For Jugie and Kat Kat

This is especially for Jugie and Kat Kat as I know how they love animals!

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=2574947403072954326

A Day at Coldon

I call this one "Sheep on a Hill"

The view from Coldon

This is Coldon

David and I spent the day at Coldon House, the home where he grew up and where his parents, sister, and brother-in -law still live. The house is in the village of Port of Menteith (and it really is a village) and overlooks the Lake of Menteith, the only "lake" in Scotland. The lake is home to Inchmahome Priory whose illustrious guests have included Robert the Bruce and Mary Queen of Scots. In the summer it's really lovely because there's only one tour boat that goes out to the island and after they shut down for the day, the only folks that have access to the lake are those that live around the lake. I think that there are fewer than 15 homes that have access and so visiting the priory in the evening when it stays light til 11 at night is a real treat because it's so quiet and no one is there.

We were able to borrow the dogs (Himba and Dido) and take them for a walk on the hillside of a neighboring property (they have a freedom to roam act here). It doesn't look like it but it is freezing outside and all the rain has made it really muddy and so I donned wellies for the first time!

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-1540794043313880700

Snow!

It's been awfully cold but I know that you guys are freezing your butts off in California as well. We had a lovely snowfall the other day and so here are some pics of the backyard and the road out front. Needless to say, I stayed off the roads as my driving leaves something to be desired. I'm sure the residents of Stirling are wondering who the new kooky driver in town is...the roundabouts really freak me out!

The Castle and the Cold!

The Stirling Golf Course...and yes, there were golfers out!

The Castle from afar...remember I had to get back to the home to avoid a house fire!

It's been a busy week again as I'm starting to look for work and still trying to get settled in. There isn't much room in the house so the "settling in" is taking a bit longer than expected. My boxes are due to arrive in two or three weeks (all 27 of them) and I'm hoping for some type of miracle by then - some kind of act of God remodel??? Perhaps I'll wake up from a wonderful night of sleeping and find that suddenly there is an extension that has been added to the house??? Here's to hoping!

Yesterday was the first day the sun has come out since I moved here. It has been the wettest 2 months in Scottish history (since they've been recording the weather anyway) and even the Scots are sick of it so yesterday was a real treat. It has gotten really cold in the last two days and the snow started falling last night...it was great! But sadly most of the snow was gone by morning and so I didn't get any good pics. It's been sporadically snowing all day which is why I've been spending as much time as possible on a bean bag in front of the fire. I have taken to wearing my hat, gloves, and scarf inside the house...not a really great look but it does warm me up!

So I took advantage of the weather yesterday to take a couple of pictures but they're not great as I had to hurry home because I couldn't remember if I put the fire screen on and was paranoid that the house was going to burn down!!

Scenery and my town!

A church in our town...more pics to come when I get some time!

Part of the town center...

Lousy picture but can you see the sheep?

Yeah!!!! Scotland!!!

On the way to Scotland...

British Sensibility

I love the Smart Car! If it looks like David has to pee it's because he really really really needed to! We were just on our way home from the pub.

Weather Update

It's my second day here and it's windy this morning! This link will get you to the video I took this morning...just a little bit of a breeze!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2446220498234903550

Got a bank account today and it was as hard as I 'd expected...all kinds of background checks because of money laundering schemes and as I have no identity or background as of yet in the UK I am actually no one!

I'm in Scotland!

I'm finally in Scotland! I spent three days in London...hung out with Peter and Helen in order to get my head on straight before heading up north. David came to town to pick me up and we spent a day with his daughter, Sophie, playing laser tag and eating Itlaian food...not a bad way to usher myself in to a new country. Drove up on Sunday with David's nephew, Josh, who we dropped off at the University of Edinburgh, finally arrived at the house where David put on a nice fire and we had grilled cheese sandwiches (american style) and plum tomatoe soup for supper. Today is busy...I have to set up a bank account, get my car registered and me insured, and figure out how on earth I'm going to get my life sorted out!