Up North - Banchory, Aberdeenshire

Hello friends! As you may have surmised, our lives have been very busy, and blogging hasn't been on the top of our to-do list. Sometimes we really get caught up in the actual living that we neglect sharing our lives with others. Living itself really does take quite a lot of energy, doesn't it?

We have been so grateful for spring literally blossoming around us. It's now fully light when our alarms go off, and stays light long enough for us to forget to make dinner until 7pm. Wonderful! This week has been warm, I suppose it hasn't truly been over 60 Fahrenheit, but it has ironically felt like summer (My office, however, has actually been over 80 Fahrenheit). The cherry trees are blooming, and we've enjoyed a couple of bicycle rides. There's a lovely bike path next to the River Clyde that goes to Glasgow Green, a large green park just outside the City Centre. We rode there after work earlier in the week and really enjoyed getting some sunlight and exercise.


But what I really wanted to tell you about was our journey up north last weekend. We went up to Banchory, a small town in Aberdeenshire, to visit our good friend Michaela (there she is!). Michaela is a close friend here, who we feel mutually encouraged by and truly appreciate the time we get to spend with her. She is teaching up north just now, and so we bussed up and spent the weekend with her at her parents' house, with 2 adorable boxer dogs and sunshine. It was a bit like going back into winter, as you can see. We took a hillwalk up a local hill and were surrounded by snow and cold sunlight. We also went to the sea... which we love. To live on an island surrounded by the sea, it is a shame how difficult it is to get to see broad, open sea. Ah.. peace. Contemplative harmony with the world. I love the sea.

It was wonderful to catch up with Michaela, hear how she is doing in her life, and spending lots of time outside. The photos are from our hike up the hill (the snowy ones), and our walk by the sea, in Stonehaven. The castle is Dunottar. Nice, eh?

Our Summer with the Folks: Installment 1

In the grand tradition of this blog, I have at least 300 posts to get through all at once, so I can slack off again for another three months. Last year, Heather's parents visited us and we traveled all over Scotland and Norway with them. This year was my parents' turn! This time around, we stayed in Scotland, but split the time between Orkney and the Rest of Scotland. This provides me with a perfect excuse to do two posts. Orkney needs its own post.

Who you calling a demi-savage?

Though we had an eventful two weeks, I must say they were much less packed than last summer, and we were able to spend a fair amount of time chillin' in the greater Glasgow area, cooking (as you've no doubt noticed) and seeing the local sights: City Centre, the Botanic Gardens, Loch Lomond, etc. The folks got to meet Basil and our other friends, see our church, and generally be reassured we were still alive.

One priority was to find the MacFarlane homelands: though I'm becoming increasingly aware of the decided American-ness of the quest for 'heritage' and 'ancestry', I've decided to continue to embrace my roots... just more quietly. Also, my dad was totally into finding Loch Sloy, which is basically MacFarlane cow-stealing HQ. We found it - or at least the hydroelectric plant that drains its water, and the mountain that we would have had to climb to see the actual lake. Close enough. Photo op.

The rest of these pictures are from the long road trip (by UK standards) up to Orkney. Highlights were Dunrobin Castle (nice castle, Robin!) huge windfarms, Cromarty Firth, and good ol' Highland scenery. Unfortunately, we were in a hurry to catch the ferry to Orkney, so we did miss some of the cool scenery Tighe and I saw last winter, but we did get to see a lot of the more northerly parts I hadn't seen yet.

As usual, there are lots more pictures here (Update: just fixed the link).

Crookston Castle

OK, let's see if I can get a couple more 'travel' and 'local culture' posts in before my parents arrive on Wednesday! Back in May, when it was still summer, Heather and I had a free Saturday. There are still a few castle/ruin-y places around Glasgow we have been meaning to visit, so we decided on Crookston Castle, near Paisley. Rumors of Paisley's quality charity shops/thrift stores may have influenced our decision. The Antonine Wall will have to wait for another day...

I won't say too much about the castle. It was built by the Stewarts in about 1400, but got pretty badly damaged early on in its history. It has a nice tower from which you can see the Campsie Fells, a little of Glasgow, and a lot of housing schemes. The moat is pretty cool, but the grounds around the castle tend to be frequented (especially on sunny days) by large groups of intimidating adolescents. The ones playing football/soccer aren't bad, but the ones with cases of Stella are less hospitable. This may be why the castle caretaker has an Alsatian/German Shepherd.

This is one of the better ruins we've been to, slightly nicer than Bothwell Castle, we think. This is mainly because you can climb up so high in the tower.

Once we got back to Paisley, we weren't able to find the amazing charity shops, but I did get a record number of beard comments for one day. None were incredibly original, so I won't bother to post them here.

Our trip to Poland, attempt no. 1

Today we are proud to feature a guest author, Joel Shaver, posting about a somewhat new topic for this blog: travel. Seriously, guys, Heather's making me look bad, with all this 'posting about events within a week of their occurrence' stuff. Forget that - I'm all about the nostalgia. You may or may not have heard that Heather and I had been planning a trip to Krakow, Poland this past March. We were particularly excited to visit such attractions as Wawel Castle, a really nice dragon, and the Wieliczka Salt Mine (hundreds of miles of tunnels, salt chandeliers, and a salt sculpture of the Last Supper!). Not to mention all the sausage and bread we could ever want (as if Prague weren't enough). Of course, none of this happened, because we missed our flight. Instead, we hastily booked a train ticket for Newcastle, England, home of A Statue of Earl Grey (yes, the tea guy), Geordies, and a not-too-shabby Castle Keep, a distinctively castle-y square-shaped one. The town is situated on the Tyne river, and is well-known for its impressive collection of bridges. The most recent of these, the Millennium Bridge, is actually capable of moving (theoretically for ships, but really for shock value), which it does several times a week, to the accompaniment of distressing electronic music and sampled heartbeats. Other highlights included the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, located inside an art-deco 1950s flour mill, a Roman fort (part of Hadrian's wall), which we couldn't see because the visitor centre was closed, and the ocean (Heather's favorite). As usual, we got some pretty good pictures, which you can see here. We enjoyed Newcastle in spite of its unfortunate situation outside Poland, and would recommend it to potential visitors. We found a pretty good Polish deli, too. Now back to Heather...

Bothwell. The audio experience.

As promised, here is audible evidence that we were, indeed, walking in the forests around Bothwell castle, in which the discerning listener may indeed hear the chirping of Scottish birds and the buzzing of Scottish bees.

Bothwell Castle

Near scenic, rural Uddingston, by the verdant banks of the upper Clyde, lies the impressive, hulking ruin of Bothwell Castle. This medieval/renaissance castle (it's a mix, you know!) is the best one Heather and I have visited so far, for two main reasons: 1. It's actually a castle- not a mall, a tourist trap, or a museum (though they have their place). 2. They let you climb it! Also amazing is the forested land surrounding the castle, which acts as a buffer against encroaching (modern) civilization. Remind me to post a sound clip of the birds chirping... Heather has posted an album of pictures from our recent visit. I especially enjoy the picture of the castle earthworm.

Stirling Castle: No copper added

	Aaron accompanied us to Stirling, where we saw Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument. If the name rings a bell, it's because I went there last year (although I suppose you could remember the name from UK history, as the site of several famous battles between England and Scotland, led by Mel Gibson). Last year, there was a picture of the Wallace Monument as seen from Stirling Castle.
Here I include the answering photograph: Stirling Castle as seen from the Wallace Monument. Heather has posted several more images, all of them quite charming. Aaron took the really good picture of the bridge.