New Year (Ad)Ventures

Ah, holidays . . . over for another year, having succumbed already to the pressures of January sales. Ours ended quite as merrily as they had begun. After the excitement of Christmas and Boxing day had waned (I am informed by my British friends that Boxing Day is the biggest shopping day in the UK, although that did not seem to be the case for St. Andrews, which verily shut down even the grocery stores to celebrate), Isaac and I led my parents to lovely Stirling Castle, my favourite thus far both for its painstaking attempts to reconstruct the Stuart courts and fr its spectacular and breathtaking views of the highlands. Here's the "green," with the palace of a James in the background (the palace was closed, as it's their current reconstruction project):

And this: our spectacular view . . .

For the last full day of my parents' visit, we ventured into Edinburgh, the capitol city, where Hogmanay festivities were already beginning. We had far too little time to catch most of the city's popular sights, so settled for a tour of the National [Art] Gallery and dinner at Isaac's and my favourite pub. We stayed in a beautiful and cosy flat just off the Royal Mile (also called High Street on maps), which is a mile-long street that stretches from Edinburgh Castle down to the Palace. We arose painfully early on the last morning of their visit and had time for a quick breakfast, a staggered trek down cobbled alleys, and three leisurely cups of coffee/tea at the airport--before Isaac and I dashed back to our rented flat to retrieve the luggage we'd forgotten in the bustle of departure!

From Edinburgh, we ventured to lovely Linlithgow, a commuter village not far from Edinburgh. We spent several days with some good friends of ours, enojoying their company, beautiful flat, and charming village. On the second day of our visit, Isaac and I braved the icy paths to the nearest Loch, which was beautifully frozen over. As we wandered about, enjoying the birds and loch and castle, we were delighted and surprised by more snow!

We spent Hogmanay with many friends in the tiny but lovely village of Torphichen. We did not actuallt go "First Footing" at midnight (a tradition in which one treks to visit friends and take them gifts and, I believe, coal), mostly because I was exhausted. We spent several more days in the area, also visiting Torphichen Kirk on Sunday. With the fresh snowfall, I though it looked just like Narnia!


We've got a few more days to relax and breathe, and I'll be settling back into full-blown research at the end of this week. It's been a busy holiday but a joyous one!

God bless, and Happy New Year!

The Christmas Snow . . .

A quick post (mostly photos) for those of you who wish you could have shared our Christmas felicitations.

It's been snowing here for nearly a week (it stops occasionally). This weather is pretty rare, but an ideal opportunity for taking photos.

St. Mary's chapel (ruins), on the scenic option of our daily commute:


View over the harbor from St. Mary's chapel.


St. Andrews Cathedral, also ruins, also in snow.


Isaac and I on Christmas Eve (snowing during our last-minute shopping) as we pause in front of Holy Trinity church (where John Knox once preached).


Our tree and many, many, many presents. (Goodness!)


Our first breakfast: treats from a local (chain) bakery called Fisher and Donaldson and some locally roasted coffee. The tallest treat (on the right) is a coffee tower; the flattest (on the left) a lemon tart, and the others are fudge donuts (think bavarian creme but much, much better).


Isaac was so good this year that he got TWO stockings! (both full!)


I wasn't quite as good . . . but I got a second stocking anyway (an incentive for next year?).


Isaac's favourite gift was this Tolkien atlas from John.


After our unwrapping frenzy, we took a walk along the North Sea, which was gorgeous.


Merry Christmas!

Let it Snow?

O, happy busy life! Isaac and I have been working hard to plan our Christmas festivities this year. I've finished a second draft of my thesis proposal and will be taking a few days off to celebrate with my family (airlines and weather permitting). As the North America contingent is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, we've been busy shopping, wrapping, and cleaning. Last weekend we took a lovely Saturday jaunt with several new friends and visited lovely Edinburgh (also pictured a few weeks ago: it's the city with the castle that glows blue at night). We ate at two lovely pubs, watched a very ambitious but unimpressive street performer, and wandered around the Christmas market (one booth of which is shown below) before heading home, exhausted and happy.



More recently, we took a trip to neighboring Dundee, a city I generally find about as inspiring as our Edinburgh performer, but one that has its merits. We did some basic mall strolling/shopping, then noticed out the windows that the sky was snowing wetly on an(other) outdoor Christmas market, so we ran jubilantly out to immerse ourselves. It was a wet snow, so we retreated indoors with some modicum of efficiency.



Isaac surprised me last week with a wonderful little tree, which has lights and will soon be sporting decorations of slightly greater substance.

Love and Christmas wishes to all our friends and readers this week!

Wait, What Month is it Again???

Well, happy December, stalwart readers . . . November, as is commonly its want, has flown past, leaving Isaac and I with Christmas looming and the year winding down most impressively. When last I posted, I was recovering valiantly from an exciting cold, which I most generously and subsequently gave to my beloved husband.

December arrived abruptly and unexpectedly: the city of St. Andrews celebrated St. Andrew's Day at the end of November with a festival of Christmas lights (you may notice that said lights are not, perhaps, quite as impressive as the speeches and countdown intimated), Isaac and I attended an enjoyable evening of Gilbert and Sullivan, and I received my diploma in the mail after skipping graduation festivities entirely. We've attended a few choral evenings, enjoyed a party or two, and one of my dearest friends from last year became engaged and is happily planning a wedding (ah, weddings). We are also looking forward to the arrival of my parents next week (BA permitting).



Last weekend we took a trip to Edinburgh with a few friends and enjoyed a chance to Christmas shop, buy some extra blankets for our flat, and see the lovely Christmas market that spreads out throughout Edinburgh in December. Alas, I've not yet retrieved those photos from my camera, but it was lovely. I've also handed in the second draft of my thesis proposal and am looking forward very much to getting started on a chapter (God and advisor willing) in the next few weeks.

Brief, I know, but lest you all long for detailed descriptions of sconebaking and Elizabethan manuscripts, there's little else to say. And I must get back to work . . .

Catching Up: A November Medley

We've been quite busy here in Scotland, and the biggest benefit of waiting a long while between posts is that it gives us a chance to have exciting events to discuss. Most days, my busyness takes the form of reading several books, perhaps writing a bit, or (if very lucky) attending an evening lecture. If Isaac is working, I try to walk into town with him in the morning. His busyness then consists of making soup, boiling potatoes, and baking scones, while I'll often do a great deal of my daily work in the hours of quiet and solitude. If I wander away from my "office," I'll often visit the grocery store on Market Street; the early morning hours are the best time for shopping. Here's the morning view on Market Street:



The tall spire is Hope Park Church, which I attended two years ago. You can also see Subway, which I boycott on principle, and the fountain in market square, near which, if the weather is well, a number of merchants will often have outdoor stalls.

Last weekend was a bit mad: new students to St. Andrews celebrate an event known as "Raisin Weekend." Said new students find an "academic mother" and "academic father," who are (purportedly) intended to help them navigate the dangers of this tiny Scottish fishing village. Traditionally, Raisin Sunday was spent taking raisins to one's mother in the afternoon and enjoying a tea party (and receiving a "raisin string," the significance of which I still fail to comprehend), then taking a bottle of wine to one's father's home in the evening and receiving a "receipt" for said wine. Nowadays, most students take wine to both parents' homes and receive, in return, far more alcohol than is healthy. By noon on Sunday, the main streets of St. Andrews are filled with drunken students, often tied or duct-taped together, who stagger or skip down the street, names and addresses painted on their limbs and embarrassing slogans adorning their faces, perhaps singing nursery rhymes or working on a scavenger hunt. For us boring folks, it's a day to avoid the town center if at all possible.

The most tremendous part of Raisin Weekend, however, occurs on Monday morning (while classes are still taking place), on which day the academic mothers dress their new offspring in costumes (which range from embarrassing and dangerous to clever and fun), parade them through the streets of the town, and send them off to a shaving-foam battle in the oldest part of the university, St. Salvator's quad. A student's admission ticket for said battle is the "receipt" given by the academic father (which is why it's important to have two parents). Students parade through the town, navigate a system of police barricades, and indulge in the foam fight (which doesn't last particularly long, all things considered). Here's part of the aftermath:



For more traditional fun, Isaac and I recently enjoyed a trip to Scotland's smallest legal whiskey distillery, which is located about two hours northwest of St. Andrews in a lovely little tourist trap called Pitlochry. My Bible Study leaders from last year, who had proposed the trip, kindly drove us to the distillery, where we four enjoyed some tea and coffee, and then given whiskey samples and a tour of the distillery. The term "legal," we learned, applies to the size of the still: if one man and one horse can't move the still, then it's "legal." The (legal) still in question is the large copper-coloured tank on the left of the photo; it's shaped a bit like a gourd.



Finally, we had a chance to visit a large shopping centre with the same friends. While our shopping wasn't quite as productive as we might have wished, we did have a chance to take a beautiful hike to see this waterfall:



For those of you curious about our Thankgiving, we celebrated ours on Wednesday evening with a number of American friends as well as some British folk and a young lady from Australia. Our British friends were surprised by the amount of food and complained in particular about the American penchant for eating sweet foods as part of the main meal (rather than as dessert, which is here called pudding). The meal was delicious, and the company good (but numerous). Since then, however, I've been battling a bit of a head cold, which I'm hoping to kick this weekend.

Thus ends my current summary.

Photo Teaser

From our previously mentioned perambulations in a nearby forest:



It's been a busy (but lovely) week and weekend, and I'll be blogging more later.

Sunset strolls and (a) soggy Sunday . . .

Work, work, work . . .

We've kept pretty busy this past week, though Isaac eventually had a few days off, which gave him some time to unwind. I've been out late each evening attending lectures (four in as many days) and have been longing for some quiet evenings at home. Those will come, no doubt. I'm meeting with my supervisor this week (which should be particularly interesting as I discovered only today that another scholar has possibly written an abbreviated version of my proposed thesis topic) and will otherwise be reading pretty steadily, D.V.

After five good solid days of work, we enjoyed a lazy morning yesterday and spent the afternoon visiting a local pottery shop (some friends are giving us pottery as a wedding gift!) and taking a walk in nearby Kemback Woods. Although we began our walk around 3.00 and were home by five, the new time change and shortened days meant that we were able to enjoy not only the stunning fall colours, but also sunset over the nearby town of Cupar. Gorgeous!

Today Isaac and I enjoyed communion for the first time since we arrived in Scotland. We've mostly been alternating between the "traditional" and "contemporary" services at our local church. As the skies "pissed" rain all morning, Isaac and I reveled in the warm cosyness of our flat for as long as possible this morning, then dashed to the contemporary (later) service in the downpour. A good friend of ours (also the assistant minister) planned the service to build up, in a non-liturgical but very appropriate way, to the celebration of communion, which was lovely. Afterwards, Isaac and I split a serving of fish & chips and then Isaac headed to the cafe and I to the English Research building. It poured all evening and flooded some as well, so our walk home was a bit puddly, to say the least (apparently a good bit of St. Andrews has flooded). Isaac's now cooking me supper (a lucky wife am I) and we'll hopefully have a chance to relax for the remainder of our evening.

Take care and God bless!