We’ve had two beautiful day in Pitlochry. We arrived for their best summer weather! This is where we are staying for two nights. We ate at the Old Mill in the village center. The time difference between our home and Scotland is throwing me for a loop with my posts. When I get home I’ll double back and fill in all the details of our trip. Cheers!
After 13,000 + steps today I only have the energy to add one postcard from a full and wonderful day. Breakfast at the Ivy again in Glasgow and then we checked out and got an Uber to Stirling. We walked to Holy Rude Church, the cemetery, and up to the Castle. Then we walked to a bus stop to catch the bus to the Wallace Monument. Taxi back to our B&B and then we walked to dinner at Brea. Now feet up and ready to crash.
Looking to the Wallace Monument from Stirling Castle. We had a lovely mix of clouds, rain, wild winds, and sunshine today!
On this day we are heading into the Lower Highlands.
Breakfast at The Ivy
Glasgow Cathedral
The Necropolis
Celtic Park for the Celtic v. Hearts Game
Dinner at the Ox and Finch to close out our day.
Tomorrow, Sunday, we travel to Stirling.
In the future I will share more photos from this busy and satisfying day. God is good to us!
All the way from Seattle, Washington to Glasgow, Scotland on the first leg of our journey!
We got to Sea-Tac and breezed through security with plenty of time to spare for our Aer Lingus flight to Edinburgh with a stop in Dublin, Ireland. Our flight left Seattle at 6:45 PM on Thursday the 12th of September.
Laura got a shot of me enjoying an online puzzle that was offered in the game app on the plane.
We made it to Dublin (because of the time zone difference of 8 hours) at 11:30 AM on Friday the 13th. Our connection in Dublin onto a much smaller plane was touch and go for a while as there were some technical issues but we finally boarded and made it to Edinburgh airport at 3:30 PM on Friday.
Our luggage arrived quickly and we made it to a queue for an airport bus to take us to Glasgow.
That trip is normally 1 hour long but there was a lot of Friday afternoon traffic and we didn’t make it to Glasgow until after 6PM.
It was a short walk from the bus station to our hotel and it felt good to settle in our rooms and then make it out for a nice sit down meal. After trying a couple of Pubs that were packed to the gills we settled in at All-Bar-One where we enjoyed our time.
So thankful for all the travelling mercies we enjoyed on this day.
It’s our first time in Glasgow, an old city with amazing architecture to enjoy. So thankful for Laura’s eye for the details in taking photos and sharing them with me.
Hoping to share more postcards along the way. We have been up for well over 24 hours and hope to sleep well, Goodnight!
Our daughter with her dad before we toured Edinburgh Castle in April of 2004.
Hello to our first September Wednesday Hodgepodge of 2024. Thank you, Joyce!
1. Something you’re working on currently?
I am working on finalizing all the things for our trip to Scotland. Besides packing lists in my head and buying a few extras, I’m filling out 4×6 cards on the different locations we will be in with all the recommendations for sites and restaurants for that city or village. So much to see and do. We are taking this trip with our son Josh and his lovely bride, Laura.
We also are busy making some meals for my cousin’s family. Her husband is being released to Hospice care in their home today, Tuesday. She will be busy caring for him and the least we can do is to offer some meals for her and her sons so shopping for food and cooking won’t be a priority for her. Since we’ll be gone next week we wanted to do some extra meals to freeze, etc., for them to fall back on.
2. Tell us something about your first job?
My first ‘real’ job with an actual paycheck was in my senior year of high school. I was done with my required courses by noon and would get a ride from a fellow student who had a job at the same company, Link Belt. I worked in one of the offices with Dan in charge and Pat his assistant. I helped Pat with paperwork. Pat was a smoker. This was in 1967-68 so smoking was still allowed everywhere. I honestly can’t remember how I got home from this job. I probably got a ride with someone who lived close to me. I started this job to earn money for college. My first year of college was at the University of Redlands, about 60 miles from my home.
My second real job in my Cal-State LA college years was at Montgomery Ward Service Center. I worked in the Parts Department.
Was it a positive or negative experience for you?
The job at Link-Belt was a positive experience for me. Neither Pat or Dan had children and they both were so kind to me and treated me like a daughter. They took me out to lunch on my last day of working before college and they also bought me a gift. Lunch was at a nice restaurant and I remember ordering a steak sandwich.
My job at Montgomery Ward was not as positive but it was something I needed to do. I commuted back and forth to college and to my job. I worked at least 20 hours a week and sometimes 24. My sister Vera worked there, too. Vera and I were successful in our work and had a good work ethic. One day the two of us were called into the head manager’s office and told we were being watched because we were Russian and we might be Communist infiltrators. True story!! They feared Young Communists were moving up in companies with clandestine motives. We were flabbergasted and in disbelief that we could be accused of this. We told him our parents put their lives at risk to escape Communism and flee Russia and we all were Americans who loved the U.S.A. Thinking back, it is comical to us that he or anyone felt Montgomery Ward was a worthwhile target!
Did your parents insist you work while in school (either high school or college) or did you work because you wanted to?
My parents never insisted that me or my siblings needed to work. We worked to put ourselves through college and for extra spending money or to buy a car. Our Russian culture did not expect children to leave home until they got married. I lived at home until I got married in 1974. I never paid rent to my folks.
3. Have you ever had a job that required overnight travel? How did you feel about that?
I never had a job that required any sort of travel. The jobs that Greg had did include travel to meetings and conferences around the U.S.A. and some international travel, too. Whenever I could I’d tag along for the free hotel room and go out and about on my own while he was stuck in a booth giving information to other professionals about the Oncology services/medications his company provided. I traveled with him to Chicago, Las Vegas, San Antonio, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and Milan Italy. Besides these cities, he traveled to New Orleans, Denver, Vienna and Marseilles.
Have you ever had a job that required you to wear a uniform?
If you count working hard at being a song leader in high school. A Cheer leading uniform was the only one I had to wear. I never wore a uniform for a paying job.
Do you work better in the morning or at night?
I will go with morning. I have the most energy in the morning. I never had a night job. Greg has had the night shift in a hospital and that did not bode well with his system and having to try to sleep during the day.
4. What’s something you bake or cook that is labor intensive? Is it worth it?
Many of our heritage recipes seem more labor intensive and they are worth it. This week my DIL and I will be making some piroshky.
Here are some photos of a Piroshky baking day we had in my kitchen in November of 2019.
Our cousin Cindy who is in the photo above on the right is the one whose husband is in Hospice at this time. For those of you who are Believers, prayers would be appreciated for her and her family.
5. One thing you’re looking forward to in the month of September?
Our trip to Scotland! We will be in Glasgow, Stirling, Pitlochry, Stonehaven, St. Andrews and Edinburgh. Lord willing, we will visit castles, cathedrals, Highlands, Lowlands, Kenmore, the Old Course St. Andrews, universities, a soccer game, a chocolatier, pubs, good restaurants, lochs, view points, villages, monuments, and many cobbled lanes.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
The last time we were in Scotland was in May of 2006. Here we are with our traveling friends in front of the Elephant House where J.K. Rowling spent time and had some of her inspiration for the Harry Potter series of books. (Greg is across the street taking the photo). The Elephant House is closed now and boarded up but people still visit the site and then go down to the Kirk where some of the names in her books can be found on the gravestones. In 2006 we and our friends had a meal in this restaurant.
I loaded another Hodgepodge with way more words than you might want to read. I’ll be late getting around to everyone because we left for Spokane early Wednesday morning for my annual eye exam. We’ll be getting home later than usual, too. See ya later!
We made it to our little Country Fair Parade on Saturday morning. We were only sprinkled on and didn’t get wet…just sprinkled. ‘Every cloud has a silver lining.’ Our Grands were able to gather a bunch of candy as the different participants in the parade threw the treats to the sides of Main street. Our Fire department starts the parade off with their sirens and such and that is why Addy and JJ have their ear protection on! ‘Better Safe than Sorry’
Onward to our questions of the week…
Yikes! It’s the last Wednesday Hodgepodge for August! Thank you to Jo, From This Side of the Pond, for the questions that ‘give us a run for our money‘.
1. What is one cliche you think is nonsense?
‘Easy as pie’, for me, is nonsense. Getting the pie crust just right and making a great pie without a ‘soggy bottom’ is not easy for me. I wasn’t raised with a pie baking mom so making a pie has always been intimidating. That said, I do appreciate my pie making friends and their great pies with the crust being just right!
What’s one you think holds truth?
‘Ugly as sin’ Sin is ugly and has caused all the trouble we’ve ever seen in our world or will ever see. So thankful that God made a way for us to be out from under it’s condemnation! That way came through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross for our sin. Colossians 1:13-14: For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
2. What’s the last thing you broke and how did it happen?
Recently, I knocked a stemless wine glass off my little side table and it shattered and traveled to many places unknown. The glass did not have wine in it, it was empty which was a good thing! It was a cheap variety of glass, too, not a Riedel, (if you know, you know). ‘Don’t cry over spilled milk’
3. Are you a fan of s’mores? Have you had a s’more this summer?
Not a fan and no I haven’t had a s’more this summer.
Last thing you ate that you wanted to ask for ‘s’more of’?
A Scone with lemon curd. ‘One Man’s Meat is Another Man’s poison’
4. A mode of transportation you’ve never tried? Will you someday?
I’ve never tried a Hover board and I will never try them. I’m at the ‘it’s too easy to break a hip’ stage of life! ‘Don’t Play With Fire’
5. Believe it or not, next week’s Hodgepodge lands in a brand new month. What’s your happiest memory from the month we’re bidding adieu?
My favorite part of August was when Josh and Laura came for a 4 day visit in the middle of the month. All the gathering moments together were sweet and it’s always good to spend time together ‘face to face’.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Speaking of Josh and Laura, they celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary this past Sunday.
On Monday of this week we started early morning walks along the Rotary Trail in Colville. The trail circles the Golf Course. These are some photos I took with my phone on two different mornings.
Smoke from fires have made sunrise and sunset interesting.
A hawk
There is usually only one eagle perched on these polls but on this day I had a twofer.
Now for a smoky sunset…
This was on Tuesday on our way home from a class we are taking at our church on Biblical Counseling. Our windshield needed a good cleaning!
Some Olympic competitions have been televised already. I’ve watched a couple Olympic soccer games and we’ll see if we sit down to watch the opening ceremonies on Saturday.
We have cooled down as of yesterday and it was a nice relief.
Happy Friday everyone. Hope you have a nice last weekend in July! Here we are this Friday morning on the trail. My, what long legs we have.
Continuing a Happy 70th Birthday Tribute to my dear husband.
We had a nice small celebration with our Colville kids and in-laws for Greg’s 70th on Saturday evening. Our kids called out to friends and family to mail cards to our Colville kids’ home to surprise him with greetings near and far. It was a surprise and so enjoyable to hear from so many. Thank you to any of you who are reading here for your wonderful greetings.
Now back to the Nineteen Seventies!
My birthday tribute for Greg continues with photos from the years we dated, toured England, were engaged, married, our honeymoon, setting up our first apartment, then two houses and our first major road trip from Southern California with stops in Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, and Niagara Falls.
My sister Kathy’s wedding about 4 months before our wedding.
Bottom right is the two of us with our first niece, Jenna.
The little yellow Honda was the first vehicle we purchased together as a couple. It is the vehicle we made our road trip across the U.S.A. and into Canada in.
By the late nineteen seventies we were in our second home in Huntington Beach.
Next tribute will be after we had children which started in the late nineteen seventies.
Remembering the fact that today is the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. We honor all those who’s lives were taken away so tragically on that day and the survivors who were forever changed by their experience on that day and the days that followed.
On 9-11-2001 We were living in Kenmore, Washington. We lived in this house until 2018. Never Forget!
It’s time for ABC Wednesday and this week we are on the letter I.
Come with me to the Isle of Iona in the Hebrides.
We traveled from the town of Oban on the western coast of Scotland by ferry to the Island of Mull and then we boarded a bus to travel down the Island to take a small ferry to the small Isle of Iona.
This little Isle is rich in history and beauty.
History of Iona
St. Columba, an Irish scholar, soldier, priest, and founder of monasteries, got into a small war over the possession of an illegally copied Psalm book. Victorious but sickened by the bloodshed, Columba left Ireland, vowing never to return. According to legend, the first bit of land out of sight of his homeland was Iona. He stopped here in 563 and established the abbey.
Columba’s monastic community flourished, and Iona became the center of Celtic Christianity. Iona missionaries spread the gospel through Scotland and North England, while scholarly monks established Iona as a center of art and learning. The Book of Kells – perhaps the finest piece of art from “Dark Ages” Europe – was probably made on Iona in the eighth century. The island was so important that it was the legendary burial place for ancient Scottish and even Scandinavian kings (including Shakespeare’s Macbeth).
Slowly the importance of Iona ebbed. Vikings massacred 68 monks in 806. Fearing more raids, the monks evacuated most of Iona’s treasures (including the Book of Kells, which is now in Dublin) to Ireland. Much later, with the Reformation, the abbey was abandoned, and most of its finely carved crosses were destroyed. In the 17th century, locals used the abbey only as a handy quarry for other building projects.
Iona’s population peaked at about 500 in the 1830’s. In the 1840’s a potato famine hit. In the 1850’s a third of the islanders emigrated to Canada and Australia. By 1900 the population was down to 210, and today it’s only around 100.
But in our generation a new religious community has given the abbey new life. The Iona community is an ecumenical gathering of men and women who seek new ways of living the Gospel in today’s world, with focus on worship, peace, and justice issues, and reconciliation.
The island is car free. While the present abbey, nunnery, and graveyard go back to the 13th century, much of what you see today was rebuilt in the 19th century.
ht: history and other information taken from Rick Steves’ Great Britain
For more ABC Wednesday go see Mrs. Nesbitt.
For more ABC Wednesday photos head over to Mrs. Nesbitt.
Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 