Family changes

Life here has been somewhat busy. We now have a new son-in-law !!!!!! Darling daughter #2 got married out in Utah on 1st. August at Mount Timpanogos. We only had a few weeks to help organize everything here, and there. Long distance weddings are definitely something else to arrange but everything went well. 

Darling son has now moved out and is attending MTSU,  about an hour away from us. He likes being there. I will feel a bit conflicted when they play BYU soon since two of our daughters graduated from there :)

Our oldest daughter returned from her church mission at the end of March and is gradually getting settled in to her job, church and volunteer activities. She is applying for post-grad in speech pathology which is not easy to get into since most universities have only a few spots available.

Getting back to daily life

I've been back in Scotland for the past few weeks. My mother had been sick for a while but died suddenly from something other than what she was being treated for. The funeral service was lovely and  her ashes are now interred beside her mother. I had a good visit with my father, siblings and other relatives and friends. We were able to get much accomplished to help my dad and hopefully make his physical life around the house and garden a bit easier for him.
School starts back up tomorrow for my son, my daughter is coming for a visit, and some other family things need taken care of so I will not be blogging much from here for a while.

The Giants Causeway - Northern Ireland #3

A closeup look at some of the rock formation as we walked into the causeway. It is a natural phenomenon created by slow cooling lava flow.

The Giants Causeway - Northern Ireland #2

The Giants Causeway - Northern Ireland

This is part of the walk from the car park into the Giants Causeway. Very pretty area. We opted to stay in the main area and not try the long hike on the other side. We also took the mini bus back to the car park area. The basalt formations are quite striking. Most people stay on the main viewing and climbing area but if you go round back the scenery is steeper and less populated. We watched a number of people attempt the long steep climb up the mountainside. Hubbie took the photos I will be showing you over the next few days since I was helping our daughter try to negotiate the causeway.

Coastal Road Northern Ireland #10

Whitepark Bay was one of the first settlements in Ireland and is a very pretty area to visit. Not many people there the day we visited. There are rip tides in the water but that did not stop a dog and his owner from having a good time chasing a stick.
For some more info and stunning photographs visit http://www.peacecamp2012.com/locations/white-park-bay.aspx

Coastal Road Northern Ireland #9

One our way we stopped off at White Park Bay. A short hike in over grassy hillocks found us in a beautiful little bay with Portbradden in the distance.

Coastal Road Northern Ireland #8

If you look closely you will see two birds have taken over one of the holes in the rock to create a nest.

Coastal Road Northern Ireland #7

The coastal road to The Giants Causeway actually goes inland for a while. Very windy, very pretty.

Coastal Road Northern Ireland #6

Coastal Road Northern Ireland #5

Meet the hubbie :) Between the two of us we took a ton of photos.

Coastal Road Northern Ireland #4

Coastal Road Northern Ireland #3

Coastal Road Northern Ireland #2

Coastal road Northern Ireland

On the coastal road to the Giants Causeway.

So close yet so far

We were in Ireland and in Galway during the International Quilt Festival 2012. Did I get to it ....... NO :(  We saw the signs and banners, passed the college location, and took a fabulous bus tour to Kylemore Abbey instead. Some ladies on the tour had been to the festival. They liked the quilts on display but were not too happy with the organizing of travel and accommodations for the event. Hopefully some of the kinks will get sorted out for next time.
In all the stop offs we made around Ireland there was not much quilting to see BUT some of the cathedrals had some amazing ceramic floors, altars and other items that could easily have inspired existing quilt patterns and designs :) There was also plenty of other textiles to see which I enjoyed greatly.

One banner in St. Nicholas' Church in Galway caught my eye.

as did some random dancing as we walked around :) Seriously they showed up as a little parade (3 pipers, 2 dancers and a highland costumed guy carrying the Scottish flag), set up, did their dance and cameras and then moved along to another part of the street and did the same thing. We followed them for a wee while.

We took tons of photographs and I will share them over time and at each of my blogs. What impressed me the most - the scenery (obviously), the stained glass windows and ceramics, the wildlife, the historical ambiance intermingled with modern, and the seemingly random sculptures along the roadways, roundabouts and other places.
I was sorely tempted to buy one of the many ruined buildings we saw along the way but managed to resist the temptation. Maybe they will just have to show up in some of my art work (if I ever get back to it).
I also noticed a theme with the many cottages that we saw which I will share in another posting.

The London Hippodrome

Now there's an interesting looking building. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me so I asked my daughters to take a few shots for me. The building dates from 1900 and was originally used for a circus and variety performances. It then became a music-hall and variety theater. In 1958 the inside was demolished and turned into a cabaret restaurant. It is currently undergoing more renovation.

"Hello down there, why not come up and join us !!!"

We also passed  Ripley's on our mammoth walkabout. A visit inside will have to wait for another jaunt across the "big puddle". Piccadily Circus has changed somewhat since the days my mother worked there at Drummonds Bank, and unfortunately looks even more "signage tacky" since I lived in London.

I feel like I've been busy the past few weeks with a lot of traveling - college visits for daughter #3, volunteer work, a visit to Ohio to do some house painting for my mother-in-law, shopping trips to help daughter #1 get ready for her mission in California, woodwork project in our house, and a bunch of other stuff locally. We are currently dogs/house sitting.
It's been way too hot and humid for me to sew much, (though I have been helping my daughter with hers,)  so I've been doing a lot of productive genealogy research related to my great-uncle and one of my cousins. (That internet travel has taken me to New Jersey, Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, England, Scotland and India !)
School starts back up at the end of this week for my two youngest. Summer break has felt really short this year. Daughter #2 is flying in for a short visit in a couple of weeks and hopefully we will get together when hubby and I are doing an overnight layover in Utah in September.

Colourful Friday - Leaves

Want to see more fun ideas? Hop on over to Robyn at http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com

Scots Corner - Camera Obscura

After a visit to Edinburgh Castle we decided to try out the Camera Obscura which is located just outside the castle. It was built specifically as a tourist attraction in the 1850's by Marie Theresa Short. We had a whooole lot of fun in the "World of Illusions" exhibit, most of which is hands on. The short Vortex Tunnel at the end took me a wee while to stop feeling like tipping over :)
The Camera is at the very top of the building, about 5 flights up with no other access, and we were fortunate to see through it on a lovely day. (When it rains hard or is foggy there is not much to see.) There is a walkway outside on the roof that gives great views over the rooftops of old Edinburgh.
We opted to start at the top and work our way down. We all enjoyed ourselves, though it took me a wee while to regain my balance once we were done :)

http://www.camera-obscura.co.uk/

Scots Corner - Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

Plan on spending at least a day at this wonderful, free to the public, museum in Glasgow. After all the wonderful exhibits we saw, my favorite part of the building was the Central Hall of all places. The pipe organ was played at lunchtime which made for a nice ambiance as we ate and wandered round.

And then there's the "Hanging Heads." On their own, amongst the light fixtures, they look somewhat out of place but in context with the rest of the exhibit they make more sense. The expressions are hilarious.

Once we got to Glasgow we took the underground to Kelvingrove and then a short walk to the museum. There's lots of other sites to see in the area but we opted to spend the day inside this impressive building. Definitely a must see again.