Joy To the World!

Happy New Year!  I was happy to see this in the city centre, sponsored by the Aberdeen City Council.  Oh, how I'll miss you, Scotland. 

After...

Not my favourite way I've ever rung in the New Year, to be fair.  Everything cleared out and waiting to be shipped to the States.  Good thing I'm heading out to BoD to be with friends, since Kenny left to go out of town and I won't see him again... *sigh*

Boxing Day

My Christmas loot.  It was a good year. 

Merry Christmas!

I spent Christmas in the Bridge of Don with Lynch and the McGarrys, and we went out to play in the snow.  Good times were had by all.  Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! 

Christmas Eve

I spent Christmas Eve with the Beckers, for the last time, before they leave for the States next week.  I'll be gone before they get back, so it was a bittersweet day.  They've been my family here for the past six years, and I'll miss them so much.  Thanks for having me over, Scot and Carrie and Matthew and Adam!  Love y'all. =)

Bright Lights, Big City

I love the Christmas lights in Aberdeen... I'll miss them. 

If Only The Tree Had Been There...

Through a series of misunderstandings and mishaps, the McGarrys, Lynch and I gathered on campus to see the tree lighting.  However, there was no tree (due to snow and date mishaps).  And it was very, very cold.  So this is us, enjoying the... um... time together.  Or something like that. 

I Will Remember

Remember, remember the 5th of November--
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot.
I know of no reason the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever been forgot.  ...ten. 

Otherwise known as 'Annual Celebration of Burning a Catholic'.  Although I'd have been a Jacobite myself, considering I am most definitely NOT a Covenanter (Presbyterian).  But really, any excuse for fireworks is okay with me. 

I went with Lynch, and we had hot cocoa and oohed and aaahed and laughed at the silly music choices, the five second lapse between the end of the countdown and the start of the fireworks, and the 'juggling inferno' group who didn't juggle.  Good times. 

And I wonder if Fawkes the phoenix is named after Guy Fawkes, who was burned at the stake?  Just a thought...

Storming the Castles

Lynch came down last night to join us after her Latin Link retreat, and we had a good night of fish 'n chips and goofing off.  I've pretty well lost my voice, and am coughing a bit, but I don't feel terrible.  Which is good, because today was busy!

We hit Castle Campbell down the road in Dollar first, because Lynch hadn't been there (Paige and I explored it last year when we moved her down to Alva).  It was great, except for the scaffolding.  I like that they care enough to take care and restore places, but I wish I didn't have to see it.  =) 

From there we went back to Doune Castle, where the three of us began our Historic Scotland trek with Lynch-- and didn't get to see much at all because HBO was filming a pilot there.  This year, we got to see it all, but we didn't get the folks in medieval dress lined up as we walked up to the entrance.  It was an interesting contrast, seeing what we didn't last year, and not seeing what we did in some ways.  We did particularly enjoy the kitchen, though-- it has the most ginormous oven I've ever seen, and it has two serving hatches!  The girls tested it out:

We also hurled insults from the battlements, a la Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in honour of this its set.  Paige has those photos, though.  Good times. 

We ended the day with one more abby for good measure-- Cambuskenneth.  King James III is buried there.  Kenny said, I'm not sure why he's so significant.  Whew.  I thought it was just my lack of Scottish historical knowledge. ;)  We couldn't get in to the abbey grounds, as they close from September to March (and even when they're open, you can't get in the abbey tower-- just the grounds), but we walked around the fence and took photos anyway.  It was lovely. 

Then we went home.  And played Harry Potter Cluedo.  And ate snacky foods.  And then took the car back and Lynch and I boarded our train back to Aberdeen.  And played theological hangman to pass the time. 

All in all, a good day.  And a great ten days or so with Paige.  Thanks, Paige !

An Abbey A Day...

Having seen four great abbeys yesterday, we decided we needed to see another.  Especially since Dunfermline is only about a half-hour's drive away from Alva, and it was royal palace and abbey and resting place of Robert the Bruce (his heart, however, is at Melrose).  We had some adventures getting there, and then finding the place, and finding a Starbucks (aye, up the stairs in the centre, up the stairs, aye, in the centre up the stairs), and they closed the abbey for lunch at half one and kicked us out.  Oh well. 

It was nice, but it wasn't as impressive as the Historic Scotland brochure made it look.  I'm glad we went, and glad we had a car and got in free as members of HS.  But I'm really glad we didn't plan a whole day around it. 

Scott's View

We spent all of today driving around in the Borders, seeing the four famous abbeys-- Melrose, Dryburgh, Jedburgh, and Kelso.  They were amazing.  I wouldn't mind being a nun if I had a setting like those.  Wow. 

As we were driving between the two, we saw a sign for 'Wallace Statue' and 'Scott's View'.  We weren't sure what either of them were, but we needed a pretty picnic spot, so we struck off to find them.  They were only a mile or so off our route (or so they claimed), but the statue turned out to be a thirty minute walk round-trip once you got to the carpark.  I didn't want to risk missing any of the abbeys, so we opted to drive a further half mile to explore the View.  It was well worth it, I think:

I'm guessing it must be Sir Walter Scott who gives it the name, as we saw his grave at the abbey just before we stopped here (Dryburgh).  I read Rob Roy earlier this year, and had just finished Ivanhoe, so I was quite inspired by the view and the grave (both were unexpected).  I love the Borders, and am so glad Paige is based in Stirling so things like this aren't so prohibitive to get to (from Aberdeen it would not be a day trip, that's for sure!)

Autumn in Paris... Kind Of

I'm not actually in Paris.  I'm in Stockbridge, which is a posh part of Edinburgh, where Paige is flat- and dog-sitting.  But we were getting stuff for our snacky lunch, and bread and cheese and tomatoes and grapes always sounds good, and always reminds us of Paris.  So walking down the street with a baguette in hand reminded us of good times.  And we photographed it. 

Already?!

I popped into Morrisons on the way home from the cinema for a loaf of free bread (I love getting vouchers online like that!), and noticed this. 

In case you can't tell from the photo, that's a whole bunch of Christmas cakes, mince pies, and other holiday goodies.  Now, I love mince pies at Christmas as much as (if not more than) most, but seriously?  It's more than two months til Christmas still!  Oh well.  If I had freezer space, I guess I'd be stocking up.  Or maybe I'll just treat myself early.  =)

Happy Independence Day!

It's rainy and gloomy here, and there won't be any fireworks.  I am doing the closest thing I can to have a barbeque and celebrate-- I'm making hot dogs! 

Okay, so technically they are frankfurters.  And they are totally skinny.  And buns don't exist here.  And there's no relish.  But still.  They taste good, and they remind me of home, so that's the best I can do today.  =D