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.
By
lommiles on January 20th, 2008
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It was a lovely wedding. The kids were duly knotted and seemed to enjoy themselves. 
In fact, everyone seemed to have a good time!
Even the grandparents appeared happy even though they sacrificed a month of warm weather in Florida and endured snow in the Midwest in order to make sure the lastest grandkid was properly married.
Of course, it wasn't enough to have just one wedding. . . . The official announcement has now been made for the last wedding!
We had a good socializing area at the hotel. Plenty of room to sit around, eat pizza and watch the kids play. Or play board games or sack out. Or continue knitting.
Fortunately, there weren't many other people there so that we were annoying them. One older couple walked through, looked around and said, "A wedding?" Oh, yes.
Why is it that adults always seem to be more tired than the kids?
And kids get to dress more comfortably after the fancy bits?
And a dollar store buy kept them all occupied for a very long time.
Not to mention occupying the patriarch as well. Or giving an excuse for a nap. As if…
Nor would any event be complete without the family gathering about the laptop/s to view the latest funny u-tube.
And a family picture complete with sweaters.
Good-bye!
By
lommiles on January 19th, 2008
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This is what one year old birthdays look like:
And the cake is a chocolate teddy bear.
Three year olds, on the other hand, are more elegant and in spite of hating bugs decided on a lady bug cake.
She received a whole pile of dollie toys but seems to enjoy the stroller without the doll more often. Everytime I asked where her baby was, she was taking a nap upstairs.
I enjoyed being around for the gkids' birthdays. But jetlag has set in, so I'd better just go take a walk and hopefully find my way home.
By
lommiles on January 7th, 2008
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First of all, happy new year to everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your festivities. Since I didn't make it to the Stonehaven Fireball Hogmanay in the UK, I stayed home and watched Underneath the Planet of the Apes which I surprisingly had never seen before! And did some more translating. Now, on to other things:
The progeny has complained that No One (in the fambly) has been adding to their blogs since Thanxmas. That's not entirely true as the #1 Sons wife has been much more responsible than anyone else. I see I added nothing from Nov 1st on. Well, that has a reason. I got a cold or flu the beginning of Oct — it was going around — and never really recovered from it. I felt better thanks to some echinacea that a friend provided for me. But once home for Thanxmas, succumbed to everything the grandkids offered. Oh, well. Needless to say, I didn't have the mental energy for actually writing the blogs I intended to AND had taken pictures for. Hopefully, I will get some of that done this week. So, once again, I will be doing backwards blogs!
A brief review since
All Saints Day includes pictures of a beautiful Autumn in Aberdeen.
, This is what you would've seen in November IF I had gotten them online. It was a lovely autumn. Not too cold, not too windy. But then I came home in mid-November for Thanxmas: our family Christmas gathering that occurs on either holiday not being Christmas. Thus, children can celebrate with their spouse's family and there is no competition. It makes for long Christmas seasons, though. We either have Thanxmas or NewMass. I think the tradition began years ago when my sisters worked third shifts and didn't get holidays off. At least the flexibility of holidays began then. Family gatherings occur when everyone can get together. We have some Thanxmas pictures but they are not showing up where they are supposed to go. Guess this will be a verbal blog instead of pictures.
This year a wedding was thrown in December as well. Our BABY got married! I was going to put in a picture but … OK. So, where's the webmaster when ya need him? The wedding was lovely and fun. And son #3 is getting married next summer. So it was entertaining hearing comparisons of how they are going to do their wedding differently. Then, the bride's brother and the groom's sister combined forces and families in order to rearrange the nuptial home. Bed in the living room. Undies on the ceiling fans. gifts in the wrong boxes. Very entertaining. And they were entertained when they saw it the next day. Plus, someone else put it back together before they got home the next weekend.
After the wedding, we followed son #3 and fiancee back up to her home in IL in order to meet the next set of new parents. It was COLD. And N.IL had whiteout conditions during our drive, too. We think it was snow from Iowa going towards Michigan cuz it didn't seem to be staying long in IL. We celebrated Christmas Eve with real Swedish Christmas food at mom and dad's with my sisters and an aunt and uncle. It's been a while since that happened. I had even made Rosettes for the occassion and brought them along from PA packed carefully in a shoebox so Not a Single One Broke! Too many people were impressed with the cookies, including my kids, which means it was a really really long time since the last time I'd made them. This time was easy, though. The coal stove with a cast iron pot of oil worked really really well.
On that happy note, I shall sign off and next time tell you about canceling the plane.
By
lommiles on November 2nd, 2007
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I never knew how volatile a lovingly ecumenical family could become. But! The Number One Son fired the first shot with this e-mail:
Subject: I wanted to wish you all a happy . .
REFORMATION DAY!!!!!!
Number One Sister unloaded an entire cannon load of fodder in return:
Subject: I wanted to wish you all a happy . .
ALL SAINTS DAY!!!! – INCLUDING ALL OF OUR ANCESTORS WHO ARE IN HEAVEN and intercede on our behalf as the “great cloud of witnesses.” November 1st
&
ALL SOULS DAY!!!! – INCLUDING ANY OF OUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES WHO ARE IN PURGATORY. November 2nd.
Fortunately, there are in-laws to mitigate disputes and pour the blessed oil:
NATIONAL SANDWICH DAY (Nov. 3rd) 
By
lommiles on September 25th, 2007
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So, I have been here for a year now. With short visits home. It has been an interesting and eventful journey and I have learned a lot about myself , some of which I either did not know or had only inklings. So, I thought I would make a list of things I've learned about myself in the last year.
- I never knew how stupid I was until I started doing my Ph.D. [Most of my colleagues agree they feel that way, too. This is why we all pick one very minute area of interest in which we will come to know more than anyone else in the world.]
- I enjoy living alone. A lot. Scary thought. But I also like living with the grandkids.
- I miss the family and especially the grandkids more than I thought I would. Thus, I babysit for a couple families here. So the moms can get out more than for being with the kids, though.
- I don’t like lettuce salads. I never make them and lettuce rots in my frig. I much prefer my vegs cooked. And I really like the little Steamer Vegs that I get here – little pouches of mixed vegs that include asparagus and peas and snap peas and carrots, aborted baby corn, filet beans. I only like green salads that have lots of stuff in them and someone else has made.
- I like going to films (movies) by myself. I often go to the small downtown theatre on Sunday afternoons since I’m already downtown.
- I enjoy being invited to parties but don’t like going to them.
- There is a good reason that I don’t like long walks. I thought my feet would eventually adjust to all the walking here. But at least I finally realized why. They were frostbitten 25 yrs ago. You remember, that really cold January in 1982 in Northern IL, when it was 30 below, -70 wind-chill! So, I have to husband my physical capacities. Fortunately, there is a theological resolution: Karl Barth considers that recognizing our creaturely limitations is a part of our reasonable worship.
- It is amazingly stressful to have to change the way I think about buying food. Not only is it surprising how many of the same foods I can buy here, but also how hard it is to find staples. Frozen juices are non-existent. No Kool-aid, either. Potato chips are odd flavors: prawn, roast-beef, ketchup flavored, BBQ’ed chicken, etc. But, one also has to get food 2 or 3 times a week instead of 2 or 3 times a month. AND remember that I have to carry it home. But rhubarb and asparagus are common and strawberries are in season from March through October. There is rhubarb flavored yogurt.
- I don’t have the mental energy to think about cooking. Fish filet and steamed vegs are the best menu I can conjure. Un/Fortunately, the one thing Scottish cuisine is good at is sweets and puddings. To balance out the healthy meals. That and being really, really close to Belgium — and Belgian chocolates are a grocery store staple.
- It is disconcerting not to understand people when you know that they are speaking some form or dialect of English.
- I really enjoy twentieth century music. Debussy and Ravel, of course. I always knew I liked Impressionistic. But also Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Delius, Saints-Saens, Hans Zimmer, Karl Jenkins, Philip Glass, Peter Maxwell Davies. I don’t like Mozart. (But neither does FAM.) Too mathematical. Deepest apologies to Karl Barth and von Balthasar.
- Russian novels are boring. This is not good since so many theological references are made to Dostoyevsky.
- Translating Italian and French is fairly easy and straight forward. This, of course, is compared to translating German.
- I can get tension head-aches from self-imposed deadlines. (cf. #1.)
