Here are some more pictures from the Edinburgh castle. Yesterday was St. Andrew's day, evidently a national holiday. The castle was open free to the public. Pretty good deal. It is normally 18 pounds a piece admission.
In the picture below you can see the activities of the Christmas fair - the big wheel thingie. These were taken from up in the castle.
Had a nice run this morning at The Meadows. It is only a couple minutes walk from Elijah and Katie's flat.
Laps5
This is where I ran today. Relatively slow jog, but I didn't worry about my heart rate. It was in the 150s most of the time. I've given up on the MAF training. I just didn't see any progress.
I've decided to try to slow it down a lot, and see if that will help me build my aerobic base.
We ventured out to the Royal Mile, Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh castle. Saw a female bag piper, some other street performers, and took an audio tour of Holyrood. Elijah took me into the library at New College. We saw St. Giles cathedral and the original Greyfriers Bobby. Beautiful old city. Lots of walking. Enjoy the pictures.
I arrived safely this morning. Elijah and I took the bus (sat in the upper level, front row) to a stop about a 15-20 minute walk to their flat. Saw lots of beautiful old buildings.
The below building is where Elijah attends school. Fabulous, isn't it?
Reading to my baby girl. Love this baby!
No sewing to show. I did cook a thanksgiving-like dinner for the hubby tonight since I won't be here on thanksgiving day.
We met my brother, sister-in-law and their two boys, and a girlfriend, for dinner the other night. We had a nice time visiting. Even though they live fairly close, we don't get together very often.
And Emma says, "only six more sleeps, and my Mamaw will be here."
I am going. Yep, to Scotland. Edinburgh specifically. The awesome thing about it is, I get to see my grand girl Emma! The hubby is holding the fort down on this one. I'll check out the accessibility conditions there so we can determine if he will be able to go next year with me. He has a bad leg (polio) that really limits the amount of walking he can do.
So, I did some practice packing today. Love those space bags! From this:
To this:
And... since I am going to be there for two weeks, and they have a Christmas 5k, I signed up!
My first "destination" race.
I am so thankful that the hubby has earned a lot of travel bucks this year. He is letting me use some for my trip. He's a nice guy like that.
Roasted vegetable rosemary chicken......hope it's good.
This recipe was a Cooking Light category winner a few years ago. Also made the hubby his favorite chocolate cake for his birthday tomorrow. Then I decided to make up some S.O.S. mix -- soup or sauce. I've never tried it before but ran across the recipe and had all the ingredients.
I did a very cold 5k this morning. Improved my time a bit even though I placed fourth of four in the 50-59 age group. I am pretty sure I was the oldest woman participant. Glad I did it.
Can't believe how cold it is tonight! It might be our first frost. They are even predicting snow in the surrounding mountains.
Perfect night for a cup of hot cocoa.
I wish I would have started much of these sooner. Thought I'd share my face care routine.
I do a weekly baking soda, lavender, water light scrub. You won't believe how wonderful your face feels after this. I put about a tablespoon of baking soda in my hand, add 2-3 drops of lavender essential oil, and some water to make a slightly thin mixture. It exfoliates great without being too abrasive. Twice a day I use my essential oil face blend I made, (heavy at night) sunscreen (in the mornings), then a pat of Cetaphil lotion around my eyes. This is before my makeup or at night before bed.
I've been collecting essential oils for a few years now. This is a great deal from Spark Naturals. The essential 4 pack. Lavender, lemon, peppermint, and melaleuca in 15 ml bottles for $49.99. Yes, they are expensive but have so many uses and last a very long time. It comes with a card to explain all the uses. Melaleuca cured a toenail fungus I had a few years ago (a gift from a pedicure!), and the only thing that worked! It took months but so worth it. Sometimes it is called tea tree oil.
I claim to be a low maintenance kind of girl because I don't color my hair, get manicures, pretty nails or pedicures (rarely), but I will spend money on essential oils for all kinds of heath and skin care ---headaches, muscle aches, allergies, colds, fungus, sleep aid, face care. I'd encourage readers to at least try lavender and melaleuca. So many uses for them!
Got the binding finished today. Like it? All from the stash. I like those.
My first attempt at straight lines on the longarm. Those are difficult!
I'd heard the story before. My grandfather invented some type of telegraph to transmit pictures by wire. The year was 1908. He wrote the patent office and they replied that they knew of no use for it. Below is his letter and their reply. He never followed up with having his invention patented.
Here are a couple of newspaper articles years later (1931 and 1966), where this new invention was introduced and used! Interesting to note that he invented this at least 20 years before someone else did and patented it!
In the above photo, it is in the bottom part about a telephoto picture of a Tennessee volunteer football game.
Then this last article.....
This same grandfather carved this monument.....
...my son asked for a picture of the letters today. He wants to use them in a sermon illustration. I'd love to hear what he has in mind. Just thought I'd share a bit of history.
In other news...wasn't it a beautiful day?
I logged some miles today.
I also finished the quilting on the baby quilt. Should have some pictures tomorrow.
I decided to appliqué the baby's name on the quilt. I also found some gray to go with some of the scraps for a colorful pieced back.
Now it is loaded and ready to quilt. How to quilt it? I will go to the Internet for inspiration. I still don't think I am that good at free hand machine quilting, but I'll see if I can find something that won't be too difficult.
