The Scotland Experience....Part 4

This was taken from my journal notes December 2009 when we visited Amber and Mike in Scotland.

The North Sea and SNOW!

Thursday was a typical Aberdeen day…..cold and wet! It has been staying right around 32 degrees since we arrived.

EVERYONE here wears boots and scarves, and gloves! It’s like a uniform! I bought me a pair of boots at ASDA but for serious walking I continue to wear the ‘Old Lady Black Shoes’ Louis Dean bought me before my knee surgery when walking was so painful for me. I may just wear them out on this trip!

Amber kept the car today so we whipped around town doing errands! Got books from the local library and shopped ASDA piling the groceries into the ‘boot’ of the car! Louis Dean found some YEAST there so he bought 2 ½ dozen eggs and a BIG sack of flour! I think we will smell cinnamon rolls soon!

Our next errand was to pick up our train tickets at the new Union Street Mall which has a CAR PARK!! It can be totally useless to take your car out for lack of a place to park. Mike had ordered train tickets online for our trip to Inverness on the 28th. It is much cheaper to get them here than to try and purchase them in the U.S. Plus if you buy them AFTER you arrive, you can make adjustments for the weather or health. We have especially enjoyed the luxury of doing things as they come in a leisurely manner. We are NOT running ourselves to death! Actually we are quite rested and therefore enjoying everything we do all the more! When we returned to the car and opened up the door an awful stench came out!! WHEW!! It smelled like rotten eggs!! And it WAS rotten eggs!!! Apparently Louis Dean bought some really BAD eggs so they went right in the dumpster when we got back to the flat. They do not refrigerate eggs in the stores…..I wondered about that when we bought them! No wonder Amber only buys ½ dozen at a time and SHE keeps them in the fridge!

(not nearly as good a pic as the food deserved!)

Amber enjoys cooking so this evening’s meal was another feast for the eyes as well as mouth! Baked salmon, corn on the cob, salad, and baked potatoes. Louis Dean made his very own special recipe of Thousand Island Dressing .

Amber and Mike were both off on Friday so it was a really special day for us. We absolutely LOVE to see them together! They are just adorable! We had lunch at T G Fridays by the beach with a table looking out on the North Sea! The food was delicious……very AMERICAN and Amber says they will be returning there in the future when they crave a taste of ‘home’. I felt like it could be December in Irving and we would walk out and be on Beltline Road.

I love our hats!

That was before we stepped outside to the huge waves coming in on the North Sea! There was even one brave (or ignorant!) surfer out there in the water! Mike then drove us through some of the shipping areas. The huge ships were fascinating! Mike told us the weather here is unusual in that there is no lightning, no thunder, no hurricanes, tornadoes or typhoons…….just rain, snow and cold. Mostly rain! It rains nearly every day for at least a little while! One morning we were looking out the bay windows by their table watching the weather change before our very eyes! Faster than TEXAS weather even! At first it was rain, then sunshine, then sleet, sun, and then a spattering of snowflakes! All in the space of 10 minutes!! If you don’t get out and about early, you miss the daylight altogether as it only lasts a few hours! I think I would miss the wild thunderstorms of Texas. There are also no insects to speak of. I think Mike said he has seen 2 flies since he has been here! No screens on any of the windows here. We have seen some birds, mostly seagulls, and I heard a songbird as I walked to town the other day.

Mike dropped Amber and me off on Union Street for a little shopping while he and Louis Dean went back to the flat. I ended up buying a cute jacket and some gaudy ‘debris’ to wear around my neck! That’s what Louis Dean calls it. I can’t describe it but will take a picture. It is unique! While we were shopping it REALLY began to snow!! HUGE fat fluffy flakes like in a movie!

Amber and I walked home via the back roads and it was incredibly beautiful! A special walk!

She and Mike went out to play in the snow at the park across the street. They were as excited as school children and just as cute! Amber all done up like a snow bunny!

I am sitting at the table looking out over the snow covered landscape as I write. Perhaps this will be a good day to read, work on the Christmas puzzle and watch a movie. Louis Dean is up now and in the kitchen mixing his cinnamon rolls! I love the fact this day is stretching before us and there is no hurry to do anything but enjoy it!!



.