Scottish Life

Kindra- We have been having a great time at Baldarroch! I have been practicing manual-right side of car-left side of road-round a bout filled driving, and feel pretty comfortable with it now, thanks to a few weekend and after work trips around the area.  Austin surprised me with a date to St. Andrews, one of Rick Steves 'must see' places in Scotland. This fantastic college town has all that a Scottish locale should have-centuries old ruins of a huge church, incredible history, a kilt shop (next to an oriental rug shop, nonetheless), tiny family run shops of all varieties, wonderfully helpful tourist office staff, and, most importantly, unbelievable views. St. Andrews in particular was the birthplace of modern day golf, situated on a breathtaking mini peninsula surrounded by white shored beach on one side, rolling highland-esque hills on another, and a profile view of the town behind you. You can even play a round on this world famous course-if you're willing to get on the 18 month long waiting list. Needless to say, we satisfied ourselves with a few trinket souveniers =)

Hanging out in St. Andrews

Apparently people in Scotland love Obama

Ruins in St. Andrews

St. Andrews Old Course, the original golf course

Two other memorable trips we have taken are hikes to the Hermitage, and up Ben-Y-Vracky mountain. The Hermitage is an incredible, green, forested oasis a 15 min drive from the house. It has numerous trails that lead to a thundering waterfall boasting a unique viewpoint building with a glass exterior wall at the outermost point, allowing for an unblocked view of the falls. Ben-Y-Vracky was a less peaceful trip, as it is an almost non stop uphill 3 mile, with snow/ice for the last 1/2 mile. The views from the top were well worth it though, and we had a blast "snow boarding" aka using our feet as snow boards down the mountain. We also had the chance to listen to local musicians play trad music in a tiny pub, which was a real treat.

Austin at another peak we recently conquered

"The crew"-me, Antoine, and Martin, outside the live music pub

 

The glass door to the Hermitage waterfall viewing platform

The Hermitage waterfall

On Ben Y Vracky near a frozen lake. The peak on the background is our hike summit.

On the summit

Walking down

The view as we came down

Don't get the idea that our time here has been just one long vacation though. We HAVE been working M-Fri, 9-4 (...with an hr lunch, extended tea time, and not always starting right at 9). For the most part, our time working can be summed up in a few words: gathering leaves, weeding, planting seeds, and "tidy up." To make some sense of all that, pretty much the winter gives you gobs of leaves left on the ground, and while they could decompose nicely if left alone, as one of our hosts' daughters is getting married on the property this June (which is introducing a whole new level of chaos into the house as the hubbub of wedding planning and the betrothed coming home over the weekends to sort out the details), this isn't a good option. Enter: WWOOFers. We get to make the whole area look as nice and pretty as possible, and I have planted probably 1 bazillion seeds of different kinds of lettuce, which they are hoping will be nice, plump decorative ornaments in time for the wedding. So, as our groundskeeper/friend/assignment giver often says, we "just tidy up." A lot.

Part of the walled garden, when it was covered in snow

The Orangerie, part of the walled garden, where we have been "tidying up"

Separating wire fences

Austin gets to drive a tractor-super manly

 

The wedding chaos was notably absent for 1 week, though, when Charlotte and Tiffy went off to South Africa for a week's vaca, leaving Antoine, Austin and myself at the house, and Martin, his wife Isabella, and their charming 7-ish yr old daughter Marischa next door, to entertain ourselves. Which we did. Devotedly. Along with watching some of the Six Nations Ruby Cup game/learning the complex rules of rugby (Scotland v. Ireland-the kilts proved victorious), we played loads of Frida-a game involving lots of running around a pool table and hitting the white ball against a single red ball, croquet, and taking the 4 amazing dogs (2 labs, 2 terriers) on long walks through the property. It was a nice break to have the house -sort of- to ourselves actually, deciding what and when to eat, watch what we want when/where we want...it was a bit like playing house. Or, more accurately. playing mansion. Martin  Isabella and Antoine are proving to be terrific people to share life with, as we have found that Charlotte and Tiffy, while gracious and kind hosts, are gone a good majority of the time, and when they are around are often absorbed in other things (like weddings, or training for a leg of the Tour de France). Our company has very recently increased too, as a new French WWOOFer Paul has joined us as of 2 days ago, and he will likely be staying until we leave in 2 weeks.

Antoine playing some darts in the billiards/Frida room

Poppy (L) and Daisy (R)

So that's been our life of late, for the most part-tidying up the gardens, frida, croquet, and fabulous food. Aaaand affectionate, adorable goggies. ! I have been marveling more at the presence of God around the world, and how present He is with me. Always wanting to love on me, always wanting to communicate with me, guide me, speak to me, correct me, illuminate things to me...He is wooing me out here.

Braving haggis, which we all loved

The Fiat Multipla, vamped for the elderly

A fitting, and hilarious, common sign throughout Scotland

 On the menu for sometime this week are venison burgers with their own property's meat provision, which should be interesting. And finally, because it's so amazing we have watched it several times, there is a show of which Austin and I have become particularly fond, thanks to our Irish hosts Mark and Tina-Top Gear, a show featuring 3 men driving cars around, and talking about it. Sounds boring, but it's far from it. The episode highlighted here actually features our very own car style, the Fiat Multipla!! (Which, incidentally, won Car of the Year when it came out in 2001, and Best Family Car the same year.) On Top Gear, the guys recognized that it is a very popular brand amongst the elderly, and they decided to make it into the most elderly friendly car imaginable. Needless to say, it's absolutely hilarious!

That's all for now folks, until next time, you stay classy.

Also, Chuck Norris was our bartender.