After Orkney, we took a short flight down to Edinburgh to stay for a few days. We stayed in a hotel that put a rubber Nessie's (as in Lock Ness monster) in the bathroom, instead of a rubber duck!

This is our hotel with the castle in the background, to the left. It is a wonderful Victorian era hotel that used to be a train station. We had lunch with a friend who came out by train to meet us. He is a friend we knew from online chats and was very nice to meet in person. Lunch was at The Witchery, a wonderful restaurant in a 16th century building just outside of the Edinburgh castle.

This is down Prince's Street, full of wonderful old buildings with wonderful character. The guy with the blue face on the left was dressed as William Wallace (Braveheart) to raise money for some charity. It was a really hot and humid day and the guy was wearing all this leather and wool and looked ready to die from heat.

Edinburg was also doing the CowParade while we were there. All sorts of artists decorated cow statues in all sorts of creative ways. Here was one as Braveheart.

And here is the Edinburgh Castle, as seen from the fountain in Prince's Park. People were at the park in swamps to sun bathe and we saw a lot of sunburns later that day.

Part of the castle from the grounds

Inside St. Margaret's chapel, at the castle

While in Edinburgh we also went to a Georgian era house in Charlotte Square which was really great to see. I don't know a lot about the Georgian era and it was interesting to see how people would have lived then. Another interesting place we visited was Mary King's Close, the remains of old homes and streets from the 1600 and 1700's. Here the city took a series of old, multi-story homes, set way too close together, and leveled them down so only part was left, to become the foundation for newer buildings. You can do down, 4 to 5 stories and see how close and crowded things used to be, it is amazingly intact. Animals kept and butchered right next to or under homes people lived in. Building so close together that they hardly saw the light of the sun. Really amazing!

Joe and I also order kilts to be made in my families tartan for the clan of Armstrong. Joe is getting a full formal set, including jacket and shoes, etc. to wear for our wedding. It should look really fantastic. I am still not sure what I will wear for the wedding.

After Scotland we returned to the Sussex area in England and spent our last few days with Joe's sister, brother-in-law and mother. The weather continued to be really very nice. I think the countryside of Sussex is just as lovely as the Cotswold area and I really enjoy the country. For instance, how about this picture? We were driving along and had to stop for a sheep crossing! 

Joe's sister, Claudia, took me and her mother to a wonder garden showing at an estate. They publicly open the gardens for a few days each year to raise money for charity.

Here is a flower covered well with two adorable stone bird statues on the rim.

The owner calls this the Blue Garden

While in Sussex we also went to Brighton Beach for one day to shop. It was a really fun place on the ocean, with very Bohemian stores called "The Lanes". The beach is made of rocks, rather than the sand I am used to in California, and don't look at all comfortable to sit on, but plenty of people were sitting on it, regardless of the discomfort. British people do seem determined to enjoy what sun they do get, even if it requires a stiff upper lip and some rocks.

Finally I will share some photos of a fun place Joe and I found, referred to as a model village. In reality, it is a huge garden railroad that is just fun and amazing. It is called the Bekonscot Model Village and was first opened way back in 1929. The Queen went as a child and then took her children. Everything is done in approximately 1:12 scale, so of course I loved it from the dollhouse aspect. 

A little English house. Unfortunately, some parents were letting kids go over the little fences and several kids were trying to yank people and trains up to play with.

Here you can get a better idea of the scale with the people nearby.

And this was labeled as the local old people's home. Humorously and unfortunately, a character on the lawn who was supposed to be mowing the grass and fallen over and looked like he was dead. Yes, I am a sick puppy.

Okay, enough of my travel ramblings and photos. I hope you enjoyed!

Busy, busy, busy... It has been a chaotic few days, trying to get the last of my things out of the apartment and then clean the apartment so I could turn the keys in. But now that is all done and behind me although there is a large, lingering collection of boxes that now need to be unpacked. Bleh!

I got the girls signed up for their new school next year. They both went with me and toured the campus while I filled in forms and declared that they liked it. We met the librarian, who was cleaning up for the summer and she was very nice. She assured Megan that there were lots of books about kitties and told Becca she had lots of animal stories.

The girls also got signed up for library cards at the new library and joined the summer reading program. Megan checked out three chapter books and had already read two before we even got home! She definitly takes after me in her love of reading. Becca got some books too, but has yet to crack one. I will have to remind her this weekend or she won't be getting any reading awards.

The pool at the new house has been very popular and the girls can happily be there 4 or more hours a day if allowed. They are turning into little sea otters and meeting a lot of the kids here. There are several kids down the street that they play with on a regular basis now. Becca has figured out how to do summersaults underwater and has learned the breast stroke and back stroke. Megan is now fearless about putting her head underwater and opening her eyes as well as floating and learning a rough crawl/dog paddle stroke to get around.

Wed. we took the kids to the county fair and it was fun, but way too hot and humid. It was a day you could get wristbands for unlimited rides so we took advantage of that and the kids went on all sorts of stuff. I enjoyed seeing the bunnies in the agro building. I also found a booth selling the best scones! They actually sell the mixes to make them, not the finished product, but they had samples of some they had cooked. I bought four packages. Yummy!

I am hoping this weekend is a bit quieter so I can catch up on some unpacking and sorting of things and rooms and get this house into more of a livable condition. It still only feels partially moved into and a bit like we are still partially living out of boxes.

Hope everyone is well, having a great summer and enjoys their 4th of July celebrations (assuming you are American). Hugs! I hope to post the rest of the Scotland pics next week.

We are back from our vacation and I am finally organized enough to have time to blog and share some pictures. I LOVED Scotland, especially Orkney which was just breath taking at every turn! Add all the history and I could spend weeks exploring. Orkney is a set of islands in Scotland, off the northern tip. It is so high up that we had almost 22 hours of daylight while there. It is just weird to see the sun in the sky at 11 pm!!

Orkney has a rich and long history, with some of the oldest human settlements ever found. Skara Brea is dated at 5000 years old..pre-dating even the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids. Following these neo-lithic people, who apparently lived in this area for hundreds of years, were the Vikings. So just all sorts of interesting things to see at every turn. We explored one old tomb from the neo-lithic period that was "re-discovered" by
Viking crusaders from Iceland. These Vikings used it to shelter from a storm and spent their hours carving rune graffiti with things like "I am the best rune writer ever". Humble, too! There were even puns and jokes and the guide told us they had evidence they were very well educated.

Anyhow, we had the best weather possible, everyone kept commenting on how lucky we were to hit their best weather of the year. Joe just told them we brought California weather with us. Another humble type! So without further ado, here are some Orkney photos I took. It was hard to not take great pictures!

This is the type of view everywhere you go. Rolling countryside, grazing sheep and cows, water and an absence of trees. Apparently, it is difficult for trees to grow due to the winds.

This is the home of the friend we stayed with. Most all buildings are made in this style and most of the walls you see are stacked stone, very similar to the stone walls you see in New England. As you may guess, it rains a lot, so everything is very lush and green.

The yellow plant is called broom and grows wild, all over, adding splashes of color to the green fields. It was just beautiful to see from the plane window.

Here is one of the excavated neo-lithic homes in Skara Brae. The square in the center is the fire pit, to the left is a bed area where they would use furs for warmth. The roof would have been canvas over a frame, that was then covered with earth and grass except for a hole to allow smoke out. The rooms were surprising large inside and comfortable feeling. Each home was connected to the others by underground tunnels so they didn't have to go out in storms.

Another area of Skara Brea, they think this was likely a shares building, perhaps a workshop of some type.

A view of the ocean from Skara Brea. I can see why this area was picked so long ago as a place to live. Storms or not, it is just stunningly beautiful!

The main island has the largest town, Kirkwall. I saw this sign while we were getting some gas for the car. I guess this is a popular area for the river otters to play.

Here is the Ring I blogged about earlier. Wow! Originally it was 60 stones, something like 32 are still standing and center is filled with heather.  Apparently at least a few have been hit by lightning and cracked and/or knocked down over time.

This amused me. In the middle of a sheep field, along the fence was this 'mini' house someone built. It is about 3 feet tall and the sheep seem to like it to lounge against.

This is in Kirkwall. There is a lovely cathedral there and two ruins: the Bishop's Palace and the Earl's Palace. This is a pic of the Earl's palace, taken through a hall window in the far wing.

Here you can see the Earl's palace with the Magnus cathedral in the background.

Oh, and with the island of Shetland not too far away, it is not uncommon to see Shetland ponies around. These were by an elementary school.

Next I will highlight our visit to Edinburgh and our adventures there. Hugs to all!

Well the house is now officially ours. We actually ended up with the keys on Wed. afternoon, much earlier than we expected, and ever since then we have been madly packing and moving things from the apartment to the house. I am walking around like a zombie now.

Today some of the window blinds were installed, which is great, because now there are rooms with privacy. Tomorrow the movers will be at the apartment in the afternoon to get the furniture, so I have been boxing up that is on top or inside of any furniture. Tomorrow night will be our first night in the new place, because we will finally have beds there.

Milkyway, our cat, is very confused. He knows something is going on, but he is not sure and is a cross between wildly hyper and needing lots of hugs and re-assurance. Guess tomorrow will be his first night in the new house too. I have not really worked out how we will juggle all that so he does not get out while furniture is moving.

Mom arrives on Sunday to stay. She will have a few days to learn her way around the new area and learn the kid's schedule so she can do taxi duty while Joe and I are in the UK.

Speaking of the UK trip, it has changed a bit. Originally we planned to travel through Scotland by car, but then realized we would not have time to spend 3 days in Orkney and 3 days in Edinburgh if we drove. So we will fly up and back again, to cut out the several days of driving time. It means seeing less of the country overall, but really getting to enjoy our time in each location. At this point, as tired as I am, the 10 hour flight to London will be a welcome time to catch up on sleep!

Hope everyone is well!

Today we did the walk-thru of the finished house. Wow, it was really nice. They even put a red ribbon across the front door of our house to cut, like it was a grand opening. Everything was clean, shiny, just fantastic. Technically we were supposed to find any problems, like spots that needed touch-up paint, etc. But really, the list we made was very small and nothing that would take more than a few minutes to address.

So, after a lot of begging and pleading, we have convinced them to let us close over Tues/Wed next week, and we may have the keys as early as Wed! That will give us an opportunity to bring over some boxes ahead of movers and get some basics in like toilet paper in the bathrooms, cleaning supplies and trash cans.

We found a landscaper this week to do the yards too, but it takes a while. Final plans have to be drawn up, then submitted to the HOA for approval. Plants and materials have to be selected, etc. So it will be several months, start to finish. Oh and our stick trees in the back-yard actually got some leaves on them, so I guess they are not just dead-wood after all!

In other news, since we will soon have a garage, Joe could not wait any longer and went out and got a car for himself. Here is a picture of his new toy:

Believe it or not, it is 6 years old, but only had 8,000 miles on it! So he got a real deal on it! Becca and Megan are trying to talk Joe into taking them and their friends all over, I think they now see him as a glorified cool taxi service.

What else? Um, my mom arrives here a week from this Sunday. She will be watching the girls while Joe and I go to the UK for two weeks. He has to return to the UK every 90 days right now, to keep his visitor visa valid, until he can apply for his green card. We went to the immigration attorney this week too, to get the ball rolling on that, but it will take several months at minimum, due to the divorces not being finalized yet.

While in the UK, we plan to spend most of our time traveling up and through Scotland, all the way to the north-most area of the Orkney islands. I have been looking at websites and there is some beautiful and interesting places up there. There is a stone ring, that makes Stonehenge look boring. It is called the Ring of Brodgar.

And a Neolithic settlement called Skara Brae that looks just amazing from the pictures I have seen online.

We also hope to see Edinburgh for a couple days and perhaps the Armstrong clan tower, since my maiden name is Armstrong. That is very close to Edinburgh, so it should be fairly easy to get to. We will be driving up and down the country, so we should also get to see a lot during the trip. Joe will probably get sick of me asking to stop so I can take photos. The girls are hoping we can get them kilts in their sizes. Oh, and in June in Orkney, the sun is up for 18 hours due to it being so far north! That is going to be very weird!

So, as you can see, there is a ton happening right now and it is keeping me insanely busy. I hope everyone is well and has a great weekend!

Well I wrote up a nice, detailed and humorous blog about my jury duty and then I went to do a spell check and lovely Xanga ate it. Do they ever finish messing with the editor on here? Will I ever learn to save my blog before I do *anything* to it? Oh well, I will try to re-write it later, but at the moment I am not in the mood. In a nutshell ( a phrase loved by miniaturists!) the case was about a guy who was hiding a stolen scooter in his house and was trying to claim he had no idea it was stolen despite a punched ignition. Anyhow, we found him guilty, finally and he is off to jail or whatever happens next.

Right now life is all about the new house and getting ready to move in. It is less than two weeks now and for all extent and purposes, the house is ready. Yesterday the last of the carpet was put in, so now all the floors are in. The toilets have been re-installed on the new floors, which led to excitement earlier in the week, but more on that later. At this point they are just touching up paint and that is about it. The handles to the faucets are not on, but that is supposed to keep the workmen from using the bathrooms in the house to clean up and will take all of 30 minutes to do when the time comes. I am very excited and I feel like a kid who can't wait for Christmas now.

The day they re-installed the toilets, Joe and I arrived to look at the progress just minutes after the plumber had left. Everything was looking great and then I got do the downstairs bedroom and heard running water. Going in to the bathroom I found part of the inner guts missing in the tank, causing it to run. Oh well, I figured they lost or broke a part and would be back the next day to fix it. But then as we are walking out Joe says "Hey, you are leaving wet footprints on the floor." I turn back and look and yes, they are VERY wet footprints. I go back into the bathroom to find around 1/4" of water on the tile floor! Arghh! We rushed back to the sales office and told them and they got the head contractor out there ASAP. He was so grateful, because it was the end of the day and if we had not caught it, there would have been serious flooding and water damage by the next morning. Whee!

Wednesday night they had a party for all the new families in the neighborhood. It was very nice with a Mexican buffet, lots of sodas, balloons and a clown who was doing face painting for the kids. Becca met a girl her age and they seemed to hit it off very well and spent most of the evening together. We met several of our neighbors who seem very nice and we even won a $50 gift card for Home Depot as a door prize!

Enough chatter, time for some pics.

Finished!!!

Carpet for the stairs and upstairs hall. This is in shades of greens and brown but the true color is not well reflected in the photo.

Carpet in Megan's bedroom. Becca's room has the same carpet.

The family room carpet is a deep navy blue with small gold accents.

The kitchen, done!!!

The wonderful new stove and ovens

Becca's dragon from the house party. She is refusing to wash it off, trying to see how long she can make it last.

Megan wanted her face painted to look like a cat. Who would have guessed!

Hugs to all. Be well and have a great weekend. Happy Mother's Day to all those moms out there!

Weeeee, jury duty. Yep, did it all day Monday and all day today, back tomorrow at 9 am for more fun. I can't tell you anything about the case till after it is done, but I will have things to tell.

Sunday, while the kids were with Gene, Joe and I went to the Ren Faire. Joe surprised me by insisting we both get costumes there. So this is what we ended up with:

Here is Lord Joe

And Lady Jane

The outfits are beautiful and fun to wear, but oh man, when it starts to get warm, you die in them! I was gonna smack the next person to ask me if I was hot in the outfit.

We went by the house today, during my lunch break and they are almost done laying the wood floor in the living room and dinning room. Next is the downstairs bedroom (my craft area!) It is really looking great. They are also painting the final coat of white paint on the outside, covering all the mistakes, stains and missed spots. Oh and they have finally started repair work on the cabinets they installed! Woohoo!

Friday we are supposed to see the landscape people to see the plan they have drawn up and see if it suits our budget and wishes. I am hoping I will be done with jury duty by then.

This week the girls are taking the state tests to see where they are in their skills, so there is no nightly homework. Needless to say, they are both very happy about the no-homework part.

23 days till we can move into the new house!

Look! My car is in our driveway! It is almost like we live there..almost. Less than a month till we move in now. The did a second coat of paint on the shutters finally, there had been the white primer showing through when you were up close to them, now all better. They painted the deck railing and we now have grass and our own personal tree on the curb!

Here is the curb-side grass and tree from the other side.

Speaking of trees, they have planted two 'trees' in our backyard too. I think they are really just sticks, not a hint of a leaf on either of them. The builder claims they are something called a tulip tree, but I have my doubts. I looked up tulip trees and they normally are only growing in forests of the east coast of the US. Oh and they put in the fence there, where it used to just be dirt from our backyard to the neighbors.

Here is the newly tiled fireplace in the living room. You will probably get a better view if you click on the pick for an enlarged view. It is made of green marble cut in a diamond pattern.

And here is the new kitchen floor, dirty, but installed. I should have taken a close-up on the little decorative squares, just looks like polka-dots here, they are very pretty in person with a floral design on a pewter finish.

Laundry room tile is done too, in traditional laundry-room type tile.

And yeah, the floor in the master bath is also done. So now that all the tile work is done, they will start on the wood flooring. I am assuming that will start Monday. I think they have to float some gunk to smooth out floors first, as they did before laying the tile. I can't wait to see the wood floors.

They have also installed the gutters and sprinkler systems as well as the heating. So things are really moving along. I guess they need to be at this time, or we won't be moving in next month!

And there ends this week's house update. Stay tuned for another blog soon that just covers the more mundane day-to-day stuff going on.

Last week went by much too fast, but here we are on Monday again. The weekend went well. Megan went to a birthday party on Saturday for most of the day and Becca and I worked on her covered wagon project. She built a model wagon and then did a report on the sorts of things one might carry inside the wagon on the trip. She really seemed to get into it and I was proud of her hard work.

We have been back and forth to the new house several times and we now have the air conditioning installed and the garage door and deck has been painted. Inside they have laid the tile for the laundry room and the bathrooms. They are still working on our bathroom, but has a more complicated tile pattern. We also did a lot of measurements so we can try to sort out how furniture will fit and look. There is goop all over the kitchen floor, I think to level it more. They still need to do a final coat of paint on the outside and put in the rain gutters, but I imagine they leave that till right near the end.

This week will be the open house at the girl's school, which they are excited about. Both have been busy in class doing all sorts of things for it. Otherwise, at the moment, there is not a lot of mandatory appointments to deal with beyond Becca's normal math tutoring. That is a nice change. Come May 2nd I have to go in for jury duty and I am hoping it will not make problems with new house activities. Maybe I can tell the I think the death penalty should apply to any infraction.

Hope you all have a great week and are getting and enjoying wonderful spring weather.

Our house continue to move along in a positive direction. Since my last update, the front door has been painted red and a garage door has been added. One month from today we do our official inspection walk-thru!!

They installed the weather stripping on the doors and today they started to lay the tile on the floors that will have tile! Yeah! Meanwhile, Joe and I have been busy picking out and ordering all the stuff that needs a lead time to ship and be delivered for the new house, such as a refrigerator. It has been keeping us very busy this week!

Last weekend we took the girls to a really nice Easter event at a park in our new town. They had all sorts of things. Food, crafts to make, game to play with prizes, bounce houses and of course egg hunts.

After the egg hunt we went to see a magic show and both Becca and Megan got to have a turn being the magician's assistant.

My mom and sister Beth are now home, but I think they had a good time. We took them to see Ice Age 2 and also to Clay 'N' Latte to paint ceramics. After visiting us, they drove up north to see my grandma and aunt and uncle.

This coming weekend I will be working with Becca on a project to build a covered wagon and helping her write a report to go with it. It should keep up pretty busy. I hope to pick up the supplies for it tomorrow. Megan has a field trip on Friday to see the butterflies at the Wild Animal Park and she is looking forward to going again.

Hope everyone is well and life is going well for you.