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edinbURGH
finishing up our time here at the woodland estate in penicuik– it’s been a straaange but decent week. highlights of this week for me was definitely the opportunity to sing latin hymns with a small choir in the crypt of rosslyn chapel with our male host. rosslyn chapel was high on my radar and i sort of forgot it was in our neck of the woods here near edinburgh. this is the chapel featured at the end of both the novel and the movie ‘the da vinci code’. it’s particularly fascinating to me because of the strange religious groups connected with it and the mystery that surrounds it. it has…
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isle of islay
it was a little sad leaving the farm as alex and i both felt completely at home there and wished we could stay longer. however, the sheep season was wrapping up and during our time there we were mostly vaccinating the sheep and getting them ready to ship off to the isle of bute for the winter, where they’ll graze their hearts out and come back in the spring nice and plump-like. fortunately! we headed straight for the isle of islay– a place i’d been convinced since several weeks ago that i needed to go to since it was nothing more than a medium sized island with stunning scenery and…
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a bit of photos from our time at the farm– definitely some of my favorite scotland memories so far
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life on the farm; iona
since we’ve been at barndromin farm, i think we’ve both felt really lucky to end up in such a great place with such amazing and thoughtful hosts. and dogs! our 24hr stint as B&B and farm owners went well as the guests left happy and well-fed and no sheep were harmed. yesterday in particular was of note because most of my work for the day involved helping at morag’s annual church luncheon. there were nearly 200 guests for a lunch and raffle and i was running around being a waitress again, carrying bowls of soup for the elderly guests as well as going from table to table with a tea…
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living the dream pt I
i have taken no photos to show you yet of bandromin farm, the b&b and farm we are staying at but it’s quite nice… lots of rolling green hills with a nice view of a loch (what the scots call “sea lakes”). our hosts have been incredible so far and i’m feeling quite lucky at the moment! there are over 500 sheep, a handful of cows, and a good amount of chickens as well as a dachshund, border collie, a kelpie and three kelpie puppies. we hit the animal jackpot! typically we start our day by taking care of the sheep– we’ll go with jamie and as well as feeding…
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isle of skye
skye is the biggest and most well-known island off the west coast of scotland, and with the ferry landing only a ten minute drive from arisaig house, it seemed like a must do. however, trying to visit skye in a day and a half is kind of like trying to visit whidbey island in a day in a half. the buses are hard to get around on and can leave you out in the cold sometimes. i’ve been much too spoiled with the beautiful scenery lately that skye looked like just another beautiful island, but the cuillin hills are the real star of the show. that’s why people come here–…
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isle of eigg
being in one area for three weeks affords us a lot of time to get to know it a lot better than a short stopover, and is definitely my preferred method of travel. i couldn’t imagine just stopping at a hostel for a couple days and moving forward and saying that i’ve been to this area– you really wouldn’t know it a bit! already one week in arisaig and i feel that the folks at the house are warming up to us a bit more, as we are to them. we are learning a bunch of lovely british words (my favorite is brits calling vacuuming “hoovering” and that we place…
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arisaig
here we are now at arisaig house: a stately 250 year old estate set on sort of a peninsula type of land mass, surrounded on most sides by sea lochs, or narrow channels of ocean that run up and down this area. the house now functions as a bed and breakfast (as it has for the last two years) with sarah in charge– i can’t believe she manages to almost singlehandedly run this place. there are other lovely folk who work here part-time: a gardener, two ladies that make up the beds, then there is breakfast and dinner service served daily– dinner especially is quite a big to-do. it is…
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across the pond to glasgow
so where did we leave off? we had about four days worth of canadian adventure when we drove to niagara falls with alex’s family, who dropped us off in toronto and it was only at that point did it really hit me that: whoa, we’re really doing this. or rather, to quote lloyd christmas in dumb & dumber: “we’re really doing it, hare!” it’s one thing to say you’re doing it but quite another when it comes to making the big steps…. like actually getting on that plane. first of all, my backpack is HUUUGE and weighs more than alex’s (i think 18lbs ish). its tough to cram everything you…
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west side of the state
a week from today i am leaving the united states for awhile, not quite sure when exactly i’ll be returning. been hanging out in the east side of michigan, specifically the thumb knuckle region. (note: people ALWAYS use their hand to show where in michigan they are from… it’s handy stuff). while this side of the state is lovely, it’s quite a bit different from the always forward global thinking ways of my washington upbringing. however a short visit to the west side of the state this week made me realize how different this state is depending on the region. excellent sushi was had and i experienced probably THE most…
