A little more news for today - Sister Margaret and I made a visit to Judique and grabbed Theresa for a meal at the Red Shoe so we could have Michael Rankin for our waiter - he was adorable.
Tonight Sister Margaret and I went to the conference Banquet and these two scholars who quoted and gave credit to her throughout their awesome lectures, made a beeline to chat with her. She was asked to give the blessing in Gaelic when dinner began. It was a fantastic evening - and Oh the salmon - I had the most delicious salmon!
PS: Amazing experience recounted from Kathy Tobin - she is touring in the Carolinas this week and while on an excursion she started talking with some people who turned out to be from my school in Switzerland!
The house is beautiful inside and out - Theresa gave me photos of the construction to bring back to show everyone. Plan to have a few laughs with them, especially those of Theresa in a hard hat and safety goggles!
Michael is working at the Red Shoe and doing summer course work online for his graduate degree. He could not be sweeter.
Sister Margaret engaged in a lively debate with Rob Dunbar from the University of Edinburgh and Iain MacPherson from the University of Ulster. These two adore her. Iain began his life's work from the inspiration of Sister Margaret's book.
Spent the morning at the Gaelic conference with Sister Margaret and at lunch we picked up Father Malcolm. As we settled in to our food at the restaurant, hordes of people came over to talk to both of them, so we put down our forks and chatted. When the last one 'sallied forth' as Fr. M remarked, he looked at me and said "well I thought we were going to starve!"
Photo Below: Sister Margaret gave me this today for Greg and myself - it's a copy of a copy, so of terrible quality, but it's still a gem - the three of us at the Culloden moors in 1976.
Sister M and totally hippy BroG. I am eager to take this into PhotoShop and see what I can do to improve the clarity and color - although it might take the rest of my life! Doesn't it look like Greg has a big brown cauliflower on his shoulder? Or maybe a dead bear cub? lol
Me at my skinniest post baby Sarah who brought out my best! So did Sister Margaret who read aloud to me from Robert Burns when I began to think I couldn't be away from Andy and Sarah another minute on this trip to Scotland.
Arrived yesterday and have spent most of my time so far with Sister Margaret and Father Malcolm. We spent last night at Theresa MacNeil's, daughter of Mary from Judique. Sister M and Father M went over a lot of old stories of their grandparents and filled in family history questions. It was a late but fun night. Today Sister Margaret and Maureen Williams and myself had dinner at the Lobster Treat ... yum. By the way - we shared that coconut cream pie!
Tomorrow I pick them up at 8:15 to attend the Gaels in North America conference. At noon I invited Father Malcolm out for lunch and he said "no - let's exploit the university - pity the lunch will be so bad!". Hilarious. I think I can talk him into something better!
Aaah, I am so disappointed not to have Boston photos - but I treasured every moment with my dear family - Jackie, Jessie and Johnny. Thank you for a wonderful visit!
Arrived in Ottawa for the weekend and was stunned by the beauty of the Parliament ... oops I mean the beauty of my cousin Jean! We had a great time together.
Three sculpted angels immediately caught my eye near Parliament.
My camera does them no justice whatsoever.
Although a cloudy weekend, Jean and I had lots of great walking.
Parliament Hill is breathtakingly beautiful.
For a moment I felt some Moscow here!
They were in great preparation for Canada Day and William and Kate's royal visit.
Jean loved it too.
Back to the angels...
...and I think the most beautiful Parliament buildings I have ever seen - although London always had first place for me.
Cousins Forever!
The surf is a bit treacherous so we need to be extra careful at the water, but it's great to be here!
Madeline welcomes another beautiful day!
Iris takes breakfast orders - bacon and eggs everyone?
Two minutes to the sandy beach.
... and the start of a sand castle.
Checking out the water temp.
We're pretty colorful today!
And we own this beach!
Looks like we have the beach to ourselves!
Alex, Prince of the Surf!
Iris and Madeline taking it easy!
Everyone ready to draw a sunset?
Alex takes time out for funny faces!
This is Madeline at the beach today!
A Last Walk on the beach after Dinner!
Getting dressed to go back to the house.
We'll do this again tomorrow you can be sure!
Off to Long Beach Island after leaving Josh and Andy behind to carry on without us!
looking for seashells
and other beachy things!
Coming along Iris?
Sand trotting!
Let's get more sunscreen on!
Line Up Kids!
Madeline finding shells for her mom and dad and Ella!
Iris finding shells for her daddy!
Beach Planning
Who needs a swimsuit anyway?
Do you think Christopher Columbus sailed by this beach Alex?
Back at the beach house and time for some cartoons!
Madeline would you manage the remote please?
Pretty cozy watching "Ella and the Giant Tomato" before bedtime! We miss you Ella!
Happy Birthday Dearest Andy! Thrilled we can celebrate with you in Philadelphia today! xoxo, mom
Happy Birthday Andy!
Alex has lots of birthday wishes for Uncle Andy!
Yum IceCream Birthday Cake!
Iris, Alex and Madeline have their birthday card ready!
... and Andy loves it!
Madeline helps her daddy open his birthday present.
... let the birthday feast begin!
Madeline and Iris are loving Nana's new birthday pillow!
Time for Stories before bedtime!
Iris finishes up the story.
New Day and the cloud is almost gone, slowly moving downward. At 9am this morning my friend Nancy called from where I used to live to tell me they were rounding up the cows in her pasture so I should get outside. I had tried to catch a bunch of them coming up here on my birthday but they move very quickly and by the time I found my shoes, jacket, camera, ran down 3 flights of stairs and down the road a bit, the bells were a distant tinkle. Today they didn't have bells so it was perfect to have the phone warning.
These cows move ever so quickly but also are used to being on the slopes so a few of the young ones were trying to scramble up and I was really glad they had herders on both sides or I would have dropped my camera to run. I'm not even sure I could outrun one of them, probably NOT! Anyway notice how much brighter today is - perfect for graduation!
A car leading and following with herders in front, behind and both sides calling out 'yadayada'
Wish they had been wearing their bells - maybe next time!
This lot were not that big, often they are absolutely massive - look how healthy they are though and treated so well! I love that about the Swiss. Forget Mumbai!
I wish my students were so obediant.
Ciao Cows!
Check out the poor guy in the truck. That would have been me if I were a cow. Taking the easy way up. Although maybe ... it's the bull?
... till we meet again boys! I mean ... girls!
... missing them already.
... back 'home' and it's looking much more cheery this morning!
Look at the cloud disappearing - and with it my hair will not be so curly for graduation today. Like ... who cares!
This little gazebo always makes me think of the beautiful one in Sound of Music - did Greg and Cathy see it in Austria?
Here's where I live - the 3rd balcony over the door. I just picked up some nice outdoor furniture for it.
They do their best.
A last glance of the gorgeous morning.
TIme for breakfast .. if only. This was from last week in Florence. I could get used to eating like this! Till later then ...
Greg was asking about where I've moved. I described it to him in a way that he thought of Jack Nicholson's old horror flick The Shining. (Sarah was in university I think and one summer wanted to see a scary movie so I rented it. It frightened her so badly she wouldn't talk to me for a week.) Anyway this morning I took photos. We are in a massive cloud as you will quickly tell. They just descend without warning and my hair rejoices because it can frizz the way it is meant to. My new apartment is a tiny studio which is challenging to a pack rat like me, but I'm learning to manage. Next year I will get a big apartment. I took this studio because it was the only place available and I wanted to be up here. Although I loved taking the little train in the morning, I love more being able to go to my classroom in the evening and staying there as late as I want. It's a massive benefit. So ... here goes my life in Belle Epoque which once was The Grande Hotel of Leysin. Our school bought it and is converting it to classrooms and dorms. Maybe half of it is done. I tried one morning to walk the length of halls downstairs and gave up - they were simply never ending. I would NOT stay here alone at any time because I am convinced there are ghosts.
Yes it's tiny but there is an awesome balcony outside those french doors.
View of the cloud from my balcony.
This is my entrance. It's very pretty.
One of the Shining Halls. The lights go on automatically when you enter them. Creepy.
The Grande Ballroom is set for our graduation banquet tomorrow. I love this room.
The mirrors and doors are beautiful and it has an exquisite ceiling.
Leaving through my side door.
The front entrance.
Amazing Flowers.
Main door with classrooms to right and boys' dorm above.
Looking down to where I live at the end of the building.
My classroom is at the far right in the new addition. It replaced an incredibly old pool.
Wood carvings are huge here and all over.
This is the path I used to take down to my old apartment. It's great.
oops - I can't help myself!
... just one more!
Back to my apartment.
Our regular dining hall.
Deciding whether to take the old elevator or 4 flights of stairs - it's always a dilemma, lol.
The Dorm Head printed these up for every floor to let the girls know I was coming. Obviously ... she likes me!
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