Monthly Archives: July 2007

July 21 –

Today we start to close the Scottish chapter of our adventure. We packed up and got the flat ready to vacate. We have accumulated a few too many souvenirs of our trip so we packed up two large boxes with things to be shipped home. They weighed 14.5 kilos each (!) and cost £117 pounds each to post home! It would have been cheaper to buy an extra plane ticket! But sometimes you have to do what you have to do….

We said our teary goodbyes to the Cannon clan and then hopped in the car and headed west to see my family. I think that Kate and I are officially 2nd or 3rd cousins which makes our kids 3rd or 4th cousins but it doesn’t seem that way. Duncan and Andrew are only months apart and within minutes of our arrival, they were off to Ayr on the train to go bowling (Duncan won!). Gillian and Amy are about 18 months apart but still get on well although sometimes it seems that Gillian has more fun chasing 6 year old Michael around than anything else.

My cousin Susan came by with her two kids: Emily is just 2 and Matthew is 4 months. I got to play with the baby and then hand him back when he started to fuss – my favorite part of being the Auntie! We had a lovely BBQ – even though the rain chased us inside – and consumed much wine, beer, whiskey, etc. I think it was the early hours of the morning before we were finally off to our beds.

/san/

[Pedometer:  8333 steps or about 4 miles.  I refuse to admit how much was stumbling…. ;-)]

July 20 –

Today was set aside to take care of family business.  I still couldn’t go a run in the morning because it was raining (again? still?) so I did some work at the coffee shop before dragging the whole family out of bed.  My job today was to help pamper my mother-in-law – tough assignment!  Frank and Duncan were tapped to help move and rebuild two sheds and Gillian got to help Auntie Therese and Leah do some shopping before they go on holiday.

So my tough job was to get a pedicure while my mother-in-law got a manicure.  I’ve never had a pedicure outside the US so this was a real experience.  No large massage chair and chattering Vietnamese women; just a small foot spa and lots of personal attention.  A masque for my feet (!?!) and some reflexology made for a lovely outcome.  And mum thoroughly enjoyed her manicure – hand massage and all.

Then we had lunch in a little cafe and did some shopping before she headed to the fancy spa for a facial using the voucher we gave her for her birthday.  I got a short run in before Frank returned to pick me up and take me to the family homestead for our going away meal. 

We had a lovely family meal of homemade lasagne courtesy of my brother-in-law Jim and enjoyed a few drinks and many laughs before heading back to our flat for the last time to pack up and get ready for the next step in the adventure.

/san/

[Pedometer: 9452 steps or about 4.5 miles]

July 19 –

I couldn’t get in my run this morning due to the persistent rain and drizzle (very Scottish weather this morning!) and there was nothing crucial on the agenda for this morning so we were all fairly lazy.  I am becoming a regular at the coffee shop down the road (where there’s wifi!) as I seem to be incapable of sleeping past 7 a.m. no matter how hard I try!  Once we got everyone up and about, Frank and I made arrangements for his mum to use the gift certificate we gave her for her birthday.  So tomorrow my mother-in-law and I will get our nails done in the morning, then have some lunch before she goes for a facial in the afternoon.   Very posh!

Once those details had been worked out, we bundled up the nuclear family and four of us headed north to go to Drum Castle just outside Aberdeen.  Unfortunately, we got a very late start and somewhere north of Perth (Blairgowrie actually) we abandoned that plan and headed west toward Pitlochry.  These are the single track winding roads of which my spouse is so fond!  At several points, we came across fields where there was no fence to keep in the sheep so they were wandering all over the road – I’ll need to upload some pictures from Gillian’s camera.  There was heather everywhere and the clouds were actually low enough to touch the hills around us.  Talk about raw, stark beauty.

After some serious driving for Frank (I heard several “wheeeee”s escape his lips), we came across the Edradour distillery – the smallest one in Scotland.  So we went in for the tour.  Although we’ve toured distilleries before – we visited Talisker on Skye last time – this one was different because of its size.  They have 3 men who work there to make whiskey and 17 tour guides!  Their annual output is about 90,000 litres whereas the largest distilleries produce more than 10 million!  The entire process is done by hand in one building.  It really was fascinating!  Frank succumbed to the charms of a 12 year old cask strength aged in port wood.  Now we have to figure out how to get it home!

Then on to Pitlochry  to wander about a bit more and have some ice cream before heading home the long way… the A827 along the shores of Loch Tay which is really beautiful especially when the sun is out.  No such luck for us today but still it is a breathtaking drive. We stopped briefly in Killin – one of our favorite places because of the Falls of Dochart – but the menu at the restaurant we were contemplating was a bit too fancy for the kids.  (Duncan didn’t like the look of the the smoked wood pigeon on the specials board!) So we pushed on to Callendar and had a “normal” bar supper at the River Inn:  roast beef for Frank, gammon steak for Gillian and I, chicken and mushroom pie for Duncan.

Frank went for a night out with the lads – I don’t know any details and that’s fine with me. The kids and I had a quiet night in – I have the new Jasper Fforde book to work on before Harry Potter comes out in a day or two.

/san/

[Pedometer: 12,540 or about 6 miles]

July 18-

In an attempt to have a “normal” day, we bundled up my mother-in-law and headed out for a small journey. We decided that Dundee was the day’s destination so raincoats and brollies in hand (of course it was raining!), we headed up the A90. We started out at the Wellgate Centre because it was indoors and we could avoid the worst of the rain.

I’m not a big fan of shopping malls – okay, not at *all* a fan – but wandering around the shops spending money on her grandkids seemed to make my mother-in-law happy so we endured. Gillian got some new T-shirts (from the Women’s department!) and jeans; Duncan got a new shirt and trainers. Even Frank and I benefitted from Gran’s largesse: a new video for him and books for me!

We had a lovely bar lunch at Tickety Boos and wandered about the town some since it had stopped raining.  We found our way into St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral – what a beautiful building!  I lit a candle for my mom (that’s 3!), wove a prayer for Frank’s mum into the prayer mat and admired the stained glass windows and the art exhibit they had going on.  Then on to more shops where more cash changed hands at more tills until it was time to make our way home. We bid farewell to Grandma and did some grocery shopping. Then home for a quick pizza dinner before going to the pictures.

We were impressed that we made it nearly a week before we broke down and saw the new Harry Potter movie. I liked the effects and lamented some of what they had to leave out for brevity. Frank and Gillian had never read the book but had not problem following the story (for the most part) so it couldn’t have been too bad. Duncan, however, had the most complaints about the translation of book to screen. I’ll see if I can get him to write a guest post on the subject at some point.

After the movie, we treated ourselves to some ice cream and called it a day.

/san/

[Pedometer: 12, 207 or about 6 miles most of it in shopping malls… :-(]

July 17 –

On what would have been my father-in-law’s 74th birthday, we had another day out so mom could do some work.  I did my 5 mile run this morning with Duncan keeping me company for the first half.  Then we caught the 9:34 train into Edinburgh for Frank and the kids to have some fun and for me to meet with folks from the Edinburgh University Data Library, EDINA, and the DCC (Digital Curation Centre).  We spent some time together in the morning wandering around some lovely wee shops on the Royal Mile and Victoria Street before parting ways.

I spend the afternoon learning about providing data library services to researchers,  the UK system of national data centres, and digitial curation and preservation strategies, including an interesting discussion on the optimum way to preserve long historical time series when you have changes in coverage or other breaks in series.  A very different set of conversations than I’ve been having over the last week!

Frank and the kids had much more fun.  They spent most of the afternoon at Our Dynamic Earth  which is way cool if you ever get a chance to go there.  They also spent loads of time (and money!) at the model shop on the Lothian Road so Frank now has some new cars for his Skeletrix track.  We met up with some folks from EDINA and DCC for drinks before having a wonderful meal at Bella Italia on the Royal Mile.  We bought a few dragons from the dragon lady there as well and then got the train home.

/san/

[Pedometer: 20,135 or about 10 miles not including my run.  I suspect Frank and the kids did more since they had more wandering time.]

July 16 –

Of course it is absolutely bucketing rain on the day of the funeral – the old yin would laugh at that.  We got all togged up in our Sunday best – most wearing black but Gillian and Duncan had to make due with what we brought.  I don’t mind buying Frank an extra black suit but I don’t think my 12 year old daughter really needs a black dress at this point.

The service was at the crematorium in Falkirk and the Humanists did a lovely job.  I’m trying to get hold of the text of the service to post at some point for those who are interested.  There were many tears and a few laughs.  Gillian took things very hard since this is the first real loss she has experienced.  She was 3 when my dad died so she doesn’t remember that time.

After the service, most folks went to the Tartan Arms (aka McQs) for soup and sandwiches and a few drinks.  Frank got to meet some long lost relatives and chat to folks he hasn’t seen since he was wee.  The kids got bored quickly and proceeded to play hide-and-seek according to my 3-yo nephew Ross’ rules:  No Duncan, hide over there!

Then the immediate family retired to Jim and Therese’s house for more munchies and drinks.  At least here the kids can play video games if they don’t want to sit and talk to the boring grown ups.  We eventually headed out to change out of our mourning garb and have a nice meal at one of our favorite haunts:  the Barnton Bar and Bistro.  Unfortunately, Gillian’s stomach wasn’t up to the special hot chocolate they do so well but we’ll do that another day.  Then back to the flat for a quiet night in watching telly.

/san/

[Pedometer:  9,247 steps or about 4.5 miles]

July 15 –

The weatherman promised that it would be sunny and warm today so we actually believed him.  I got up early and did my 5 miles (yes, even after all the wine!) and then we did a full Sunday fry-up for breakfast: eggs, bacon, sliced sausage, potato scones, beans – yum! Then we packed a lunch and the swimsuits and headed for the beach.  That’s what I said – the beach!

We met up with the cousins and grandma and drove back into the Kingdom of Fife to the Silver Sands of Aberdour.  The brochure in our flat refers to it as “the Fife Riveria” (?!?) but you can’t escape the fact that the water you are “swimming” in is the North Sea! 

We got there about noon and got the beach chairs set up and the picnic lunch sorted and the kids were splashing away in the freezing water while the sun shone through a few puffy clouds.  Summer had arrived in Scotland!  It was about 21 degrees celsius or about 70 farenheit!  Frank isn’t good about just sitting around so after he finished playing with his camera and taking some pictures, we went for a walk into town.

There are some lovely pathways along the cost and we saw some beautiful views.  We found a wee shop in the village and got some chocolate to munch on while walking back.  We returned to the beach about 30 minutes after we left to find it completely overcast, horrendously windy and COLD!  Duncan was bundled up in a towel trying to hide from the wind because his grandma was using his sweatshirt to keep warm!

We managed about another 20 minutes before the really ugly clouds moved in and we needed to pack up.  So if you are interested, summer in Scotland is between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the 3rd Sunday in July….

Our day at the beach abandonded, we packed up the respective cars to head out.  My niece Leah decided to come with us and we wandered up the coast a bit to see what we could see.  As we headedup the coast, we found the sun again so we decided to make a stop or two. We ventured into Leven to have a cup of tea and wander round the shops….. but they were shut…. all of them… not a soul around….  We tried to use the ladies toilet in a pub only to find that the door marked with the little female in the skirt opened into a pitch black cupboard…. with no toilet…  it was very strange – like an episode of the twilight zone!  We eventually found an open cafe – by the bus station – to have a cup of tea then we left…. quickly!

Next stop…. Pittenweem.  It’s a really cute wee fishing village along the coast and it was really quite enjoyable to wander around the fishing boats and out onto the quay.  Frank got some really good photos and the kids got to run around and eat ice cream.  Then it started to cool off again as the sun started to get lower in the sky so we packed up yet again. 

We wandered through some of the twisty back roads of Fife so Frank could have some fun driving then went to a chain restaurant just over the Kincardine Bridge for a meal.  We dropped Leah off at home and wandered in ourselves to borrow a decent iron since the one at our flat doesn’t qualify as such.  Normally I wouldn’t care but tomorrow is the funeral and we can’t go looking like we’re homeless.

Hopefully, there will be some sunshine or bright spots tomorrow but the forecast calls for torrential rain….

/san/

[Pedometer: 12,404 or about 6 miles – most of them in some sunshine]

July 14 –

It’s supposed to be a nice day today so we pack up and head to the lovely kingdom of Fife to wander around the ancient village of Culross.  We saw the Tron where the 15th century market transactions took place as well as the ruins of the abbey from about the same period.  The oldest headstone we could make out was from 1691 – I suspect that the ones with little or no writing and lots of moss were older but who knows.  Unfortunately, it was cloudy and windy and not at all what we had expected weatherwise so we didn’t spend too much time out in the open.

So we pushed on up the coast to Dunfermline to get some lunch – just in time to get rained on but just a little.  We wandered around the town a bit, saw 3 weddings in progress and explored the ruins of Dunfermline Abbey.

Then on to Cambusbarron to visit with our great pals Gilbert and Jenny and their kids Lewis and Jordan.  They had come to visit us last year for two weeks and we had a great time.  Now we were invading their bit for a few hours and the sun decided to peak out enough to allow us to BBQ and eat outside.  We got to play with the new boxer puppy, Milo, and catch up. 

After dinner, another of Frank’s old friends showed up with his girlfriend.  We hadn’t seen Mike in about 10 years and were meeting Kirsty for the first time but it was a fantastic evening with many bottles of wine being consumed…. at about 11:30, the kids were *really* too tired, as was the puppy, so we abandonded the car for the mile or so walk home.  At that time of night it was just finally getting to be full dark and the castle was lit up and looked fantastic from the distance.

/san/

[Pedometer: 16,893 or about 8 miles over broken stones and along dark streets…}

July 13 –

Friday the 13th or not – it was time to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday.  In the midst of the sorrow and grieving, she turned 75!  So we planned a surprise lunch for everyone to attend (with two cakes – good thing I got in a run this morning!) and handed over a few gifts and many well wishes.  Now I have the challenge of getting her to use the gift certificate for the massage that we got her.  I’m more than happy to go along…..

So champagne and sausage rolls with much visiting for lunch.  Then we prepared for the adults to go out on the town for a proper birthday celebration. My mother-in-law, her three sons and their wives and her sister and husband had a lovely meal at the River House to celebrate.  Well, 8 of the 9 of us had a lovely meal.  I have one sister-in-law who is a self-professed picky eater and insisted there was *nothing* on the entire menu she could eat (note the use of the word could – not would…) so she had a plain piece of bread – no butter even – and then made herself a sausage roll when she got home.

I don’t mean to sound condescending but it’s something I really can’t understand.  She insists that she’d like to be a good eater but she can’t (?!?)  I have *never* had that problem.  There are lots of things I’d prefer not to eat but it’s never been the case that I couldn’t eat anything! (BTW, I thoroughly enjoyed my grilled tuna steak with chervil tequila sauce.)

/san/

[Pedometer: 8561 or about 4 miles – I rained a *lot* today]

July 12 –

Today we get back down to business and head into Falkirk for a change of shops so that we can find appropriate funeral clothes. The funeral is to be held on Monday so we need a black suit for Frank, a black tie for Duncan and proper dress shoes for Gillian. While it was entertaining wandering around new shops and Duncan got a new hoodie and track suit trousers and Frank got some other trousers that aren’t funeral appropriate, the rest of the day was a bust.

Another note on life in Scotland. The majority of all businesses on the typical Scottish high street are either estate agents, travel agents, charity shops or hairdressers. There also seems to be an unusually high number of tattoo parlors relative to the population. I thought maybe this was just true of Stirling but after seeing Falkirk, it seems to be a general truth. Apparently people give away things when they move house and get their hair done before and after their holiday. I can’t figure out how else it would work….

After a quick lunch at a tea shop (where I had the best cajun chicken salad sandwich and lentil soup), it was back to Jim and Therese’s house to help plan the funeral service. Since old Frank was not the least bit religious, there was no question of a church service. So the family decided to go with a Humanist Service. We spent a long time describing my father-in-law’s life and trying to convey a fair picture of the strict but loving father with the wickedly sarcastic sense of humor. It made me realize how important it is to me to have someone who knows me speak at my funeral…..

After the planning it was back up to the shops to finish picking up shoes and pantyhose and other bits before having a lovely meal at the indian restaurant nearby then home to do laundry and watch some telly.

/san/

[Pedometer: 16,702 or about 8.5 miles]