Julia & Linda: Edinburgh

On the last weekend in April, I received my first visitors from Oh, Canada!

My dearest Julia-bean and her equally delightful sister Linda-chan stopped by for the weekend on their way to join their parents in Holland. 

It was the definition of a whirl-wind weekend.

I met them in Edinburgh on Friday evening, and Saturday was split between Edinburgh and Stirling.

We didn't get back to Holly Cottage until after midnight.

On Sunday, we were in St. Andrews for church and to show them all my favourite places.

Needless to say, we were absolutely POOPED, so we spent a relaxing evening babysitting Tom (playing Mario Kart on the wii with him) and then giggling hysterically over Harry Potter 6 in between arguing over which characters we should actually be cheering for. 

"Poor, darling Draco!"

The pictures below are from our adventures in the beautiful capital of Scotland - Edinburgh!

(Pronounce it "EdinburAH," not "EdinberG.")

Stirling will follow shortly.

Promise.

A building over-looking Waverley Train Station.
I think it's a hotel.

The view from our hostel room.

Linda outside our very nice hostel. 

We were out bright and early on Saturday morning to explore this beautiful city.

Edinburgh Castle, in all its glory.
At one end of the Royal Mile.

My beautiful friend :)

A "real" Scotsman.

In front of the amazing St. Giles Cathedral.

Aren't the carvings amazing?
John Knox preached in this church.
He was the first Protestant Minister in St. Giles.

The Thistle Chapel.
I have never seen such a heavily decorated ceiling in my life!
You had to pay to go in, so I just sneaked a picture from the doorway.

The pulpit.

A detail from the pulpit.
Nearly everything in the Cathedral was carved within an inch of its life.
So much amazing craftsmanship everywhere you look!

This chappie had a wee chapel all to himself.
The red plaque beneath him reads:
"Scatter my ashes, strew them in the air,
Lord, since Thou knowest where all these atoms are,
I'm hopeful Thou'lt recover once my dust
And confident Thou'lt raise me with the Just."
Amen, sir!

A detail from one of many fantastic stain-glass windows.
I think it's the Apostle Paul preaching to the Greeks in Athens.
(Acts 17:16-18)

With John Knox himself!

Back on the street:

"Bagels with bagpipes?! That's a funny name!"
"...It's Angels with Bagpipes..."
Only marginally better, if you ask me.
Both conjure strange mental images, especially since the angels in mine are wearing kilts.

The Scottish are terribly proud of their Mr. Burns.
As I may have mentioned before, they even devote a holiday to him and his "Ode to a Haggis."

I love both outfits!
The kilt is one of the most dashing I've ever seen, and the dress is just plain cool and pretty. 

We went inside John Knox's house.

He was not the most tactful man... 

Perhaps that was why he was so successful a preacher; he wasn't afraid to tell it the way it was.

However, he did sometimes cross waaaaay over the line.

He was really quite rude in the manner in which he spoke about Mary, Queen of Scots!

One of many very old books on display.

The house was also the home of the Queen's goldsmith.
These are some of his tools. 

J. Knox, hard at work.

Outside again.

A random towery-castley thing?
No big deal.
I mean, we see those all the time.

The gates of the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
The British monarch's official residence in Scotland, and  other end of the Royal Mile. 

About as close as we actually got.
We didn't have time to go in.

Where J. K. Rowling started writing the Harry Potter series!
They're fans, kind of :)

On the train to the next adventure in our day:
Stirling!

Lambs!

So, one cold, sprinkly-damp Saturday morning in April, Esther found me eating breakfast (porridge, naturally) and asked if I would like to help lamb the last ewe.

Of course!

I added lambing a sheep to my mental bucket list, put on my wellies and a warm coat and followed Esther out to the field.

She handed me a pair of long, bright orange plastic gloves to wear, and we stood watching the sheep and waited.

And waited.

But Dolores (the sheep) was in no great hurry. 

Eventually we went back inside for tea and bacon butties (sandwiches) and watched her from the comfort and warmth of the dining room window.

Finally Dolores lay down.

We re-donned our wellies and ginormous gloves and dashed outside.

After a couple more contractions, we could see the placenta with something inside it. The something turned out to be legs and a nose. Esther told me to grab hold of the legs and pull down towards the udder.

As I pulled, she tore the after-birth away from the lamb's face.

It was a wee boy! 

All covered in yucky, sticky yellow stuff, but his mama didn't seem to mind.

I am grateful that human mothers do not need to lick their newborn children clean.
After repeating the process, we had a lively little girly!

The one with the spotty white ear and the yellow gunk still on him is the boy.
Which means the big one is Dolores, and the other one is the little girl :P

Shooo cyoot! 

Trinity and her quadruplets were next door.

They were curious... 

*yawn*
:3

Bucket List: Lamb a sheep. Check!

Why I Love My Family

So, this post is incredibly late (about a month or so), but I think it still needs to go up. Mostly because I just really want to brag about how great my family and friends are. 

Back in February, my dear sister Josie informed me that she had mailed me a reply letter. I was quite excited. There is definitely a thrill to be had in receiving mail from someone other than the bank or Boots. However, excitement began to wane a little when the letter never appeared. It actually became a cause for concern because Mom said she had included an emergency credit card in it. 

FINALLY, only a month and a half late, the postman delivered not just an envelope, but a whole PARCEL! Yes, a whole box stuffed full of goodies just for me from the people I love most. 

They love me. 

A badge of Canadian-ness.
I refuse to wear this until next winter.
It should not be as cold as it is.

So I don't forget her name. 

Or hers. 

They sent me money! :D

"Dear stakes"
hehe.
Guess what was actually inside?

This!
The Longest Picture in the World, a la Beezus and Ramona!
Courtesy of Kayla, Josie, and Lexi.
This was so much fun to unwrap.
It was rolled and folded into a wee package, and when I went to open it,
it just kept on going and going and going and going.
The boys were (still are, actually) a little miffed that Scotland doesn't have any mountains in it.
They just don't understand Canadian mountains... 

Ma vera oon moog.
Which I am currently drinking tea out of as I put this post together :]

Beautiful, raspberry-red Fuzzy Socks!
Which I am also currently wearing :]

Dearest Stephie, I know that you are responsible for these.
I am eternally grateful to you.
They were deliciously fiery and delightful!

I laughed and laughed over this one.
In a nutshell, I am to avoid Scottish men and anything with haggis in it. 

My wonderful, amazing, lovely collection of letters and notes.
I love them all.
But I have to admit that I have a favourite...
It made me chuckle for weeks afterwards.
It still makes me chuckle.
It accompanied a wee little package that contained a bagel crumb (yes, crumb) because a certain darling little sister thought I might miss bagels while I'm in Scotland.
Fortunately, I do have access to bagels should I ever miss them too strongly, but I shall treasure this particular crumb for a long, long time.

So, over all, I was a teary, laughing mess for the rest of the afternoon. 

Thank you everyone who was involved!

I love you all!

XOXOX