Hi all! Greetings from Edinburgh. I'm on te last leg of my trip through Scotland. It has all gone by much too fast. We have been having a blast exploring, hiking and experiencing Scottish life on holiday.

We spent some time in Aberdeen, home of our own distinguished Lab Rat. Hi Ratty! *waves*

We also spent a couple of days in Inverness, took a freezing cold cruise up Loch Ness, but alas, no monster. Guess I'll have to photoshop that one in after all.

We drove back down from Skye today. Now there is some absolutely beautiful country. I could live on Skye in a minute. Just need a warm sweater, my jewelry and art supplies and internet and I'm good. I took over 200 photos yesterday, alone. So far I think I have almost 600 photos taken. Don't worry Rocky, I won't post all of them at once.

Coming to you now, live from a pub in Edinburgh. Enjoying loud conversation, good Scottish ale, bad bar food, football (soccer for us Yanks) and wifi. Its been so much fun. I hate to leave, but I miss Logan and can't wait to see him. Just not looking forward to that loooong flight.

Jade and I have been laughing like crazy. Everywhere we go, we look like we belong and then we speak and the truth comes out. Apparently, I have a 'bit of an accent.' Go figure. Everyone has been very friendly and the drivers here have all been very patient and polite. Even if we did go round the round-about 2 or 3 times on occasion. We really haven't had too much trouble getting around, but we did take a Midnight Architectural Tour of Aberdeen last Saturday. We went downtown for dinner and missed the turn off to the road back to our B&B. We ended up driving all over the place, on streets running parallel to the one we wanted. We finally asked for directions at 0130 about 500 yards from our B&B.

Its been an adventure. I have missed you all, but I'm having fun. Guess I'll have lots to catch up on when I get home. Can't wait for July 4 chat. Be warned, I'm coming armed with stories.

Gotta run. See you later.

I'm betting that wasn't Jades idea.

I'm so glad to hear you're having fun!! *color me jealous*

I'll help!

Sounds like you're having fun! I've always wanted to go to Scotland. Maybe when I finally do go, I'll see the monster.

Chick, you would love it. I'm on my own today. Jade is scuba diving with sharks today and I didn't feel like hanging out at the aquarium all day. Instead, I'm hiking up and down Edinburgh...that's hiking as in up the hill/down the stairs. I think I have done more climbing here than I did when I was on Skye.

I have been taking tons of photos, and already have a sneaking suspicion some of the things I have seen will find their way into stories sometime in the future.

Scotland is nothing at all like the American west. We have mountains, tall ones, but we don't get the extremes that they have here. I'm not really sure how to describe it. I need some time to think on it. Heck, its probably more of a feeling and a spiritual connection with the physicality of place than anything. I just know that I have only felt this way three times in my life. The first time I stood in the ocean, the first time I stood in the Southern Utah canyon country and here.

Jade lasted for 2 days before he said 'I could live here.' I think I could too, very easily, although even if I did, I would probably never lose my bit of an accent.

I am definitely coming back. There is just too much to see and do and we haven't been able to do nearly as much as we wanted. I might be heading to Glasgow tomorrow to visit a friend, depends on her plans.

Anyway, I still have two days left and not much time on the clock so I will be off again. I'll try dropping in again when I can.

No he wanted me to call the owner of the B&B and ask for directions. At 0130. She was quite happy that I didn't.

Wow... *sigh* That all sounds so wonderful.

You will show us the pictures when you get back, won't you?

Well, I'm back, safe and sound and more or less recovered from my jet lag. And I am already planning the next trip back to Scotland.

We had a great time. I still have a hard time putting it all into words.

As for pictures, I took over 800 of them so I am now sorting them and putting them in some sort of organized file. Once I get them sorted I will post some of the best ones. Just give me a little time.

I also need to get my portfolio put together for the gallery in New York City. I want to have that done before mid July and then I need to put together the instructions, samples and materials list for the classes I am going to start teaching at the local bead store.

Oh yeah, I still need to finish the fanfics I started as well as help Beth with her current work in project. She's picking through my chemistry and OSHA background with a very fine tooth comb. If you guys liked her last one...

I will let you know when I have the pictures posted.

Yay!! The Grrl's back!!

We feared that we'd lost you forever to the mystic highlands and men in pleated skirts!

Welcome home!

Thanks, I missed you guys, but I haven't missed the desert heat. I'm already a little scorched around the edges, and the air conditioner in my car is dying a slow painful death.