By
lommiles on November 16th, 2008
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I was really looking forward to my first bath in the wee house - my first bath in 2 months, since I was in Scotland! I had even bought a new shower curtain - cream with red and pink rose buds - it is called Athena! How could I resist?
We were all moved in! Everyone had gone home! Every muscle and joint was aching for a nice hot bath. So I gathered what I needed, lighted the fragrant tea lights, got ready the vanilla body scrub and headed for the tub - turned on the water and watched in horror as a black stream poured out of the faucet!!! WHAT WAS THAT?!? I looked closer and lo and behold! The black stream was hundreds of tiny black ants swimming around in my tub! And wouldn't you know - the drain doesn't remain open unless I stand there and hold it open. So I have to hold open the drain while I attempt to wash the ants down with a jug of hot water. It was fun. But! I persisted! I prevailed! I took a bath. With candles. And vanilla sugar scrub. It was good.
By
lommiles on November 16th, 2008
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The gkids have been a big help with moving! They even helped grandpa
put together the bookshelves and the 'micah chair'!
That went into my office between the ikea shelves in case I need to rest or read or if we need a bed for gkids to overnight!
We had just enough help to get all our furniture and
boxes and suitcases out of the big house, over to the wee house. It was a 'soft' day - drizzly, that is. But it wasn't pouring rain and it wasn't too hot or too cold. After our friends left, the gkids came over and swept all the leaves out of the house - again!! and helped sort cd's. Now, if we only had a cd player….
Our favorite SIL painted my office yellow - instead of tan and purple. And he took down the doggie border in our bedroom. He finished painting that room Friday night so we could move in and spend the night here, too!
That worked out fine, except I need to reorder the clothes in the closet. They didn't exactly make it across the road in the exact color and utility coordination that I had arranged them. And, I really want a curtain up there, too. I know there is no one who can see around the hill and through the hemlock windbreak but it won't seem finished until the curtain is up!
Tomorrow a friend is coming over to help me empty the suitcases, boxes and foodpails filled with books! The suitcases are the most important. They have my current books for study. Foodpails are excellent stashes for paperbacks, btw. So hopefully, by Mon nite the office will look more orderly and less like a box room. So! We are moved in. And things are functionable — sort of. Dave is taking off Thanksgiving week to organize his office in the basement — a place, we are told, that is called the "Man-Cave." A heater is being delivered on Tuesday fore the man-cave. So we are hopeful that it will be a surprisingly pleasant community center for holidays with family.
By
lommiles on November 16th, 2008
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Since I've made the big move home from Scotland, and we're moving a little way across the road to "the Grandparents House," I thought I'd give you a chance to see what is so good about being here. First of all, a view of the wee house from the road. As you can see, it is a fairly typical ranch house. In reality, for my UK friends, it is about 2ce the size of my flat and it has a full basement as well where we imagine our children and grandkids will gather for holidays with food, games and ping-pong. Otherwise, we are told it is the "Man Cave" where D's office is established.
Historically, this hill is the spot where the four story bank barn used to be. The stone wall was the edge of the chicken coop attached to the barn. The outbuilding in the left picture is the milk house built over the dug well.
Here is a view looking behind the house from the driveway. Looking uphill of course, with the cherry tree at the edge. Our kitchen and dining windows look out onto this field — if there are breaks in the hemlock windbreak.
Here is the view when I am standing on the front sidewalk by the front porch. Our porch is almost level with the road across the valley - our willow tree is planted in our meadow below. The little line at the bottom of the picture is the roof of the shed in which the vehicles reside. We have a rather steep hill in the front yard. Good for sledding in winter or sliding down anytime the grass is wet.
And this is the view of the Big House from our front yard. Milk house on the right, butcher house (where D & R keep many of their tools) on the left. All the trees were planted by D's dad after they moved here. I only planted the willows and the lilacs and the dogwood, none of which are in this picture.
At any rate, the view is lovely and especially now with the gorgeous fall colors. Spring is nice too. But you'll have to wait to see pictures of spring flowers in the orchard. Oh, and all the land belongs to the family - except the woods. But we can still enjoy the veiw of the woods for free.
By
lommiles on October 27th, 2008
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Really! I am! and feeling human, too! I can do something, rest; do something, rest; do something, rest. Instead of do something, lie on the couch the rest of the day!
I've been knitting, too.
This is what it looks like on the grandkid! And her bro will get a bigger one to match. I have finished the body all the way to the yoke.
But I made these the last month in Scotland.
They are wearing them in Indy, tho, not Scotland. And just to show Gmalo since they are barefoot and shorted. It was a very warm autumn there.
Another Grandson is looking for a special sweater, too, but we'll have to pick out the pattern and yarn for that later. Meanwhile, I'm pleased that I have the brain capacity for more than bibs and washcloths these days. Maybe I'll even be able to read a real book soon!
By
lommiles on October 9th, 2008
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What with all the friends and family I have, I have gotten a virtual flower garden!
In the UK, the food shops have been selling these orchids. I've loved them and wished I could get them, but with the currency exchange, they were just out of sight expensive. But, D's sister got me my own orchid plant so now I have one here in the lovely USA and it just keeps opening more and more blooms. I am looking forward to watching it flower and grow AND to see how long I can keep it alive. How long do orchids live, anyway?
And here, I have the lost bouquet that wandered around the Lehigh Valley for the better part of the week before it found its home here! Lots of white and green mums. From my oldest boys' families.
Of course, one of the boys made sure his bouquet got here without a major time lapse by calling his niece and having her pick some flowers out of our garden and put them in a vase for me! Very creative.
Lastly, I have a basket garden with a bloom and a peacock's feather.
I'm doing pretty well. And looking forward to moving over to the wee house with my new garden. D's mom had a lot of plants and African violets when she was there. We'll see if it looks anything like her house after we settle in!
By
lommiles on July 19th, 2008
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I thought one day that I should stay up to see it get dark around here in Aberdeen Scotland. at 57 degrees North. It is only warm enough to live here because of the Gulf Stream Current. But I gave up and went to bed before it got dark. The next night I took pictures out my east and west windows at 10 pm.
And then again at 11 pm.
and midnight. The bright spot is the street light.
I didn't take pictures when I woke up in the a.m. — often around 5 a.m. when the sun has been up for goodness knows how long and it is blaring in my front window. In fact, if I want to sit on my sofa and read or work, I have to close the blinds. At 5 and 6 a.m.!!
So, the conclusion is, it isn't very dark here during the summer. Someone at the cartie races relayed a story about one of the teams taking their mountain bikes up on one of the Munroes and riding down the mountain road at night without lights. They got up to 50 mph. Coasting down the road. And I was thinking, In the dark? without lights? down a mountain road? Oh, yes. Scotland. Where the sky is deep blue at midnight.
By
lommiles on July 2nd, 2008
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It was a lovely day in Scotland. The sun was shining; the sky was BLUE. I've never seen sky so blue anywhere else in the world - and I've been soooo many places, ya know. Just one day after the joy of the Cartie Race festival, another friend took me out to Balmoral Castle, the royal residence in Scotland. 
You can find out anything you want to know about it here. I 
will show you pictures of the things I found interesting!
It was a lovely day. Did I say that before? It is always worth celebrating a lovely sunny day in Scotland! We drove along the river Dee and stopped in a little town to walk the dog and have tea. 
One must be fortified with tea and scones to go for a walk along the Dee.
It was a lovely day. So, we actually never went inside the castle. We walked around the grounds, through the gardens and the compost heaps and the pony stalls. We talked to the chickens. There were different varieties. Some of them were probably Rhode Island Reds. I guess they aren't native Scots chickens.
The growing season tends to be rather short here, as you can see from the garde
n. The only way anyone can grow tomatoes or peppers is by putting up a greenhouse.
Here, the gardeners actually start their runner beans in cold frames.
And have plenty of fences around - at least for keeping the cold wind down a little.
Well, Scotland is rather far north 57 degrees – close enough to the arctic circle to have a very short night. I'll show you pictures in another blog later on. Here are some other things they did with their vegs:
We saw the ponds. 
I sat on a bench that the queens have surely sat on!
and saw lovely rhodendrons madly blooming in June.
Then we had a lovely picnic at the side of the Dee, with the river gurgling along and Jodie attempting to beg food from me, thinking I'd be an easier mark than her vet mom. [Wrong.]
We visited the Queen's Kirk across the street where I bought a tea towel. Every big cathedral and little kirk has a little shop with their own tea towels.
And visited another little Deeside town where we wandered through the heritage and tourist trap souvenir stores. And then had a scrumptious tea a the hotel. At which time it decided to rain. So, we went home. Rested and happy.
By
lommiles on July 2nd, 2008
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I did make it to the Catterline Cartie Challenge 2008. It was great fun. The weather was amazingly cooperative: I shed my raincoat and one sweater. The locals explained to me that it was definitely summer. They were down wearing to one polar fleece which is the sure sign of summer! And, although it kept looking like it was going to pour rain any moment, the clouds kept going out to sea and sun kept coming through. People were asking for sunscreen. Not even the GP had it in her pack! My face got a little pink so now I'm tanned enough to not get sunburned as soon as I step off the plane at home.
Here you can see the Cove that has a cliff road that is the site of the races
.
Great fun.
Click to biggify and actually see the course. Oh, and please note the changing sky in every picture!
There is a rock off to the south where seals gather to sun themselves. It is creatively named "Seal Rock."
Someone couldn't resist correcting the road sign. It made the t-shirts, too.
Here you can see up towards the beginning of the course. There are a couple curves before one gets this far. We stode at the curve that held the tent for the announcer, the dj, and the timer. There were a lot of tires and straw bales to protect participants and spectators.
There were plenty of creative carties and prizes for 
the best. St. Mary's Church got the first place for creativity, I think. These pictures are from returning the carties to the starting line to take the second and third runs down.
That also explains the very young ages of some of the apparent drivers. The actual downhill drivers had to be 16 yrs or older. And some spectators were chomping at the bit to get their carties in next year.
The Knitting Club won a prize for their covered wagon even though they tumbled at the big curve. They even had a horse in front! The theme of the weekend was The Wild West, so there was another stage coach as well. 
Some of the carties were just plain serious business and no fluffy frills.
Every cartie team chose a theme song which the DJ played as they raced down the course. That was seriously good fun and added to the festival atmosphere.
Anything more you want to see can be found at the official website. Maybe they even have the Cartie Challenge Song. Every year the local poet immortalizes another one of the contestants by adding a verse about some spectacular feat worthy of memory. This is how folk songs are born, legends created, communities fortified, embarrassments celebrated. So, my question now is, does the Creston Booster Club have a song? Or even an official poet laureate? Do their garden tractor pulls rate legendary status?
By
lommiles on June 11th, 2008
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I am sure that some of you have wondered what post-grad theology parties are like. You are in for a treat. I have provided a photo and a description just for you.
Since we had studied the theological aesthetics in seminar all year, we decided to celebrate with a dinner party at our supervisor's home. She cooked. No One! turns down an invitation to a meal at FAM's house. The cuisine was Indian, this time. Curried eggs, vegetarian curry, aubergine (eggplant) something with a cream or yogurt sauce, mango lasse (smoothies), corn on the cone (cob) with black mustard seed sauce, rice with orange water, rice with herbs, etc. Everything fabulous. With the appropriate theological and biblibal beverages.
When we discussed the possibility of dinner at the end of seminar, one of the women (not me) piped up with: "we should have a von B theme party!" to which fam immediately decided that was a fantastic idea and so it became. E. still insists that she meant it as a joke and keeps apologizing, but to no avail. We had to think of topical costumes.
Can you tell? The disgruntled Barthian took the photo since he came in student garb: jeans, sweater, backpack. I went as an effigy: black, formless, chaotic mass. E. went as the Birth of the Church: half blood, half water - the blood and water that poured from the side of Christ. Next is St. John of the Cross who used a bedsheet and his wall crucifix. Next is the Epilogue: the Cathedral. He took it off to eat and Pius the cat really liked the cathedral much to his owner's dismay. Finally, our hostess! Who actually rented a costume: Death. So, Death cooked our dinner and served us.
Sounds like fun, eh?
By
lommiles on March 24th, 2008
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It's been snowy and blowy off and on this last week. And frigid cold. That wind off the North Sea just slices through ya! Easter Sunday I woke up to this:
and a few minutes later, when the sun was a bit higher I took this:
It vacillated all day between blizzard-like flurries and sun that melted it all again. Mind you, the sun wasn't at all warm. Just enough to melt the sun.
Easter Monday, I woke up to a complete covering of snow/sleet - the most snow I've seen in the two winters I've been here!
So, this project is right in tune with the season, for sure! Those are winter squirrels on the blue mitts.
