Trip to Scotland

We went to Scotland from July 4 through the 12th and had a wonderful time. They say not to go to Scotland for the weather, and "they" are right. Despite some rain, the temperatures were agreeable and we managed to see this beautiful country up close and personal. The scenery on the very first day gave us a hint regarding how it was going to be.

We stayed in Oban on the west coast for the first few days, and sorteed out to the islands and up to Loch Ness. Even though we sailed out onto the water, we still didn't spot Nessie but the trip was worth it. There is a system of locks, which connect lochs together so that the inland lochs can be connected to the ocean. That way water transportation can be used far inland.

The views from high above Oban were very picturesque, our hotel was a building constructed in the 1700s, and our room was in the turret tower to the left. The town of Tobermory was colorful and quaint, and like most of the towns, it had its distillary. I sampled a few single malt scotches, and learned that there are over 150 different brands in Scotland.

Castles, castles everywhere. We stayed in Stirling next, where there is an extraordinary castle, including a beheading stone. People were being beheaded while we were there so we only saw it from a distance. The 4 most notable castles to me were Sterling, Duart, the Stalker island castle and Edinburgh. We'll get to Edinburgh later. The Duart Castle is where Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones filmed part of "Entrapment."

Edinburgh is a big city, with the biggest of castles, and a summer residence for the royal family. The weather was pretty miserable that day, so the outside pictures aren't great. I did get an interesting picture of the prisoner of war facilities, used in the 1700s to house U.S. sailors from the Revolutionary War. And we did get to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe -- same ol', same ol'.

And then there was St. Andrews. We crashed a 2010 British Open practice round by going through a gate accidentally left open! More interesting than the golfers was the course and the clubhouse, and then we left to see the old St. Andrews church and graveyard. Can you imagine a church with 31 altars? Anyway, it was a glorious end to the trip.

There is more, but you'll have to put up with a slide show to see our William Wallace and Robert the Bruce stuff, along with the other monuments and memorials. The flights were long, but the trip was fantastic. Now we have to decide where to go next year.

Love,

John & Barbara

The Pieces Are Coming Together

As I sit here contemplating my navel, waiting for Barbara to retire....

I thought I would go over the last year, mostly subsequent to the entries for the construction in Englewood. Most of my time was indeed married to the construction, and Barbara was working, working, working.

We took three major trips between the beginning of 2009 and today, all in the truck. We went to the east coast and visited with much of Barbara's family, while we packed and hauled items from her parent's estate to New Mexico. Then we went to the west coast to see Trudy, Cami and, for the first time, Gabe & Alina - Tru's grands. From there it was up to Vancouver to see Brian and Michelle's family and to look at the housing market in the northwest.

Then it was all work until Christmas, when we went back to the northwest to spend Christmas with Brian's family and buy a house if one was available that we wanted. Fortunately for us there was, and we made an offer which was accepted. In January, I returned to sign the papers and move our stuff out of storage, so all we have to do now is bail out of Crownpoint and complete our move.

So sometime between March 15th and the 22nd we are outta here, and the next chapter begins. We are lining up some kid and dog sitting in June for Colorado, and going to Scotland in July for the first of what we hope will be many trips as tourists. I will definitely post a report of our Scotland tour.

John

The Floors are Finished!

We are just about ready for our final inspection! John finished the large task of installing the wood floors for the addition and Brendan installed the wood on the stairs. The banister is up on the stairs. It just needs some stain at some point. The kitchen is complete and all of the appliances are hooked up. They are both working on trim throughout the house - a large task that takes time and patience!

Counters and fences...it's looking good!

The long awaited granite tops were delivered and installed today. The first two pictures are the bar area in the dining room followed by John and Barbara's kitchen counters and then their bathroom "grotto." Now we just have to get the faucets in and hooked up and we are good to go. After 4 months of a relatively open back yard, Jameson is nice and secure with the new section of fence up. Of course now that he can relax outside in the sun without running away, he would rather nap on the couch. Go figure!

Goodbye Fred...

We said goodbye to Fred the shed today. It served us well and let us put a ton of things in him. We are very excited to see the backyard again. Got grass anyone?

Bet You Thought We Were Done...

Well, the answer is no. However, we are really on our way. The tile is done on the main floor as well as all the areas in the bathrooms. John has worked a tremendous amount on his kitchen cabinets and will have them up and ready for appliances by early this week. We also painted and painted and painted. John did most of the ceilings while Barbara and Meg worked on the walls. The great room is just about finished. It is "Svelte Sage" and ready for trim and crown molding. All the furniture is in and Brendan has the speakers throughout the house dialed in with a remote that he can use anywhere (we call it 'Tim Rainwater' style ; )). While we are tired and achy, we are loving the progress and excited for the next week. We expect the plumber and HVAC guys to finish complete their jobs as well as completing a dry wall punch list. We also plan to empty "Fred" our nice trailer that has held everything in our backyard since April. Once Fred is empty we will move dirt and get him hauled away. After that, you all have to come and help us landscape and move in. Sounds like fun, right???

Looking at the pictures, there are two views of the house, one of the shower tile in the boys bathroom upstairs, John and Barbara's bath tile, the main floor bathroom tile, John and Barbara's kitchen cabinets (some of the uppers are not hung yet), and then 3 pictures of the great room as you pan to the left from the fireplace.