Island Quilter

Friday, July 10, 2009

Scotland

I never thought I would be able to go to another country let alone Scotland. Two days of travel, one going & one coming home, with seven days in Scotland. My travel buddy, Debbie Foster, went with me. My cousin Randy & his wife, Diana, were the ones who started this trip. They mentioned at a family reunion they had made reservations wondered if any other family member wanted to go. Originally, there were 13 of us going. By the time it was all over, only six
went. (And of those six, two were from a "only by marriage side".)

Those of you who really know me, the pictures below are just a few pictures of what I really took. Can't post every one of them. Way too many!! (Over a thousand.)

When Deb & I arrived at our first hotel room we tried to turn on the lights & heat. We never noticed this switch by the door, which took our room key to turn on the electric.

This "Car Park" photo totally blew me away. I would have the "major" giggles every time I saw it. I pictured in my head all these cars in the grass.

Only a couple gentlemen were outside playing the bagpipes in their kilt attire.

Edinburgh was our first city to tour. The above photo is of the Edinburgh Castle. It was awesome to see from the street. We walked up there. We actually walked, walked & did some more walking.

This gentleman was posing for me. Would have been a great photo without the people in the backgroung. Oh well.

A view of the Royal Mile.

The sites you see on the Royal Mile may just blow you away. Cost me a pound to take this photo. Approximately, $ 1.50 in American dollars.

Instead of booking a tour with a tour company, Randy, Diana, Deb & myself, found out how to get to St. Andrews by ourselves. This is a cathedral ruin. Must have been a huge place. We visited another castle ruin down the street. Absolutely beautiful place.

Those of you who know something about golf, which I do not, might recognize this place. It's the club house & hotel on the 18th green of St. Andrew Golf Course. Of course, Tiger Woods has played here.

Suspension bridge, somewhere?

Had to have Kenny, the bus driver, stop to take this photo. Not quite how my last name is spelled, but close!

We stopped at another castle. Of course this photo isn't of the castle, but a brook near by.

We were able to see the Loch Ness Monster on Loch Ness. Thankgoodness it didn't great mad or hungry and sink the boat. Ha!

The "Highland Cow" (which is really pronounced: "Heeland Coo".) Were interesting to see.

Loved this castle.....Our day trip to see the Isle of Skye was a long and interesting one. I was really disappointed that we didn't have much time that day always seemed to be on the run. Regardless, this was a very interesting place. Wanted to take more photos, but not enough time. This castle is the Eilean Donan Castle. They say it is the most photographed castle in the world. It is a very beautiful place. Apparently, people still live in one section of the building. Of course, you couldn't go in that section.

Our last day was in Glencoe. The six of us went to dinner and walked around town for a little while. Of course, I had to take a photo of us all.

Here is our group, I'm not sure of all of there names:

Front row: ????, (Debbie McQueen's mom & aunt), Sheri, Jackie Kondel.

Back row: Debbie Foster, Jerry (Sheri's husband), Randy & Diana McQueen, our tour guide, David, Rob Jennings, & me, Marty.

I am looking forward to one day taking another trip over seas.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The Challenge Is On!

Over the weekend my son mentioned that he & his wife, Anjie were going on a diet. They have six weeks to get in shape before our vacation. His next question was, "you want to be in on the challenge too?"

So now it's between the three of us to see who will be losing the most weight before vacation.

The thought process is great, but when it comes to reality......wow! That's where I lose it. But this time I'm sure going to give it a try.

Who's going to be the Biggest Loser?

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Happy New Year!

Ok so it's day 14 and I'm just telling you Happy New Year.

We've had a big snow storm today. Although there were many people out on the roads, we were slow. Three waitstaff left by 2 p.m. and I had the whole restaurant to do by myself. Well, maybe not totally. A night shift waitstaff came in early and she helped me.....seat and check people out. I was able to come home early though.

I finally got my Christmas tree disassembled. Yea!!!

I found this new website with lots of recipes on it. Thought I would share.
It's www.northpole.com

Go check it out & tell me what you think.
Later!