Hi everyone!!

We are home, a long trip but well worth it.
We left Edinburgh at 5am Friday  (pronounced Ed-in-burra  last bit the BU  like butter LOL )
Just in case you didnt know - we met a few from USA who were calling it Edinburg - like iceberg. 
We saw  the military tattoo on Wed night, it was spectacular, then Thursday for our walking tour it rained heavily, so not so much fun, and tourists!!!! My gosh have never seen so many.

Too many highlights to mention, the scenery was amazing. so green and rolling hills, the hills were sometimes  quite rocky also in Scotland. Many farms, MANY, MANY tiny roads, no idea how our driver did it, we felt completely safe in his hands. He reversed into such tiny places and passed other coaches with literally less than an inch to spare YIKES!!!

Our guide was Dejan (dee-arn)  from Slovenia, the most knowledgeable guide we've ever had, and our driver was Scotch, he wore his kilt for us one day, and for our pic of the group. . I'll set up some pics tomorrow, won't bore you with too many LOL

I have read and was very glad of your jokes SANDRA they really helped my day sometimes, travelling is hard work!! 

DEVONNE I love your plants, you would have been in awe, as we were for some of the gardens!! Petunias the size of a large dinner plate, and they were the small ones, hydrangea (multiple colours and HUGE ) 

HOLLY I bought wool in Scotland, the others bought in the Blarney Mills, too expensive, I waited and got Shetland wool for 1/2 the price they paid - cheapskate LOL

We saw the Titanic exhibition in Belfast, that was incredible, and so sad, small mistakes made but so many of them - sad stories, a wonderful exhibition.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARYLOU hope it's a wonderful day for you, I think you share with our Ruari.

INDY I'm glad your bites are getting better, I thought you might need antibiotics, I end up really bad after the horse fly, and it sounded the same. I was thinking of your ML when we traveled, she would have enjoyed the buildings and gardens so much if she was well!

THERESA have  great time! We had loads of seafood chowder in the UK, almost as good as Maine!! 

CAROL when are you planning to go to Scotland, it was incredibly crowded, but gorgeous. It was quite cold ( temps of 14C at night BUT with a wind chill making it feel like  3 or 4C LOL and that is still summer, the days were quite nice except for our last one.

One thing I didn't like in Scotland and Ireland, dogs are allowed everywhere, we often had a dog in a pub or cafe, our last day it was pouring and of course they shook when they came in. 

I am really gald to be home, and especially glad to see that you are all well, and things have gone well here, with thanks to DIANE for locking each week, internet was not so good when I used hotels, and expensive to use my own, I didnt get a SIM card extra.
The Tattoo tickets we (Julie and I ) stressed over for a few days, I had to use the App on my phone as they sent them there, and we thought it  had to be wifi connected. It didn't and it was so easy to get in after all the hassle with buying and emailing them for information. I was like Mother Duck with all her 17 ducklings LOL 

See you tomorrow!
 

Last edited by tricia-anne (8/18/2024 4:18 am)

it's a long way down AND up - you can just barely see people on the path at the bottom 😄

Last edited by tricia-anne (8/18/2024 5:29 am)

Thanks for the birthday greetings!  I had a couple of phone calls, some texts and cards, and lots of Facebook messages. Other than that, it was just a regular day for me. I counted the previous weekend as my birthday celebration when I went to Hopkinsville. I saw Clarissa in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (she did a fabulous job as the female lead!), had a steak dinner with David on Saturday evening, had breakfast out on Sunday with Jessica and her family, and had a short visit with Zach and Abigail before coming home Sunday afternoon. One of the best parts of the whole weekend was when four year old Matilda told me I’m the best grandma ever! 

As you know, I love making quilts, especially piecing them. My family, including nieces and nephews, all have more than they need so sometimes it is hard to know what to do with them. I donate quite a few, especially kids quilts. Recently, I got acquainted with someone who loves to hand quilt with her sisters and then donate the quilt to their church for fundraisers. These ladies don’t like to make the tops so she asked if I ever sell any. I currently have two tops that I am going to offer her for what I estimate as my cost to make them.

Welcome home Trish…love the pictures!

Jaws meme-
Scientist- sharks can grow 20 feet.
Captain Quince- 25
Roy Schieder character- sharks don’t have feet.

Trish, when we were on the Peggy’s Cove tour in Nova Scotia, where the Titanic survivors washed up, the guide told us about the many mistakes with the Titanic, fueled by, of course, corporate greed. 

Cheryl, I was reading about a case that went to the Ohio Supreme Court, about boneless wings, The court ruled that they can be called boneless and have bones in them! Yikes! 

We went to brunch at Cinder Bar, near us. It got a huge breakfast sandwich, brought home more than half. Ralph had bananas foster French toast, with ice cream.
Nice pix, Trish. I’m glad you are home safely! 

Trish, your pictures are fantastic.  I did know the pronunciation of Edinburgh because my coworker married a Scottsman from there.  He lived in a little town located between Edinburgh and Glasgow.  I can hardly understand a word he says!  lol!  He gets very frustrated here in the U.S. since we have a difficult time with his heavy accent.

Devonne, your backyard always looks so pretty and colorful.

As to the empty nest syndrome, I sort of had it.  I had a difficult time with the first one when we drove him to Columbus to attend OSU.  Aaron was still at home for two years and the he attended Kent State while living at home.  So he was here for a while.  I was not eager for either of them to move out and I think I could live with Aaron now.    He is so easy going and happy.    We see them so much it is almost like we all live together, especially when school starts again.

Happy belated birthday, MaryLou!!  What a great idea to partner with the church on the quilt tops.  I am like you, and like the piecing but not the quilting part.  When I do the quilting it is very basic but gets the job done.

We had some lovely weather all last week and today was a rainy dreary day.  Judy, I think your weather reached me today.  Much cooler and still very humid.

Made a very easy dinner with hamburgers and veggies and dip.

Dean has been looking for a used car and WOW!! are they expensive.  He drives a Toyota Tundra truck and was looking for a smaller run-around car to save gas.  With the prices of cars, he can pay for the gas. 



 

The weekly forecast is showing no 90 temps this week...hooray. Of course, forecasts always change, lol! 

Today is Emily's 51st birthday. I'm headed out to find her a little gift and drop it off.  All of them have had Covid, even her Mom. This is the 5th time her Mom has had it. 

Cheryl, hope Dean can find a vehicle to run around in. I don't know if I'll be able to afford a car next Spring or not. Will have to see how much I have saved and take some out of my IRA. I don't want a monthly car payment. If I don't have enough, I will be keeping my 2007 Highlander. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just approaching 18 years old. 

 

Good morning.  Sunny, cool and breezy here.  Howard is weed whacking EVERYTHING.  But, I rescued some ivy strands.  For all its aggravation, it will live a long time in just water, in here, in various containers.  I also saved some that had grown into very long strands across the porch and wove them around and thru my bare wooden trellis at the end of the porch...before he whacked THEM.    

We are the hosts for our small group on Friday so I'm on the move.  Finely, though not so much angst because I did keep things picked up and the kitchen cleaned up for all these weeks, about 6 or so, I believe.  I'm going to crockpot a chuck roast with many but common ingredients on Thursday  for BBQ sandwiches .  The others will bring the rest.  Another 

Trish, so glad you're safely home.  ML and Bill were "educated" in Scotland by their driver that it is indeed, "Edinburra".  So...I/we won't be making the mistake of calling it Edinborough as we always have.    I doubt though, that it'll come up very often in day to day conversation!  

Computer is acting up, so I submitted the above.  I usually lose my posts and then complain bitterly.

As for empty nesters, ML, at 19, decided to move to Texas with us and finished her lab tech degree there.    We came back in 2 1/2 yrs. and she continued to live at home until she was 24 when she moved into an apt. with a  friend, right in town, so i was fine with that.  It was when she had left for Purdue after h.s. graduation that I grieved silently for her at first.  Howard's son, Steve left us to live with his mother in Maryland before he started h.s.  David decided to stay with us but he moved out to live with his mother who had moved to Alabama as soon as he graduated from h.s.  It was the happiest day of my life and it took me 6 mos. to relax and realize he was no longer the burr under my tail, to put it bluntly.  I know how bad that sounds, but both boys rebelled and made our lives miserable for all those years, except for one school year when both lived with their mother, in Maryland, which was peaceful.   Danny chose to live with his dad when he was ten, and we had him every other weekend, but of  course, under the circumstances, I grieved for him for a long time.  Sometimes, I feel like I've lived 3 or 4 different lives.  It's amazing that in our ODT gang, I'm the only one who's been divorced and remarried.  I don't recommend that!  But think eveyone's safe at this point.  

Off to help Howard outside.  Have a good day.
Indy

 

Last edited by indyanny (8/19/2024 11:01 am)

Indy, I too have been divorced but have been very happily remarried for 26 years.  Hard to believe it's been that long already.  We each have wonderful sons.  The first one lasted 18 years.