Farewell to Glinton Primary School

I've spent some of my precious spare time these last few months putting together a special farewell gift for the girls' school:

I made the quilt using scrap fabrics from my collection.  The handprints were applied using fabric paint.  On the left-hand side are Emily's prints, the right side are Amy's.  I pieced it on my own (no pattern) and machine quilted it (so I could get it done in time!)

On top - the name of the two villages that are cachement for the school along with the Union Jack (UK flag).

In the middle: two little appliqed girls - an Amy and an Emily.  I used scrap school uniform dresses to make the applique'd dresses plus buttons and trim. The girls each signed their name with fabric pen.

At the bottom: the American flag.

We'll be presenting it to the school this Friday at Assembly.  It will be the girls' last day of school in England.  We have been very pleased with the school and its staff.  The girls have certainly progressed well and been happy at school these past 3 years.  We hope the school will find a suitable place to hang this little remembrance of their little American school girls!

Mother's Day 2011

Per tradition, the girls brought me breakfast in bed.  They also brought their own breakfast into my bed and we all dined together.  They took great pride in helping Daddy with dinner which was a lovely Chicken 'n' Noodles Crockpot dish, with brown-sugar glazed carrots and a tossed salad.

For dessert, they made my favourite - trifle - with peaches and strawberries.  It was delicious!

I also received a lovely gift - some silver rose earrings that they bought in Switzerland for me last year.

My Adventures in Wonderland

A few of my closest friends from church hosted a little farewell tea party in my honour.  It had an 'Alice in Wonderland' theme to celebrate my 'adventures in Wonderland' here in the UK. 

We enjoyed a traditional English tea party (with fruit tea, of course) and plenty of cakes, scones, biscuits, cream, etc.  They even gave me lovely gifts to take home to America.

Alnwick and York

After another day absorbing the beauties of our country cottage (and watching the Royal Wedding on the telly!), we packed up and headed south towards home... making a few special stops along the way.

Alnwick Castle is the second largest inhabited castle in England, and has been the home of the Percys, Earls and Dukes of Northumberland since 1309.  More recently, it has been the filming location for many Hogwarts scenes in the Harry Potter movies.

Not only was the castle an amazing tour, but there were several activites on the grounds as well.  We enjoyed learning about archery, swordsmanship, and the kids even got to do an introductory course in broomstick flying.

We continued our southerly journey to the magnificent city of York where we stayed for the night.

York is famous for several things.  One is that it's one of only a handful of ancient walled cities with the wall still in tact.  Despite restrictive health and safety laws in this country, we found it amazing that this very tall wall has few railings.  This made Auntie quite nervous.  The rest of us enjoyed tormenting her (just a little bit).

York is also famous for its cathedral - Yorkminster.  It's the only other 'minster' in England.  The other being Westminster in London.

Finally, the other thing York is renowned for is its fabulous shopping.  From antique shops, the outdoor market and the famous 'Shambles' street, York had many treasures to offer.

...and then we arrived home.  Tired, but satisfied with another great holiday in the UK.

Balmoral

Balmoral is the Royal Residence in Scotland.  The Queen lives here during August and September.

We were only allowed to see one room inside the castle itself - the ballroom (but no photos allowed).  Exploring the extensive grounds, stables and gardens kept us occupied for most of the day.  We even enjoyed a picnic lunch on site.

We'll never forget the beautiful scenery at this Highland Estate.  We will also never forget the sickening narrow, twisty, mountainous hour-long roadtrip to get here... Surely the Queen gets a helicopter lift!

Adventures in the Scottish Countryside

'Free day' for everyone in our travel group... Matt and the girls spent the day at a local 'adventure park' whilst myself and the other adults spent a day browsing the shops in Perth.

Back at the cottage we all enjoyed some nature hikes in the surrounding countryside.  One of our favourite outings was hiking in the highlands and gathering sheep wool for Grandma's spinning wheel back home.



Wild primrose



Our cottage

Glasgow

We chose to spend our day in Glasgow at 'The People's Palace' per a native friend's recommendation.

We enjoyed lunch in the 'glass room' amongst many tropical plants.  Then we explored the varied and intriguing history of Glaswegians (yes, that's what people from Glasgow are called).

There were many fascinating exhibits from the pros and cons of alcohol consumption, Thomas Crapper's first toilet, and even these trendy banana boots:

Best of all, the museum was free and had a huge play park next door.  The sun was shining and we had another great dy out.

Looking for Loch Monsters

A trip to Scotland wouldn't be complete without a visit to Loch Ness.

The Loch and surrounding countryside is beautiful - including views of Urquhart Castle.  The loch itself is Britain's largest body of fresh water - it is larger than all the other lakes/ponds combined.  Took us 2 hours just to drive from one end to the other!

The visitor's centre in Drumnadrochit was cute, complete with 'Nessie's Lair' where the girls got to capture their own Loch Ness Monster souvenir.

The nearby town of Inverness was an interesting stop as well.  We enjoyed browsing the Victorian market, High Street Shops and admiring the beautiful architecture.

Easter in Aberfeldy

Our cottage in Scotland was located just a few miles from the village of Aberfeldy - a cute place with historic sites including this castle owned by the Menzies Clan (pronounced 'Mingus').

Just a bit down the road from the castle, we go back in time even further and explore an ancient Celtic Crannog - house on a lake.

Amy tries her hand at grinding wheat the old fashioned way - stone on stone.

Emily enjoyed the dress up area as well as the ancient tools.

Grandpa and the girls do some work on the old fashioned lathe.

We left a note for the Easter bunny back at our home in England.  It seems he got the message because he cleverly hid some exciting baskets in our Scottish cottage.

Welcome to Scotland

We are Da Vinci Code fans, thus we had to stop at Rosslyn Chapel near Edinburgh.  If you aren't familiar with the tale, Rosslyn Chapel is supposedly the resting place of the Holy Grail.  We explored the church inside and out - even climbing down into the catacombs - but unfortunately, the vaults are sealed so we weren't able to confirm if the legend is true.  Regardless, it was a truly amazing and unique church/cathedral with plenty of mystery and magnificent architecture.  (Too bad we weren't allowed to take photos inside!)

Amy discovered some loose stones on the exterior and figures there must be buried treasure!

From Rosslyn it was less than 2 hours driving to our cottage near Aberfeldy/Perth.  We enjoyed settling into our enormous 'cottage' with fabulous views of the Highlands.