Scotland with One Scot

Over our Easter holiday, Nathan and I went back to Scotland, to the Southwestern coast this time, with some great friends from church. We shared the most beautiful country house and had a great time just eating, playing, chatting, and generally having lots of fun.

Here's the whole clan. Hamish (seated next to Nathan) was the only Scot of the bunch. His wife Marije is Dutch, their two kids Xander and Rebecca were born in England, Brent is American, and Aline is German. 

One day the kids and ladies went to the beach and got some ice cream. It was definitely not bathing suit weather, but it was really warm. At least 55 degrees F!

I love this picture of Xander.

On our way to get ice cream!

While we were at the beach, the boys went and played golf.

Meanwhile, back at our cottage, there were loads of pheasants.

The living room was great for reading and lounging.

Becca was particularly fascinated with my big cup with the permanent straw. I have a feeling I will be leaving her a few when we go back to the States.

What a cutie!

There was a lot of horsing around in the kitchen. Good times.

On our way home, we stopped in Torthornwold, home of John G. Paton, the famous missionary to the New Hebrides in the South Pacific. If you're not familiar with him, listen to John Piper's biographical sketch. It is AH-MAZING. Go here to listen for free.

This is his church.

Nathan was so stoked.

This is the church graveyard. He wasn't buried here, but we looked.

The ladies

The gentlemen

Going home...

I'm a little less than enthused about going back to school this week, but the structure is good for me. It's been a lovely Easter! Did anyone do anything really cool over spring break?

Happy Belated Easter

Long time no blog, eh?

I would say that I've been crazy-busy, but I'm actually right smack in the middle of my three-week long spring break and am quite enjoying doing a bit of nothing. There just hasn't been much to blog about recently. 

The sun came out today, though, and stayed around ALL day. That's actually blog-worthy.

And for Easter we hosted some Durham University students.

Here's our cake-decorating mastermind, Isobel.

And Rob (aka Silvers). He eats a lot. He was an hour late (typical Silvers!), but he polished off half a dozen deviled eggs, five rolls, a quarter of a turkey, and the rest of the spinach salad. I knew what I was getting into before we invited him. :)

Rene and her friend Jenny came and brought us some beautiful chopsticks and homemade Chinese food. They wanted to share it with us after we finished our Easter meal. I was incredibly full already, but I managed to find a Chinese-food sized pocket in my stomach to put it in. And then Silvers finished the rest.

Here's everyone getting ready to eat some bunny cake!

Correction: this is everyone.

I really missed home this Easter, especially singing with my dad in church and eating all of their delicious food. Last year I had Easter in a football stadium in Florida and then got on a cruise ship with my friend, Heidi. I can't believe it's been a year already!

The Latest from Tesco

It's been a while since I've talked about Tesco. And you guys love those posts with all of the food pictures, so here's a long awaited update on what I saw shopping today.

First of all, you know that if something is important, it takes up the whole aisle. Here are three aisles covered up with what the British love.

Kettles and toasters for tea and toast, of course.

Biscuits (aka cookies)

Baked beans

I love sending my nieces these little packets. They're like magazines, but they have prizes like stickers and paints and other little fun things. They have them for all ages and interests. 

Here's a boy one with Thomas the Train.

Every card in the card section is individually wrapped in plastic, and they have cards for every occasion. This is the "congratulations on your new house" section. However the "blank inside" section is made up of about three cards.

These are Sharpies. Yes, right. They're 14 POUNDS!!! That's $21.11 according to today's exchange rate. I don't know why, but school supplies are ridiculously expensive here.

I thought the sunscreen advertisement was ironic. If I didn't see it on TV every once in a while, I wouldn't believe that the sun exists.

Because everyone needs 460 bags of tea at once. Those are my keys to show scale, by the way.

This is marmalade. I thought the names were funny.

I was on the jam aisle and saw these "mocktail" preserves. One is a cosmo flavor, and the other is daiquiri flavored. I've never heard of this in my life.

Sponge is cake, but I think I would have a really hard time ever purchasing sponge mix.

These are the only chocolate chips in the store. They're 1.69 ($2.50) and the bag is only half full. I'm guessing there's enough for half a cup. That's why I import mine.

Another surprise product: jelly in a bottle. I think this is supposed to be drizzled on ice cream or something.

Blech. What IS this?

One slice of spongy pizza, anyone?

And at the checkout, there are no magazines, gum, candy, etc. Just insurance advertisements and stuff. It's weird, but I don't miss the temptation to make impulse buys.

Have you seen anything strange at your grocery store lately?

YouTube Party Picks

Whenever we get together with friends, at some point the conversation devolves into talking about YouTube videos and we huddle around the table on somebody's laptop laughing our heads off. Instead of feeling guilty about this, we went the opposite extreme. We invited people over for the sole purpose of watching YouTube videos... with a little food on the side. 

So, we had our much anticipated YouTube party a few weeks ago, and I completely neglected to take pictures. Not that it matters, really. You probably aren't interested in seeing pictures of people watching YouTube videos with a projector in our living room. Anyway, we feasted on chili and cornbread and went to town. Here are the funniest ones I can remember. I apologize to Aline right now because I can't remember how to look up her videos in German. :)

Here is the original "one pound fish"...


And here is the glammed up version... Nathan and I have been singing this non-stop.


I think these girls are amazing. I want June and Winnie and to do something like this. Maybe Papa Mike Bear can work on that...


So, our English friends didn't get this one as much, but our American friends were dying with laughter...


They didn't really get this one either. Maybe it's lost in translation.


I love this one. Nathan and I are working on it...


Nathan's fave. He's a simple man.


And finally one to represent the genius of the British wit (not for the kiddies)...


We finished the night by watching PEOPLE ARE AWESOME!


Would you ever consider having a YouTube party? What YouTube videos are you into these days?

The Golfers' Mecca

Anyone who knows anything about golf knows that St. Andrews is the motherland. Nathan was really excited to see The Old Course, the birthplace of the game. Todd took us there on Saturday afternoon, and we were able to watch a few people on the 18th hole.

These guys looked about 17, and one of them lit up just before he teed off, but golly, he drove the ball to about 4 feet from the hole. I guess there's magic in them cigarettes.

Nathan's shadow, the 18th fairway, the clubhouse (on the left), and a Macdonald hotel (on the right, the same kind of hotel we stayed in but in North Berwick)

Here's a close-up of the clubhouse.

Nathan talked a lot about that little stone bridge. He's seen a lot of videos of famous golfers walking over it.

Behind the golf course is that famous Chariots of Fire beach. And now the song is stuck in your head. Sorrynotsorry.

A new sand trap is in the works, I see.

On Sundays the course is closed to golfers and open to the public. People take walks, have picnics, etc. out there. Can you believe that? I think that's amazing.

Here's my love by the 18th hole.

Todd and Elizabeth's son, Evan, took this picture. Pretty good, eh?

We had such a great time with our gracious hosts. They fed us amazing food, tour-guided us, entertained us, and let us sleep in a really comfortable guest bed. Like, really comfortable.

Here are Jack and Evan being boys. Their mom told them to stop horsing around on each other's shoulders because it was dangerous, but after I snapped a quick picture she whispered, "Will you send me a copy?" I love that.