pick one : jenny/jenga/jentle/jengi/itchy/jk

elgin

yesterday i drove from aberdeen to elgin, where one of david's brothers lives, and where the available howies are congregating this week. it was quite a pleasant drive through the countryside.

we got to elgin, and after some lunch, arrived at douglas and cherry's place. they are lovely people - fantastic house! they will be housing 11 extra people over the next few nights. good on them!

after some time catching up, douglas took david, howie and i to lossiemouth to walk along the beach. it was cold and windy.

douglas and david

some variety of creature had left lots of these on the sand

the beach we were at is just near an airforce base, and we had fighter jets flying over us at regular intervals

we continued further along the coast to walk around some cliffs, and across a golf course. if it's 'real' danger, it must be serious

back at the house we sat around some more chatting, as david's sister anne and her husband richard had arrived. anne and richard were at our wedding, so i've already met them! we had a lovely dinner, and played a game for most of the evening.

today howie and i have wandered a bit around town, and are now at maccas for our internet fix. later today/tonight david's brother alan and his partner joyce arrive, as well as howie's cousin laura and her man robin.

so it will be a big dinner tonight, and some scattering of grandma's ashes tomorrow.

that's the plan anyway.

before the internet runs out

we had a nice dinner tonight at casa gabriele - a lovely italian place just around the corner from our hotel. although we're both very full now.

tonight's plan is to go to the 24 hour walmart a few miles down the road. rocking!

and we say bye bye to the internet shortly - hopefully we'll get some in elgin over the next few days. tomorrow we head off to catch up with more of the family. and meet them in my case.

sun, sea and sand, without the sun

this morning our day began with a trip to balmide beach. as we arrived there was a fun park that we played in for a little while

we then continued along the boardwalks up to the top of the dunes to overlook the beach and the north sea

we didn't touch the water, because it would have been freezing, but continued back along the wheelchair boardwalk so we didn't have to climb back up the dunes - lazy!

from there, we drove back to the hotel via avis at the airport to confirm that three of us are drivers with the car, and dropped off mary.

david, howie and i continued on to duthie park, where we walked around and then through the winter gardens, which are indoors. i had an icecream, howie attempted to

we continued out into the country side along the river dee. it was very pretty. we got some lunch in banchory and then decided to visit dunnottar castle near stonehaven. i drove the big car for the first time which was fun.

dunnottar castle - "one of scotland's most impressive ruined castles"

it was very misty, windy and cold. but that added to the atmosphere!

we had a great time wandering around the grounds. there were plenty of rooms to walk in and around, stairs to climb, windows to look through, dark hidey holes... it was a tops find

can you even spot howie in here?

this was funny

after we'd exhausted all the castle had to offer, we hiked back to the car and continued back to aberdeen. i drove us into the city and back to the hotel. we parked and then walked to M&S to meet Mary and an old lady called Charlotte who was a friend of the Howies when they lived in Aberdeen when Howie was little. She was a cool old lady.

Howie and i then meandered up union street, the main street, and back to the hotel. we're now making sure we make full use of our 10 pound internet before it runs out later tonight!

oh, and this is a sign on the back of our hotel room door

happy mothers day!

i hope all the mothers out there have a wonderful mothers day full of expressions of appreciation and love!

lots of love to my Mum, my two Grandmas, and my mother-in-law aka MuMary.

to husband's birthplace

This morning we decided to stop in at the Perth visitor centre to get us a magnet. It wasn't open on weekends. No visitors allowed. As fortune might have it, we headed back to the hotel to retrieve forgotten items, and were told of Scone Palace, which has a gift shop.

So we headed a couple of miles north, and lo and behold came upon this palace in lovely grounds. We decided to have a look around.

There were these amazing peacocks near the front entrance - at least four of them. They occasionally gave beautiful shows

Inside the Palace we walked around looking at old stuff and photographs. It's still lived in, so it was a bit strange to be looking at family photos from the something hundreds, as well as last year.

we spent up big in the gift shop - much more than magnets.

then it was through the grounds, past the chapel...

and the carpark to the maze. it was good fun! everyone found their way out except me. i had a little help from above (robert on an overbridge directing me!).

can you spot howie?

we continued on to aberdeen, and got here around 1:30pm. after checking into our hotel (which disappointingly charges 10 quid a night for internet - ba baow), we went for a walk around town. we grabbed some lunch, and ate it in a cemetery

we walked on through the first real shopping malls we've seen so far in the UK, through to the streets where the Howie's used to live.

this is a cute road sign

tomorrow we'll be taking in more of aberdeen. the town that produced the man i'm married to.

you can see a few more pics here.

tick another one off

we've made it to scotland. i think that makes country #19 for me.

we're staying in perth tonight before heading to aberdeen tomorrow.

so the last few days...

for joshy, in blockley in the cotswolds - happy birthday buddy!

walking the walls in york

at the national railway museum in york

howie's beloved flying scotsman in a gillion pieces

for tom, in kendal

we stayed last night near ulverston, at howie's cousin's families house. it was the first time for me meeting christopher and lynne, and their kids abigail and alistair. although they are on our fridge, and we are on theirs! after a bit of catching up and dinner, we played rounders outside til at least 9pm!

today we drove through the lakes district and went for a walk at tarn hows

after a few hours of driving on motion-sickness-inducing roads, we continued on into scotland!

hoorah!

tonight we're thinking dinner will be room service - we're all pretty pooped.

urban...rural

we headed off to tower hill for a light rail ride. we discovered it's driverless and good fun.

the little stations were cool, and the trains really frequent.

we tubed it back to our hotel to start our journey out of the city

we drove to oxford, and did some car swapping at oxford. we have two cars for a few days, and then plan to go back to one again. this is 'our' one... still to get a name

we also got some lunch in oxford - at nandos. moreposher than nandos at home! but you get to wash your hands in front of everyone, and have a bottomless soft drink cup! but i found the mildest possible chicken still burnt my mouth off.

after driving through the oxfordshire and gloucestershire country side, we arrived in brockley, where we are staying the night.

we went for a little stroll through the village

oooh, it looks like england!

good old country villages!

tomorrow we're heading to york, and are going to stay two nights. well, that's the present plan anyway!

you can see more pics here