Day 2 - Haggis

August 9, 2015

   Before I tell you about lunch, let's back up a bit. As sleep gave way to consciousness this morning,and before my eyes opened, I smiled when I realized, "Wow, I'm in Scotland!"  It's a crazy sensation to awaken to a dream, but that's what I did each and every morning while I was in Scotland.

My home display of my quaich accented
 with heather.  

   Okay, as Bobby and I ambled our way back to the apartment, we passed a shop window displaying quaichs (pronounced "quake").

   I first learned of this uniquely Scottish invention while watching the BBC tv show, Monarch of the Glen (Hector scooped water from the loch using a quaich to christen his baby granddaughter!). Quaichs, originating in the Highlands, are a ceremonial drinking cup. 

   So I determined to return to that little shop and buy myself a quaich to commemorate my trip to Scotland. 

  After joining the rest of our crew, it was decided that we would eat lunch at a nearby restaurant that Bobby & Maridith had discovered named Merlin's. (Don't think it had anything to do with King Arthur though). Packing out the stroller with kids and stuff, we set off for the restaurant. 

On the way, we passed the 'grocery store' where we did our shopping. Nothing like back home in size, but sufficient for our needs. 

Happy Lane family. Roscoe was asleep when I took this picture at the restaurant, but later wakened. Now you should notice the knitted 'cocoon' he's snuggled in. (The cap is lying beside it) It was made for big brother and passed down to little brother. And yes, I knitted it! 

The Haggis Experience!

   When I looked at the menu, there it was: Haggis! Haggis, I have come to understand, reflects the Scottish trait of thriftiness as it uses most of the animal in the recipe. And since I was in Scotland, it behoved me to give it a try.   

   I came to Scotland with the intention of tasting haggis but I didn't really expect to like it. After all, it's made of sheep's heart, liver, and lungs; mixed with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt; mixed with stock and traditionally encased in the animal's stomach. (Sort of like a sausage:o)

   Therefore, I ordered a dish called Balmoral Chicken–baked chicken layered with haggis. With sides of mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots, cucumbers, and English peas. 

Bobby ordered the haggis in a bowl (pictured) so we could all get a taste of it without being interfered with by the chicken.

And guess what folks, I liked it! I wasn't expecting to, thought I would just taste it just so I could say I did and that would be the end of it. All I had to do was just not think of what it was made of. I think the flavor of the spices and oatmeal helped in that effort. 

   We closed out our 2nd day in Scotland in a familiar American way; got a pizza to go for supper. (No shirt for Shep in this case for pizza can be very messy when you are a 2 year old! And, oh yeah, gotta get that hair pulled back so it won't get in the way!) 

   Spent the evening eating our tasty pizza while we made plans and prepared for the following day–which just happened to be Bobby & Maridith's anniversary!

Attending church!

8/8/15  

  We had a bit of a problem staying connected while we were at the Fringe. Maridith and I had split up from the guys and had gone over to an area where we could sit down and eat. We found a table and waited for our guys to show up. After a long while, Maridith and I decided to try and find our lost boys and right before we exited the eating area, Bobby showed up. He had left Leroy and the boys at the park and set out to find us. Seems we were all lost from each other! Roscoe, obviously was quite happy to see his mom as it was supper time for him. Once we were all good and connected, Bob and Bobby went back to find us something to eat. Just when we thought we were about to have a repeat performance of lostness, they showed up. But all was forgiven when they came bearing hot chocolate and Belgium waffles smothered in strawberries and whipped cream. 

   While finishing off this luscious treat, we watched Shep sliding down the slide while his dad and grandaddy watched. Eventually, we all wore down and decided it was time to grab a taxi and return to the apartment.

   I plopped myself down on the sofa and while holding Roscoe, jet lag caught up with me and it became impossible to keep my eyes open. Someone snapped this picture and as Bob is technically challenged (by choice I think) either Bobby or Mari must have been the culprit:)

 8-9-15

Bobby and I had made plans to attend church this morning while the others relaxed and rested from the all too full day we had on Saturday. This church wasn't too far away, walking distance actually. It was a pleasant stroll down Morningside and all the shops were open. So, we made plans to stop at some of them on the way back. 

 Here's a couple of pictures of Christ Church. This church is rather young as churches go in Scotland for it has only been 139 years since it was established. It is a Scottish Episcopal church. The priest that Sunday was a young lady who apparently was filling in for the bishop that morning. The service was a worshipful one but I would say it lacked something. Didn't hear much (if anything) about obedience to live life according to Scriptures. Emphasis was more on loving others. Well, at least it was on the Sunday we attended. 

   After services we were invited to attend the tea and coffee time. A lovely older lady named Annette, who sat behind Bobby & I during worship, came up and introduced herself to us and invited us to the tea and coffee time. This was just the kind of event I was hoping for. We met two, also older, couples who spent a good deal of time talking to Bobby about his work in South Sudan. I had the blessing of continuing conversation with Annette and a man named David. They wanted to hear about what had brought us to Scotland and they shared a bit of information about their church. Right as we were leaving we met a lady named Helen, who had lived in Africa for several years but claimed Edinburgh as her birthplace.  She has returned and lives in Edinburgh once again. She and Bobby had a lively conversation about life in Africa!

   We left richer than we came, for now we had claimed new friendships and we look forward to a reunion with these warm and friendly people when we return. 

The Largest Arts Festival in the World.

Here's a catalog I picked up
for free. It contains the events
tickets & prices of every
event.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world and takes place every August for 3 weeks right in Edinburgh where we were. We met a couple our age on the plane which flew in to Edinburgh who were attending the Fringe and had been doing so regularly for the past 7 years. And there were performers on our plane who had traveled from America to participate in the Fringe. Maridith and Bobby did get to take advantage of the Circus.

Here's a stock picture of what the
street may look like during an event.

A stock picture of the street crowd.

My picture of a early Fringe
street scene.

Getting some 'eats' at the Fringe. It
was sort of like eating at the fair
in the US.

We were in high hopes to get to see the Edinburgh Tatoo,
but, alas, that didn't work out. But I wasn't disappointed
as I did get to hear several pipe bands performing later on.

A picture I took on the street.
Interesting looking couple,
don't you think?

Strolling down Morningside, Aug. 8th

Here is the front door to their 3rd floor apartment. (That is significant because Bobby lifted our three, 50 lbs. bags, 1 x 1, and carried them up 3 flights of stairs. No lift (or elevator as we call them). Boy, those muscles came in quite handy on this day.

Though the picture may be a bit dark, I hope you can see this shot of the street outside their apartment. It was a lovely street, calm, and quiet. 

So you could see what the tags on a car in Scotland looked like.

Since we arrived in Edinburgh in early morning, we had the whole day to get to do fun things.  We had brought a suitcase full of goodies from back home. Dorie, Kathy, & Rachel, Maridith's mom, plus ourselves had gathered lots of stuff for Bobby & Maridith and the boys. One of the most important things were warm clothing. Living in the heat like they do, they didn't have much to wear in Scotland where the temps were in the high 50"s and low 60's. It was like Christmas as I opened the suitcase and handed out the things we had brought them from home. 

Soon thereafter, Bobby, Shep, and myself took a stroll along Morningside.

As we strolled down Morningside, I kept wanting to pinch myself. Even though my feet were stepping on a sidewalk in Edinburgh, Scotland the reality of it was still very hard to grasp. Nevertheless, there we were!

We decided to stop at a quaint little coffee shop named Karine. Bobby ordered a plum tart, a quiche, a cappuccino for me, and a flat white for himself. But here is a little coffee lore for those of you who like me had not heard of a flat white before:

my cappuccino; not the
flatwhite.

A flat white is a coffee beverage that originated first in Australia, and later in New Zealand.It is prepared by pouring microfoam (steamed milk consisting of small, fine bubbles with a glossy or velvety consistency) over a single or double shot of espresso. It is somewhat similar to the traditional 5 oz cappuccino or the lattealthough smaller in volume, therefore having a higher proportion of coffee to milk, and milk that is more velvety in consistency – allowing the espresso to dominate the flavour, while being supported by the milk.

   Sorry for the dark picture again, but here I am sitting in Karine's, (the fact this I am in Scotland doing this still blows me away), making memories with my son and grandson. 

   I can tell you that Scottish people are a warm and friendly lot. No matter where we went, their warmth and kindness remained constant. 

Shep can be quite contemplative at times, and I find that quite unusual for a 2 year old. I wonder what is going through that sweet little head of his!

Bobby is at home no matter where he goes. While we were out Bobby bought a walking cane for his dad to add to Bob's collection. Bob has several now because whenever we go following after Bobby, he commemorates the moment by buying a walking cane. Therefore, getting a cane was at the top of our to do list.

LOVING–IN PERSON

   I was a little concerned about how our 2 1/2 Shep might react to seeing us in person for the first time (according to him. He wouldn't remember us seeing him when he was 3 months old.)  Was prepared to take it kinda slow and allow him time to warm up to us. HOWEVER, when he saw us he came right over and gave us a hug. He knew who we were!

   This was totally unexpected. Yes, we had talked to him on the phone, so he knew our voices. We had video chatted with him so he knew what we looked like! But I figured seeing us in person, being able to touch us, well, I expected a little shyness at the first moments.

   I am beyond happy to say that it was like we had been around him during those 2 1/2 years of his growing. God overwhelmed me!

   It a wonderful feeling to be greeted by such a smile. Maridith was happy in her little nest and it showed all over her beautiful face. I was beyond thrilled to be there and have the chance to love on her, my grandsons, and my son.

   I discovered in our conversations together why it was Shep appeared to be so comfortable around us. While we had spent many fun moments talking to him on the phone and video chatting, there was something beyond that that contributed to his being familiar with us.

   Maridith told me that she and Bobby, in preparation for this trip would often talk about seeing us soon, as well as mentioning our names in prayer. Additionally, they would show him the picture they have of us setting on the bookshelf. I believe this deliberate effort to familiarize Shep with his family back home, accounts for Shep's knowing who we were and warming up to us so quickly.

   As soon as Bobby finished carrying the 3rd & final piece of heavy luggage up the 3 flights of stairs to their apartment (yep, no elevator folks), we proceeded to their bedroom to take a look at Roscoe who was fast asleep.

   For a quick moment (because Grandaddy woke him up when he pulled back the covers. Roscoe opened his sleepy little eyes and guess what he did? He looked up at us and smiled!) I gazed upon this little person, with a developed little personality, who had suddenly appeared before me. It wasn't so easy to wrap my mind around the fact that this beautiful sleeping baby was my grandson. Especially, when I wasn't around to experience his mother's pregnancy and he was almost 5 months old when I saw him in person for the very first time! 

   But as soon as I laid eyes on him, the love I had stored up for him as I viewed pictures and videos of him online prior to this moment, came flowing out of me and happily fixed itself onto this newest member of our family. 

TOGETHER AGAIN, FINALLY!

Together finally! Almost two hours after landing we finally found each other!

   Anxiously anticipating the sight of our son, we made our way to the baggage pick up area. I had no way of communicating with Robert other than facebook messaging. We had the whole crew keeping up with our adventure there. I noticed that I could get 2 hours of free wifi so figuring that would give us more than enough time to join up with Robert, I signed up. There was a message waiting for me from Maridith saying that Bobby would be a little late due to the fact that his clothes were locked in the dryer. Assuming that meant he needed those clothes to wear when picking us up, we pushed the luggage carts (one for each of us) towards the exit doors to wait for Robert outside the terminal. I sent a facebook message that we were at the bus (coach in Scotland) pick up area. That was about 20 minutes into the 2 hour free wifi I had and then no more. I had no way of letting Robert know where we were!

   A couple of very nice Scotsmen (one at the information desk, another a taxi driver) used their phones to call the number I had for Robert but could only leave a message, as he did not answer. Fortunately, there was a taxi shelter area for those waiting on a taxi. We pulled our luggage carts  inside the shelter trying to escape the cold wind of a typical Scottish August morning. Fortunately, we had jackets being forewarned that we would need them for the high  50's low 60's temperatures typical of August weather in Scotland. We sat there shivering a bit while we wondered where in the world was our son!

   Finally, I agreed for Bob to walk back into the terminal to see if Bobby was waiting for us there. I was a bit uncomfortable that all 3 of us were now separated from each other but it seemed the logical thing to do. As my feet were freezing, I put on Bob's socks that he had in his backpack. However, flip flops with socks (especially oversized socks) would draw unwanted attention my way so I attempted to locate my tennis shoes. All I had to do was pull them out of the suitcase, which would have been a simple solution except that my suitcase was on the bottom with a heavy suitcase stacked on top of it.  

   Well, I was able to find my tennis shoes and put them on asap.  But the real challenge was to get those suitcases restacked.  Try as I might, I could not manage it. The taxi driver who had let me use his phone earlier had been standing nearby and seeing my dilemma came to my rescue. Thank God for that man!

   I resumed my vigil of waiting and added a prayer that wherever Robert was, God would bring us together. That was the Truth thought I was focusing on when I heard a very familiar laugh.  Sure enough it was Robert and his dad.  Bob had indeed found Robert in the terminal where he had been waiting on us all along. It was a happy reunion, somewhat frustrating but humorous all the same, because with our son, nothing every develops normally!