Sunday in Stirling Scotland

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.

Come, Thou Almighty King ~ Hymn

Come, Thou Almighty King

Come, Thou almighty King,
Help us Thy Name to sing, help us to praise!
Father all glorious, o’er all victorious,
Come and reign over us, Ancient of Days!

Jesus, our Lord, arise,
Scatter our enemies, and make them fall;
Let Thine almighty aid our sure defense be made,
Souls on Thee be stayed; Lord, hear our call.

Come, Thou incarnate Word,
Gird on Thy mighty sword, our prayer attend!
Come, and Thy people bless, and give Thy Word success,
Spirit of holiness, on us descend!

Come, holy Comforter,
Thy sacred witness bear in this glad hour.
Thou Who almighty art, now rule in every heart,
And ne’er from us depart, Spirit of power!

To Thee, great One in Three,
Eternal praises be, hence, evermore.
Thy sovereign majesty may we in glory see,
And to eternity love and adore!

Words: Some sources show the au­thor as “anon­y­mous.” Others cre­dit Charles Wes­ley, 1757. The words ap­peared in George White­field’s Col­lect­ion of Hymns for So­cial Wor­ship, 1757.

Music: Ital­i­an Hymn, Fe­lice de Gi­ar­di­ni, in The Col­lect­ion of Psalm and Hymn Tunes Sung at the Cha­pel of the Lock Hos­pi­tal, 1769. De Gi­ar­di­ni wrote the music spe­ci­fic­al­ly for this hymn. Al­ter­nate tune: Amer­i­ca, The­saur­us Mu­si­cus, 1744

In the days of the Amer­i­can Re­vo­lu­tion a con­gre­ga­tion of pa­tri­o­tic col­o­nists were wor­ship­ing in their church on Long Is­land when the ser­vice was in­ter­rupt­ed by the ar­riv­al of a com­pa­ny of Hess­ian troops. The cap­tain stalked up the aisle and com­mand­ed the people to sing “God Save the King.” The or­gan­ist start­ed the tune that we call “Amer­i­ca”; but the peo­ple, true to the cause of the Amer­i­can col­o­nies and to their God, sang this hymn.

ht: Cyberhymnal

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!

Another School Year Begins…

Time for the new school year!

It’s always fun to see their favorites. Busy days ahead with homeschooling and with Co-op.

We had twin fawns visit and I only managed to get one of them in a photo.

I will be hit and miss on the internet and with posting for the next little while. I’ll pop in when I can.

Seventy One

Happy Birthday to my one and only, Greg. This young version of him is who I fell in love with way back in 1972.

On our wedding day fifty years ago!

I’ll share random photos as the years flew by.

Isaiah 46:4

Even to your old age and gray hairs
    I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
    I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Psalm 71:18

Even when I am old and gray,
    do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
    your mighty acts to all who are to come.

I love this older version of Greg, too.

Psalm 73:26

My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart
    and my portion forever.

Thanking our God and Father, our Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit for you, Greg. You have been faithful to me and our family. Your integrity and work ethic have given you contentment which is worth more than gold. You are a gifted teacher and you have set a good example for your children to follow. God has brought you to your 71st year on earth and we will enjoy celebrating your new year this week. My birthday wishes for you are that you love Jesus more and more this year and that you know deep down that this world has no satisfaction to give you apart from the God who created you for His glory. Keep yourself in the love of God. All we have that is worthwhile is from God’s hand. I count you as a precious gift from God’s hand to me and to our family. Thank you LORD!

Philippians 3:20-21

20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

Communion Hymn

Communion Hymn

Amidst us our Beloved stands,
And bid us view His pierced hands;
Points to His wounded feet and side,
Blest emblems of the Crucified.

What food luxurious loads the board,
When at His table sits the Lord!
The wine how rich, the bread how sweet,
When Jesus deigns the guests to meet!

If now with eyes defiled and dim,
We see the signs but see not Him,
Oh, may His love the scales displace,
And bid us see Him face to face!

Our former transports we recount,
When with Him in the holy mount,
These cause our souls to thirst anew,
His marr’d but lovely face to view.

Thou glorious Bridegroom of our hearts,
Thy present smile a heaven imparts
Oh, lift the veil, if veil there be,
Let every saint Thy beauties see!

Words: C.H. Spurgeon

The Heat is On…

This chubby scout hopped up on the deck. Usually the quail stay off the deck.

I took a quick pic with my phone through the slider.

We are in the midst of another hot spell here. We had hints of autumn for a few days but summer is still making an appearance. Of course that means a lot of watering is happening here.

We are in the midst of getting things ready on our property before we travel to Scotland. Our neighbors and son will look out for our property but no one will be watering or mowing.

The heat is real today and you can almost feel it through these photos.

But before we know it the cool days of Autumn will be upon us and the Fall decor will come out of their bins.

My eye doctor visit revealed the need for some minor laser surgery needed to clear up some fogginess. It is too bad this couldn’t have been completed before our trip to Scotland. I will meet with the specialist before we leave and schedule the procedure for when we return.

I’m adding a new purchase from the dollar store in town which is now the $1.25 store!

Are you cooling down or heating up again? Enjoy your last days of summer, dear ones!