Pardon our lack of updates. We’re recovering from the Black Death and currently boiling our sheets and burning our bed-clothes.
We will return to regular updates once the quarantine is lifted.
Hope your holidays have been merry!
Archive for December, 2006
Christmas Decorations & Holiday Fun
15
Dec
These are some poor snapshots; they just don’t look as cute as they should! At any rate, I’d thought I’d share some holiday cheer:
After a long day at work I came home to this lovely display in our hallway!
Dale surprised me by decorating the hallway! It made me very happy!!
I did a little decorating although it didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped it would Above, our decorated mantel. I decorated with little knickknacks–most of them homemade, of course!
This is our little vintage silver christmas tree, decorated with red bows, silver mini bulbs that my grandmother gave me, and lots of other little ornaments both old and old-looking. Hee!
Last Sunday I went to Lara’s house with Rebecca to make cookies! We made a fine batch of sugar cookies and those tasty peanut butter kisses cookies. Dale has been partaking of the sugar cookies all week (to the extent that I might not have any to give my coworkers tomorrow as I’d planned)! Spotlight: Edinburgh Castle
12
Dec
Visited by over one million people a year, Edinburgh Castle sits atop Edinburgh, at the top of the “Royal Mile” and offers a glimpse into the history of the country as well spectacular views of the city.
The Great Hall, built in 1510, displays a collection of armor and weapons as well as a famous Hammerbeam ceiling. It was spectacular.
At the entrace are statues dedicated to two biggies in Scottish History: Robert the Bruce and William Wallace:
They guard the castle. For a brief historical primer on the castle click here! We saw the chapel (the oldest building on the grounds), the crown jewels, the one o’clock gun firing, the national war museum and tons more. A sampling of photos:
The Crown Square.
The Great Hall, built in 1510, displays a collection of armor and weapons as well as a famous Hammerbeam ceiling. It was spectacular.
On our way out of the castle, we stopped to check out the Royal Mile (what little we could see of it). Dale’s gallery features more photos of the castle!
Crazy Cute Cat Pictures!
09
Dec
I’m going to continue to tell myself I post pictures of my cats because my mom loves to see them! Really? I should probably just give it up and have some kids.
Sidney has been taking over my pillow nearly every night since we got back from Scotland. He didn’t used to sleep with us but now every morning I wake up to find him sleeping on the top half of my pillow. He knows a good pillow when he finds one, I guess.
This is Monty playing with the best.toy.ever! It’s a wire with a piece of paper on the end. Not kidding. Whoever invented this is a genius because Monty is crazy insane for this stupid toy.
One morning I woke up and Sidney wasn’t on my pillow. He was sound asleep next to the bed inside this here shoebox. Yep, he’s sound asleep in this picture. Freaky cat.
This one KILLS me. I love it when they snuggle up. Bela has taken to giving Monty some of his own medicine. He nuzzles him like mad and imposes on Mo’s space. It’s pretty funny. Monty even looks uncomfortable at times but refuses to move because he finally has what he always wanted: Bela’s undivided attention! Be careful what you wish for, I guess.
This is just a crazy cute picture of Monty, lounging on the bed. He LIVES on the bed. If he could do all business from bed–like John and Yoko–he would! Seriously, he’s just always in bed.
First Snow in Oak Park
09
Dec
We had our first snow last week and–bonus–it was a big one! So big that Rebecca got the day off work for a snow day. That never happened in Michigan! Neat.
Since we were snowed in, we went for a short walk down our block and had some soup at the Chinese restaurant just two blocks away. Our street ends right in downtown Oak Park because they closed the street to create a pedestrian mall. This is what we saw on our way:
At the intersection of our street and Lake St. stands a lovely Christmas Tree! All Decorated for the holidays. This is the view from our corner and below is a close up!
Along the mall, there are a host of adorable shops, benches, and places to park bikes. Shops include a cute place to buy stuff for your pets, a childrens clothing store, a place to buy running shoes, an old-fashioned kite shop and a few restaurants, including Thai, Chinese, a diner, a bread and soup place and the chain Cozi. Also, we have a Cold Stone Creamery (though we always visit local dairy Oberwiess). Very cute!
A few pics from the mall–including some cold bikes!
Spotlight: Brittania!
01
Dec
Our first stop in Scotland was at the Royal Brittania!
Our host, Ginni, is a fan of the royal family and she explained that occassionally the non-royal lovers demand the royal family appear less affluent. So they made their family yacht (the queen’s ship–she’s head of the Royal Navy, natch) a tourist attraction. Once the commonfolk saw it they were a little relieved–it’s not a Donald Trump-esque ship! It’s beautiful but classy and not ostentatious (in spite of being a yacht).
The Royal dining room! It took three hours to set the table! The used a ruler to measure each place setting. This is where Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip entertained many dignitaries, including Ron and Nancy Reagan.
When it is necessary for the Royals to come into shore from the Brittania, they would take this hot little number right here! Additionally, there is a vintage Rolls that is stowed away on the deck of the yacht. They would have to slide it in sideways into it’s little garage make it fit–Queenie has to have proper transport, don’tcha know? They used a crane to get the Rolls on shore as necessary.
There were several bars on board, including this one. As I recall, this is the officer’s bar. The royals had their own, of course, and then one for guests. But I might be getting confused. At any rate, excellent use of space. Ha!
This is a lounge area where guests would congregate. It’s next to the long dining room. Corporations now rent out the yacht for private parties. I believe you can even rent it out for weddings and such.
For more on Brittania you can check out this link. Most Americans seem to like the fact that Princess Diana and Prince Charles took their honeymoon on the yacht. Famously, Diana broke royal protocol and, after a prolonged absence from her children, greeted them with motherly hugs and kisses in front of the press onboard Britannia and not the cool handshake usually reserved for royal children.