A Sheep In Wools' Clothing

Scottish Eye Candy, Cont'd

While this is really a knitting blog, and I really do knit (and spin) I am continuing on the Scottish line of posts.  I just started a project that has been in stash for a year or two, and will post on it soon (I promise!).

I, perhaps naively, had thought cigar store Indians were a uniquely American piece of history.  I did find this one in Edinburgh, Scotland. 

Since Indians of this sort are Native American, I suspect this was imported from the US.  It was an interesting twist to find it down the street from the Edinburgh Castle, in amongst whisky shops, kilt shops and 18th century buildings such as the Scottish Writers' Museum.   

He was, at least, actually in front of a cigar store that even carried Havana cigars.  Down the street was a kilted bagpiper, and another man dressed like Braveheart posing for pictures with people.

Scottsh Eyecandy, Part Three

These chairs are called Orkney chairs. They were originally made from driftwood and local straw woven to make the backs.  The men's chairs are tall like the one shown here, and the ladies' chairs have a shorter back without the hood.  These are beautiful, quite comfortable, and command very dear prices - around $1,800 each.  This one was in a museum in Kirkwall, Orkney.  One was able to sit in these.  They have versions with a drawer under the seat for storage, and there was a solid wood one called a box chair as well.  I'd love to have one of these, but the price will probably keep it at wish list level forever.

DD is in the background looking at a display to the left of the hood on this chair.... her friend, Megan, is on the right of the hood.  Megan has appeared with Mary Queen of Scots and several kilted men (including my son) in previous pictures of my Scotland trip.

Scottish Eyecandy, Cont'd

Nessie logo at her museum in Inverness.....

Scottish Bathroom Vistas

All over Scotland, I was surprised at the effort that was put into bathrooms and making them pleasant. In Kilmartin at the museum, the overhead water tanks in the bathroom were painted with Neolithic patterns.  At Inverness at the Loch Ness Monster Museum, the tilework in the bathroom depicted Nessie.  And on the way to Edinburgh, there were flowers on the counter, and vending machines with three packs of flavored condoms....

Scottish McDonald's Breakfast Offering

Yep.  A McDonald's breakfast of porridge, fruit and beverage.  Since in Maine, McDonald's offers lobster rolls in the summer, and in Oklahoma, one can find biscuits and gravy for breakfast, it makes sense that one can find porridge in Scotland at McDonald's....

Scottish Eyecandy

This  was on a pillar in the Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland.

Scotland Continued

Our trip to Scotland was a school-endorsed trip led by one of the English teachers.  He has a particular interest in things Neolithic and of the Iron Age, so that was the main focus of the trip.  We traipsed through cairns, standing stones, ancient nunneries, brochs, etc.  We started on the West coast of Scotland in the Inner Hebrides, and went up through the Highlands, then to Orkney and back to Edinburgh. 

There were distilleries everywhere for Scotch whisky (the Irish have whiskey with an "e"), and some of those have been working for hundreds of years.  In the grocery  stores, the cheese was sold by sheep breeds (I recognized them from my pursuit of different sheep fleeces to spin), and the masonry work was incredibly amazing.  I can see why the Scottish masons were in demand when the first immigrants came to this country.  Some of this stuff has stood relatively unscathed for 5000 years!

The ruins, top left, of a cathedral are in St. Andrews where the princes went to school.  The top right photo of DD is in an ancient nunnery on Iona.   DD's friend Megan (who was more cooperative about photos being taken) is depicted with an old guard and Mary Queen of Scots in the Edinburgh Castle.  And then of course is the Wee Whisky Shop in Edinburgh - a definite find!  They had an amazing selection of whisky from all the different distilleries, including the teeniest little bottles to sample I've ever seen!  If it hadn't been a school trip.... but then, we did let the kids buy the whisky flavored condoms at the kilt shops!

BAM! I got tagged!

Crow Calling Woman has tagged me with a meme.  Of course I will share it by tagging eight of you in turn.

Rules:

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts about themselves.

2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their 8 random things and post the rules.

3. At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and post their names.

4. Don't forget to leave them a comment and tell them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

Eight Random Things About Me
1.  My college major was chemistry.  By the time I'd graduated I realized I knew enough to probably get myself hurt, and not enough to stay safe.

2.  I watched my cat have kittens under the rose bush when I was about five.  Wonder if that had something to do with my becoming an obstetrician later?

3.  I came down with Scarlet Fever at the Mena House, near the pyramids in Cairo, Egypt when I was nine.

4.  I got my driver's license in a 1966 VW beetle, standard shift, a full 30 days after getting my learner's permit.

5.  One of my favorite foods in early grade school were papas fritas.

6.  I have 15 animals at home now - four adult dogs, three puppies, a cat, two parakeets, two geese and three German angora hybrid bunnies.

7.  My oldest son carried his baby blanket I never finished around non a knitting needle for three years.

8.  I've taught my three sons, one daughter and a daughter-in-law how to knit.  Of those, probably only one will continue to knit (DD).

Now it is my turn to tag others:  The Intrepid Fiber Wizard , Kelly, Kristen (who is about to graduate), Shelley,  Amy, Pippi,  Sally/Susan  and Ruth. 

Kilts

There is something to be said for a man confident enough and comfortable enough in his own skin to wear a skirt commando.  Add in  the brogue, and those are some hot dudes, ladies!  The kids on the trip managed to find some pseudo-kilts in their school colors in Edinburgh.  They each bought one, and all nine of the kids wore them to school the first day back from the trip.  Unfortunately, the teacher forgot his camera, so I don't think anyone has a photo.  (Too bad they didn't think of their cell cameras at least).  The kids didn't buy sporrins, although I ordered them for my sons out of the traditional sealskin....  kilthose knitting may be in my future.

You can see DD's friend Megan checking under DS's kilt - to see if he is wearing it authentically, which he was not willing to do.

Scotland Tales

We spent ten days in Scotland or in transit. We stayed in Youth Hostels, and the three parents on the trip did a fair amount of cooking to save the kids money.  We tried valiantly to expose them to local foods - Scotch meat pies, Scottish crumpets (the flat, larger pancake sort of crumpets), Digestives (a  slightly sweet cookie or biscuit, frosted with milk chocolate), bangers (link sausage less fatty than our sort), Haggis (organ meats spiced and added in with oatmeal and stuffed into a sheep's stomach, then boiled.  One turns the mixture out to eat it, rather than eating the stomach as well), Yorkie candy bars (which aren't for girls), Aero chocolate bars with air bubbles in them, Orkeny ice cream (which is to die for), Magnum ice cream bars (which cost half as much at the grocery store as they do elsewhere), oatcakes, etc.  We did our share of eating fish 'n chips, having tea and a treat in the afternoons as well.  I came back thinking we should quit working at 4:00 PM for 45-60 minutes to have a relaxing tea, then everyone would be able to put on a final push well nourished for the end of the work day! 

Scotland was awesome - the power in those standing stone circles, and the winter solstice significance to these ancient people is incredible.  I was able to find my grandfather's plaid and ordered "fun" kilts (5 yd kilts as opposed to the formal 8 yd kilts at ~$140/yd and up) for my three sons.  My DD got a tie in the plaid she's worn to school already.