UK Christmas - Scotland Pt II

Weather in the winter in Scotland can provide many challenges...and we experienced some of those.  At least we didn't have the 30' of snow some of them endured for the past two Christmases, and for that we are grateful.  However...we have had not only plenty of rain but also an enormous amount of wind.  So some of the time has just been better spent sitting in the living room being warmed by the gas fireplace and watching the dustbins blow down the streets!  While the wind has been noticable almost every day, on Tuesday it was memorable even to the newscasters.  Wind gusts hit 102 mph in Edinburgh and 96 mph in Glasgow---lots of folks without power, trees felled, tall-sided vehicles blown over,  bridges closed to all traffic, and trash dumpsters and their contents blown all over everywhere.  Its amazing to see one of those large heavy things being blown around down the road like it was a handkerchief!  We chose well to stay home on some of those times.

I'm not sure how this happened...but here we are - entering California. There has got to be a story about this town's name, but I don't happen to know it.  But it was startling to realize that we were in California for a brief while!

We actually  had sunshine yesterday (and again today) and even tho the wind is very cold, just seeing the sunshine gives you a different perspective!  We spent time today viewing the Falkirk Wheel, an engineering marvel that moves boats from one canal to another.  It wasn't operating on this day, but you can certainly grasp the idea and wonder at the folks that created it.  We walked from the lower canal up to the higher canal to get the lay of the land - fascinating.

It has been a marvelous experience to be with Julia, staying in her manse, getting acquainted with not only her pet family but also several members of her parish.  God has blessed both the parish and the pastor by bringing them together.  We look forward to a return trip to this beautiful country, and the roots of our faith, but next time in the summer.  (Its not Texas-hot, but pleasantly warm.  One day last summer a friend was dog-sitting for Julia, and when she stopped by to pick them up, her friend told her she had not let the dogs play outside because it was sweltering hot-- 76 degrees.  Oh my!

We are celebrating Epiphany by a train ride in lovely weather back to London--oh the countryside is lovely to behold! 

UK Christmas - Scotland!

It's time to leave London and head north.  We were so excited about having the train ride and seeing the countryside and were not one bit disappointed.  The train was delightful, the young couple across from us were fun to visit with, and the time fairly flew by!  But best of all was to alight at Armadale, and see Julia waving at us from the parking lot!  What a great welcome!

Julia is part of our family...she was raised in Crane MO (and we all know that Crane is the Center of the Universe!)  Her Dad (Glenn Wiley) and Jerry's Dad were cousins.  Suffice it to say, we are all family.  Julia is a few years older than our daughters...she attended Presbyterian School of Christian Education ahead of Carla..her brother and Carla were classmates together at Drury.  After some years serving as a Christian Educator, Julia went on to Columbia seminary for her M.Div.  In July 2009, Julia came to Scotland for a year of familiarization with the Church of Scotland and upon completion, received a Certificate of Eligibility to enable her to serve as a pastor here.  She was called to the Armadale Parish Church of Scotland in Armadale, Scotland, halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh.  Carla was the first of our family to come and visit Julia...and last year Jo & Scott came for a visit.  Finally we have made it!

Julia lives in a marvelous manse...its a huge home by anyone's standards...it has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, study, dining room, living room, large kitchen,  huge entryway, and a laundry room, with a fully fenced back yard to accommodate the animals who reside here:  Asher and Anna, long-haired dachshunds, and Timothy, the black cat.

We shared in a truly wonderful worship experience at the Armadale Church.  It is obvious that there is a strong bond of love and community between Julia and the church family, and our hearts were warmed by their welcome to us, and their kind and supportive words for their pastor.  In the Church of Scotland, Julia is pastor to the congregation at Armadale Church but has oversite and pastoral responsibilities to all who live within the Parrish, which is much larger than the Church family itself.  For that reason, Julia has conducted more than 75 funeral services since her arrival a year and a half ago.

Sunday afternoon we took a drive around the area, visiting at the churches that Julia had worked with during her familiarization year - Winchburgh, Kingscavil, and Abercorn (where there have been worshipers for centuries!) 

Our New Year's Eve was celebrated with one of Julia's special friends, Muriel, who invited us all over for dinner, including the dogs.  She blessed us with a starter of sweet potato soup, followed by a meal of Winter Warmer (beef pie), mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, and green beans & carrots - just marvelous.  We watched a rerun of this past summer's Military Tattoo  - and we think we will celebrate our 50th anniversary by coming to the Tattoo in 2013.  What a fine way to bring in the New Year!

UK Christmas - Stirling

What a grand day with Julia!  Since its dark till nearly 9 a.m., the house is very quiet until about then..and Julia and I usually meet in the living room with our morning cuppa about that time, warming ourselves in front of the absolutely lovely gas fireplace.  A word about the weather - don't pick January unless you don't have a choice!  And if you come for the Christmas holidays, those rarely occur in the summer!  The nights are very long and the days are very short, so a lot of sightseeing gets done in the dark.  Its also quite cold - while London was much warmer than expected, Scotland is not only cold and damp but the winds have been horrific--102 mph in Edinburgh, 96  mph in Stirling the day AFTER this visit.  Needless to say that was a day we stayed inside Julia's lovely manse the entire day!  The damage done on the windy day was disastrous--bridges were closed to all traffic (for fear of blowing off!), trees came down, high-sided vehicles blew over on the roadways, chimneys and roof tiles came tumbling down, and trash bins sans trash were blowing everywhere...not a pretty sight.

But now off for Stirling..a lovely drive,  bits of sunshine mixed with sprinkling rain, until we got farther north when we started to receive snow warnings on the highway electronic billboards!  Yikes!

Stirling Castle experience was just grand.  Its bitter cold - and the wind is really blowing.  They have tall metal fencing barricades set up along the wall up to the castle to keep we tourists from being blown off!!   The scaffolding is all down and the remodeling of the lliving quarters is completed, Julia was happy to see, and it is magnificent.  We became part of a tour group with a delightful guide that I did not have trouble understanding...we saw all the places we visited when we were here for the wedding a few years ago, including the Great Hall, which is now complete with a Christmas tree, and massive curtains on all the walls to protect against the cold, and 3 huge fireplaces going (for looks only--electric).  It was fun to show Julia where we were six years ago (is that when it was?)

The private living quarters are amazing.  Two of the rooms had folks in them in period costumes to visit with you.  All the colors in the wall paintings and the ceilings were so bright and colorful now that they are restored..saw the outer & inner courts of both the King and the Queen, as well as their private bedrooms (which were only for looks, and they really each slept in another little tiny room off the bedroom - go figure!)

We had lattes in the Castle Cafe which was really a blessing by then, and helped us warm up, and now the rain is coming down harder and we decided the best thing to do is head for home ASAP...again, the snow warnings were going, and Julia says we passed several trucks bringing  stuff to put on the roads..so they are expecting the snow but only up north.

It was such a treat to be back in Stirling Castle and see all the improvements that have been made in their restoration project.