The Big Freeze

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!!

I can't believe it has been over a month since I've created a blog entry. I have had good intentions of getting something posted, but alas it has taken me coming down with a horrible flu virus to get to sit down and write this. This bug has really pounded me - I've been in bed for 4 days ... today I've at least migrated to the couch.

Anyway, this has been touted as the "Big Freeze" December here in Britain. It has been the coldest December on record - lots of snow, many days with temperatures not getting out of negative degrees Celsius, icy roads - which has translated to school closures (Lynn was at home "working" for a week straight) and all sorts of transportation issues - airports closed, trains not running, hazardous roadways, etc. Thankfully, we've pretty much been staying around home here in Tarland and have not been too adversely effected by it all.

It has all been a learning experience for me - shoveling snow, digging out snow-buried cars, clearing ice off windshields, driving on snowy roads, building wood burning fires in the fireplace - to name a few new "skills" I've acquired.

Lynn, Tux and I have been on some marvelous walks/hikes during these snowy days. I'm sharing a few of my favorite shots, so you can appreciate the beauty that comes with this "freeze". Tux doesn't seem to be fazed at all by the cold. He absolutely loves romping around in the snow and it is such a joy to watch him having so much fun!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy all the special times this season brings!

Lanzarote Holiday - Part 2

So, the first day we rented our yellow tin can, Lynn and I headed to the northern part of Lanzarote. Our first stop was at the very northern tip ... Mirador Del Rio - one of Lanzorate's most spectacular panoramas. It is a gorgeous viewing area where you look out over to the island of La Graciosa - the view was stunning at an altitude of 475 metres. From there we headed to Cueva de los Verdes, which is part of a spectacular system of underground grottoes. It is one of the longest volcanic galleries in the world (6 km). We took an hour tour underground in this huge tunnel/cave created by volcanic eruptions between 3 and 5 thousand years ago. Our last stop was at Los Jameos del Agua, which is very similar to Cueva de los Verdes - another volcanic tunnel created by the eruption of La Corona Volcano. It was a lovely spot with beautiful palm trees surrounding a beautiful blue pool - made you want to jump in!

As we headed back to Puerto del Carmen, we decided to stop off in a tiny harbor village called Puerto Calero, which a couple of Lynn's friends had recommended we see. There was some sort of international boating regatta going on that week, so the place was hoppin' with sailors (not the military kind). Reminded me a little bit of Newport Beach. We stopped into a little cafe for a snack - our first taste of Canary Potatoes, which were superb! They are like new potatoes and are served with two types of yummy sauces - they went down well with a glass of rose wine. A wonderful end to a brilliant day!

October Holiday in Lanzarote

First off, my apologies for the delay in getting another posting up. The month of October flew by and now we are almost in the middle of November already! Part of what kept me busy in October was the fact that Lynn had 2 weeks off - so we took advantage and spent a week in Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. When we were trying to decide where to go, we asked some of Lynn's friends where we could be the most guaranteed to experience warm weather and sunshine - the resounding response was to head to Lanzarote. And they were right! We had beautiful sunshine every day (except the day we left) and temperatures in the 70s and 80s. It felt like being back in So California! Wearing shorts and sleeveless tops again were just what I needed. It was the perfect holiday destination for us after a relatively non-existent summer in Scotland.

We were staying at a hotel just outside of Puerto del Carmen, which is on the south side of the island on the coast. Our first night we were in a less than desirable room - on the ground floor next to a heavily used walkway and our balcony looked out on to another section of the hotel. Thankfully we were given the option to upgrade to one of their suites the following night, and I think we ended up with one of the best rooms in the entire hotel. Top floor, at the west end of the hotel, looking out on to the beach. We loved just hanging out on our balcony, reading books, soaking up the sun/view, sipping a wine/beer ... it was marvelous!

Many people go to Lanzarote to sit by the pool or on the beach all day to work on their tans ... but that wasn't the way Lynn and I wanted to spend our time. We wanted to experience the island and what it had to offer. One day we rented bikes and rode to the capital city of Arrecife along the coastal boardwalk. Two other days we rented a car - well, I think it was a car ... it was a Chevy and felt like we were riding in a tin can on wheels! But, hey, it got us from point A to point B without any issues on very little petrol.

In the interest of being able to post more photos, I'm going to create two more blog entries of the 2 days of exploring Lanzarote via the rental car ... stay tuned for the next entry ...

Castle Fraser

We woke up Sunday morning to sunshine and blue skies, so we knew we wanted to be out and about for the day. Since we have memberships to the National Trust of Scotland, we decided to go visit one of the local castles - Castle Fraser. The good news with this castle, as with a lot of the Scottish castles, is that there were two woodland walks on its grounds ... so we were able to stretch our legs and Tux had a terrific time running around and exploring. Between the two walks, Lynn and I stopped in at the tearoom and had a cup of tea/coffee and shared a "fancy piece" (ie, piece of apple sponge cake) and then we did a quick self-guided tour of the 16 rooms within the castle.

As we were leaving the castle grounds, we saw a hot air balloon group preparing for an evening launch. Lynn, her sister and 2 friends did the same ride about a year ago, on the same type of beautiful evening ... sunshine/sunset, blue skies and slight breeze.

All in all, it was a super day enjoying one of the historic sights of Scotland!

Lonach Gathering & Highland Games

Last Saturday we attended the 169th annual Lonach Gathering & Highland Games at Bellabeg Park in Strathdon. What an amazing experience! This is a true Scottish tradition. The day starts with the March of the Clansmen at 8 am where, carrying pikes, axes, and standards, they visit prominent households in the area claiming wee drams of whisky at each stop. Dressed in full highland gear they march over the hills for 6 miles. With a wee dram at each stop it is no wonder they continue the tradition of being followed by a horse and cart should any feel the need for a wee rest.

At 1 pm (and then again at 3 pm), this huge group of clansmen march into the Bellabeg Park arena being lead in by a large (bag)pipe band. What an experience to witness! Other events of the day at the Park include Highland Games (throwing the hammer, tossing the caber, etc.), best dressed Scotsman competition, highland dancing, bagpipe competition, tug of war, and the hill race (people of the general public register to run up a local hill - what stamina they have to have to compete!)

There are also tents set up all around the arena where various vendors sell their wares (food, drink, candies, clothes, kilts, etc.).

We lucked out with the weather - there were a couple bouts of showers when we had to break out the umbrellas but in general it was fairly clear and the sun even came out a few times! Thankfully it was dry during the two clansmen marches, so I was able to really "soak" it all in!

Morven Climb

Well, Lynn and I had said that before the summer was over we wanted to climb the "hill" that the street we live on references - Morven (we live on Morven View). Since last week was Lynn's last week on her summer holiday, we were running out of time. Friday we woke up to fairly clear skies, so we decided that was the day to tackle Morven. Lynn packed up a picnic lunch for us and some snacks and waters, plus some winter-type gear (hat, ski gloves, buff, jacket, water-proof pants) for when we made it to the summit. Good thing Lynn knows how to prepare for a hike like this!

So we set out to begin the climb from the Ballater side of the hill. Everything was going along really well for the first hour or two. I was using a walking stick and was in the lead on the trail with Lynn and Tux behind me when I got quite the shock. Right beside the trail and inches from where I stuck down my stick, I saw TWO Adder snakes, which are poisonous and basically the only dangerous thing you can run across hiking in the UK. On previous hikes I had asked Lynn about how often she has seen one - and she said she had only seen one once. So, needless to say, I was quite surprised when I ran across 2 at the same time, sunning themselves next to our trail. Nothing happened, thankfully, but I was sure nervous for the next hour or so that we hiked ... wondering if we would run across any more ... I was mostly worried about Tux, since it would be serious if he was bitten.

Once we were through the wooded areas of the climb, we could see that our trail was going to come to an end ... and the last bit of the ascent would be just climbing through heather, tall grass and bogs. Not what either of us really wanted to deal with, but we didn't have any other option if we wanted to make it to the top. Tux, on the other hand, was having the time of his life! He was romping around all over. My spirits took another dip when I stepped into a bog with my left foot and sunk in up to my knee - having my left foot soaking wet for pretty much the remainder of the hike was less than desirable. Lynn has the patience of a saint listening to me whine about the conditions of the hike! I had basically had enough when the summit was getting close - we stopped for a snack and took some photos of the terrific views - and then we started on the final climb.

When we reached the top, we found a book in a Tupperware container where fellow hikers who had come before us signed, dated and commented on their hike. We both jotted down our entries in the book. Lynn started to take a video of the view at the top when the clouds quickly started coming in - since we didn't have a trail to follow back down, Lynn thought it was best that we start our descent before things got too clouded over. We took a little different direction down in the hopes of catching a road we saw in the distance for part of the journey down. Unfortunately, the way we went ended up being more wet and boggy, but we managed OK. The trek down was less eventful. I did get a bit nervous as we approached the area where we saw the 2 Adders ... turns out there was one coiled up there at that point - I assume it was one of the 2 we had seen earlier. Tux stopped on the trail right next to it, oblivious to the fact that he was inches from a snake - we quickly called him away and thankfully he moved on with us. After being on this hike for 8 hours total, I was very happy to see our car. We are very happy we accomplished the goal of climbing Morven, but I don't think I'll be volunteering to do it again any time soon.

Skyline (Pressendye) Hike

FIRST OFF, my apologies for not creating any posts lately. With Lynn on her summer break, we've been busy making the most of our time together; and therefore, I haven't had much/any time to sit at the computer and update my blog. Unfortunately, Lynn goes back to work on Monday ... the only good news with that is I hope to update my blog a bit more then with some of the fun activities we did during the summer.

One of the highlights of the summer, though, has been our 5 hour hike starting straight out our front door. I'm still amazed by how many great walks/hikes there are literally stepping out of our house. The Skyline Circular Route is a 15 1/2 km hike which took us through some quiet country roads and a "drove" road (where they used to drive cattle to market), climbing all the while towards the ridge of hills behind our house. Once we got towards the crest of the ridge, we were walking through the terrific Scottish heather. This area is ideal for grouse hunting - and Tux had a wonderful time running through the heather in search of anything he caught the scent of! We stopped at a grassy spot between Broom Hill and Pressendye to have a small picnic.

The sky was very gray and cloudy throughout the hike, and we could see rain showers falling everywhere around us. Fortunately somehow the rain managed to skirt around where we were and we stayed dry. It was cool at times when the wind was blowing, but for the most part we remained comfortable (no doubt, partially because of the uphill climb).

Once at the top of Pressendye, we stopped at the trig point and took a few photos. The views at the top of the summit were terrific! And we even got a clear cell phone signal to boot! (which at times can be a challenge in and around Tarland.)

An added highlight to this hike was being marched off the hill to the sounds of a (bag) Pipe Band playing at a local estate house, which is only a mile or so from our house. Quite surreal. Really made me feel like I am living in Scotland!

Portsoy Boat Festival

Two weekends ago we went to Portsoy (which is in the north east coast of Scotland) for their annual boat festival, a celebration of the sea, boats, history and folklore. There was also plenty of food and drink on offer. Portsoy has a 17th Century harbour - one of the oldest in Scotland, and much has been done to ensure the old traditions are passed on down the generations.

Tux even got to join us! He coped exceptionally well with the crowds and all the activity.

We listened to local musicians, drank local beer, enjoyed fish pie and kippers (a type of smoked fish), and watched rowing boat races. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable day!

Puffins!

Today Lynn took me to the east coast, just south of Aberdeen, to an area called Crawton - a spectular coastal cliff area which serves as a breeding ground to many of the sea birds found in this neck of the woods. We went with the specific goal of looking for puffins! A beautiful bird with colorful features in its beak, eyes and feet. They come to the cliffs only to breed and to rear their young. The rest of the time they are at sea. So we were fortunate to catch a glimpse before they return to the open waters. We also got to see several other types of birds with their young - but the puffins were a highlight!

Civil Partnership Celebration!

Yes, the BIG event happened this past weekend! Lynn and I had our civil partnership ceremony in Edinburgh on Saturday, and it was an absolutely wonderful day! Better than either of us imagined, really. The weather was perfect, which helped make the day ... sunny, blue skies and warm temperatures ... which you can't take for granted here in Scotland. After the ceremony, I was so happy that it was so nice out we were able to walk back from the Lothian Chambers to our beautiful boutique hotel, The Glasshouse. We then broke out the champagne with our 2 witnesses, Rosemary Stika and Helen Moir, and four other friends who all joined us for dinner at Fishers Bistro in Leith Harbour.
But let me step back and describe the day's events ... Rosemary, Lynn and I started the morning off by walking up to Edinburgh's Royal Mile - we grabbed hot drinks and a muffin & crescent for our breakfast. Then we walked down the Royal Mile towards Edinburgh Castle ... Rosemary doing a bit of shopping (Lynn was a bit embarrassed with her purchase of touristy Highland Cow slippers ... plastic tartan shopping bag included!) and we checked out the venue for our nuptials later that afternoon - the Lothian Chambers. After showing Rosemary the castle and taking a few photos, we headed back toward our hotel to meet up with Lynn's witness, Helen, who was coming over from Glasgow that morning. We met up for a pub lunch at the Royal Theatre Pub (I had a healthy salmon salad and glass of white wine to calm my nerves a bit) and then went back to our rooms to get ready for the ceremony. Our suite had a wonderful bathroom - I thoroughly enjoyed the large shower!
We took a taxi to the venue and were met by our Assistant Registrar who would be performing the ceremony ... Kayleigh Love! What a perfect name for someone in that role. She went through the paperwork (ie, me showing her my passport and birth certificate) and then she ushered the 4 of us into the McIntyre Suite room where the ceremony took place. Lynn and I had drafted the script for the ceremony based on the proposed samples the Registrar's office had sent us weeks before and writing some of the wording ourselves. We all felt it was just perfect - somewhat personalized based on what Lynn and I have gone through to get to this point. It was great having Rosemary (my friend since we were 6 yrs old in Escondido) and Helen (a good friend of Lynn's for years) there as our witnesses. The two of them had never met but they got on with one another really well ... we couldn't have asked for better "bridesmaids"! After the ceremony was over, we all signed the official Civil Partnership Schedule. As we were coming down the stairs, Lynn's friend/co-worker, Lesley, met up with us and the 5 of us went in search of somewhere to grab a drink in celebration. We found a lovely little place ironically called The Glasshouse (but no affiliation with our hotel) and shared a bottle of champagne and a few munchies.
Then we proceeded back to the hotel for a celebration out on our hotel suite balcony - the champagne was flowing!! And with the wonderful sunshine, we enjoyed relaxing with our friends and toasting to our new life together. I had asked my good friend from my year at Stirling, Melanie Sims, and her husband, Malc, to join us. And Lynn had invited her dear friend Alan Stuffins to join us as well. So the eight of us had a fun time visiting and then headed for dinner at Fishers. The food was absolutely terrific! It was the perfect location for us ... not too stuffy/fancy ... small and quaint and the service was ideal.
After dinner, we all headed back to the hotel to relax a bit more in our suite - a bit more champagne and caught the highlights from the World Cup games that day on the telly. All in all, a marvelous day! Lynn and I are so blessed and very happy!!

BBQ Scotland Style

Last weekend on Sunday Lynn and I went to our friend Sheila's cottage for a brunch / music session. I was put in charge of the BBQ ... there was a light rain falling ... no big surprise since this is Scotland afterall! We rigged up a tarp to give the grillers some protection ... I dare say the sausages and bacon turned out great! All totaled we had 9 people and 5 dogs in attendance and everyone behaved wonderfully. (In other words, Tux didn't bite anyone - he was the only male in the whole group.) Really enjoyed meeting more of Lynn's friends and they are pretty good musicians, too! The traditional Scottish tunes were fun to listen to - we had fiddles, guitars, a mandolin and a baran (traditional drum). A fun afternoon.

2 Day Tour of Cairngorms Nat'l Park area

Got home late last night from our 2 day tour with Lynn's friend Agnes. Our motivation behind the trip was to meet up with Lynn and her group of students and staff during their activities week. They are doing an "Across Scotland" trek ... hiking, biking, kayaking from Mallaig, ending up at Spey Bay ... camping along the way. Ugh. Tux, Agnes and I were happy in our little Pine Bank Chalet in Aviemore. Ironically Lynn's group ended up in the camp ground just across the main road from us - they were supposed to be at a camp site about 5 miles away but they got to Loch Insh a bit early so they decided to bike a bit further. Lynn "sneaked" over and spent the night with us.

Wednesday Agnes toured Tux and I through some of the area. We did an hour and a half walk around Loch Eilean - there was an island on the loch with old castle ruins on it (photo). We grabbed lunch at Ballindalloch Castle (photo - a tiny figure of Agnes in the doorway) and then played 9 holes of golf at the Ballindalloch Golf Course (photo of entrance with sheep keeping watch). Boy, you could sure tell you weren't playing golf in OC ... there was an "honor" system where you paid for your round by slipping the money through a slot in an envelope and then you just walked on the course. We were the only ones on the course - wild!!

Stretched our legs again in a small fishing village, Aberlour, walking along the River Spey - the river Lynn's group is kayaking down. During our drive we were in the heart land of whisky distilleries - every couple miles you saw another one. The scenery was amazing, rolling green hills with sheep, cattle and crops scattered as far as the eye could see.

A wonderful 2 day trip thanks to Agnes! What a tour guide!

Terrific Sunday!

Just had to create another post after the beautiful day we just had. It was super sunny, clear blue skies, and in the high 60s! Instead of doing "chores" I spent the afternoon driving around the area with Tux taking some photos and going on a walk. Wanted to make sure I got some photos of the lambs before they grow up or disappear. I've always been a sucker for sheep/lambs. There is a terrific lookout point just up the road from our house on Morven View - it is called the Queen's View. I gather Queen Victoria really liked the location. The first photo is a shot from that viewpoint.

Afterwards I took Tux to the Drummy Trail just outside Tarland. He loves going off leash there and we had the place to ourselves. What a way to end the day! Then I came home, hooked up my computer to Lynn's iPod speaker system and enjoyed listing to 104.3 My FM radio. I have to admit I'm not a big fan of the British radio stations. They have way too much DJ chatter for my taste. I just want to listen to MUSIC. I'm thankful for the internet and being able to listen as if I was sitting in Orange County. I've been entertained all evening. Just wish KLOS wasn't blocked ... oh, well, I'll live.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day weekend in the States!

Another week gone

I thought I would be creating more posts on this blog ... where does the time go? So another week has come and gone. I continue to get more and more settled here in Scotland. This week's accomplishments include getting my iPhone up and running which really helps me be in touch with folks. I can even do international texts without too much cost, which I'm sure will be handy in the future. I dropped Lynn off early (6:45 am) on Saturday morning for her "Across Scotland" activities week with a group of her kids. She will be biking, hiking, and kayaking across the country for a week - camping along the way. Thankfully the weather forecast for the week is looking reasonable - only a couple days of potential rain.

While she is away, several of her friends have reached out to organize activities so I won't get too lonely. Lesley came over on Saturday and we biked from a little village (Dinnet) to Ballater along Queen Victoria's old railway line. It was just my kind of ride - pretty flat! All told, it was about a 15 mile ride and we had nice weather. The photo is along the River Dee. Saturday evening I joined Lesley and her husband for a terrific Indian curry meal in Echt (a village along the road to Aberdeen). I'll definitely be going back there - my curry selection was super!

Yesterday another friend, Frieda, met me in Aboyne and drove me into Aberdeen for lunch in a park where there was a huge green house. She said she thought I would like it because there were a lot of plants from "home" ... and she was right. Lovely California poppies, and even some epiphilium plants like the ones I had from my mom. Brought back memories, that's for sure. We did a little shopping in the city then on the way back to Aboyne we stopped off at a vintage car show being held in Crathes. There were some real classic cars on display (2nd photo).

Today is a beautifully sunny day - perfect for mowing the grass and hanging out some laundry to dry. I'm sure Tux and I will manage a nice walk/hike in the late afternoon, too. Oh, and I learned that my Tustin house has been leased! Hurray! Means I'll have some income coming in to help cover some costs.

More later ....

Busy weekend

It is now Monday morning ... almost Monday afternoon. Catching up on things like emails, etc. and unfortunately fighting the beginnings of a cold. I blame the "warm" weather we've had here lately - it has been warm most of the time but then every once in a while a breeze picks up and I feel chilled. But I'm not going to complain (much) because all in all, it was a nice weekend and we were able to enjoy it. Played tennis Friday afternoon with Frieda - it felt really good hitting the ball. We are going to try to play again this Friday, too. I would like to get back into my tennis. There is one community tennis court here in Tarland and it sounds like a group of people play on Mondays and Thursdays, so I might check that out soon. (Since I've got this blasted running nose today, I'm going to pass on checking it out this evening.)

Saturday Lynn and I headed into Aberdeen and had a fair amount of success with our shopping. Picked up a few toiletrey items - some of the prices were a bit surprising. My contact lense solution costs close to 12 pounds - that's about double what I used to pay back home. I also signed up for an iPhone - but I still haven't set it up. I'm nervous about following the directions and downloading the UK version of iTunes on to my laptop - I don't want to wipe out all the music I have in the current USA version of iTunes. It was such a pain "reinstalling" all my iPod music when I got my new laptop 6 mos ago - I don't want to have to go through that all over again. This is the kind of challenge one faces when making a overseas move, I guess.

We also bought a barbeque! Still need to buy the gas cylinder for it before I can actually grill anything, but I'm looking forward to it. This Wednesday I'll be visiting Costco for the first time and supposedly they sell the same marinated salmon steaks that I used to buy in Tustin. Yummy. Saturday evening we enjoyed a BBQ at Caroline and Debz's house (which was on our way out of Aberdeen). It was a fairly nice evening to be eating outdoors (in Scottish terms, at least!) and the grilled chicken and corn on the cob tasted superb.

Yesterday Lynn and I played another round of golf - and this was the first time I turned in an official card with my score (107 ... not great but I've played worse). I need to turn in 3 cards before I am given a handicap. Once I have a handicap, I can start signing up for organized rounds/tournaments. That will be a good way to meet new people - not to mention hopefully improve my golf game.

The photo is actually from the weekend before but I wanted to prove to you that the sun does come out here and we can enjoy the backyard!

Welcome to my blog

Several friends and family members have been interested in hearing about my experiences as Tux and I adjust to our new life in Scotland, so I decided to create this blog. This way those who want to catch up with me can log into this site at their leisure, and I won't be flooding people's email Inboxes with updates and photos. Please give me feedback on what you read either by posting a comment here or sending me an individual email. I'd love to hear from you.

I'm new to blogging, of course, so I'm sure my initial posts will be pretty elementary. But hopefully as I play around with it more, I'll get better at creating interesting posts.

Tux and I have been here almost 2 weeks now. We flew out of LAX 2 weeks ago today. Hard to believe. Many/most of you received my group email letting you know I had made it here to Tarland without any issues. The home Lynn has rented for us is great! It is a relatively new home and is warm and cozy. We live on a street named Morven View because it looks out on to a mountain called Morven. (Seen in the photo above.)

Lynn has done a terrific job making Tux and I feel at home. She has lined up visits with various friends - everyone has made me feel very welcome. Today I'm off to play tennis with Lynn's friend, Frieda, who is a member of a tennis club in Aberdeen. I'm looking forward to picking up a racket again - though it will be Lynn's racket since mine is still in transit. Then we'll be meeting up with Lynn and Frieda's roommate Marie for an Indian curry dinner.

Lynn, me and the dogs have been on several great hikes already. Tux absolutely loves his new surroundings! Can you blame him? Especially since he is allowed off leash on most hikes ... that is, if Lynn and I feel he won't go running off chasing something. The photo is from a hike we did near a small fishing village just north of Aberdeen last Saturday. We have several hikes just outside our doorstep here in Tarland - I've only been on a couple so far but will discover the others in no time, I hope. This is one of the benefits of living out in the countryside. The surroundings are absolutely beautiful - quite a change from the streets of Tustin.

I promise to write more later ... with some of my observations of the differences between life here and back home. I hope you will enjoy reading my posts periodically.

Here I Am

Just a quick post for now to start off my blog ... I hope to use this to share some of my adventures here in bonnie Scotland!