I can stretch my wings just like Mom and Dad!

This evening I made it back up to visit the Loons for the first time since the morning of July 19th. The chicks have grown quite a bit in that time! Their diving times have gone from lasting only 2 or 3 seconds to about 20 seconds. They also seem to be stretching their wings a bit more than a week ago. This is hands-down my favorite image of the evening!



Above: “They sure do grow fast!" - This Loon chick, just one day shy of being two weeks old, is already twice the size it was a week ago.


Above: "Sparkling Loon" - A Loon chick swims across the lake while the water sparkles all around it in the morning light.

Dancing with the clouds

Moonrise on January 9, . Had great fun last night watching the moon dip in and out of the clouds as they passed by. The first thing I thought of was "It looks like the moon is dancing with the clouds!". Voila! Another image title :-)


Last night as the moon was rising the light on the surrounding landscape was sublime. The moonlight, clouds, stars and snowy landscape made for quite a memorable scene! I know I've said this many times before, but I can't help myself by saying it again: "I LOVE living here!"

Cycling Project - the Kyle line

My daughter left today for two weeks of hillwalking on the West coast of Scotland. One of the unique features of my children's school is this two week period in May every year when the whole year group in S3, or the 14-15 year olds - all 230 of them - are split into small groups of about a dozen and go off into Scotland's wild places, with 3 or so teachers per group. No bookwork, no science-project-homework-on-the-side. Just physical endeavour, some of it pretty challenging. The prosaic name for this experience is 'S3 Projects'. It's based on the philosophy of the Scottish-born American environmentalist John Muir, who wrote "I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in."
Because I want to stay as close to the progress of the seasons as possible, I'm not going to post her photos when she gets back - I'll do that at the same time next year. Instead, I've got a guest photographer for the next two weeks - my son, who kept a photo record of his Project 3 years ago. This involved cycling a 450 mile circuit from Inverness up the North West coast of Scotland, along the top, and then back down to Inverness. They camped for the most part, with the occasional luxury stay in a Youth Hostel.
So here is a nameless station, on the first day of cycling. It's on the railway line from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh, the mainland terminus for the Isle of Skye. My son can't remember what the station was called, and I can't quite read the sign in the photo below. It could be Achanalt. Anyway, the group hit one of the many quiet times on the line.
(edited to add: Day 1 - Inverness to Contin, 18 miles)

Those passengers waiting on the up line (or is it the down?) get a more robust waiting room.

What We Need

What we need is not new light, but new sight; Not new paths, but new strength to walk in the old ones;Not new duties but new wisdom from on high to fulfillThose that are plain before us.

Out like a lion

Over the past two days March has gone out like a roaring lion. Blizzards have swept Scotland, closing roads, railways and ferry services. Very tragically, a school student was killed in a coach accident at the start of what was to be a recreational Easter trip.
The back of my daughter's hoodie above should really be re-printed as 'We didn't get to Orkney Music Tour ..'. The school baroque orchestra and chamber choir were due to leave on Tuesday evening, travelling north to Inverness by coach, staying the night in Inverness, then travelling on to Scrabster next day and taking the ferry to Kirkwall. The school decided to cancel the trip on Tuesday afternoon as the weather worsened. Huge disappointment - no concerts in Stromness and Kirwall, no sightseeing of Skara Brae, Scapa Flow, the Ring of Brodgar - but it was a wise decision. The road they would have travelled was blocked by snow in several places. The ferries were only just operating, with many services cancelled and no guarantee that they would be able to cross. And even if they did, the sea conditions were atrocious. Seas 'rough to very rough', winds of gale force 8 to severe gale 9.
In the centre of Edinburgh it was easy to have a false sense of security about the conditions. We had wet snow, with the usual city slush.

But the harbour wall was breached at Leith, and just a few miles outside Edinburgh roads were blocked and the main East Coast line blocked by a landslide. Yes, it was a pity the orchestra and choir missed their trip, but it wouldn't have been worth the risk.

More northern lights images!

Here are a few more shots from the incredible auroras that I witnessed in the early morning hours of May 18, .

The Parlor Has a New Look

This spring I started doing some updates in our parlor. The walls used to be green and now they're cream. I like the change, but the walls seem flat to me. I'm going to glaze them soon to give them more depth and some 'oldness'. Hope it works. I also recovered the chair and ottoman in the corner. It did have a large green and rust flowery print but now it's covered in navy pillow ticking. I LOVE it! I love the tabs on the corners. I saw that in a catalog and showed it to my upholsterer, and it's done.
Click on the bottom photo
and you can see the details of the pictures on the wall. The one on the left is a hand-tinted photo of the beach at Fripp Island that I did in oils.
The large one is an oil painting of a Scottish castle. I love it dearly not only because of its subject matter but because it was given to me by a dear friend who has gone on to glory. Her aunt painted it in art school in the early 1900's.
Notice the light fixture in this room is very similar to the one in the library (posted last time). I found them in antique stores while we were building our house. One came from South Carolina and the other from Georgia. They're Art Deco, a style I love for it's stylized motifs and gentle curves.
The map reflected in the mirror hangs over the piano. I'll post sometime about how I aged it before framing and hanging. It was a $7 find at Books-a-Million.
This little corner is a favorite of mine. I'm using more blue and tan in my decorating. I wonder if it's the influence of the beach?


I just noticed that I uploaded two of the same photo. Sorry about that! I tried to take it off but didn't know how.

Goin' Home

Here are some photos of our family land up in Tennessee during the snow on Christmas Day. We waited until the roads were clear and hightailed it up there to play. It was pretty deep as you can tell by my boot prints.
Darcie made uncountable bowls of snow cream. I ate my fair share. Good stuff!
My husband made his first-ever snowman! I'll post pictures of it tomorrow.

Race Across the Sky

Last evening I attending the showing of Race Across the Sky - a movie about the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race. Some 1400 mountain bikers head out from Leadville, Colorado for a 100 mile grueling out and back race, all at over 10,000 ft! The showing was a one night event, held all over the country (?).
Race Across the Sky is a documentary film about the race. If there was a "Star" of the film, it would have to be Lance Armstrong. Before and after the film the feature included panel discussions including Lance, several time winner (and 2nd place finisher) Dave Wiens, 3rd place finisher Matt Shriver, the race promoter, and one more guest (that I did not catch the name).
The best one word description of the film - Awesome. It was inspirational - a woman racer that overcame a crash with a car that almost cost her life. It was heartbreaking with the senior racer that cried because he did not make the 4 hour cut-off at the Twin Lakes check point.
The scenery was beautiful. The aerial shots give a great view of the race venue. The graphic animations shows the race course and gives you a idea where the shots are taken.
Now, while I have never raced other than one at Lake Manawa, I can feel for the riders. They endured the trail, the altitude, rain, sleet, hail, and 100 miles on a mountain bike! Hats off to everyone - if you finished or not, were there as support, worked as a volunteer, or just attended the race.
The schedule at the theater showed the film lasted 195 minutes! No way - just over 1 1/2 hours.
Am I going to ride that race? (That's what some of my friends asked - in jest, I gather) No Way! Now I would like to shoot photos as the racers come up and down Powerline...
A "Must See" film, for mountain bikers, road riders, racers, race fans, or know a cyclist. A treat for a guy like me that knows some of the local racers. Great to see them in the film.
Thanks to Kim West (The Kim West Radio Cycling Show - KXNO, AM 1460) for the promotional tickets.

Fleming Cottage Hospital

The snow is gone now, but this is what it looked like in January. The Fleming cottage hospital serves the area around Aberlour-on-Spey, and is where my father is being treated following his fall last month. This is the original bit of the hospital, with part of the modern wing at one side and health centre at the other. It's on a very human scale, with only 15 beds. And good home cooking.

Tomato Seeds

A few weeks ago Meggiehad a fantasticGarden Seed Giveaway. She was very generously offering some heritage seeds. I chose a variety of tomatoes - Tomato Carbon, which have won many taste awards in the last few years!

They arrived today - and I am thrilled and delighted.Thank you, Meggie!

We will get them planted and I'll let you know how they progress.I am really looking forward to the taste test!

I wonder how they will fareat this year's Village Show

We had a huge amount of fun last year,notching up far more successesthan we expected.

The trouble is that it puts the pressure on this year!

I am counting on these purple tomatoes to win at least one class.Thank you Meggie.x









PS. Check out Meggies seed list - newvarieties she is trying out this year.

Alternative Burns' Night

Last-minute planning of traditional Burns' Night fare was not a good idea today. Not on a Burns' Night when Scotland's First Minister made another carefully timed speech tugging at the independence heartstrings of the nation. Certainly the Scottish National Party is leaving no national symbol unexploited as it seeks independence for Scotland. Above, the 'haggis chill cabinet' in our local Tesco on Saturday. The tartan swathing is new to Tesco's display this year. As the independence debate ramps up, so does the tartan. By 2014, the proposed date for a referendum on independence, we will be drowning in it.
By 5.30 tonight the haggis had sold out. Even that mostly unloved stalwart of Scottish cuisine, the neep, had disappeared.



So we celebrated with home-made mushroom risotto with roasted butternut squash. Shhhh...

Sprucing Up For Spring

Well, after 23 years, I'm finally adding more gingerbread to the outside of our house. When we first built, I was overly caution about how much trim was added not wanting the house to look like a wedding cake. Our house style, Carpenter Gothic circa 1835, is more plain than later Victorians.

But after living with it for so long, I've decided it needs a little more fancying up. So over the next 3-4 days, I'll be poring over online catalogues trying to find what I really like. If you're new here, the top house is ours. The following photos are possible trimmings, brackets, and gable decorations. Stay tuned for the final results.

Don't Waste Your Life

I finally finished reading Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper. I really like his convicting, hard-hitting style.
Here are some portions from the last chapter entitled My Prayer-Let None Say in the End, "I've Wasted It". And now shall we who treasure Christ and know your love is better far than life lay up, like all the world, our treasures on this earth? Would not we hear you say, as you once said, "Fool, will not this same night your soul be taken back? And then whose will these barns of bounty be?" Forbid, O Lord, that while the world is filled with need we would sit down and say, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry." A terrible reversal waits such lovelessness. "Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation."
Oh God, such riches are a wasted life. Protect us, Lord. Grant us to hear and heed another call: "Lay up your treasure not on earth, but in the place where moth and thief will never come. Make treasures for yourself that cannot fail."
The answer is that in this life we may begin to treasure Christ, and here gain an aptitude for joy in him. It is delighting in his fellowship beyond all family and friends. It is embracing all his promises that there will be more pleasure in his presence than from all the lying promises of sin. It is a gladness in the present taste of glory and the hope of future fullness when we see him face to face. It is a quiet peace along the path he chooses for us with its pain. It is being satisfied that nothing comes to us in vain.
He calls us now to use our riches for the poor and to join him in this final task of frontier missions. Is not this, then, the way we lay up treasure in your house-to give our money and ourselves to make as many rich with God forever as we can? Grant that we move toward need and not toward ease.
As God lives, and is all I ever need, I will not waste my life...through Jesus Christ, AMEN.

Hindsight is 20/20 (duh!)

I would like to think of myself as a reasonably healthy person.
I exercise regularly, I generally get enough sleep and, a few indulgences aside, I typically eat pretty healthy.
However, even healthy living can get bit by the occasional flu bug.
And that's where I'm at presently: At home and sick with what the doctor described as a combination of strep and an ear infection. My temp has been spiked for the last couple days and I've had a headache that feels a lot like a team of jackhammers going to work on my forehead.
It's been a pretty uneventful couple of days. Mostly just watching a lot of movies, listening to a lot of music and drinking more than my fair share of water.
It's also given me time to reflect on where my healthy habits went astray to cause this sickness. In this case, you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out what went wrong. It can all be traced back to last Monday.
Monday happened to be a day off from work for me. Since my job at the Free Press is generally confined to a desk, my days off usually consist of anything but sitting around. Monday was no exception. Here's a breakdown of my activity that day, with the events being in order of occurrence:

• 90 minutes of racquetball (apparently a pretty intense session, as my coworker claimed to be worn down from it the next day)
• 5-mile run
• 40 minutes of rowing
• Donating/selling plasma
• 60 minutes of biking

Now, even without the plasma donation, that's a lot of physical activity draining water from my system throughout the day. Since plasma donation generally takes about a half-gallon of water from your system (and leaves you more susceptible to the flu, as mentioned in a previous post), it's not too far-fetched to believe that I was extremely dehydrated by the end of that day.
In my defense, I thought I knew what I was doing. I've donated my fair share of plasma, and I'm usually pretty good about keeping myself hydrated for it. If that wasn't enough, I gave myself a few hours after the donation to take a nap and drink some water before I decided to hop on an exercise bike at the Y and watch the Timberwolves game.
I felt fine after the biking and figured I took the proper precautions for such a cardio-filled day. However, when I woke up the next day feeling sore all over with a dry throat, it became pretty obvious that I bit off more than I could chew.
Two days later, enter sickness stage right.
Coincidence? I'm thinking no.

Blast from the Past: Modeling Career

1969

It wasn’t a long career … if I recall correctly, it lasted all of one day :-)

I have no recollection of how mom’s hairdresser convinced this essentially shy girl to be a hair model, but here’s proof that I agreed to a short stint on the catwalk!

İzmİr, Turkey

Gift From the Sea-Revisited

We're taking a few days vaca at Jekyll Island, GA. I'm reading Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh for the ninth time. It's a book that I never get tired of. If you've never read it, you must. It speaks to every stage of a woman's life.
As I was reading today, a sentence resonated with me. It said, "One falls under their (waves) spell, relaxes, stretches out prone. One becomes, in fact, like the element on which on lies, flattened by the sea; bare, open, empty as the beach, erased by today's tides of all yesterday's scribblings."
I want all my yesterday's scribblings to be erased. I'm up at 1:00 a.m. right now unable to sleep. I'm all out of sorts from all the travelling we've been doing for the past three months. The older I get, the less flexible I get about getting away from my usual routine. Or maybe it's just the back-to-back trips we've been making. Whatever it is, I'm topsy-turvy, and I don't like it.
So while we're here at the beach, I hope to lie flat and let the sun and surf do its good work.

I Made It!

The engagement party went off without a hitch on Friday night.  We had a cookout at a local state park.  Here's the cake I made for them; camo and girly pink.  It was a cute idea, but my execution left a lot to be desired.  Cake decorating is not on my list of talents!  Oh well, everyone thought it was cute anyway.
We had a crowd for Easter dinner.  Lots of good food and fellowship.  The kiddos had a great time hunting the eggs.  I had a great time hiding them.  I kept finding myself smiling and remembering the past when all the cousins would gather at Grandma Collins' house to hunt eggs.  I was telling my mama what a good time I had hiding the eggs and remembering all the hunts we had at Grandma's house.  Mama said that she just loved hiding the eggs too.  There were probably a hundred or more since there were so many cousins hunting them.
So hopefully this week will be a little slower and calmer; at least until Friday.  The whole weekend will be spent in celebrating our church's 25th anniversary.  There'll be lots of friends back to help celebrate, so it'll be good to renew relationships.  Summer, please come quickly!  I'm ready for a laid-back state of mind.  All these schedules are makin' me crazy!