The Scotland Experience....Part 5

The Church of Scotland, Penny Whistles and MORE Snow!

(From my December 2009 Journal)

 Sunday evening we bundled up and headed back up to Union Street for a Christmas Carol Service at Gilcomston South Church.

It was a beautiful and meaningful service. This is one of The Church of Scotland churches. There was a good crowd of age integrated worshipers! Loved to hear the carols sung and the scriptures read in the distinctive Scottish brogue. The people were all friendly!

( We took this pic AFTER the service! The place was jam packed when we arrived!)

We sat upstairs in the balcony so after the service ended I went down a teeny twisted stairwell to find a Ladies Room leaving Louis Dean to follow at his own pace down the better wider one we had come up. I went on to enjoy hot tea and little mince pies still warm from the oven and tasty …….all the while watching for Louis Dean to join me. After a half hour or more (the congregation lingers long to fellowship with each other! NO one seemed to be in a hurry to leave!) I went out on the street to see if I could find him. NOT THERE! I checked the entry way and what halls I could find. Finally I made my way BACK upstairs to where I had left him and there he was! A lady had cornered him and had been talking to him all that time! Regretfully, he had not understood anything she said! He THINKS she was telling him about an answer to prayer. Everyone speaks English but it can still sound like a foreign language!

I rescued him and we crossed the street to The Justice Mill. He ordered fish and chips while I had Cottage Pie. They love their starches here and apparently green peas. EVERYTHING is served with green peas it seems!

My pie was a beef dish with mashed potatoes on top served WITH chips (French Fries!) Amber tells me ‘chips’ are fries and ‘crisps’ are chips! The food was good, though, and we ate it all! I see lots of salads in the New Year for us! We enjoyed our outing and as we left the flat, telling Amber and Mike we would be eating at the Justice Mill, they said, “WHAT??? You didn’t tell us that!” They are very protective of us! As we were preparing to leave the restaurant, Amber phoned me on the cell they provided. “Just checking up to make sure y’all are OK! You’ve been gone a long time!” When did the mother/daughter role become reversed?

Louis Dean has had his eye on a beautiful tooled guitar strap so we made our way to the shop very carefully on Monday afternoon. The snow had somewhat melted and refroze over the weekend making walking treacherous.

While he shopped I sat by the window of the little tea room on the upper level and enjoyed a pot of tea and a bit of people watching……always a fascinating thing to do!

 Louis Dean made his purchases (guitar strap, tuner and a DOZEN penny whistles!!) and we headed back to the flat.

We had a cozy evening with a stir fry chicken dish along with a huge mixed salad and then settled down to watch it snow as we worked the Christmas puzzle. We may well have it done before Christmas at this rate! So, just in case, I picked up another one in town!

During the night the snow really fell!! Louis Dean and I got up to sit at the window watching like a couple of children! There is a thick blanket over everything as I write. Amber walked to work this morning but Mike stayed home. Even his company bus was not running! Our plans were to shop for Christmas Dinner food tomorrow at ASDA. Who knows?

We may be getting things from the little grocer close by and have a unique but not traditional Christmas Dinner! SO many people are stranded in their cars and airports and train stations here in the United Kingdom! I am VERY grateful to be in a snug little flat with my husband and Amber and Mike. I pray all my friends and loved ones are safe and warm and happy. As they say here in Scotland, “HAPPY Christmas!”



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