Monday 10 November 2008

Oystercatcher






















I apologize that it seems to take me a week to post these days!

We've been blessed with a house full of visitors this fall and this past weekend Lauren Hawkins (daughter of Hawkins (old neighbors) that were here last week) was here from London. She is on a work assignment for six weeks in the London area and so she came up to Scotland for a visit.

Friday, Lauren and I went to the Edinburgh Castle all on our own. This was the first time that I'd been without children and it was fun to read a few more of the signs and learn a little more of the history. We enjoyed the tour and then had lunch at a pub on the Royal Mile.

Saturday after Rugby, we loaded into the car and headed West. We took the ferry from Greenock to Dunoon and then drove a very scenic drive through the Argyll Forest. The rolling hills and pine trees were beautiful and much different from any other part of Scotland that we'd seen. My pictures do not do justice to the colors we were seeing. The views were spectacular! We were headed towards coastal towns that a few friends have mentioned and because of weather and lack of beach, we decided not to get out but to keep searching for a good lunch spot. Lauren quickly noticed a sign for the Oystercatcher and so on we went in search of this wee pub. It was like a little gem, in the middle of the country, with very little around and it was on the water. Perfect. We stopped, the boys played outside while we ordered lunch (I love that about Scotland, I don't think we ever did that in Dallas) and then we enjoyed a terrific meal. The owners were super friendly and the place was hopping.

Since autumn is quickly changing to winter, we took off for home in the dark. Not too good for sightseeing. We did enjoy the nice lazy day though! And our visit with Lauren! The boys came home with new tricks for passing the time at the dinner table. In a pub. Flipping the coasters off the end of the table and blowing the coke can across the table! Skills. We've got em!












One other quick note; one of the many blessings of all of the rain in the part of the world. Rainbows. We've seen more beautiful rainbows in the past year than I have seen in my lifetime!