Camera play on Arthur's Seat

Oh, Happy Day! I just got some good news, and Matt and I just have a wonderfully fun and productive weekend- full of dining with friends, sipping Prosecco, kitty cuddles, impulse response sweeps, hiking up Arthur's Seat, family Skype dates, brunching at French bistros, grocery shopping, and laser tag (a few of those activities only involved one of us, I'll let you sort out which).

 So all is happy and wonderful here! And I'm about to go take in some Christmas pretties about the city (they are already starting to decorate!) and pick up my reserved copy of The Casual Vacancy from the central library... so the day is going to get even better!

But before I go, I want to share a few pictures from our hike up Arthur's Seat. We took soooo many, and I'll post far more than I ought to here (my brother always suggests that I 'edit' more and only post the very best, but I can't choose! I want to show them all!) Yesterday was so clear and crisp and the views were amazing... and it was the perfect time to play around with all the different settings on my camera. (I was going to write a bit about the geology and history of Arthur's Seat, but instead you can just look at the pictures. If you're interested, I've included a few links at the end that share all you need to know about the dormant volcano in the middle of Edinburgh.)

On the way to Arthur's seat... 

...we passed under the most vibrant trees!

seriously charming trees...

 and we passed by your average 12th century abbey 

and Royal Palace... you know, just a normal day in Edinburgh.

Until we finally arrived at the foot of our destination! Arthur's Seat.

A quick stop before our climb ;)

and up we go!

It's steep and rocky!

and a little other worldly! (and I found an awesome "foliage" setting on my camera. I took about 15 pictures of these plants)

including several close ups...

others were inspired to paint lovely vistas

and we kept climbing up and up ("why'd you use the flash?")

until, we reached the top

we got a unique view of the castle

And Matt said, you go over there and I'll stay here and take your picture. So that's what we did. 

After the climb, I was warm enough to take off my jacket! And I sat there a bit, just hanging out with the birds.

...high above my city!

Then I said to Matt, You jump and I'll take some pictures where it looks like you are flying above the city. The first one turned out...OK

The second was a bit better...

But the third one... it was unbeatable! 

Then I started using the miniature setting and snapped this strange little gem

but it's hard to make that setting work when there are people in the shot.

So I went back to my regular setting. I think this should be Matt's new Facebook profile picture and I told him so.

I went up to two girls and said, would you mind taking a picture of us? And they didn't mind. 

Back to mini!!!

Oooh! Then I told Matt to put out his hand and make it seem like he was holding up the Castle. I wish I could make the Castle stand out more... (When am I going to learn Photoshop?!) But look at that fancy edge blur I did in iPhoto! 

Heading down. We saw the Palace from above.

And Matt helped me get through some muddy patches.

Then he said, let me have the camera, and I gave it to him, and he took this picture. And then he said, you should make this your next Facebook profile picture. And I just might.

Then I asked him to try to take a picture of the two of us. He took 3. This was the best one. 

See? It was such a fun day! I'm guessing that only blood relatives made it through all these pictures (and their incredibly exciting explanations). But, if you got this far through the post, you definitely earned those links I promised. So go here and here to read about all about Arthur's Seat.

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.

Our Days

We don't have internet in our new place, yet. And that has caused me to fall behind in all sorts of things, least of all, this blog. (Its a little sad how much I depend on the interwebs!) But, I've brought my trusty laptop to my local branch of the library and I'm all set and ready to post.

That said, I don't have any time or patience for a particularly thoughtful post. I do have a few in the works, I promise. Posts that are more than "this is what we've been up to" and "look at the pictures". But for now, that's exactly the kind of post I've got to share. I'm going to blame the following lazy post on my sore throat and achy body. It's barely autumn and I already have a cold. (It might be a loooong winter!)

But don't let my general grumpiness fool you, we've been having a great time. Really! Each day we discover something new- some days is a medieval chapel, other days its a good place to buy cheap towels- events which, sadly, caused me to feel nearly equal amounts of excitement.

So, feast your eyes on the following pictures showing what we've been doing with our days, and know that I'll be adding a little more substance to my posts in the very near future!

One day, we went to Roslyn, and disregard my previous comment comparing the experience to buying towels, because this place is all together otherworldly. Photos are not permitted inside the chapel, so you'll just have to come visit it yourself to see what I mean. It is intricately carved- almost every inch of it- with flowers and stars and figures of angels and musicians (there is even a piper!). Most of these carvings have some mysterious connection to the Masons, or the Knights Templar, or the Holy Grail, or... well, the list goes on and on.

The area surrounding Roslyn is beautiful, and mysterious in its own way. We spent some time following the advice of Sir Walter Scott... hiking in the woods, exploring the old castle and delighting in it all.

 Another day, we headed to the Scottish Parliament  building. It has a strange yet inviting design, and it is neighbor to both Holyrood Palace and Arthur's Seat. We did not take the tour, but we will one day. I picked up a pamphlet that outlines the powers of the Scottish Parliament and its relationship to the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster. Which answered a lot of questions Matt had been asking me (as if I somehow know about these things!)

Inside the lobby area, placed in lighted display cases, are gifts that foreign governments have given to Scotland. It is usually something significant to the giver's culture. There were beautiful pieces of art and pottery, things made from jade, or glass beads, and ancient-looking carvings. From the US, there was, what looked like, a white candy dish. I couldn't help but feel a bit underwhelmed. C'mon, America!

But our visit was more than just checking out the local government and seeing foreign bric-a-brac, we wanted to see the William Wallace Letters exhibit, before it headed out of town. The exhibit was small, but beautiful. And if your only understanding of William Wallace comes from the movie Braveheart, as mine did, you'd probably find it very informative.

(Photo credit and more about the letter)

On a different day, we strolled down a particularly lovely footpath, where people walked their dogs and pushed their baby buggies without the worry of traffic. Along this path, we found several hills of allotment gardens. What wonderful, wonderful sites! They looked like their own little towns, where all the citizens are veggies and fruits and flowers. Only my strong will (and the 6 foot stone wall) kept me from running through the plots trying to claim one as my own!

And maybe later that day, or another day altogether, I had my first ginger beer. It's alcoholic, but mildly so, and it has the same bite to it as a quality (nonalcoholic) ginger ale. Since this first one, I've had a few others. I think my favorite is the one with Gimli on the label.

On one of our many nights out to dinner, we got burritos. Our first Scottish burritos. They weren't fantastic, but they weren't bad (I had heard not to expect much when it came to Mexican cuisine in the UK). And, they came with instructions- which, as burrito-eating experts, we did not need. Obviously.

What else...? Oh, one day, we took the train to South Queensferry and we followed this awesome trail to get from the train station to the town. It was covered in blackberry brambles and long wooden steps... I was a bit behind Matthew when I got out the camera and yelled, "hey, Matt!" and instead of turning around to pose (he knows what that kind of "hey, Matt!" means) he just gave me the "whoo-hoo" arms and continued running down the stairs. 

Other than that, we've spent our days and our nights just hanging around Edinburgh, getting used to sites like this one:

and this one:

Oh, and I almost forgot, one day, we moved! We are tenants, with a real home address and house keys and all!

The move itself might warrant its own post, but here you can see the guys taking in their new place...

Where we moved to is called Leith. And, (We)

Because it is pretty, and a bit gritty and has a little more flavor than the neighborhood we were in before (which we do miss already, but was, undoubtedly, vanilla).

And just last night, I saw the moon rise outside of our new bedroom window and there was the strangest look to it. I don't know if it was just a reflection from the clouds, or from my rainy window, but it looked like there were two moons! You can't really tell in this picture...

But this one shows what I saw a little bit better. What is that all about?