In Their Steps Hodgepodge

The new questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge are coming from  Jo From This Side of the Pond while she is across the Pond!
Thanks Jo and I hope your jet lag will be mild!
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1. Hey, it’s October…what’s one fun thing on your October calendar? 
This Saturday is the Marcus Ciderfest and we’ll enjoy some time there buying some freshly squeezed apple cider from local apples.
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I’m also following along on an October 31 day journey with the Heroes of the Reformation called Here We Stand. I get an email each day with the history of one of the heroes.
If you want to follow along you can sign up here.

2. Thursday is National Poetry Day (first Thursday in October)…do you like to read poetry? If so, what’s a favorite poem, or whose poetry do you especially enjoy? 

My favorites are songs and hymns and spiritual songs. That kind of poetry I can understand. I also enjoy children’s rhymes.

So many favorites in the Psalms;

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

3. Tell us about something you’ve seen recently that could be described as ‘poetry in motion’

Other than watching Eagles and Hawks in the sky I would hearken back to the Olympics and watching the diving and other pool events including synchronized swimming that they now call artistic swimming.

4. What’s one song on your autumn playlist? Do you have an autumn playlist? If not, pretend you do. If yes, then feel free to share more than one. 

This is a song that has been playing on the cd in my car that gets me every time.

And this one that I was listening to yesterday…

5. Share a quote that inspires you this time of year especially. 

I’m inspired by our very recent trip to Scotland and specifically walking along the steps of John Knox and his influence on Scotland and the Scottish Reformation. Not him alone but many other Covenantors who lost their lives for the Gospel and the Kingship of Christ and the Church. So at this time of year I’m inspired by Knox and other Martyrs. John Knox preached across Scotland and in England and Europe. George Wishart was burned at the stake in front of St. Andrews Castle another location where John Knox spent time. We visited St. Andrews and the ruins of the castle. St. Andrews is filled with history and not just golf. 🙂

“Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.”
― John Knox

“The man who stands with God is always in the majority.”
― John Knox

And from George Wishart a friend of Knox and Scottish Martyr–

When he came to the place of his death he knelt and prayed to Christ, then he addressed the watching crowd: ‘If I had taught men’s doctrine, I had gotten greater thanks by men. But for the true Evangel [gospel], which was given to me by the Grace of God, I suffer this day by men, not sorrowfully, but with a glad heart and mind… This grim fire I fear not: and so I pray you to do, if any persecution come unto you for the Word’s sake; and not to fear them that slay the body, and afterwards have no power to slay the soul… I know surely that my soul shall sup with my Saviour this night, ere it be six hours, for whom I suffer this.’ Next he prayed for those who had viciously persecuted and slandered him, saying, ‘I forgive them with all my heart.’

These images and placards were inside the visitors center for St. Andrews Castle Ruins.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

We are still recovering from our Jet Lag and thankfully each day gets better.

The devastation from Hurricane Helene has been on my mind and I pray that help will reach the stranded. Thankful for the groups like Samaritan’s Purse who respond quickly and compassionately to those in need. The family members we have living in North Carolina were spared and they are pitching in to help where they can.

Scotland Travel Journal ~ The Necropolis

On Saturday the 14th of September after viewing the inside of Glasgow Cathedral we walked outside to improving weather and decided we shouldn’t miss the hike up to the Necropolis to view the John Knox Memorial.

The Necropolis is a Victorian garden cemetery full of wonderful architecture, sculpture and fascinating stories.

Scotland Travel Journal ~Glasgow Cathedral

We made it all the way home on Thursday the 26th of September. We fly out of Seatac Airport (Seattle) which is a good five to six hour drive from our home in Colville. Since we were traveling with Josh and Laura we find it easier to drive to their home the day before our flights and drive and park at the airport with them. Our flight home from Scotland arrived Tuesday evening and we would be in no good shape to then drive the 6 hours home so we spend another night at Josh and Laura’s before we attempt our final drive home. There were dust storms predicted on our route home for Wednesday so we put off our travels home for one more day and had a very nice drive with great weather conditions on Thursday. Taking the extra day made it possible for us to see Katie and Andrew, too, which was good.

Looking back I see that I covered our flight and arrival to Scotland well here. I even had the energy to post a few details on our first full day which was Saturday the 14th of September here. From here on out in Scotland the days were full of activity and I had no energy to put words together or match those words up with photos. Our internet connections were slower and slower, too. Some of our days and the events and experiences we had deserve a post all to themselves. I might be done with my Scotland Travel Journal by November!!

Our lodgings in Glasgow were at Native Glasgow. The central location worked well for us.

A photo for any Dr. Who fans out there.

On Saturday September 14th we had breakfast reservations at The Ivy for 8:30 and their webpage said we should dress ‘smart’. We dressed as smart as we could and walked over to the restaurant which was very close to our hotel. It was a wet and drizzly beginning to the day.

After breakfast we walked over to George Square to catch a hop on hop off bus.

George Square is named after King George III. Laid out in 1781, today Glasgow Square is home to the headquarters of Glasgow City Council, and showcases an important collection of statues and monuments, including those dedicated to famous scots such as Robert Burns, James Watt, Sir Robert Peel and Sir Walter Scott. It is also the square where people gather for major events and to let their voices be heard, aka protest.

Our first hop off spot was St. Mungo’s Cathedral (Glasgow Cathedral).

This medieval cathedral is thought to have been built on the site of St Kentigern’s tomb and marks the birthplace of the city of Glasgow.

My people looking up in awe of this amazing structure.

One of my interests in this trip to Scotland was gleaning information connected to the Reformation and the Covenantors of Scotland like John Knox, George Wishart, Patrick Hamilton, The Two Margarets, Jenny Geddes, and others. We would learn much about the early martyrs of the church throughout our stops in Scotland.

This stone reads…

“Here lies the corps of Robert Bunton, John Hart, Robert Scot, Matthew Patoun, John Richmond, James Johnston, Archibald Stewart, James Winning, John Main, who suffered at the cross of Glasgow, for their testimony to the covenants and work of reformation, because they durst not own the authority of the then tyrants, destroying the same, betwixt 1666 and, and 1688.

Years sixty six, and eighty four,
Did send their souls home into glore,
Whose bodies here interred ly,
Then sacrific’d to tyrrany;
To covenants and reformation,
‘Cause they adheared in their station,
These nine, with others in this yard,
Whose heads and bodies were not spar’d,
Their testimonies, foes to bury,
Caus’d beat the drums then in great fury
They’ll know at resurrection day,
To murder saints was no sweet play.

 

 

I love the eagle lecterns in the United Kingdom.

The Unicorn and the Lion (Scotland and England), the Thistle and the Rose.

We looked up a lot but it was also good to look down on the amazing floors.

Stand Sure is the inscription on the Sword.

The Crypt of St. Mungo’s was another layer of amazing architecture.

 

The weather outside improved and we decided to make the journey up behind the cathedral to view the Necropolis and specifically the monument to John Knox.

This is already way too long of a post and I will save the Necropolis for another day. Thank you so much for journeying along with us on this most amazing experience we enjoyed. Thank you to Laura for sharing all her photos with me. All my posts will be a mix of both her photos and mine.

Thanks be to God for His amazing goodness to us in our travels.

 

Back in the ‘States’

We are back from the bonnie land of stairs and steps and elevated castles. We are not all the way home yet but our air and foreign travels are complete for another year. I have lots of photo sorting to do. It will take a while for my brain to be able to compose all our wonderful experiences. It is not trite for me to say that God abundantly blessed our time and our travels. We are thankful for our trip and thankful to be safely at Josh and Laura’s home. Now onwards to our own country bungalow. Cheers!

Postcard from Friday the 20th of September

The internet connection here at our apartment in Edinburgh is painfully slow so this will be the last postcard until we reach home again.

If you are a golfer, you will know the significance of this spot in St. Andrews.

After a couple nights (Thursday the 19th and Friday the 20th) just a little north of St. Andrews in St. Michaels we returned our rental car to Stirling. Josh did an amazing job of navigating all the roads, wide and narrow. We had a beautiful stop on the way to Stirling and the future posts are piling up! From Stirling we took a train into Edinburgh and taxied to our apartment in the hub of new town. Our stair conditioning has really paid off for us. We are having a Scottish Reformation tour today meeting our guide at St. Giles Cathedral.

We fly home on Tuesday. Hope all is well stateside!

Thursday the 19th of September

Our Thursday travels took us south from Barras along the North Sea for some miles before we cut inland to see Glamis Castle.

This Castle is still a residence so photos were not allowed on the inside. We had a wonderful tour guide who took our group through the several of the interior rooms. We enjoyed coffee and tea at the castle and found some fun treasures in the gift shop.

Our next stop was Carnoustie Golf Links to see if Josh could book a tee time. There were no tee times that would work for him. We enjoyed lunch in the Rookery at the Links and I had a bowl of Cullen Skink, a first for me. More about that in a later post. We researched golf courses closer to our lodging for the next couple of nights and found St. Michael’s Golf Links about 5 minutes away from our inn. We stopped there and secured a tee time and clubs for Josh to play early on Friday morning. When in the land of golf a game of golf is a bonus for a golfer!

We checked into our country inn and then enjoyed a leisurely dinner at St. Michael’s Inn before we called it a day.

Pitlochry, Scotland

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!

Saturday September 14th Postcards

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!

We Made It!

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!

Over the River and Mountain Range

We had a beautiful drive through Eastern Washington across the mighty Columbia river and over the Cascade mountain range to the Puget Sound area of Washington.

We had a 2nd birthday celebration for Dear at Rare Society in Mill Creek with our Westside kids. On Monday we had the first celebration with our Colville kids and Grands. It was good to touch bases with everyone before we head out of the country.

Soon we will be in Bonnie Scotland. I hope to be able to share postcards from our days before I recap our trip when we return. Cheers!