron age hill fort, we could hear the sound of a tin whistle - which was being played by someone on the path below. With the wind whistling around, the two sounds blended perfectly and soothed the soul.
It was when we headed back to the car that we realized we'd made a terrible mistake. We were following a horse track instead of a foot path. It wasn't until we found ourselves ankle deep in murky water standing on a rain-soaked field that we our mistake was obvious.
Heading for what we thought was a road, we climbed fences and scaled stone walls before finding it was another dead end. Earlier, I'd noticed that there was a road to our left. Instead of heading for the car (which was within sight!) we headed for the road. I had no idea what was between us and the car so I made an executive decision.
Finally! We made it to the road and I called home. I told them what was going on and that we were on a road, we were safe, and there was still enough daylight left for us to get back without much trouble. I knew about where we were so it was just a matter of finding the road to the car. It was so nice to know we were on solid ground once again - ground that didn't give way under our tired feet!
It felt like we walked and walked and walked for ages! But at last, Casey spied a sign - the one we'd seen hours earlier - Loch Glow! I reckon it was another mile or so down the dirt road but I finally caught sight of the camper where the caretaker resides - right in the car park!
As we approached the car, I noticed the sunset burning up the sky! Immediately taking the camera out of the bag, I headed toward the shore of the loch and got some fantastic shots! The caretaker came out of his camper and told Casey to cover his ears. Then he set off an air horn - a quick way to tell all the fishermen to come in so he didn't have to personally go out and find them all. He told me he was getting a little worried about us but was happy to see us before dark.
We drove home with wet feet and tired bones. Peter had Chinese waiting on us when we got home. Curled up on a warm sofa, we watched Saturday evening tele and enjoyed each other's company. Solid ground is a great thing, you know!
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
My First Trip - The Road to Skye
Note: As I'm re-writing this, I'm realising just how much I've learned about Scotland over the last twelve years. Naive doesn't really spell the right word - I had no idea what I was doing back then. There's so many things I've experienced, so many things I've done, so many more places I've been. It most certainly is bringing back so many memories of that first trip - which we all only have just once. Good times! =)
30 July
Today was the first day that we had an opportunity to eat breakfast at Lochalsh House (no longer a B&B). We came down (first ones, for once) and sat at the table. I poured my juice and got my tea ready; Cathy poured her juice (she's not much of a tea drinker). I was a little curious to find out what differences there were going to be in the breakfast here as opposed to St Mungo's. Not much, as it turned out, except we were given a menu to pick from (got a choice of either full Scottish or full English breakfast). We ate till I thought we were going to be rolling upstairs again!
This was our last day in Inverness - Thank Goodness! I hated driving there. The other folks at the table had a much familiar accent ... they were from Michigan! They told us they were seeing "Scotland in a day" - Ha! That's not possible, you miss so much! At least they got to see some of it, right? The next couple came downstairs and they gold us they were from South Africa. They were very kind people and were in town for a wedding, which they missed because they couldn't find the church on time (there's that reference!) and barely made it to the reception before the bride and groom left for their honeymoon!
We ate and talked and ate and talked and of course the subject of Bill Clinton came up and I bypassed it like I didn't hear it. It worked and the subject changed quickly. Note: The reason was that everywhere we went, it seemed as though people wanted to talk about Clinton. Even now, many years later, when people find out I'm from Arkansas, they say "Oh, that's Bill Clinton country, isn't it?" *sigh*
We learned that Cathy's Mom had called the night before. She forgot about the time change and it wasn't until around 2am that she called and Terri wouldn't wake us. Not sure if it was because she didn't want to get out of bed or that she really didn't want to disturb us, but nevertheless, Cathy didn't get to talk to her mother while we were there.
We finished breakfast, I emailed home to tell them we were on our way to Skye. We moseyed upstairs to get our things packed and decided to leave it all there while we went to town to get money exchanged and to get another adaptor. The more I thought about the adapter, the more angry I got and now that I'm writing it all down again, my dander is up again!
The first and only time we made it to the B&B without getting lost was when we were leaving! Geez. We said our good-byes and got a photo of Bill & Terri outside the building. I wanted to do this with all our B&B folks so we'd have a record of our visit for all time.
The first stop was the Culloden Battlefield. We parked and went inside. We got in and went through the museum. The Torridon MacKenzies and the Stuarts of Appin were two clans that fought there. For some reason, I feel more drawn to the MacKenzies than any other section of the family.
For the first time, I realized what the Jacobites were actually about. They weren't following a terrible leader, who was only Scottish by blood, not by birth (Prince Charles was born in Rome). They were following the Stuart name and the idea of being free from England once again. I can understand wanting your freedom. We wandered out onto the battlefield. It was rectangular (roughly) in shape and on one side flew the English side, the other, the Scottish one. This one was the farthest away from us at the starting point.
We walked along, it was quiet and not many people were about. The clouds were threatening to open up on us but never did. It wasn't cold, it wasn't warm. There was a very sad feeling there. Feeling of death and great emotion. Only one other place would I feel this on my trip. We decided to cut across the middle of the field. We felt alone. No voiced. No cars. Nothing - just silence. About halfway across the battlefield (neither of us were talking) we both just stopped. I was a step or two ahead of Cathy and I turned to look at her. She said I was white as a ghost (pardon the pun). She asked, "Did you hear that?" Boots. Like marching. Chills ran up and down my spine and back up again. We said nothing else, we just kept walking. Absolute quiet was deafening. We made it to the other side of the battlefield (Jacobite side) and we were going to turn left up the trail to go to the clan graves. I stopped and told Cathy that I needed to go to the right. She nodded her head and she continued on to the left. I walked slowly, not sure what I'd find. The closer I got to the flag the louder my heartbeat boomed in my ears. I could hear every breath, every heartbeat as I approached the flag. I didn't know what I was going to find but it terrified me. I got closer and noticed a sign posted at the base of the flag. I got close enough to read it and it said, and I quote:
"Beyond this point fought the Torridon MacKenzies"
A single tear ran down my face as I stood there for what seemed like forever. I put my hand on the sign as if it were a gravestone. I still get quite emotional when I talk about it. I don't know how many of you can understand this feeling or this emotion.
Well, I better move on or I'll dwell on that forever.
We weren't on just a battlefield. This one had a special significance and meaning to more than just me. It does to anyone with one drop of Scottish blood (a Jacobite or not).
I caught up with Cathy in the graveyard. There were large stones everywhere with names of clans carved in them so washed by time that some you can't read any more. I searched and searched but no stone marked MacKenzie was to be found. I found several stones that simply read, "Mixed Clans" and these were mass graves of men who died in this battle for independence. This was a foreboding place. We walked along and finally left this field of war. We slowly walked back to the visitor's centre and went into the gift shop. I bought a book about the battlefield and some other treasures to take home.
Silently, we made our way back to the car. Neither of us said a word for a long time. We drove away and I turned into Cathy and asked her what she thought. She just looked at me and showed me the chills on her arm.
Our next stop along the way was Cawdor Castle. This would prove to be a little more on the light side of our travel today. This is a privately owned castle and we did pay the admission there. We ate at the restaurant inside, which was good, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone on a budget. We ate the least expensive thing we could. The food was good, but the prices were, well, pricey.
I bought a lambswool shawl - the softest thing I've ever touched! I love that thing! We took the self-guided tour and saw some really wonderful rooms. They wouldn't let me take photos (I would always ask first) so we just use the guidebook for memories on this one. I went to the gardens where I found a maze. I didn't get to go through it, though - they'd closed it down due to people messing it up so it could grow back. It was my idea of a castle and people still live there, so its very well taken care of. There were highland cattle in a fenced area (the first ones we saw and the only ones we saw in a fence!). It was very relaxing and very beautiful.
We headed back toward Inverness and stopped for petrol. We also loaded up on dairy milk bars and Pringles! Driving along Loch Ness again, we came upon the Nessie Exhibit. Although we'd seen Nessie two days before, we decided not to go through the exhibition but did hit the gift shop. I had to get some stuff for the kids there (at the time they were 9, 5, and the twins were 3).
We found the most amazing scenery on our drive. We decided to take an alternate route to Skye and go through Fort Augustus and Invergarry. In Fort Augustus, we saw that we were in a traffic jam! Oh no, not here...not in Scotland! Well, after we found out why, we didn't mind that much. We noticed the bridge in front of us went up - a little on the odd side. Then we saw what was going on. A sail boat crossed the road. All we could see was the sails and masts of the boat; it was through through a little area to bypass a longer way around. We got it on video as the second boat went through. This kind of traffic, I can handle!
We drove on to Invergarry and as we got closer we noticed we didn't know where we were going! There wasn't a map to the bridge of the seven heads we were looking for. So we turned around a couple of times and I noticed there were several cars behind me. I pulled over to let them pass. Cathy counted 25 cars behind me. I know they were cussin' me as they drove by. I didn't hear a single horn nor did I see a single "one finger wave" ... at least they're polite!
As we looked for this bridge, we went to a hotel to ask directions. There weren't any petrol stations around to stop so we opted for the hotel instead. We turned the corner to drive up to the hotel (a little dirt road) and just around this bend, out jumped a castle! It was striking and majestic. It was well ... I don't think there are any words to describe it.
Cathy's fingernails somehow ended up in my arm and she said, "Do you see that? Do you see that??" How could I not? We had to pull over. I think if I hadn't pulled over, Cathy would have jumped out of the car window! It was fenced off by two ten foot tall chain-link fences and signs were posted all around it that it was dangerous and that if you entered you did at your own peril. Peril! We wanted to get to it so badly! There wasn't much of it left standing, but enough to know that this was some castle in its day.
On the video, you can hear Cathy's voice saying, "Robin won't let me to it, I can't believe she won't let me touch it!" Well, if she felt like she could've made it over those two ten foot fences then I would've let her go. But she didn't. And neither did I. We just looked at it like a diamond behind glass that you long to lay your hands on but cannot. It was wondrous. Like something in a dream. I'm glad it wasn't.
We made it to the hotel and asked directions to the bridge and got them, we just hadn't driven far enough yet. So we drove back by the castle again - this time very, very slowly.
When we got to the bridge, we pulled the car over and saw the statue. Sometime in times long ago, a man was robbed by these seven brothers. He sent a group of his men after them and they were brought to him. He promptly removed their heads and hung them from the bridge nearby. This was a warning to others not to commit a similar thievery. There is a statue erected nearby and it depicts the seven heads and the story engraved in different languages on its base.
As we drove along we noticed there were still no billboards, power lines, phone lines, etc. We drove through Glen Moriston, Glen Clounie, and they are very beautiful indeed! The mountains, the roads, the bridges, the mountains, the waterfalls, and did I mention the mountains?? We stopped about every ten minutes to take photos. There was hardly anyone else around and very few cars on the road. Incredible, extraordinary, amazing, unique, remarkable, phenomenal, spectacular, astonishing, are all to week of words to describe the loveliness and beauty of this land. The weather was not cool, not warm, and held up well for us. The clouds rested among the mountaintops as if they were tired from holding all their rain for us. But they never let it go.
We finally made it to the Skye Bridge. We had to pay the toll to get across (£5.60 in 1998 but they scrapped the toll since then, now its free!). We got to a pub that was still open and we used the pay phone to call Tom and Marje (we'd left our directions at home) to find the B&B. Of course, my being from the USA, I was thinking that ten pence will get me a call and that's what I did. I put ten pence into the payphone, dialled the number, and Tom answered. Well, Tom has a thick accent and was a little hard to understand on the phone, so I had to ask him to repeat himself a few times. Well, like I said, the phones work differently. They go by units. The first unit is ten pence and its a minute long. Each second after that is a pence. After the first minute, I was cut off. I put in more money (a pound coin this time!) and called back. He knew what had happened and laughed but said he understood.
Cathy was writing directions on the back of a receipt as fast as I was reeling them off. Tom said we were six minutes from the B&B. That's not far, we thought. I hung up the phone and headed in the direction of the B&B. We came across the only roundabout on Skye (almost as big a controversy as the bridge!) and drove and drove .... and drove some more.
We got to the red phone box in the directions and I passed it, even though Cathy told me that was it. It was getting darker and darker and the wind was picking up and I got a little more nervous as I drove along. We made it to a petrol station (not in the directions) and picked up some sandwiches (we were starving) and we werent back the other direction. I finally gave into Cathy's directions and turned at the phone box. We made it on down the road, all the time I was thinking that we were never going to find the place. We came upon the road that we were looking for and there was Tom, standing outside with binoculars! He was laughing so hard he was crying. He'd been watching us for the better part of an hour - yes, an hour. It took us that long to make a six minute drive and we got lost. Okay, I got lost!
Tom said six minutes, I said fifteen, took us nearly an hour. Life gets us lost sometimes, doesn't it??
We made it inside with all our stuff and Marje walked in from the kitchen and said, "I was just drawing them a map to their room!" We decided that we'd never live this down! She fixed us a cup of coffee and warmed us up. It waited until we got inside and then the floodgates opened. All that patience that the clouds had that day was over and they rained like we'd never seen them rain before.
As you know, our camcorder battery ran down and we didn't have a way to charge it up. I kind of threw the camera bag down on top of some soft stuff and Tom asked me why I did that. I told him the long sad story of not having the right adaptor and that I was going to jail when I got home for the murder of the Radio Shack guy. He looked at the charger and noticed that the voltage was right level and he cut off the end of the plug and replaced it with one that would fit in their plugs. And it worked!!
We talked for at least a few hours and didn't get in bed until late. We were finally there. One of the places that we longed to be and the second we met Tom & Marje, we felt like family!
Financial run-down:
Lunch:
Cawdor Castle - Quiche, salad, apple tart, coke - £5.70
Dinner:
On the way to the B&B after we got lost, just about £2 for a sandwich, crisps (chips), and a coke
Culloden Battlefield:
£3.00 (£10 now)
Cawdor Castle & Gardens:
£5.50, free parking (£8.30 now)
Nessie's Visitor Centre (Loch Ness Experience):
£3.50 (£5.50 now)
30 July
Today was the first day that we had an opportunity to eat breakfast at Lochalsh House (no longer a B&B). We came down (first ones, for once) and sat at the table. I poured my juice and got my tea ready; Cathy poured her juice (she's not much of a tea drinker). I was a little curious to find out what differences there were going to be in the breakfast here as opposed to St Mungo's. Not much, as it turned out, except we were given a menu to pick from (got a choice of either full Scottish or full English breakfast). We ate till I thought we were going to be rolling upstairs again!
This was our last day in Inverness - Thank Goodness! I hated driving there. The other folks at the table had a much familiar accent ... they were from Michigan! They told us they were seeing "Scotland in a day" - Ha! That's not possible, you miss so much! At least they got to see some of it, right? The next couple came downstairs and they gold us they were from South Africa. They were very kind people and were in town for a wedding, which they missed because they couldn't find the church on time (there's that reference!) and barely made it to the reception before the bride and groom left for their honeymoon!
We ate and talked and ate and talked and of course the subject of Bill Clinton came up and I bypassed it like I didn't hear it. It worked and the subject changed quickly. Note: The reason was that everywhere we went, it seemed as though people wanted to talk about Clinton. Even now, many years later, when people find out I'm from Arkansas, they say "Oh, that's Bill Clinton country, isn't it?" *sigh*
We learned that Cathy's Mom had called the night before. She forgot about the time change and it wasn't until around 2am that she called and Terri wouldn't wake us. Not sure if it was because she didn't want to get out of bed or that she really didn't want to disturb us, but nevertheless, Cathy didn't get to talk to her mother while we were there.
We finished breakfast, I emailed home to tell them we were on our way to Skye. We moseyed upstairs to get our things packed and decided to leave it all there while we went to town to get money exchanged and to get another adaptor. The more I thought about the adapter, the more angry I got and now that I'm writing it all down again, my dander is up again!
The first and only time we made it to the B&B without getting lost was when we were leaving! Geez. We said our good-byes and got a photo of Bill & Terri outside the building. I wanted to do this with all our B&B folks so we'd have a record of our visit for all time.
The first stop was the Culloden Battlefield. We parked and went inside. We got in and went through the museum. The Torridon MacKenzies and the Stuarts of Appin were two clans that fought there. For some reason, I feel more drawn to the MacKenzies than any other section of the family.
For the first time, I realized what the Jacobites were actually about. They weren't following a terrible leader, who was only Scottish by blood, not by birth (Prince Charles was born in Rome). They were following the Stuart name and the idea of being free from England once again. I can understand wanting your freedom. We wandered out onto the battlefield. It was rectangular (roughly) in shape and on one side flew the English side, the other, the Scottish one. This one was the farthest away from us at the starting point.
We walked along, it was quiet and not many people were about. The clouds were threatening to open up on us but never did. It wasn't cold, it wasn't warm. There was a very sad feeling there. Feeling of death and great emotion. Only one other place would I feel this on my trip. We decided to cut across the middle of the field. We felt alone. No voiced. No cars. Nothing - just silence. About halfway across the battlefield (neither of us were talking) we both just stopped. I was a step or two ahead of Cathy and I turned to look at her. She said I was white as a ghost (pardon the pun). She asked, "Did you hear that?" Boots. Like marching. Chills ran up and down my spine and back up again. We said nothing else, we just kept walking. Absolute quiet was deafening. We made it to the other side of the battlefield (Jacobite side) and we were going to turn left up the trail to go to the clan graves. I stopped and told Cathy that I needed to go to the right. She nodded her head and she continued on to the left. I walked slowly, not sure what I'd find. The closer I got to the flag the louder my heartbeat boomed in my ears. I could hear every breath, every heartbeat as I approached the flag. I didn't know what I was going to find but it terrified me. I got closer and noticed a sign posted at the base of the flag. I got close enough to read it and it said, and I quote:
"Beyond this point fought the Torridon MacKenzies"
A single tear ran down my face as I stood there for what seemed like forever. I put my hand on the sign as if it were a gravestone. I still get quite emotional when I talk about it. I don't know how many of you can understand this feeling or this emotion.
Well, I better move on or I'll dwell on that forever.
We weren't on just a battlefield. This one had a special significance and meaning to more than just me. It does to anyone with one drop of Scottish blood (a Jacobite or not).
I caught up with Cathy in the graveyard. There were large stones everywhere with names of clans carved in them so washed by time that some you can't read any more. I searched and searched but no stone marked MacKenzie was to be found. I found several stones that simply read, "Mixed Clans" and these were mass graves of men who died in this battle for independence. This was a foreboding place. We walked along and finally left this field of war. We slowly walked back to the visitor's centre and went into the gift shop. I bought a book about the battlefield and some other treasures to take home.
Silently, we made our way back to the car. Neither of us said a word for a long time. We drove away and I turned into Cathy and asked her what she thought. She just looked at me and showed me the chills on her arm.
Our next stop along the way was Cawdor Castle. This would prove to be a little more on the light side of our travel today. This is a privately owned castle and we did pay the admission there. We ate at the restaurant inside, which was good, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone on a budget. We ate the least expensive thing we could. The food was good, but the prices were, well, pricey.
I bought a lambswool shawl - the softest thing I've ever touched! I love that thing! We took the self-guided tour and saw some really wonderful rooms. They wouldn't let me take photos (I would always ask first) so we just use the guidebook for memories on this one. I went to the gardens where I found a maze. I didn't get to go through it, though - they'd closed it down due to people messing it up so it could grow back. It was my idea of a castle and people still live there, so its very well taken care of. There were highland cattle in a fenced area (the first ones we saw and the only ones we saw in a fence!). It was very relaxing and very beautiful.
We headed back toward Inverness and stopped for petrol. We also loaded up on dairy milk bars and Pringles! Driving along Loch Ness again, we came upon the Nessie Exhibit. Although we'd seen Nessie two days before, we decided not to go through the exhibition but did hit the gift shop. I had to get some stuff for the kids there (at the time they were 9, 5, and the twins were 3).
We found the most amazing scenery on our drive. We decided to take an alternate route to Skye and go through Fort Augustus and Invergarry. In Fort Augustus, we saw that we were in a traffic jam! Oh no, not here...not in Scotland! Well, after we found out why, we didn't mind that much. We noticed the bridge in front of us went up - a little on the odd side. Then we saw what was going on. A sail boat crossed the road. All we could see was the sails and masts of the boat; it was through through a little area to bypass a longer way around. We got it on video as the second boat went through. This kind of traffic, I can handle!
We drove on to Invergarry and as we got closer we noticed we didn't know where we were going! There wasn't a map to the bridge of the seven heads we were looking for. So we turned around a couple of times and I noticed there were several cars behind me. I pulled over to let them pass. Cathy counted 25 cars behind me. I know they were cussin' me as they drove by. I didn't hear a single horn nor did I see a single "one finger wave" ... at least they're polite!
As we looked for this bridge, we went to a hotel to ask directions. There weren't any petrol stations around to stop so we opted for the hotel instead. We turned the corner to drive up to the hotel (a little dirt road) and just around this bend, out jumped a castle! It was striking and majestic. It was well ... I don't think there are any words to describe it.
Cathy's fingernails somehow ended up in my arm and she said, "Do you see that? Do you see that??" How could I not? We had to pull over. I think if I hadn't pulled over, Cathy would have jumped out of the car window! It was fenced off by two ten foot tall chain-link fences and signs were posted all around it that it was dangerous and that if you entered you did at your own peril. Peril! We wanted to get to it so badly! There wasn't much of it left standing, but enough to know that this was some castle in its day.
On the video, you can hear Cathy's voice saying, "Robin won't let me to it, I can't believe she won't let me touch it!" Well, if she felt like she could've made it over those two ten foot fences then I would've let her go. But she didn't. And neither did I. We just looked at it like a diamond behind glass that you long to lay your hands on but cannot. It was wondrous. Like something in a dream. I'm glad it wasn't.
We made it to the hotel and asked directions to the bridge and got them, we just hadn't driven far enough yet. So we drove back by the castle again - this time very, very slowly.
When we got to the bridge, we pulled the car over and saw the statue. Sometime in times long ago, a man was robbed by these seven brothers. He sent a group of his men after them and they were brought to him. He promptly removed their heads and hung them from the bridge nearby. This was a warning to others not to commit a similar thievery. There is a statue erected nearby and it depicts the seven heads and the story engraved in different languages on its base.
As we drove along we noticed there were still no billboards, power lines, phone lines, etc. We drove through Glen Moriston, Glen Clounie, and they are very beautiful indeed! The mountains, the roads, the bridges, the mountains, the waterfalls, and did I mention the mountains?? We stopped about every ten minutes to take photos. There was hardly anyone else around and very few cars on the road. Incredible, extraordinary, amazing, unique, remarkable, phenomenal, spectacular, astonishing, are all to week of words to describe the loveliness and beauty of this land. The weather was not cool, not warm, and held up well for us. The clouds rested among the mountaintops as if they were tired from holding all their rain for us. But they never let it go.
We finally made it to the Skye Bridge. We had to pay the toll to get across (£5.60 in 1998 but they scrapped the toll since then, now its free!). We got to a pub that was still open and we used the pay phone to call Tom and Marje (we'd left our directions at home) to find the B&B. Of course, my being from the USA, I was thinking that ten pence will get me a call and that's what I did. I put ten pence into the payphone, dialled the number, and Tom answered. Well, Tom has a thick accent and was a little hard to understand on the phone, so I had to ask him to repeat himself a few times. Well, like I said, the phones work differently. They go by units. The first unit is ten pence and its a minute long. Each second after that is a pence. After the first minute, I was cut off. I put in more money (a pound coin this time!) and called back. He knew what had happened and laughed but said he understood.
Cathy was writing directions on the back of a receipt as fast as I was reeling them off. Tom said we were six minutes from the B&B. That's not far, we thought. I hung up the phone and headed in the direction of the B&B. We came across the only roundabout on Skye (almost as big a controversy as the bridge!) and drove and drove .... and drove some more.
We got to the red phone box in the directions and I passed it, even though Cathy told me that was it. It was getting darker and darker and the wind was picking up and I got a little more nervous as I drove along. We made it to a petrol station (not in the directions) and picked up some sandwiches (we were starving) and we werent back the other direction. I finally gave into Cathy's directions and turned at the phone box. We made it on down the road, all the time I was thinking that we were never going to find the place. We came upon the road that we were looking for and there was Tom, standing outside with binoculars! He was laughing so hard he was crying. He'd been watching us for the better part of an hour - yes, an hour. It took us that long to make a six minute drive and we got lost. Okay, I got lost!
Tom said six minutes, I said fifteen, took us nearly an hour. Life gets us lost sometimes, doesn't it??
We made it inside with all our stuff and Marje walked in from the kitchen and said, "I was just drawing them a map to their room!" We decided that we'd never live this down! She fixed us a cup of coffee and warmed us up. It waited until we got inside and then the floodgates opened. All that patience that the clouds had that day was over and they rained like we'd never seen them rain before.
As you know, our camcorder battery ran down and we didn't have a way to charge it up. I kind of threw the camera bag down on top of some soft stuff and Tom asked me why I did that. I told him the long sad story of not having the right adaptor and that I was going to jail when I got home for the murder of the Radio Shack guy. He looked at the charger and noticed that the voltage was right level and he cut off the end of the plug and replaced it with one that would fit in their plugs. And it worked!!
We talked for at least a few hours and didn't get in bed until late. We were finally there. One of the places that we longed to be and the second we met Tom & Marje, we felt like family!
Financial run-down:
Lunch:
Cawdor Castle - Quiche, salad, apple tart, coke - £5.70
Dinner:
On the way to the B&B after we got lost, just about £2 for a sandwich, crisps (chips), and a coke
Culloden Battlefield:
£3.00 (£10 now)
Cawdor Castle & Gardens:
£5.50, free parking (£8.30 now)
Nessie's Visitor Centre (Loch Ness Experience):
£3.50 (£5.50 now)
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