Just another day on the farm

Yesterday, a couple of friends and I went to Craigie's Farm just outside of Edinburgh. A lovely, albeit short, train ride took us from the middle of our medieval city out to the open farm land. 

Craigie's Farm has a little shop and cafe, and some family friendly events, but it is still very much a working farm.  With animals and produce, and even tractors!

Both of the girls I spent the afternoon with have blogs of their own. Lar makes up half the talent behind AsianCajuns (the other half is her twin sister, Cath). It's a beautifully done blog about fashion, travel, and more. Sara and her hubby post some wonderful pictures and expatriate musings on their blog We Moved To Scotland. I encourage you to spend hours and hours perusing their sites!

But not yet, first you have to finish reading this post! (Believe me, I save the best thing for last... but don't scroll down now, OK, I'll hurry. Stick with me.)

It was beautiful weather and before we had lunch at the farm's cafe, we took a lovely hike through the woods. I believe some could call this activity "tramping", but I admit I can't really use the term without giggling... Regardless, it was a beautiful walk. 

And at the top we were treated to this amazing view of the Forth. I think Lar said that the island in the foreground is Cramond, and that during the low tide, you can actually walk out to it. Might be another fun tramping excursion!

The trees were particularly beautiful. And quite magical.

We spotted a few funny birds in the adjacent field. I took the most amazing photo...

source

I couldn't guess what kind of bird it was... Possibly a pheasant? A grouse? Partridge?? When I got home, I looked it up, and I think pheasant is correct. I've shared an image from a 'Birds of Britain' site, in case you can't fully appreciate the shot I took myself ;)

After our walk through the woods, we headed back to the farm. We bonded with these little guys- cute and stocky ponies. We fed them grass through the fence and I tried to pick up a few tips on how to style my bangs...

We also met these two- the farms only 'pet' pigs. There are more pigs, just wait... but these two definitely have the good life. Their job is to cruise around in the mud and eat all the farm scraps.

We met other pigs too- like this fella.

And we hung out for ages with the piglets... they really stole the show. I could watch them all day! I mean, have you ever seen a litter of puppies play and scratch and eat and sleep? That was exactly what these guys reminded me of, only pinker and with curly tails!  So, even though it was wonderfully fun to watch them in all their piggy glory, it was also quite sad for me to know that they are being raised to be eaten. I'm really not sure how to compartmentalize this sometimes. Part of me wanted to shove them all under my coat and bring them home in an effort to save their sweet piggy lives... but I have to admit, regardless of their future, these guys are quite happy right now. And I guess... if we must live in a world that eats animals... it would be much better if they were all raised on a farm like this.

Ugh. But I can't leave you guys on that note! I mean, this is a HAPPY blog, so, I shall leave you on this little video of piglets playing in their pen. It's a bit long, and unedited, but I couldn't pick the cutest moments, because I think it's all adorable! Enjoy!!! (Oh, and it's set to music, so if you're at work or holding a sleeping baby, you might want to hit 'mute')

and now, a much earned nap with mama under the heat lamp.

I spy...

Scotch wisky tasting

drying laundry

Linus going to the vet ...

an attempt to recreate the taste of home

old love.

monstrous illustrations

inspirational messages

examples of urban foraging

wild rose hips

stone cross in Duddingston

skittles at the Sheeps Heid Inn

fancy-dressed Halloween house partiers

beard removal

Matthew's classroom at night

St. Giles at night

vending machine in the ladies' loo

Old Dollar Bill

The 3 weeks leading up to our big move...

We are now in Scotland! It's still pretty surreal. We've planned this move for so long, but we still can't really believe we're here. I mean, it's not hard to slip into "tourist" mode and feel like we are here on vacation, but then we come to our flat and we have to get our mail and scoop out the cat litter... like we live here or something!

Of course, I have tons to share about getting here and how wonderful our flat is and how fun it was to take our first little jaunt around the city- but I'm not really set up to blog yet (I can't find the cord that uploads my pictures from my camera... our bags are still full and there's not a whole lot of organization to them, so I probably won't find it until everything gets unpacked). 

But I have a post that I wrote in pieces over the last 3 weeks and didn't get around to sharing, so here it is now. After Matt and I left LA on July 30th, we drove to Redwood Valley and spend 3 whirlwind weeks at my parent's place. The days flew by- there was so. much. to. do! But we managed to throw in a lot of fun times to the mix.

So... anyone curious as to what Matt and I did the 3 weeks we were in Nor Cal? Here's more than you wanted to know about the time in our lives we lovingly refer to as "the countdown"!

1. We celebrated my birthday with cake and presents!

2. We got mani/pedis

3. We visited with our siblings

4. We enjoyed a nice dinner with new friends.

5. Most days, we swam in Lake Mendocino.

6. We broke some rules.

7. We took multiple trips to the Goodwill.

8. We ate Kemmy's pies. Lots of Kemmy's pies.

9. We took bubble baths outside (complete with light up rubber duckies!)

10. We had a kick-ass garage sale.

11. We hung out with the Walkers out on Greenfield.

12. We had a fun farewell party.

13. We lost our favorite sunglasses on the bottom of the lake, dove down hundreds of times, and finally found them (and by 'we lost', I mean 'I lost' and by 'we found' I mean 'Matt found'!)

14. We drank Frey wine and Mendo beers.

15. We hung out with our besties.

16. We acted a little dorky.

17. We fell in love with Sarah's baby girl.

18. We talked about having babies of our own and both said what we usually say, "eh... maybe!"

19. We got massages and acupressure treatments.

20. We took the boys to the vet for their big "health certificate" check up.

21. We heard a lot of meowing.

22. We witnessed lots of dog love.

23. We got our papers in order, and made copies- so many copies- of everything.

24. We applied for many jobs.

25. We packed, and packed, and packed.

26. We drove to Sacramento to get the boy's paperwork stamped (more on this process later)

27. We stayed at a villa at Arden Hills Resort (more on this later, too)

29. We swam and played tennis.

30. We got special mama time.

31. We got a special visit from Byrd & Ilona, and had a night out together in Ukiah!

32. We got our fill of great Mexican food.

33. We helped a vet take a foxtail out of Greta's precious puppy paw.

34. We soaked in the hot tub.

35. First we scared Archie, then we kissed on him.

36. We made friends with Prince, aka. Big Butt, aka. Biggie.

37. We sat outside naked, played ukulele and watched an amazing meteor shower!

38. We checked out the museum in Willits, and saw the old hippy van.

39. We read this:

40. We read books, some of us even finished!

41. We used a lot of sun block.

42. We got haircuts. Bangs!

43. We rode the Skunk Train

44. We drank Skunk Train beer.

45. We saw millions of blackberries ready to be picked!

46.  We posed for this picture:

47. We decided we want to spend more time outside.

48. We had train fun.

49. We ate BBQ with the folks and Pat & Bonnie in Northspur.

50. We ate fresh blackberries and ice cream.

51. We saw hawks.

52. We saw wild turkeys.

53. We saw jackrabbits.

54. We saw giant Redwoods.

55. We enjoyed warm California evenings.

56. We convinced Uncle Pat to buy this big rooster for his yard.

57. We played on the engine

58. We played in the woods

59. We saw deer

60. We fed the feral kitties at the dam.

61. We went to the gym with papa.

62. We ate fresh from the garden.

63. We grilled all the time.

64. We Skyped with Julie & Brian.

65. We played with Greta.

67. We bought shoes.

68. We sang songs to Sherman. 

69. We said many goodbyes. 

70. We miss everyone!