December 2008

We kicked off December in true English Fashion:

Going to see the Panto. The Panto is a play where all the actors are dressed in drag; the men are played by women and the women by men. This year, the panto was Cinderella!
We loved the ugly stepsisters: "Salmonella" & "Diphtheria",
who both antagonized the audience to the point of shouting matches.

We went once as a family and then Sandy got to go again with her school. Here is Sandy with her two best classmates. Kelly didn't argue when Sandy's teacher asked her to chaperone
for the school's trip to the same Panto a few weeks later...
Next year's Panto: Aladdin!

A couple of weeks and multiple Christmas fairs later,
we had the most fun time finding Father Christmas's cave:
a mile long hike through the water fall woods,
finding Smaug's resting spot and staying clear of the trolls
who lived in the hut to Ingleborough Cave...

We all had to wear hard hats -except our stubborn 2 year-old-
and walked through a nice cave which had some very claustrophobic parts.
Sam and I had to creep through tunnels only 3 feet tall!
We heard about the giants, goblins and elves
who have lived in the cave
and then, finally, we found Santa!!
Fantastic!


Sandy couldn't figure out why when she saw Father Christmas
4 different times, he kept changing into a different person!

Another big event in England are the school nativities.
Sandy was the "Golden Star" in her School Nativity Play.
She was so determined to keep her "game face" while on stage.


Then there was Molly, the "Fairy Princess"
(supposed to be a sheep)
for her Playgroup Nativity Play.


The Winter Solstice: It dawned cold and grey. Kelly and the girls spent it in front of a fire at home and Sam spent the Solstice out on some Fells in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Knowe, Fountains, Darnbrook Fells and the Parsons Pulpit. The day cleared up a bit and it was a very nice 20Km walk.



Christmas eve: We hiked around the Darley Moors
in search for Reindeer food.


The girls took their scissors to clip bits of heather and moss
for Rudolf and his pals.
Sandy and Molly kept sharp eyes out for the reindeer food.


After much searching, they found some food and other amazing things!
Sandy with some reindeer food and


Molly at Bilbo's house!

It was a great way to spend Christmas eve day.



That evening, we set out the Reindeer and Father Christmas food and got all snuggly under Aunt Wendy's quilts (huge thanks!).



Christmas Morning and we had to wake the girls up at 0800...
Scooters, dresses, clothes, sleeping bags and toys!



Beth Ann, Kelly's sister, came for a visit
on Christmas day too. Which is always a great time!
The girls had a blast playing in wigs and shiny pants & dresses
(don't let Sam kid you -he looks great in a wig!).
Like the dolphin tattoos?

We spent a nice sunny day at the park.

(Can you tell who lives for the sun and
who resides in the country of clouds and rain?)

We made it over to Olde York a couple days after Christmas
for some ice skating which was a fantastic time,
for participants and observers alike.

a good snow

Wow! After years of no snow in North Yorkshire... this place got a good dumping of the white stuff! Listening to Molly's unfortunate attempt at sledding on the snowboard just cracks me up!



We walked all the way to the park -Molly was still a bit chuffed about the sledging incident and took it out on everyone around her: she chucked snowballs at the knee caps of every person we passed!



(Sandy took that picture of us)

The whole village had the day off, but of course, there was the occasional brilliant driver who attempted to get up the hills in non-snow vehicles.
(Sam looks like a good guy, doesn't he?)


We made it home, took a lunch and a lie down and went out for Part Two of our snowy day.




Molly and I made a snow puppy
(it was a mix between Sadie & Savannah).

Check out what Sam and Sandy made:


nice, huh? Who the heck comes up with a "Wolly Mammoth"?
That's right: Sam (so weird.)

Sam finished off his fun day off of work by
pelting his kids with snow balls under the rainbow sky:

Did you see that last blob of snow flying towards Molly?
Sam managed to kick that right down her back!
(they'll grow up and get him back one day)

a day in "old" York

We took a train in to York for some Christmas shopping and a look about. Since Sandy and Molly know that my sister, BethAnn, lives in "New York" -it only makes since to them to call this place "Old York".


We found the gargoyles who live on the big Cathedral

Found a statue of a famous Roman Emperor.

Sandy checked out 'Constantine the Great'

The Silly Purple Painted Man 'statue'

(Sandy thought he was too funny. Molly was not!)

The York Minster was spectacular in the setting sunlight.

It was such a good day.
I wish you could have heard the bells toll... so gorgeous.

Loch Fyne Scotland

Late October at 55 deg North and a week off of school for Sandy. What should we do? Seychelles, South of France, Spain??? Nah, we're off to Alba (Scotland for you non-natives). Loch Fyne to be precise. It's on the West Coast of Scotland, about an hour and a half north of Glasgow. We weren't sure what to expect with the weather, but with mountains, ale, whisky and oysters all within a stones throw, the weather didn't really matter.

Actually, as you can see in the pic, we started out with a very rainy drive.
It did get better. Much better. This is the first house in Scotland, just over the border, a few miles north of Carlisle. Apparently, back in the pre-cambrian times, England decided to tax everything that a person could think of doing. So, the Scots being the enterprising folk they are, set up marriage houses just over the border without the taxes. They didn't dump any tea in the Solway Firth so, they stopped just short of glory... From there it was on through Glasgow, which doesn't glow and isn't very glamorous, to the Western Highlands. Absolutely beautiful.

Just over the Firth of Clyde, we found this little beauty.
Auchentoshan Distillery. It's a triple distilled Lowland style malt. Very nice. Crisp, dry and slightly warming. From there, we kept heading North.

We passed some spectacular scenery. Loch Lomond, tonnes of mountains, waterfalls, looming clouds, half a dozen lochs.


Amazing bit of the Earth.

Loch Fyne was not far away and we arrived at our lodging: the Butlers' Quarters of Ardkinglas Estate in Cairndow.

This place was fantastic. 2 bedroom self-catering in a early 20th century mansion on the shore of Loch Fyne.



The grounds are a botanical garden and have numerous "champion" trees for the UK.

Including these two, one with four trunks and the other is the tallest tree in the UK.

The glen was surrounded by fantastic mountains and walking. Sam had another all day walk that took in An t-sron, Binnein al Fhidhleir peak (811m),

fantastic views over the loch,

then over the peak to find a microbrewery (Fyne Ales), over to the oyster bar for supplies...

a pause for a view back to where he walked,

then back down the shore of Loch Fyne, to the Cairndow pub for a pint of Fyne Ale and then back to the Quarters.

That same day, Kelly and the girls went looking for what they thought was an elephant herd. What else would be bellowing in the Northern Scottish woodlands...Highland Cattle of course!

The girls still had a good time with it. They also had a big adventure finding treasure on the Loch shore


They even found a mermaid!

At the end of the day, we had a fantastic sunset over Loch Fyne

The next day was a trip to Oban, a fantastic harbor town on the Firth of Lorne which opens onto the Irish Sea and the North Atlantic.
On the way, we drove through more amazing scenery, including ruined Castle Kilchurn on the head of Loch Awe,

We arrived in Oban to slighty grey skies and a chill wind.
It's Scotland, what did you expect?

The big attraction there was Sam and girls waiting while Kelly went on her first Distillery tour.

And it was a nice one. Oban. Dry, smoky with malty and fruity undertones. And a bit of salt air thrown in.

That ended the day on a good note, kind of (Molly and Sandy got tired of listening to Da talk about the finer points of distillation and how the shape of the pot still affects the final flavor of the whisky and feed them roasted barley in the gift shop) and we headed back to the Quarters.

We stopped at the Conan Kirk, on Loch Awe.

It was a very holy site as it contained a bone of Robert the Bruce.


on the with a stop at the oyster bar for provisions and a peak at the "aquarium".

The next day, we hit Inverary for a bit of the local sites. We saw a jail, which Molly really liked.

And then walked around a restored castle. Not as dramatic as the ruined Kilchurn but, still kind of neat.

Sandy was dreaming of escaping to the hills

so, we headed back to the quarters for some food and a really nice evening walking around there.




And another spectacular Scottish sunset.

The way home included a stop-over in Airdrie. The ancestral home of Kelly's Grandmother.


All said and done, Scotland, highly recommended.