Yes, it's true........this is the post that no one really wants to read or believe is true. This is the post that kind of brings a little reality to the situation and brings forth the concept that things aren't always peachy and rosy when living in the rolling green hills of Scotland. Sorry folks........but now and then you have to have a post like this..........it's life......it's reality............just the way it is.
So what have I been up too lately? I've been busy and haven't blogged in several days and the posts have been kind of bland........haven't they? We haven't really traveled much lately, (but hey Jeff has to work some time) and I've not been taking very many interesting photos lately. So what gives.......you ask? It's cold, it gets dark early, it's snowy, Jeff's working a lot and so he's offshore a lot, and well..............things are a little drab. Things get a little old and redundant, even in the land of rolling green hills! And I've really been longing for someone to talk to that "gets it". It's nothing against my family and friends back home or even the friends I've made here. But unless you've really kind of been in this situation, it's hard to understand. It's even hard for Jeff to understand my side of the situation because while we've both moved and have this big adventure together, he's still very much involved in his career and he interacts with people on a daily basis. Me, I spend more time interacting with Simba, Rhett and Audrey than I do anyone else. Okay............don't make it sound like I am crazy cat lady or that I am pathetic................blaka, blaka, blaka! It's not that boring really in my life and I stay busy doing other things........I just long for the interaction with other people. It's in my nature.......it's who I am, it's what I do.
Not that it's a bad thing hanging out with these sweet furkids. This is Audrey (the black cat) and Rhett. Audrey is the sweetest kitty and this is really one of the first times she's really kind of sit like this for me to take a good picture of her. She has really come out of her "shell" since I've been home a lot.
For those of you that personally know me.............then you know this..............I am (at least until I moved here) a very independent person. I am career minded and orientated and I love challenges of completely a job, at my best ability and like most people, I love to feel that accomplishment. I love to socialize and interact and I love to get involve in community events and help out where I can. And at the same time I love being a wife, cooking, and just being part of the life I have now. But this year a lot has changed for me. I went from being that independent, living alone and single gal that loved her job, the people she worked with and loved being able to relax on the weekends with Jeff and be part of that life too. This year I got married, quit my job to move half way across the world with my loving husband and be a housewife. We came to a country where we would know no one and have no friends and would have to start nearly from scratch.............plus newly married and living together for the first time. Okay............and then you throw in there the occasional home sickness and the general differences between living in the U.S. and living in Scotland.
Okay..............so like I said............not the post people want to read about "life in Bonnie Scotland". lol But it's the truth...............and sometimes you just have to put it out there so people at least "sort of" get it!
So what am I doing about it.........you ask? I got a word a couple of months ago that there was a women's group here in Aberdeen that was an association for Americans and Canadians living and working here. After some research I found some information on the group and how to get in touch, be a member and kind of a general synopsis of what they do. They are involved in a Charity event each year and they do several fun things throughout the year and have monthly meetings with guest speakers. They even have a "newcomers tea" to welcome new members. Sounded like a pretty good place for me to get involved and just try and meet other people "like me". I attended my first meeting yesterday. I must admit when walking in and immediately speaking to people that spoke "American", that was a breath of fresh air for me! I hadn't heard another American voice here in Aberdeen outside myself, my husband and a few people he works with (which actually are Canadians).........since I have lived here. And quickly I found that the majority of the group have husbands that work in the oil and gas industry for one company or another. I am still not quite sure where I fit into the group or if I fit into the group but I'm willing to give it a few more goes and meet a few more people and see if I can't find a few women in the group that I can relate to and hit it off with. I'm looking forward to getting involved though and hopefully doing a little to help with charity and also just enjoy some of the fun socializing events. Oddly enough, the person I did meet that I hit it off best with is from New Zealand. I found that people from all over can be part of the association and that's pretty cool too!
In closing...............see I told you it was the post that no one really wanted to hear or read. And yes, we are fortunate, we are lucky, we have this great adventure....................but this just goes to show that it's not all fun and games all the time. We have unique challenges on top of the everyday challenges that some people come across. We are still very blessed to have had this opportunity. I just wanted to kind of show the flip side of living in another country and some of the more personal challenges to over come. For me, from my eyes, I went from being independent, single and career minded...........to dependent on Jeff, married (don't get me wrong I love it) and a housewife. NEVER in all my years did I ever think I would be a housewife. Not that there is anything wrong with it........but some people are cut out for it and some people are not. I am not sure where I fall just yet.............but I am having a time adjusting and finding out!
There are days I love that we had this opportunity and there are days I am counting down the days until we can start looking toward going home. But all in all..............this has truly been an adventure to talk about in the future and something to tell our kids one day.
On a side note...............the snow has mostly melted and as did our icicle. but the last day it was still there and pretty big........the two single icicles had sort of grew together and made one big one.
I made this Irish Mint Mocha Rice pudding the other day. It was pretty tasty......for rice pudding!
Okay........so I'm lagging a little behind on updating the blog. Perhaps I should have considered making one of my resolutions to update my blog more often?!?! Nah..........that would sure have been one of the first resolutions to break!
Truth be told...........I've been busy! And the one or two days since I last blogged that I wasn't busy..........well I was being lazy and catching up from all the previous days of busy! Really!
Jeff finally got to come home on New Years Eve. I had a lot of things to catch up on.........like having our New Years Day lunch, celebrating his birthday, opening Christmas presents and also having Christmas dinner. So we crammed that all in over a few days. My personal favorite was celebrating his birthday. We went into Aberdeen and had Yo Sushi (very cool place) for lunch and then went to see Avatar in 3D............then did a little shopping.........and came home for chicken fried steak, mash potatoes and river bottom gravy (what Jeff calls cream gravy) and I made some cheddar chive biscuits to go with. Plus the day before I made him a Boston Cream Pie. Frankly........I'm not good at making Boston Cream Pie........and I am deeply disappointed in myself for not being able to make Boston Cream Pie better. I pride myself on my cooking abilities and all I can say is that I must continue to practice and tweak the recipe!
Christmas dinner was great and the cornbread mix finally arrived, so we were able to have dressing. We had a ton of turkey left over............but it froze well and I've made salads with it and used a little honey mustard dressing on the salad and sprinkled it with Feta Cheese and it's fab!
Jeff carving the turkey!
Looks like we were feeding more than two. Good leftovers though!
I got some great things for Christmas! I got some kitchen stuff, some cookbooks and my favorite thing is a crystal stem ring holder to slip my rings on when I am washing dishes, cleaning, etc. I love it! And my cookbooks have inspired me to try some new recipes. Of course I am not one to just take a recipe and make it exactly as it's printed. No, I have to change some things up.........add a little of this or that.............and just kind of make it different. I don't know why I do that, but always have. I guess it's my way of inventing a taste I enjoy out of something that someone else planted the idea for.
So I found a chocolate rice pudding that calls for orange zest and orange liquor. I personally am odd in that I am one of the few people in the world that doesn't like orange and chocolate together. So I decided to change things up a little and make an Irish Mint Chocolate rice pudding. Its chilling and setting now..........so I'll have to get back to you if it was worth it and if it's a good change to the original recipe. And I know many of you are saying, "Yuck, rice pudding?" YES.......rice pudding. It's huge here...........so I figure I might as well try and make some to see if I would like it. Honestly I think people either love it or hate it, but I like tapioca pudding, so I am thinking I'll like this.
Oh and the title...........the icicle.............Jeff and I have a couple of small tree like bushes in front of the house that cover the windows to the atrium. We've got one of them that has a growing icicle on it. We keep thinking any day now that the limb is going to break, or the icicle.........but no........it keeps growing.
This was our icicle yesterday!
This is our icicle today...and it's friend!
And today I looked at it.......and we now have two icicles. Really........it's like the biggest icicle I have ever seen! I know it's hard to tell from the picture............but I think it's got to be at least 12 inches long and probably a couple inches round at the top.
The little things in life amuse me!
It's that time of year again! You know the time of year where we all make some New Years Resolutions and a few of us stick to them all year around and the rest of us abandon them at some point. Some sooner than others!
I'm usually pretty good about sticking to mine for at least half of the year.......some times longer. But I'm typically not one, any more, to resolve to lose weight. I might resolve to work out more, or to eat better, or maybe even take up a new cardio as a hobby...........but rarely is it the end result of losing weight.
It's been an eventful past year, with lots of changes and huge adventures. This past year I got married, moved half way across the world, and gave up my career (for a while). I'd say that's a lot of changes for one year!
And I can honestly say that most of it has been pretty great, but not to say that it hasn't had its ups and downs. The moving part has been a bit difficult at times. It's not just moving to another part of the U.S., it's moving to a different part of the world where the culture is even different, and settling in takes on a whole new meaning. Then add to it the common things to overcome like not knowing anyone and having no family near by. But we've managed, like I knew we would and we've had a very adventurous first year of marriage.
So what to resolve for 2010? I've been thinking about it, trying to come up with reasonable, yet challenging resolutions. After all, that's the point right.........something that is possible but yet a challenge. Cause lets face it, if it were easy we would have already done it, right?
So here it is...........my resolutions for 2010......................
I workout pretty regularly and I am pretty happy with where I maintain my weight at....most of the time. However, I've struggled to try and get off an extra 10 pounds that I've wanted to get off this past year. So that's my resolutions this year.........to continue to keep up my workout routine because it's good for the body, mind and soul and to get off that extra 10 pounds that I've wanted to get off for the past year.
Second resolution is to get pretty serious about adoption. There are a lot of places that wouldn't even consider us until we had been married for at least a year. So since we are fast approaching our one year anniversary, I've decided it's time to get serious about what road we want to pursue for adoption. We won't be able to do much until we return to the states but I would at least like to have a plan by then and have the wheels in motion. It's been hard trying to figure out which direction to go and what would be the best option for us. But we talk about it a lot and we know we want to be parents. So it's something to pursue this year and get started!
And my last resolution, which is always one of my resolutions................to travel! Even if it's just down the road, around the corner or in a far away place.........travel and see things I've never seen before. I think we have a good head start on this one. We already have a trip to Ireland planned in March and it looks like from the polls that most think Italy should be the next big vacation after that. I've been looking at Cruises that visit several places in Italy. I think that would be good for us and allow us to see several places that are kind of spread out across Italy. As always, I think this resolution will be an easy one to keep and probably the most fun!
So what's your 2010 resolutions? And what's your average for keeping your resolutions? Or are you one of those few and rare folks that "resolve to have no resolutions"? :)
Growing up Christmas was always something truly to look forward to in our house. My mom use to put together the best Christmas' ever! Whether it was a big to do or a low key event, my mom always made it special and each year was always unique in one way or another.
I was very fortunate growing up that our house was almost always full on Christmas day and there was a sea of presents under the tree. And every other year we would travel to Georgia to see family on Christmas day and my mom would load up all our presents and take them with us. Often, on the 12 hour trip to Georgia we BEGGED to open a present early. Usually by the time we had reached Alabama we had wore her down. :)
And the traditions we had yearly were something that we might not have always appreciated fully at the time, but certainly looking back on it, it's traditions I would love to pass on to my kids one day.
Our traditions were things like smores on Christmas eve. And we usually got to open one present on Christmas eve. As teens and adults we got to open most of our presents on Christmas eve, and got stockings and one big present on Christmas day.
And the Christmas trees......wow........my mom could pick out a tree and make it one of the most beautiful trees you had ever seen! We use to always get flocked trees each year and they were colored in one particular color, usually different each year. One year it might be a flock tree with all red ornaments and garland on it. The next year it might be flocked with all gold ornaments and garland. Like I said, it was always a beautiful tree!
So a lot of those traditions I've tried to carry on. I especially look forward to having children one day and sharing all the fun Christmas traditions that my mom always did for us to make it special. Jeff loves Christmas, it's his favorite time of year and though we try and make it special even now...........we are particularly looking forward to when we have a family of our own to do those special Christmas' for.
I hope each of you have had a wonderful holiday season so far and not only enjoy the time of year, the family and friends.........but remember the reason for the season! We are all blessed in one way or another and while it seems that Christmas is hectic and things are busy.........try and take a moment to reflect on your life and find those particular things to be thankful for and see the blessings in your life.
Merry Christmas!
Today is Winter Solstice, also known as the shortest day of the year. And here, in Scotland it effects us more than we were use to in Texas. In Texas.....it was just another day and rarely could one tell the difference between it and any other winter day.
So what does it mean? Basically it's the day we all look forward too, here as the turning of the days getting longer. Read about it........
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice
I must admit though, I thought it would be way more dramatic than it has been. In the summer when we had summer solstice it was very noticeable. Back in the summer it wouldn't get dark until around midnight and by 2:30am the sun was coming up again. It was torturous for a person trying to get sleep and unable to sleep when it was daylight outside.
We were told the very opposite would happen in the winter. So I was expecting there to be days that we only had about 3 hours of daylight. Thankfully that didn't really happen.
Today the sun came up around 8:30 or 9:00 and it won't get dark until around 3:30 or 4:00 tonight. So that's not to terribly bad really.
The other thing was that for some reason I was expecting the darkness at night to come earlier and earlier and just the opposite happened.........the mornings came later and later.
But Winter Solstice will be behind us tomorrow and so the days will start getting longer again. I for one am looking forward to it. The one thing I did discover through this was that my body refused to get up before 8:00am each morning without a huge effort on my part to actually wake up and get out of bed. That is late for me.........as I am typically an early riser to be up by 7:00am on a morning I am sleeping in.
And though Winter Solstice is almost behind us.............there is still snow on the ground and I have a feeling the worst of it has yet to come.
Well, it's official, we got our first snow since moving to Scotland! Jeff had came home last night telling me it was suppose to snow today, but I didn't believe it. I just figured that it would rain, as usual, and just be cold.......the norm! But to my surprise we woke up this morning and as Jeff was getting ready to leave I looked outside and there it was, snow coming down! In big flakes too! The biggest flakes I have ever seen! It was coming down so fast and in such big flakes it took just minutes for it to cover the car and cover the ground. So pretty, especially in such a small dose and so close to Christmas.
It was coming down fast and hard!
Within minutes this was the amount of snow on the car!
Had to get the car warmed up, get the snow off the windshield so Jeff could go to work.
It has snowed on and off today, but it's already started to melt and turn to slush because between the snowing, it's drizzling. I just hope it doesn't turn to a sheet of ice tonight!
Enjoy the pictures!
After the snow stopped.........the bridge in front of the house
The roadway and drive from the front door
The front of the house.......with a little snow on the roof!
Another shot of the front yard
The slope behind the house
I am SO excited! We are going to spend St. Patrick's Day in Ireland this year!
I was doing a little research for our next big trip and came upon some inexpensive flights to Dublin. So I got to thinking that I would look and see what it would cost to go to Dublin for a few days during St. Patrick's Day. To my surprise it was still very reasonable. So then I started looking at hotels to see what the cost would be and if there was still availability. Then after Jeff and I had decided that it would be fun to go, I spoke to a friend that lived in Ireland at one time and got the skinny on the festivities during St. Patrick's Day there and the St. Patrick's Day Festival. We slept on it one night and decided it would be a grand experience to spend one St. Patrick's Day in Ireland. Might as well, right?
We are staying in town centre and a lot of things will be within walking distance! And I've looked into things like the Guinness Storehouse tour! So we are super excited and now have something to look forward to in the spring! It will be sort of an anniversary trip as well!
Okay but that's still not our next big trip that the poll to the left is for. So keep on voting...........I'm doing the homework on all the places and looking forward to seeing which place wins the polls!
I still can't believe Texas got snow before us!!! You know the saying, "that will happen when pigs fly"..............well my friends..........pigs must fly! I would have NEVER guessed that Texas would see snow before us and much less in December! But it's awesome, I am only sad we missed it! I am sure we will get snow soon enough and I am also sure that it will become very old very quick, unlike Texas where you can enjoy it for the day and by the next day it's melted away and things are back to normal.
I seen a lot of great pictures of it from friends and family! How awesome! Kind of made it feel more like Christmas for a change, didn't it?!?!
So it's chilly here, not getting above the 40's and often in the 30's in the evening. And all the leaves have fallen off the trees. The landscape around us has changed dramatically. I can see things that use to be covered by trees now. So before it was almost as if we were isolated, even though we aren't and now we can see all the houses around us through the bare trees. It's really quite different looking than in the summer and spring.
So all this cold weather has me thinking it's time to plan our next holiday (vacation). Jeff and I have talked multiple times about going to Italy for our one year anniversary. But I've discovered in my research that if we wait until around May to go then we can take a nice long cruise and see a lot of Italy (many cities). Which is probably more desirable than just seeing Rome or Venice, as we would like to see both! So we are trying to decide if we should wait and go in the spring or go in February or March and only see one of the cities?!?! Then there is Dubai, which we would love to visit as well. And there is also Egypt where we could see the Great Pyramids! That would be awesome as well! And of course it's a must for me to see London before I leave the UK. I can't imagine living here and having not visited London, at least once! So I'm torn what to do. Go to Italy earlier or visit one of these other places and go to Italy in the spring. What do you think? I've posted a poll off to the left and would love to get feed back! So let me know!
I'll try and get out and take some pictures soon. I know many of you want to see the pictures but we've just not been many places lately that I can take pictures of. I figure you wouldn't want to see pictures of just roads and buildings on our way to the grocery store or to run errands! But I'll try and get some shoots soon and post on some interesting site we've seen!
We had a fantastic time back in Texas for the Thanksgiving holiday. Unfortunately it wasn't long enough, but the short time we had was fun and we were happy to see everyone we got to see and just enjoy home for a bit.
We managed to see several of our families while we were there and even have dinner with some friends as well!
We got to visit the Marriott, where we got married and have breakfast in the very room we had our reception in. It was the first time we'd been back since our wedding day. So that was nice to kind of "remember" the evening.
And the Christmas lights were all up in The Woodlands. We took a walk after having some awesome sushi at Uni's and checked out the ice skaters at the ice rink they put up each year in The Woodlands.
I also got to see New Moon while I was there, and I bared Best Buy on black Friday..........but waited until around 11:00am to go! ;) It wasn't to bad, but still pretty crazy.
For all of those that we got to see............we were so happy to get to see you all and you were a cure for a little homesickness we were having. For those of you that we didn't get to see...........we are so sorry and hope that next time we visit we'll get to visit a little longer and see you all then. Just not enough hours in the day when you are home for such a short period of time.
So we are back in Scotland............trying to get over jet lag. It's hard when it gets so dark so early in the day, but we are hoping we are over it today.
And we are excited to get a Christmas tree and get that set up this week. We brought back some Christmas presents from family and plan to put them under the tree. But we got a Wii and well..............we don't exactly plan to put that under the tree. Wii Sports is pretty fun! LOL
Oh and when we left Houston on Sunday it was in the 70's and when we got back to Scotland on Monday, around 10:30am, it was 36 degrees!!!! And we woke up to ice on the ground yesterday morning. Talk about drastic change in weather!
So as soon as we get the tree up and get the house ready for Christmas, I'll snap a few pictures and post them.
Oh and just for the record............for those inquiring minds...............you bet I brought back some cans of pumpkin! ;)
Just thought I would give you an update on the fine medical service I received.
I went to the doctor on Thursday. Yesterday the doctor phoned me up to let me know that she nor the chemist knew what to prescribe me so she had a call into a specialist doctor and that she'd get back with me as soon as she heard from them. She recommended since I would be traveling to the states next week that I call my old doctor up and see if they could give me some medication to tide me over until they figured out what to give me here.
Isn't that great? Aren't we excited to sign our nation up for this kind of health care? So here's my question, if I couldn't call my doctor in the states, or if we go to government ran health care int he U.S., then who do I call?
So I had my first visit to the NHS. The NHS is their health care system, that's government ran. I wasn't going to blog about this on here but then thought, this is part of Scotland, this is part of our life living here, so I felt it was appropriate to blog about it.
So before I get into the visit, let me explain that I feel the need to blog about this because this is the kind of system we are moving toward in the U.S. And I know that we all, as individuals have our thoughts on what should or shouldn't be. So I sincerely hope that anyone that reads this will not be upset and know that it's just my experience with NHS here and it's my opinion on government ran health care for the U.S. Don't get me wrong, I believe we need some sort of health care reform in the U.S. and I think that we can find a way to help those that don't have insurance, but I don't think government ran health care is the answer. Eventually we will run out of money and our debit will be so enormous that we won't be able to dig ourselves out. So what happens is the system will suffer and ultimately the patients suffer.
Okay.........so about the visit. Last week, a week prior to my visit, I went in and filled out paperwork so it would already be on file. I also gave them my medical records from the U.S. and allowed them time to copy them for my file there. So today was my visit. When I arrived I let them know I was there for my appointment. They sent me back to a little waiting area to wait to be called into a a doctors office. I can't really accurately describe the clinic, but the closest thing I can get too is a little less than a Plan Parenthood office I went into when I was in college to get a check up. It wasn't great, but it served the purpose, I suppose is the best way to describe it. It's not like the nice, high tech offices you see in the states. While I was waiting I was reading some of the information that was plastered on the walls and one of the sheets was explaining that you get only 10 minutes with a doctor and only one patient at a time. Another sheet explained that the NHS could no longer afford a medicine for cancer and that you should contact NHS or talk to a doctor about it if you were on the medicine. There were a lot of leaflets on things like depression, menopause, how to stay healthy in the winter, the usual stuff.
Eventually I got called back to the doctors office and as I walked in the doctor told me who she was and ask me to have a seat. The office had two chairs in it and there was a desk (like the ones in a college computer class) in the corner. In another corner was a little sink area and behind a partially drawn curtain was a little exam table/bed. Not like the ones we are use to seeing in the states, but just a simple little bed. Kind of reminded me of the nurses office in school, when we were little. That's the best comparison I can come up with.
So I sat down and she ask me what she could do for me. I told her I was there to get a prescription refill and to make my first visit to NHS. She hadn't even looked over my records at all. She ask me what I was taking and why. So after trying to give her my medical history in like 2 minutes, she explained to me that they didn't have that particular medication here but that she'd phone the chemist (pharmacy) to see what they would recommend. When she called and got a busy signal she told me she'd call me later today or tomorrow, in at least a week and let me know what medicine she had prescribed and send me to pick it up. Then she basically was done. She never took my blood pressure, she never weighed me, she never even touched me, much less examine me. And my medication bottles had my maiden name on them since I got them filled right when I got married. So there you have it.........in and out in 5 minutes. Not a care in the world about the fact that I was a new patient and no need to verify who I was. At no point did anyone ever ask me for any identification at all.
Personally, I had hoped that they'd care a bit more about me, enough to at least start a basic chart with them. But not even so much as that. I got less than my 10 minutes, and I can't even tell you what my blood pressure is or was. And I had to make sure that I explain to her why I had to have a low dose of medicine! Really..........is that the state we are in that a doctor doesn't even care enough about ya to ask basic questions? And I even took the time to ask her if there was anything else, if I needed to be examined, if I needed to do anything else and she simple said, "No, that's fine, thanks". And out the door I was sent.
As I said to a friend........quicker than a Jiffy Lube and they didn't try and sell me a bunch of extra stuff. They didn't try to sell me anything!
And if you think it's a fluke that I got treated this way, I assure you that I've spoke to several people here that has said that's the norm. And when calling the 24 hour NHS you can almost certainly be told to self medicate. If you ever visit a hospital you won't find many, if any private rooms there.
If America goes to government ran health care, we are in for a rude awakening! I can also say that the amount of taxes we pay, I feel like I was ripped off with my time at NHS. I guess I just expect that as much taxes we pay, and we do pay NHS and taxes here, we aren't exempt because we are American, that we'd get better care. That all of the UK would get better care.
So for those of you that are for health reform the way they are presenting it now, government ran, I think this is the sort of care that will eventually come. Maybe not in our lifetimes but certainly in our children's or our children's children's life time.
The view of Glamis Castle driving down the long road that is its "driveway".
The castle is absolutely beautiful. It's the first castle we've been too that you can actually tour a great deal of the inside and the inside is still intact! Unfortunately they do not allow photography inside the castle, so I will just have to tell you about it. I did however take a few pictures outside.
This is actually only part of the castle. The part we toured was in this part.
A statue in the front garden
We had a little time before our tour to kill, so we stopped in their restaurant and had a cappuccino and a treat. They sprinkled the top of the cappuccino with powder in shape of a Christmas tree!
Of course we had no idea that as soon as you start the tour that you are offered warm malted wine in the dining room of the castle. I didn't think I would like it, but surprisingly I did!
So the dining room was all set up for Christmas. Complete with a Christmas tree in the corner and a table set for Christmas dinner. There were small Christmas trees on the table and silver chargers at each seat. They had Christmas poppers on each charger and beautiful silver settings all along the table. It was really pretty.
The castle is still lived in today! The family that lives there are ancestors from the family that has owned it for many years. The family lives in the west wing and tours are only in a very small area of this huge castle.
We toured the dining room, the gathering room, a living area, another lounge area, a couple of bedrooms and even the chapel. The chapel is still used today! Every Sunday they have service there. The furniture in a lot of the rooms is really remarkable. It has beautiful inlaid furniture that is still very remarkable today. The castle is decorated in the Victorian age and so many things in there are just elegant. There is even a room that has the china on the wall of the original china pattern. The tour guide told us back in the day they would design their own china pattern, have the designed sailed to China and then wait about two years for it to be made and sailed back.
She told us stories of a ghost that is believed to live there, the green lady and though she says she has never seen the ghost in her seven years working there, that she's known many people that have.
She also told us of a part of the drawing room that use to be a small room off to the side and one night, long ago some of the gentlemen were playing cards and dice in that room past midnight on a Saturday. Back then it was not allowed to "play cards and dice" on Sunday and it was believed that they had brought the devil into the house. A lot of the people were scared in the house and so eventually they put them in the room, with the devil and walled up the room. She says they are still in there today and they know that there is in fact a room there because there is a window that can be seen from the outside of the castle.
So lots of tales and a bit of scare. But mostly just a really beautiful castle. We had a great time and it was nice to see the paintings, the antique furniture and to see the castle decorated for Christmas. I only wish I could have taken pictures inside to share. So I'll say if you ever find yourself in Scotland, it's worth the visit!
Jeff and I in front of Glamis Castle
http://www.glamis-castle.co.uk/
It's true, I am easily entertained! Furthermore, I don't care what anyone says, they have some unusual and funny names for items here! Last weekend Jeff and I were at the grocery store grabbing a few items we needed. Headed down an aisle and as I turned the corner to make the next aisle I see on the lower shelf a bag of Unsalted, Roasted Monkey Nuts!
Okay, so it's peanuts in their shells........but come on.......that's funny! I don't think I have ever seen or heard them called monkey nuts!
In other news............I am still, after living here for six months, astonished at how differently our customer service is in Texas from here. I am also astonished at the store policies and how differently they are. Last weekend, also while at the store I bought some refills for a plug in (air freshener) and when I got home and tried to replace the old refill, I realized that I picked up the wrong ones. So when I went back to the store the following day I figured I would exchange them for the proper ones. I mean after all.......they were 8 quid! That's about $12! So why not return them if I can't use them.......right? However, I was surprised to find that I could not return them because I had opened the package and there was no way for them to resale them, so they could not give me an exchange or refund. And to make sure, she doubled checked with another employee. Now I feel bad.............all this time I was unappreciative of the ability we have in the states to return just about anything, of course knowing they can return it to the manufacturer for credit. See......the little things!
It's been icy and cold here the past couple of days. The sun comes out and melts the ice but it still remains pretty cold. We've been building coal fires, well let me rephrase that........Jeff has been building coal fires in our fireplace here and it is really nice. I had my reservations about a coal fire to begin with because I just kept thinking it would leave this odor and residue on things. But to my surprise, it doesn't. Of course its house burning coal, so apparently its different. But it's been nice and really heats the living room well!
I'm sure we'll get snow soon. Everyone keeps saying "the snow is coming". So when it does, I'll be sure to snap a few pictures and patiently wait for a good story to blog about.
Icy on the hill and grass in front of the house
So my birthday is coming up. I'm not one to make a big deal of my birthday other than to proclaim I am 25 (yet again) and usually I want to make myself a cake. I had thought I'd make myself a different kind of breakfast this year, instead. So I decided this past weekend to experiment with making stuffed french toast. I was pleasantly surprised and so I've decided for my birthday to make stuffed french toast and have mimosas as well. Who knows, maybe one day, if I ever open up a restaurant or a B&B I'll put it on the menu.
Stuffed with blueberry's and cream cheese
Looking forward to a visit home soon. It'll be short and I won't get to see near everyone I want too, but at least we get to spend a little time home!
So keep an eye out for a snow blog!
Thought I'd throw in a picture of a pheasant. They are quite annoying to me now! lol
The holidays are almost here! Can you believe it? Seems like time really just slips away. So much to look forward too with the upcoming holidays. Traditionally this time of year is usually the busiest for us. Not just because of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, but because we have tons of family birthdays during this time too. So we get together often as a family and we do a lot of "celebrating".
This year will be a little more difficult since we won't be home for all the holidays and birthdays. But we are making a visit home, so we are trying to "cram" as much into that visit as we can. But we are really looking forward to the visit home.
Around here the days are getting shorter and the darkness is getting longer. And we've had a lot of rain lately. All the leaves are falling off the trees and things are starting to look rather "bare". We've been told that the "shortest" day will be December 21st.......so the longer hours of darkness will continually get longer and longer until then. I can see how it can get a little tiresome with the darkness and then all the rain we've been getting lately. But the thing to look forward too is the beginning part of next year when it starts going back to regular daylight hours, then spring/summer when we have long hours of daylight. lol
The baby pheasants we were seeing around the area a month or so ago are getting big now. In fact they are not the cute little baby pheasants that I thought they were a month or two ago. At this point they are annoying! lol They stand in the middle of the road and they won't move. You honk the horn and they just kind of walk ahead like there is no one behind them and they are in no hurry. And if you've ever heard a pheasant........you know what I mean when I say they sound like a a fan or something is broken. It's just this noise that will make you think something in the house is broken and making a bad noise. But it's not........just the pheasants.
I still continue to try and bake things from time to time, learning the oven here and how it will work with my old recipes. I think I just about have it mastered. Yesterday was my true test, making my Grandma Johnson's red velvet cake. It turned out fab! My Grandma Johnson made the best red velvet cake ever! And I was fortunate enough to get her recipe. I remember the first time I made it, you could bounce if off the floor! I had no idea what I had done wrong and she wasn't around for me to ask. Somehow, over the years I mastered it. Apparently dissolving a teaspoon of baking soda in a tablespoon of vinegar is far more crucial to her recipe than just adding the baking soda all by it's self. That and the fact you aren't suppose to "beat" it in, but rather "fold" it in. Go figure. But she was great at it and when I realized that her recipe wasn't' necessarily an optional guideline for me to follow to my liking, I was able to make it just like hers.
Jeff and I are going to try and make it to Glamis Castle soon. We are waiting until after November 14th, because that's when they are all decorated for Christmas. I think that would be nice to visit the castle when it's dressed up for the holidays. So when we visit.......I'll be sure to post pictures!
Hope everyone is looking forward to the holidays!
I know it's been a while since I have blogged. Have you ever went through a spell of just not quite feeling "inspired" or find anything interesting to blog about?! That's pretty much what's been going on with me lately. I just haven't felt inspired or come across anything I thought was inspiring enough to blog about.
The weather is really starting to change here. It stays around the lower 50's for a high, most days. On days that it's rainy and cloudy it stays in the 40's. The darkness of the days is starting to get longer and longer with each passing day and daylight savings time is next week here (we are still on the old calendar that we used in the U.S. until last year) and so I am sure the longer hours of darkness will get here rather quickly. But we are looking forward to a little snow, but not a lot of snow! :)
And I've been checking into snowboarding lessons and I think I am going to try and take those next month. Jeff is going to try too, but he's got a bum knee that he messed up years ago, so we aren't sure yet if he'll be able to do it, but he wants to at least try.
I think most everyone knows now that we were denied the request to go home at Christmas because they don't allow the operational staff to take any requested time off during December 15th and December 29th. So we are going home for Thanksgiving, for a week and will remain here for Christmas. We've had knowledge of this for a few weeks now, so I am kind of over it, but at the same time I am a little bent out of shape about it too. It took a case of homesickness and made it worst because I can't wrap my head around not being able to see our family and friends for two Christmas' in a row. So to put it short and sweet..........I'm not a fan of the way things are going here right now. But it is what it is and I am still trying to make the best of the opportunity and looking forward to going home for Thanksgiving to see everyone, eat lots of turkey and enjoy some pumpkin cheesecake! :)
I hope everyone is having a great fall so far! Cooler weather, football games and fairs! And Halloween is just around the corner! Enjoy and if anyone gets to the state fair this year.........PLEASE try some of that fried butter and tell me how it is! :) Sounds like a cardiac arrest waiting to happen but OMG.......I'm dying to know how it is! ;)
Not that it's a bad thing hanging out with these sweet furkids. This is Audrey (the black cat) and Rhett. Audrey is the sweetest kitty and this is really one of the first times she's really kind of sit like this for me to take a good picture of her. She has really come out of her "shell" since I've been home a lot.
I made this Irish Mint Mocha Rice pudding the other day. It was pretty tasty......for rice pudding!
