"I don't even own a TV"

I've heard people say that my whole life. Friends and acquaintances that could proudly tout their televisionary independence. I've gone through peaks and valleys when it comes to TV watching. I've had crappy little TV sets that only carry 2 or 3 clear channels and I've had gigantic flat screens with complete cable packages. I've killed a whole day vegging out in utter laziness and I've had months where I've watched nothing but a rented movie or two.  But I have never been totally weened off of the boob tube. Until now.

So, what do you do to pass the time when you don't have a television? I mean, no screen-based entertainment at all (this includes internet people... no Hulu, no YouTube... I swear, I've had much more dramatic withdrawals from our lack of internet access than I have from not having a TV, but I digress...).  You go out, right? To the pubs! Or on a chilly evening stroll.

Right. But what about the evenings in? When its dark outside, you've finished dinner, and the chores are done... but its not quite time to get ready for bed? Then what do you do??

Well, you uke.

Or put together puzzles.

(this picture taken the morning after a crazy night of puzzling.)

Or knit.

(and unravel it all... and knit again... and unravel it all...)

You mess with the cats

You do a little finger pickin'

You bake apple/pear pie

(sans recipe... Tried to make it 'healthy' so I used minimal sugar. It was quite tart, but easily remedied by adding copies amounts of vanilla ice cream)

You stare at the ceiling

or out the window.

And, of course, you read.

At least, that's what we do! And for the most part, I don't really miss TV at all (although it would be nice to get the broadband hooked up so we could stream a show or two, I mean, I didn't move to the UK to stop watching Downton Abbey!) Most of all,  I'm getting used to the quiet. I had the habit of turning on the TV just as background noise, and I find I am happier without the constant bombardment of chatter and adverts. And Matthew and I are having some delightful fireside chats... OK, that took it a little too far, but we are a lot more present with one another, if that makes any sense!

I'd love to hear what any of you do when you're not plugged in- in case we run out of ideas here we can steal yours!

Flat cats*

Obie declines puzzle play-

Sherpa and his balloon dance the night away-

Linus waits for more food-

* because you can never share too many pictures of your cats!

Settling in to our new city

We are loving Edinburgh. The first few days we felt like tourist on holiday, but now we are getting into the groove a little- running errands and cooking at home, the sort of thing you don't usually do on vacation. Here's a hodgepodge of our last few days:

Our new * temporary* place-

Matt's takes in the city centre for the first time- (and in case you are wondering about my last questions to Matt, there was a huge group of strangely dressed protesters marching and shouting "Free Pussy Riot!" Check out the link to know more)

Me... eating a pasty

Matt, nervously trying haggis (first meal in Edinburgh! What a champ.)

 We checked out Matt's department-

And wandered around the narrow closes in Old Town-

And got ourselves a few local refreshments-

We checked out Grassmarket-

And the Parliament building-

And posed in front of Arthur's Seat (can't wait to climb up there! Might have to get new shoes first though...)

We walked behind Holyrood Palace-

And admired the castle at dusk-

The inside of our building-

Out running errands in Morningside-

And playing pitch and put on the Bruntsfield Links-

My first time playing golf-

 Fun! (bangs in the wind = ugh!)

Gorgeous day. And look at the form! ;)

Even Sherpa has decided he likes the place!

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!