Home At Last

Well hi there everyone.  I am back in the good ole USA and have mixed feelings.  I am happy I get to see my family here - well I have seen everyone but my son.  He seems to be MIA and didn't come home to greet me last night lol.  I did get to see Cameron, Cole and Kenley.  It was like I was never gone.  Probably because I saw them regularly on Face Time.  I am so missing everyone over there.  I came home to a very dreary California - gray skies and wind.  As I came up the pass, I was reminded why I hate the desert so much - dirt, brown and bleary.  Where oh where are my green fields? :-(
So the flight was actually pretty awesome.  Let's backtrack to yesterday.  I got up around 4:30 so I was ready for pickup by my Aunt at 5:30.  It was light out as we made the 40 minute or so trek to the airport, so I got to see the land I love so much once last time before getting on that dreaded long flight back home.  We got to the airport and I checked in my baggage with no problems.  I was a little worried about the weight because I was pushing the limits and was concerned I was going to be overweight.  Byt I made it through ok without any added penalties lol.  After I checked in we went for a cup of coffee before I had to say final goodbyes to everyone.  Of course that is always hard.  I cant remember what I said to anyone so to my Mom and Dad and Aunt Connie - a big thank you to you all for everything you did for me. I really appreciate it and love you all.  Once I said goodbye I had to head through to security and it was backed up a little, it took about 20 minutes to clear that.  So when I got to the gate I only had about 10 minutes before they started the boarding procedure.  I didnt have long to wait at all.  The flight was practically empty - maybe about 50-60 passengers on board total and it was a big plane.  So you could stretch out wherever you want.  They also served a hot English breakfast so I had bacon, sausage, eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes.  We didnt leave Edinburgh to around 8:30'ish due to some delay, so when I got to London I only had about two hours to wait between flights and not 3 hours like initially.  I wandered around the shops.  I found the Cath Kidston booth in the terminal (yah) and bought a couple of last minute small items.  I also went in search of one of my favorite stores - Accessorize, but to my dismay they closed it about 4 weeks ago.  I couldn't find it anywhere and thought I was going crazy because I knew I had shopped at it on the way into the UK..lol.  I finally asked a nice lady in one of the stores where it was and she was the one that told me it had closed.  Bah humbug.  Oh well I will visit it the next time I return to Scotland.
So after they finally put my boarding gate up on the screen, I headed to the gate to board the plane.  They scan your boarding pass and usher you on to the plane.  Well the gate agent scans my ticket and a red light comes on and she says it appears you aren't checked in - what??? I had checked in the night before online and printed out both boarding passes for both planes so I knew I was checked in lol.  It didnt take her long to figure it out, it was because they had upgraded me to Club World which is British Airways's Business Class.  Say what?  LOL.  She said they had overbooked the section I was in so they had upgraded me for free to Business Class.  She told me to enjoy.  I guess if I had to go home, this was a good way to do it.  All I can say is I don'

British Airway Club World

t ever want to fly coach again hahahaha.  It was awesome.  I had my own little cubicle with a fully reclining seat so it stretched out like a bed.  The food was awesome, I got a glass of champagne upon boarding, china cutlery, a hot towel, a quilted blanket (not the piece of felt they give you in economy lol), a really nice toiletry kit and the attention of the flight crew was superb.  This upgrade made the flight home a lot more bearable, so a big thank you to British Airways for the free upgrade.  They made my day.
So here I am back home.  My kitties were happy to see me.  Both of them slept at my side last night.  I slept pretty well but it will probably take a few days for my body to adjust to the change.  Now I am faced with the daunting task of unpacking the suitcases.  Will be doing some laundry and settling back into the swing of things.  Once again, thank you and much to love to everyone in my UK family for a wonderful time.  I appreciate each and everyone of you, and I am going to miss you more than you will ever know.  I am still going to try and save save save and try to return in June for the Cunningham family reunion lol.  I cant make any promises and it may not happen but I am going to try.  We will leave it at that for now.
Now before I wrap this blog up, I put this question out to you all.  Do you want me to continue this blog? I already know that my brother wants me to..lol....he requested it before I left.  I guess he wants to know what I am up to on a daily basis.  Let me know if you are still interested in hearing from me and I will add you to a list.  I will start a new blog with those interested.  I wont be adding on to this blog anymore as my Scotland Adventure is over :-(  Let me know on FB if you want to continue to receive blogs.
Happy Monday everyone.  Have a great day :-)))))

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Well here we are, the day I have been dreading.  Today was my last day in Scotland because tomorrow I head home.  This whole week has been a whirlwind, and I don't know where it went.  On Monday I worked in the shop, Tuesday my mom and I went to Musselburgh, Wednesday we walked to White Sands, on Thursday my mom, dad and I went to Edinburgh, Friday we stayed home as it rained but went to my Aunt Connie and Uncle Georges for dinner and today we went to East Linton.  We crammed a lot into one week.  I have had an absolutely wonderful stay and I am so sad that it is coming to an end.  I made a big mistake in changing my ticket, I should have left well alone.  Now I get to miss out one a once in a lifetime family celebration unless I can scrounge together some more money within a month so I can come back before June 21st lol.  I think I will have a fundraiser like my niece did for her trip to Tanzania.  Does anyone want to sponsor me? LOL.  I can go home for Kenley's birthday and let my family see me for a month and then I can return home to Scotland and be here for my family's reunion.  I think its a brilliant idea...lol.

Smeaton Lake

So I am all packed.  I have two very heavy bulging suitcases.  I didn't think I was going to fit everything in.  Actually I had to leave some clothes here, so I have to come back :-)  (Are you seeing a theme here?).  My flight leaves Edinburgh at 8:00 am tomorrow morning.  Have to get up around 4:30 as my Aunt is coming at 5:30 to pick us up to take us to the airport.  I have about a 3 hour layover in London before boarding my 11 hour flight to Los Angeles.  Its going to be a long long day.  I'll be glad when its over.  Probably wont get much sleep tonight.  Headed into the bath shortly and then will try lie down for a little bit.
To all my family and friends here in the UK, I say a BIG thank you for everything you have done for me.  Especially my Mom and Dad for putting up with me for all these weeks.  Mom - I am going to miss all our walks and being able to sit and sew with you, Dad - I am going to miss hearing all the family tales.  A special thank you goes out to my Aunt and Uncle who did a lot for me too.  I so appreciated the week I spent with them and all the places they took me.  To my brother and his wife, I am sad that I didn't get to see you more but I understand you both work and live busy lives. To Val - I will miss your craziness.  You always made me laugh lol.  I hope Val and Anne continue with their sewing adventure.  I promise to FaceTime you on a sewing day even if it is 2:00 am in California lol.
Ok thats it until next time - hopefully sooner than later :-)
Night all !!!!

Countdown Begins

Hi everyone - thought I would write a short blog tonight as I don't have too much to share.  I am headed into my last week here in Scotland boohoo.  I would like the days to drag but of course they will fly by.  Today went by way too fast.  Didn't do much this morning.  I slept well last night but woke up with a headache and was still a little tired.  Not sure why.  Anyways, this afternoon was spent at the shop...my last afternoon helping out. We were kept very busy with customers, donations and culls.  Don;t know if I spent culls right, but thats when they go through the store and remove products that didnt sell from previous weeks.  This helps make room for newer donations that come in.  The girls who work in the shop on Mondays and Val gave me a goodbye card and a gift bag, and then Val gave me another card and gift from her personally.  I feel so loved, and am thankful that I got this chance to meet and work with them all.  And Val - I promise to turn my card in when I return lol.  Because I WILL return, going to go home and save, save, save so I can come back soon.  Had dinner and then relaxed watching a little tv.  I suddenly remembered that I had signed up for an online card class, so I got busy participating in that.  One of my all time favorite card makers hosts the class - she's a genius when it comes to making cards lol.  I guess I should be happy that I am returning home because I can get back into making some cards, I have missed that.  Tomorrow my mom and I are headed out on the bus.  We are going to Hobbycraft to look for a couple of things, then we are headed into Musselburgh because I havent been there yet on this trip.  From there we are headed to Tranent to pick up a personalized gift I ordered for my grandson Cameron.  From there I think we are headed home.  So it will be a long day but of course like I spoke about above, it will fly by lol.  That's all I know for now.  Thanks again to Val and the girls at Ches, Heart & Stroke Scotland for thinking of me.  I appreciate it.  Night all.

Tyninghame To Dunbar

Good evening everyone - what an absolutely beautiful day today here in Dunbar.  Bright skies and sunshine.  A perfect day for a long walk.  Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.  This is my second to last one here in Scotland before I make the long trek across the ocean to Crimeville..lol.   I will be happy to see my family but as far as the place I live in all I have to say is uggghhh.  Hate it , hate it.  Not looking forward to being back in the heat and the brown desert.

Tyninghame

I didn't blog yesterday so I will update you on what I did yesterday before getting to today's activities.  So yesterday was Friday which means it was sewing day for the girls.  Val and Ann are new to sewing - well not that new anymore as they have completed several cushions and stitchery projects.  Anyways, they had decided it was time to learn to sew a bag.  So my mom and I did some research and found a cute and easy bag to make.  We made up a sample bag on Thursday and cut them each fabrics for them to have on Friday.  At the lesson, I taught them how to assemble it and my mom did the stitching on her machine as she is used to it.  It was a fun lesson and got me motivated to get out my machine when I get home and get stitching again.  Actually I think I need a new machine.  I know I would love to have a new machine because the one I have had for several years was a Target special  and its probably seen its day lol.  Anyway, I digress - I have decided when I get home that I am going to sew up some creations and add them to my Etsy store.  I have lots of ideas for cushions, bags, pincushions, sachets and more.  I have tons of fabric so I may as well put it to use and make it work for me.  So after our lesson, the girls wanted to take my mom and I to lunch to thank us for all the lessons so we headed to Saddlers in Dunbar.  It was the first time my mom and I had been there and it was really good.  I had a chicken and sweetcorn wrap and it was yummy.  After lunch, we headed out into the streets to go pick up some groceries and it was pouring rain.  I didn't bring a jacket so I ended up walking home in the rain - yah...lol.  The rest of the afternoon was spent on working on a special project for a special lady.

Mill Wheel

So that brings me to today.  we got up and it looked quite nice outside - sunshine and no wind.  SO my mom suggested the Tyninghame walk.  I have been wanting to do this walk for a while now but its either been raining or blowing gale force winds lol.  Tyninghame is a tiny one street town that I am totally attracted to.  I can't quite put my finger on it because like I said there is nothing there but cottages and a tea room.  Its just really quaint - love the cottages and the peacefulness of the town.  If I ever move home, I would love to live here.  Anyways, we took the 10:00 am bus from Dunbar out to Tyninghame.  Got off the bus and headed in for a cup of coffee and a scone at the tea room.  They had a nice small gift shop attached to the tea room with some really unique and pretty gifts (they had tons of owl things, Kristin - you would have loved it).  After our coffee we headed on our walk back to Dunbar.  The walk takes you through farm fields, along the coastline and through the woods back to Dunbar.  It is a 5.5 mile walk so we got a lot of exercise.  The skies were so blue with white puffy clouds.  Also met up with some billy goats that were really cute.  I added lots of photos from our walk so I hope you will take a look at them all.  After we got home, we had some lunch and then my mom and I headed into the shop to see Val and Ann who had to work today.  My mom had added some embellishments to the bag we made so she wanted to show the girls.  We ended up spending a couple of hours at the shop lol.  Now we are back home and the daylight is almost gone.  As I head into this last week I am going to enjoy each and every day.  I am going to try to not think about having to say goodbye to everyone :-(   Tomorrow is my mommy's birthday.  If the weather is good like it was today, her and I are going to get up early and walk to White Sands - a local beach a couple of miles from Dunbar.  Have a great weekend everyone and do something fun :-))))

Happy & Sad

Hi everyone - its late for me to being blogging but here I am...lol.  My mom and I are just in from a fundraising event for my niece Nicole.  It was a great night but more about that later.  Sorry I haven't been blogging lately.  Its been a quiet few days since the last blog, albeit a stressful one trying to decide what I need to do in regards to the "should I stay or should I go" dilemma.  More about that later in the blog too...lol.  I haven't really been up to a whole lot of much this week.  On Monday we worked in the shop.  I wish I had Val as a boss all the time because she cracks me up.  She's crazy funny and I am so glad I have had this chance to get to know her better :-)   Anyway, moving on to Tuesday - my mom and I took a bus trip down to Berwick Upon Tweed (over the Scottish border into England) for an afternoon of shopping and lunch.  We had a lot of fun strolling in and out of little antique stores.  The weather was great - no rain.  We also had a good lunch at a cafe called "Thistle Do Nicely" which I thought was a great play on words.  We had Courgette & Pea soup which was quite lovely.  They were unfortunately all sold out of scones though, so we had to settle for a different dessert lol.

Berwick Upon Tweed Townhall

Yesterday I did nothing but stress out about my decision to go home early (still not sure I have made the right one).  Today more stressing, but tonight helped take my mind off of it all.  My niece Nicole is going to Tanzania in June.  She was there a couple of years ago and has been looking forward to going back.  She is going with several other kids so they had a fundraising event tonight for them.  It was held at the Radical Road Restaurant & Bar.  There was a young girl singing (who had been on the Xfactor) - she had a beautiful voice, there was food, drinks, raffles and Irish Bingo.  My mom, Val, Aunt Connie and myself drove up from Dunbar and it was so much fun.  I don't think I have laughed so much in a long time.  Our table did really well in the raffle.  I won a bottle of champagne and a bag with some "smell good" toiletries in it.  My Aunt, Val and my mom all won things too.  Overall I think they raised quite a bit of money for the trip.

I'm sad

So now to the news that I have been struggling with for the past few days.  As most of you know I had changed my ticket to return home on May 5th due to diminishing funds..lol.  It was probably a stupid decision because I probably could have figured something out.  Anyway I changed my ticket and of course British Airways charged me a fee to do it.  It was a hard decision because most of you know how much I enjoy being here.  Anyway I made the decision and was at peace with it when a couple of days ago I found out that my cousins who live in South Africa and I haven't seen for 30 years will be here in Scotland in June.  It will be my Uncle's 80th birthday and also my Aunt and Uncle's wedding anniversary (30th I think).  Anyway, the family is having a big get together and this would have been a chance of a lifetime to have us all together.  I struggled with the notion of changing my ticket back but felt guilty because I had already told my family back home in the USA that I would be home at the beginning of May.  I asked them what they thought I should do but didn't get much help in that department.  I pretty much got told  that I need to choose what I want to do.  They wont admit it but I think they are missing me lol.  Also if I change the ticket again it will be another service fee that I just cant afford to do at this point.  If I had unlimited funds I probably wouldn't have given it a second thought and changed it back.  So as it stands right now I guess my time over here comes to an end on May 5th.  I am bummed that I wont get to see my cousins and be here for my Aunt and Uncles special occasion.  I acted too abruptly in changing my ticket the first time.  I was all set to be here until Sept 1st so it was a very dumb mistake on my part.  You live and you learn I guess.  

Tomorrow is my last sewing day with the girls :-(   Going to miss that too.  Life just isn't fair.  As I told my daughter I wish there were two of me so I could be in both places at once lol.  

Well thats it for now.  I will talk with you all tomorrow.  Night night.  (Oh and Val - BAAAAAA)

North Belton Farm Getaway - Day # 4

JEDBURGH ABBEY

I am back from another absolutely fabulous day out with my Aunt and Uncle. I took 215 photos if that tells you anything lol. Today we visited the historic city of Jedburgh and Kelso. We had planned to do that yesterday but the rain of course got in the way. It was probably a good thing it happened the way it did because we crammed a lot into todays agenda . So where to start. We got up and did our usual - breakfast and bath. We headed out the door around 10:00am, heading towards Jedburgh. Jedburgh lies on the Jed Water, a tributary of the River Teviot, it is only ten miles from the border with England and is dominated by the substantial ruins of Jedburgh Abbey. Other notable buildings in the town include Mary, Queen of Scots' House and Jedburgh Castle Jail, now a museum. We visited all three. We parked in the free car park adjacent to the Abbey information center. We walked into the information center to see if they had any pamphlets and gather information on all three places we wanted to visit. It turned out that you paid to get into the Abbey, but the Mary Queen of Scots House and the Castle Jail were free. Pretty cool because if it was in the States they probably would have charged you to get into all three places lol. After the information center we headed to the Abbey, which I have to tell you is absolutely stunning. Even though it stands in ruins, it is so majestic. It used to be home to the Augustine Canons , and the first part of it was build in 1150. So its a really really old Abbey. We wandered all around - exploring and taking photos. My Aunt and I climbed a spiral stone staircase to the top of the abbey and you could look down on the whole thing. You wouldnt want to go up there if you were claustrophobic as the staircase is wide enough for one skinny person going up and coming down lol. I got some spectacular shots from up above. One of my favorite photos is looking through the archways at the top of the Abbey on the cemetery down below. Love Love Love it. Be sure to check it out in my photo album which I will probably upload after dinner tonight. After the Abbey we walked through town up a long hill towards the Castle Jail. Jedburgh Castle Jail gives visitors a taste of what life was like in an 1820's prison, whilst also telling the story of the royal Burgh of Jedburgh. You can walk through the original cell blocks of this Georgian jail - the finest remaining Howard reform prison in Scotland - and find out about some of the people who were once imprisoned here and why they were put in. The prisoner's cell blocks tell the story of the Jail and its inmates, with individual cells looking as they would have done back then, complete with model prisoners lol. From there we walked back down the hill and stopped in at the Coffee Corner for lunch. We got there too late for soup as they were all sole out for the day. So I had a haggis and onion toast which was pretty good. After lunch, we headed to Mary Queen of Scots house. Mary Queen of Scots stayed in Jedburgh in 1566 on an official tour, and it was whilst she was here she visited her secret lover in Hermitage Castle.  The Mary Queen of Scots Visitor Centre is located within a 16th century towerhouse, set in a pear tree garden in the heart of Jedburgh. The Rogues Gallery, Last Letter Room and many other parts of the centre explore the life of Scotland's tragic queen through paintings, textiles and objects associated with her.of the centre explore the life of Scotland's tragic queen through paintings, textiles and objects associate. This concluded our visit in Jedburgh (well with a final stop back at the information center so I could purchase a fridge magnet lol) Then it was time to get back on the road for Kelso. Kelso in the Scottish Borders is regarded as one of the most charming and beautiful towns in the Borders. With the largest town market square in Scotland, four cobbled streets converge on the cobbled town square with it’s elegant Georgian and Victorian buildings. They also have an Abbey. Not as big as the Jedburgh one but quite impressive. We walked around this one too and I took more photos. We headed out of Kelso around 5:00pm after a stop in at Sainsbury for some groceries. All in all, it was a wonderful day and I am so grateful to my Aunt and Uncle for letting me stay with them for these few days and taking me places I normally wouldn't see. I will probably be headed home to my folks tomorrow, but I wont soon forget this lovely mini vacation at the farm :-)

North Belton Farm Getaway - Day 3

ARRIVING AT POLWARTH KIRk

Hi all - as we reach halfway through the week, I hope you are doing well and keeping healthy.  I am still visiting my Aunt and Uncle at the farm, and having a wonderful time.  We just got back from a day down to Duns and Berwick Upon Tweed.  I had said earlier today on Facebook that our plans had been laid to rest for the day because of rain.  However about an hour after I said that, the rain stopped and the sun was trying to come out, so we took a chance on the change in the weather and took off on part of our journey.  Back tracking to earlier in the morning....I woke up around 7:30 am again, had some breakfast and got dressed for our trip. Our plan was to go to Jedburgh, Kelso and then into Duns.  It was drizzling a little when we started, but about 8 miles down the road it was pouring, very overcast and dreary.  So we came to a general consensus that we would try again tomorrow and hopefully the weather would be better.  So we turned and headed back to the farm.  We got back and had a cup of coffee and started to watch Margaret Thatcher's funeral on tv.  The rain stopped and we decided to take a chance and hit the road, with a slight change of plans.  We decided to go to Duns today as its not too far away and if it started raining we could get back home fairly quickly.  Duns is an important area for my Aunt as she went to primary school there as a child.  I got to see the church in Polwarth where she was christened and went to Sunday school.  After the church we headed to another interesting place she lived as a child the Marchmont Railway Station.  Her dad was a station master and they used to live at the station.  It is no longer a station, but the house still stands today (the track outside is gone, but the platform is still there).  We met the family that lives there.  My aunt had some old photos of the station to show them. And they had some old photos to show her that she hadn't seen before.  I also got to see the little shed that was used as a post office that her mother ran.  It was a very interesting trip, and I am glad I got the chance to see where she grew up as a little girl.  Make sure you check out my photo album when I upload it.  You will see all the places I am talking about.  After talking with the people at the station house, we headed into Duns to a garden center.  My Uncle is looking to buy a shed so he wanted to check them out.They also had a cafe in the garden center so we had lunch there. This time it was potato and leek soup, although my Aunt and I came to the consensus that it didnt really taste like potato and leeks, more like celery lol.  After lunch, we headed towards Berwick Upon Tweed via the town of Coldstream.  Berwick Upon Tweed is actually in England, so I changed countries today lol.  It was kind of later in the afternoon when we arrived in Berwick.    

BERWICK UPON TWEED - ALONG THE TOP OF THE WALL

Berwick is a walled city in the county of Northumberland. I had visited there before but only in the shopping village.  I didnt realize it was walled.  So this time we went up on the wall and walked halfway around it.  The walls were built between 1558 and 1570 to keep the invading Scots out of the town.  It was really interesting to walk up on the ramparts.  There are scenic views all around the city from up there.  After walking around the wall a little bit, we headed back to the car and drove home.  So here I am working on the blog and photos again.  Tomorrow I think we are going to do the Jedburgh part of our trip that we missed today. Hopefully the weather holds up.  Until then, have a good one and I will be back tomorrow night :-)