black currant thoughts.

new snow.

2012-01-03T21:13:00.000-05:00

This year's first snow graced us with its feathery presence last night, and I made white chili to celebrate. Here are my boys out in the still softly falling snow this morning. I don't mind it being this cold if it snows too!

new year. new ideas.

2012-01-02T22:05:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine just posted about her New Year resolutions, except she called them goals rather than resolutions. I liked that. I like the idea that I have things that I'm striving toward as this new year dawns, not just things that I've resolved to do, period, and then as soon as I leave off one of them I feel like a failure. These 'resolutions' or goals, are works-in-progress. And that makes them feel more doable, and makes me feel less completely worthless when I forget one day or just don't have the energy another.

I have great hopes for this year, and even bigger question marks, but bottom-line is that I know that I've been blessed beyond any bit of what I deserve, and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for Jeremy and me this year. Over the last couple days I've been thinking about some of the goals I have for this year, and have jotted down the ones I think should be mentioned, that way I can come back this time next year and not see what I've failed at, but how close I've come to accomplishing some goals and how I've blown others out of the water.

Caitlin's Goals for 2012 [in no particular order]

1. Create a budget, and stick to it.
- I've come close to doing this one right before. I never quite got into the swing of things since we've been back from Scotland, and while Jeremy and I are both making decent money I know I need to be saving. I want to create a smart and doable budget, and really be able to keep up with it, while saving the maximum amount possible per month.

2. Quiet time every morning.
- I've always been pretty good at finding excuses not to carve out a time each day for devotions, for reading the Bible, and spending time in prayer. Now that my biggest excuse is now non-existent (not having a regular schedule; I now work Monday through Friday 9AM to 5PM), I need to get over myself and wake up just one half hour earlier than I normally would. I know this is doable, and I know it will enrich every aspect of my life.

3. Exercise regularly.
- Before we left Edinburgh I was consistently working out three days a week, and it felt good. I know that there are other things I'd like to do that regularly rather than working out, but I need to be exerting myself in some kind of cardio activity and muscle toning at least a few days a week. I don't know what that exercise will be yet, but in light of the 15K I signed up for in May I should probably run.

4. Eat healthier.
- I don't eat particularly unhealthily now, but I know I need to put in more of an effort. I'd like to start juicing daily and doing smoothies (but those involve appliances that I do not have), so some kind of regular raw veggies and fruit would definitely do me good.

5. Set aside one night a week as 'date night' with Jeremy.
- This one doesn't need to be anything fancy or even necessarily cost money, but I want us to do something once a week out of the ordinary and outside of our normal watching movies on Netflix in the evenings.

6. Play and practice my fiddle regularly again.
- I've been depressingly negligent of my fiddle since we moved home. I've been using the excuse of its natural volume when I play and the fact that we basically live in someone's house to deter me from playing, which is fair enough. But I want to purchase a mute for my bridge and begin playing again. I've still got my ten year goal in mind.

7. Write more and write often.
- I need to be writing every single day, period. Whether it's in my journal, on my blog, or creative writing and development for my novels, I need to be putting pen to paper, so-to-speak.

8. Work on creative writing at least three times a week.
- You may think this falls under number seven, but I would probably find my way around working diligently on my stories if I didn't specify a set amount that I need to write per week. This is very important and I need to be writing creatively as often as possible.

9. Read.
- I got a Kindle for Christmas (thanks, Jeremy!) and I definitely want to read more. But I also want to continue academic reading related to my Master's degree. I want to try to read some amount of something Highland Studies-ish once a week, because I think I have a while to go before truly becoming a Master of Highland Studies.

10. Begin studying Gaelic again.
- I do not want to lose my Gaelic, and I enjoyed learning the language too much to just let it go to waste. I want to start studying up on it again, to continue learning it and to create opportunities for me to use it. Tha mi ag iarraidh Gàidhlig ionnsachadh a h-uile seachdain! (I want to study Gaelic every week.)

Bliadhna mhath ùr! Happy New Year!

Caitlin

oh my goodness.

2011-10-13T23:54:00.000-04:00

This space needs some attention. I promise I'll return soon, dear readers! Things are still, yes, still, settling down for us. We're in a new place, have new jobs, and are cultivating some semblance of normalcy. It hopefully will soon become more than a mere semblance.
Here's a lovely shot I captured up at Mt. Mitchell the other day to tide you over.
Oh, and yes, I missed these mountains. And yes, I adore autumn.

i heart faces. [pet week]

2011-08-23T11:53:00.000-04:00

Here's another i heart faces challenge I couldn't resist entering. I just miss my little (not so little anymore) pup, Cael. We'll get to see him in just two short weeks, and I'm quite excited to be with him again.
This photo was taken in Montreat during the first snow of the season, it was also the first time Cael had ever seen snow too--thus beginning his love of it. I love the look on his face, it's adorable how you can just see the curiosity and amazement in his eyes. Miss you, Cael, see you soon!

Check out the other entries by clicking the icon above.

done and done.

2011-08-19T17:22:00.002-04:00

I can hardly believe it, but it's true. My dissertation is officially finished and turned in, there's nothing else I can add to it or change about it, even if I wanted to--and I don't, I'm done. It feels pretty good, I have to say, though there's still the small detail of whether or not I'll get a good mark on it or not. I'm pretty certain I'll graduate though, regardless of my mark (unless I wildly fail it, which I'm not anticipating), so that's pretty cool. I'm going to be a Master of something--though to be fair, I don't know that I'll ever feel comfortable calling myself a Master in Highland Studies, there's so much more for me to learn.
Here's a little peek into what the last few days looked like for me:

Hard at work, editing and honing my argument. And adding in a key element to my analysis that I didn't consider to add until this past Monday. Whoops, haha, at least I got it all in there.

I was rewarded for my diligence when Jeremy called me to tell me to look out our window at the beautiful sunset playing on Arthur's Seat and the surrounding crags. Just breath-taking.

I finished it around lunchtime on Thursday afternoon, and opted to go ahead to get it printed that day instead of fretting and overworking it that night and standing in a queue for ages waiting to get it printed and bound at the print shop. I was rather excited to be done and see it looking to lovely and professional, hence my goofy grin.

My pretentiously long and academic dissertation title, and cover page. Hah, it's not as complicated as that title makes it sound. Ooer, but don't I sound smart?

Today with my two bound copies, ready to go turn it in. A bit more subdued than Thursday, you know, being a respectable academic or some-such nonsense, and wearing my academia (and glarey) specs.

Yep, so that's it. It's done, and all I can do is wait. Well, that, and pack and pull details together so Jeremy and I can go home in two and a half weeks. Here we come Western North Carolina!

Thanks for all your encouragement and prayers during this whole process. It's been difficult and trying, but overall it's been so good, and so good for me. And this year here has been brilliant for Jeremy and I as well, we've grown and matured and learned to appreciate one another in completely new ways. All of it has been more than a blessing.

Here's to two and a half more weeks in this amazing city, let's soak up as much as we can before we're spirited away back home.

Caitlin

diagon alley.

2011-08-17T08:14:00.001-04:00

When Jeremy and I were out and about in Edinburgh the other night to go see Ed Byrne, we decided to walk back home through Grassmarket and take a jaunt up to the castle to see if we could hear the tattoo going on. We heard the pipes from the tattoo before we even reached Grassmarket. We stood below impressive castle rock, gazing up at the huge new stadium seating and listened to the show.
On our way back down to Grassmarket, we took a close that we hadn't taken before. We found the clear remains of an arched door in the wall, probably once leading to a garden, that was all stoned up and filled in. I had my umbrella with me in case it rained, and couldn't help channeling a little bit of Hagrid.

Hah. Nothing happened unfortunately. But it's quite easy to imagine Harry Potter happenings and places around Edinburgh since Rowling birthed the idea of HP while living here. I mean, come on, doesn't Cockburn Street look like it could be Diagon Alley?

Or Victoria Street for that matter. Or any number of curvy, whimsical looking streets in Edinburgh.

Anyway, I'm still plugging away at my dissertation. Due the day after tomorrow! Ahh. On to more editing and perfecting.

Caitlin

Oh, thanks to all who have been praying for us and our imminent move. We just got word yesterday that our landlord wants to buy pretty much everything we offered her from what we've furnished the flat with. We basically just have to clean, pack and get out at the end of the month now (among other little things, but it's such a load off!). God is good!

i heart faces. [beautiful eyes]

2011-08-16T18:03:00.002-04:00

I know I've posted this photo before on my blog, but I couldn't resist bringing it back for i heart faces' challenge this week. I remember being completely enchanted when I got this shot and brought it up on my computer screen, her eyes are just so captivating. I also miss her dearly. She's about to start her second year at college, and I haven't seen her in far too long.
I will be remedying that soon, sister.

Check out the other entries this week by clicking the icon above.

belated bavaria and my lack of updates.

2011-08-13T06:57:00.001-04:00

I fear that this space will be rather sparse for the remainder of our time in Edinburgh. I've got so much on my plate that I'm going to have to place this on the back burner for a while. Once we're home and relatively settled I've have no doubt that I'll be back with plenty to say, but I foresee little free time to fill this little white box with my comings and goings for the next few weeks.
That being said, I can give you a little taster of our long weekend in Bavaria. We went to visit my parents who have been living there since 2007, and enjoying the fruits of this Bavarian summer these last few months. It's still quite cool there, and it has rained quite often this summer, but we were able to find one full day of sunshine and warmth. We ate far too much delicious Bavarian food, and enjoyed the company of my loving parents. We cooked-out on the grill--which is something I've been dying to do for lack of it here in Edinburgh, and I relished the smell of BBQ, baked beans, and corn-on-the-cob.
I also got the chance to go riding with my dad on that sunny day we had. Nope, not horseback, but something just as exhilarating. Motorcycle. Yep. My dad finally got his bike. He's been wanting one for years, probably since his motorcycling time at Montreat when he and my mom were dating. Well, he has one now, a nice BMW with a smooth ride and lots of torque. It was impossible not to smile as the wind rushed past us on those beautiful back-roads of German countryside, and he pushed the speedometer higher and higher. It took a while for the feeling of "If I let go right now I'd go flying off the back of this thing and probably die" to subside, but once it did I was a junkie for speed and "woo!"ed everytime we came to a stretch of straight road. It was fun to spend some father-daughter time with my dad too. We haven't been able to do that in a while.
My mom and I spend some time cooking together in the kitchen--not much, but hey, we did. And also plenty of time poring over my dissertation for grammatical errors and ways to cut down my long-winded and scenic ways of saying things. My prose-style is definitely more conducive to creative writing than academic writing, but I'm holding my own.
It was lovely to see my parents, and they were lovely to have us and take us out to eat, and BBQ with us, and just generally loving on us. A break from everything was exactly what we needed, and we came back refreshed and ready (for the most part) to take on what this month is going to throw at us.
Those of you who are inclined, if you could pray for us as we finish our time here. That everything comes together as it should, and that we are able to get out of our flat, get our deposit and tie up all our loose ends easily and completely.
Here is a smattering of photos from our Bavarian weekend.

Until next time... (which may, in fact, be once we're home in our Blue Ridge Mountains!)

Caitlin

pinterest.

2011-07-29T13:11:00.006-04:00

So, I've recently found a brand new way to procrastinate and put off working on my dissertation (like I needed another way), but this one is something that actually is pretty neat. It even has Jeremy spending time on it, though he still refuses to make his own account. It's kind of hard to explain what it is, but basically it's a way to organize and remember random things that you find on the internet. Now I realize that doesn't sound so appealing, especially if you're just thinking it is full of cute kitten photos that have 'can i haz a cheezburger' written in black block letters. Those are definitely represented well on this site, but that's not all it is. It's a place to find and share and remember all those cool things you find online. I've found numerous recipes I'm just dying to try, or sewing projects I'm itching to get back to my sewing machine to attempt, or I'll be honest, funny and stupid stuff like a photo of Sean Connery with a mustache that says "I mustache you a question, but I'm shaving it for later." Hah. Yes, I know, but it really is helpful and a great way to find DIY projects and just be inspired to do things. People who have spent any amount of time on this site will understand that it can tend to suck you straight into a time vortex and before you know it, you've spent two hours looking at photos of Lord knows what. But some people have decided to become 'pinspired' and try to use or recreate something neat that they've found on Pinterest, so it's not just another time-wasting activity. As I mentioned before, I am sans-sewing machine whilst we're abroad, so all my sewing inspirations are put on hold for the moment, and unfortunately we are also short on a lot of cooking items and utensils that would allow me to make some bangin' new recipes, and to spend money on buying them would be silly since we'd be leaving them in a month's time. But, clever as I am, I have managed to incorporate something that I've found on Pinterest into my week. On Monday I had a really rough day, being given the run-around and down-right insulted by the letting agency that manages my flat, phone call after phone call, and finally an e-mail, and an unfortunate fight with Jeremy while he was at work about the whole thing, after all that I was in no state of mind to write anything worthy of anyone else's eyes on my dissertation. So I decided to curl up (I wish I could say on a couch, but we don't have one that's worth curling up on, and we only have Ikea chairs, that while are remotely comfortable, are nothing compared to a comfy, sink-into-me full size couch), so I guess I didn't exactly curl up, but you get the picture, and I watched a movie with some freshly baked cookies. Nutella cookies to be more specific, yes, you read that right. There are only four ingredients in these little babies, and they are absolutely divine fresh out of the oven. Not too sweet, and just right with a glass of milk and slices of a Pink Lady apple (my fave).
So, all said and done, Pinterest has not been a complete waste of time, and I intend to put to use more of the amazing little gems I find on there as well.
Here's a tantalizing photo of my batch of Nutella cookies that cured my no-good-very-bad day.

Check out Pinterest as well, if you haven't already, but you have been warned--do keep in mind its addictive nature.

Oh, and since I know you want it, here's a link to the recipe I used to make those things you can't take your eyes off of up there. Make them, you know you want to. Happy baking, and happy pinning.

Caitlin

contemplation over evening tea.

2011-07-14T15:53:00.001-04:00

I sit at my computer as Edinburgh's evening light spills into my living room and down the left side of my body. The evening is cooling down from today's heat wave of seventy degrees Fahrenheit, and the clouds have come to bask in the glorious colors that always illuminate the sky at this time of day. It will still be some time before the sun decides to call it a day, but though the day lasts well into what should be night, it seems that the sunset itself stretches its own life during this time, lengthening that time between times, rather than lengthening the day or shortening the night. I have a trusty cup of tea in hand, well, near hand anyway, I can't exactly type very well (or quickly) while holding my over-sized green Ikea mug, I'm not quite that good.
My dissertation is actually coming along swimmingly, and I'm quite pleased with how well I'm staying on schedule. I'm due to finish the first half by tomorrow, which leaves me the latter half of the month to finish my first draft, and the whole nineteen days I'll have in August before its due to edit and revise, edit and revise, and edit and revise some more. I'm about twenty-two pages in, and over 7600 words down. So I really should be about half way--I'm fairly certain they're going to be pretty stringent about not going over fifteen thousand words, so hopefully I can keep it below that mark without having to exclude things I really wanted to write about. I've gone through ancient Celtic mythology, and then traversed the early Irish literature with Cúchulainn and Fionn MacCumhaill and other notable characters, and now I'm finally getting to settle down with the real meat of the dissertation, the folktales. I just read an article about folk-memory within folktales, and how important is it to remember that while these tales are entertaining and amusing to us now, they once held vital information and vestiges of beliefs and customs held by the people who so lovingly perpetuated them. To the early Celt, it was no stretch of the imagination for people to transform into animals and vice versa, it came with a great knowledge and as a way to continue learning through new eyes and new experiences. There was no rigid barrier between the human and animal forms, and in fact many animals held certain characteristics that mirrors things people saw in themselves, so it seemed not strange at all that there were those who could shift from shape to shape. I love the freedom of folktales, the innocence of imagination, the lack of that-isn't-possible attitude, where we can lose ourselves in a good story of a maiden being turned into a swan for one year, then back to her own form the next year, and a man who, having fallen in love with said maiden, turns himself into a swan to be with her. Why not? Why can't we fancy those things occurring at some where, some time, and transform our own minds from the cold scientific reality of what can only be tangibly proven.
I for one am a firm supporter of imagination, and 'what if?' stories of wonder and romantic notions of shape-shifting and things we cannot explain.
Here's to the unknown.

Caitlin

the ability to just be.

2011-07-08T08:44:00.000-04:00

This is what I love about us.

four years later.

2011-07-07T16:45:00.002-04:00

It was four years ago today that I made the best decision of my life.
It was four years ago today that I embarked on a journey full of love, laughter, tears, and life.
It was four years ago today that I married my best friend.
It was four years ago today that I married Jeremy Edmund Foreman.

I am so blessed to have spent these past four years being married to the love of my life, my best friend, my sweetheart, my one choice of the men on this earth. I will carry his heart with mine for all of my life in this world and beyond it.

Here's a look back on our anniversaries past:

Year One. With our sweet pup, Cael.

Year Two. At Craggy Pinacle.

Year Three. At Biltmore Estate.

Year Four. In Dollar Glen on the way to Castle Campbell.

Our anniversaries just keep getting better and better. I can't wait to see what year five has in store for us. I love you, Jeremy, thanks for loving me back so well.

Our day in Dollar Glen and the hike up to Castle Campbell was some of the most fun and jaw-dropping beauty I've had and seen here--which is saying something. It was amazing to spend it with the one person I really ever want to spend those moments with.
We stopped to have our piece at a picnic table on the way into the glen. Jeremy, the romantic that he is, left our mark on the table.

An amazing day, an amazing husband, and we love each other an amazing amount. I am truly blessed.

Caitlin

a journey of a lifetime. [day one]

2011-07-05T15:11:00.002-04:00

I'll admit I had pretty normal expectations for this trip. It was with a touristy tour company called Macbackpackers and while I was looking forward to seeing all the of the things listed on the website's description of the tour, I knew I wouldn't get to see everything I wanted to and have to put up with around twenty other people vying for the best photo op and just generally around to get on my nerves. While, yes, there were a few people on the tour who bugged me, it was enormously outweighed by the genuinely likable other people on the tour, the quirky fount-of-knowledge that was our tour guide, Ewan MacLeod, and the splendor of the landscape and scenery that constantly surrounded us. And also while, no, I didn't necessarily get to see all that I wanted (that's most likely an impossibility at this point) we got to see and experience things that were way above and beyond the things I was expecting--which was pretty amazing.
Let me start at the beginning. We left Edinburgh around 9AM on Monday morning and headed north, over the Forth Bridge and into the Kingdom of Fife, all the while hearing stories about the places we were going through, Edinburgh, over the Firth of Forth and the bridge, talking about the origins of 'a botched job' and the unfairness of the moniker. The land surrounding us was already beautiful and just kept on being gorgeous as we passed small towns and large towns, stone house ruins, and little wooden bridges. Our first stop was Dunkeld, a small town on the edge of the Highlands perched on the powerful River Tay with an ancient stone cathedral and narrow village roads. We stopped shortly to see the cathedral and get some lunch--and both were lovely. The Church has been around in Dunkeld for over 1400 years when Celtic monks used it as a base for mission work, it's location at the edge of the Highlands and Lowlands being ideal.

We piled back onto the bus with a whetted appetite for what was to come, yet I know for Jeremy and I, we would have liked to spend a little more time at the cathedral--we only had about a half an hour to see it, get our lunch, and be back on the bus. But a little time is better than no time.
The next stop was Ruthven Barracks ruins, but on the way we went through the pass of Killiecrankie and heard the story of the Jacobite rebel, Bonnie Dundee, who in 1689 routed the English government with only 3500-5000 men and three guns. Dundee used guerilla tactics and the knowledge and familiarity he and his men had of the land and, far outnumbered and up against new warfare technology--grenades among other things, defeated the English gloriously.
Ruthven Barracks were built by the English in 1719 after the first Jacobite rebellion of 1715 in an attempt to get a better rein on the Highlands. The Jacobites set fire to the barracks to rile the English, and what stands today is for the most part what was left by the departing Jacobites after the Rising of 1745.

We then took an unscheduled stop, as our guide called it, at Tomatin Distillery, where we took a tour of the distillery and store house and then sampled it's 'water of life' or uisge beatha as it's called in Gaelic. I'm not a huge whisky fan, but it's growing on me. I can definitely appreciate a hot totty on a frigid Scottish winter night, and it does set a small warming fire in the pit of your stomach that warms you long after you've stopped drinking it. Jeremy, however, is definitely a fan of whisky and thoroughly enjoyed the tour and the taste we got afterwards. We also procured ourselves some whisky fudge, which I for one can most assuredly get on board with.

Checkin' out those legs on the 12 year old. Whisky, of course. Hah.

After the whisky tour we continued on our way up into the Highlands, passing gorgeous scenery after more breath-taking hills and lochs. After a little while, Ewan decided to take us on a couple detours near Inverness, telling us that'd we be a little late into Kyleakin that night, but it'd be worth it. And goodness, was it! Firstly, just outside of Inverness we stopped at Clava Cairns, ancient stone memorials of stacked rocks as well as standing stones in the midst of an old moss-covered forest. It was incredible to behold. I wished it could have been just Jeremy and me there, so other people wouldn't spoil the solemnity and grandeur of the place, but it was amazing enough even with them there. The cairns date back nearly four thousand years and are a Bronze Age prehistoric site of a cemetery. The entire area comprises passage graves, ring cairns, kerb cairns, and standing stones which together make for a beautiful setting and mystical atmosphere with the surrounding forest and rolling hills in the distance.

Too soon we had to be off again, and this time we were headed for another solemn but infinitely more somber stop: Culloden Battlefield. In 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Jacobite men took one last stand here, just outside of Inverness on 16 April 1746. Tired and hungry from their long march from England, Charles Stuart's army fought bravely. The battle took place in less than an hour, but the repercussions from this battle can still be felt to this day. Nearly 2000 Jacobites were killed or wounded in the battle while the English Government's losses were substantially smaller. The aftermath of the battle and subsequent crackdown on Jacobitism was brutal and violent, earning the Duke of Cumberland--who saw the deeds done and no quarter given--the moniker of "Butcher". Following this harrowing loss, steps were taken to further integrate Scotland into the Kingdom of Britain; civil penalties were introduced to weaken Gaelic culture, outlawing the speaking of the Gaelic language and the wearing of traditional Highland dress, as well as an attack the Scottish clan system. The short time we had to walk around the seemingly now peaceful battlefield were sobering, and as we neared the large stone cairn towards the center of the field built in memorial to the sacrifice of the brave dead we also passed large stones on either side of the path marking the mass graves of the clans who fought there. It was hard to hold back the tears that sprung to my eyes as I passed the stones and felt the ghosts of men whose lives were cut far too short fighting for their country and their families, fighting for something they loved and believed in whole-heartedly.

We had some time on the bus to regain our composure as we drove through Inverness and toward the western coast toward the Isle of Skye. We had few short stops at Loch Ness then Urquhart Castle, then we drove through the area called Kintail, through some of the most breath-taking mountains I've ever seen--and coming from Western North Carolina, that's saying something. I kept wanting to stop and take photos, but we didn't so the only shots I got were out of the dirty bus window.

Lovely, but the stains on the window really don't do it justice. Anyway, we didn't stop until we reached Eilean Donan castle which is one of the most recognized and photographed castles in Scotland being in such movies as 'Highlander', 'Entrapment', and 'Made of Honor'. Just look at the photos I managed to get and you'll see why.

It was only a little further after this that we were in Skye. After a quick stop at the store for some neccesities, we crossed the bridge to Skye, the Cuillin hills in the distance across the water on our right and the little sea town of Kyleakin, where we were staying, on our left. This was the view we had from our room at the hostel.

We got situated in our cute little house that the hostel was in, and we had the rest of the evening to do what we liked. We got dinner at the local pub, Saucy Mary's, then went walked along the coast. We went towards the castle ruins, which was used by the Vikings in ages past to control the narrow strait between mainland Scotland and that coastline of Skye.

After meandering towards the castle, we thought we might miss the sunset, so we turned back to walk over the bridge and get some shots of the sun going down behind the Cuillins. There really aren't any words I could use to describe the beauty and peace of that sunset, and I really don't want to even try, because I know that I'll fall far, far short of what we really experienced. Even the photographs don't do it complete justice.

We walked back into town still awed at what we had just beheld. By the time the sun was completely down, though it wasn't really completely dark, it was around midnight or later. The summer dim was in full effect the nights we were there, it never got fully dark, the light always kept a hold, if tenuous, on nightfall. It was lovely.

We stayed up in the hostel talking and carousing with the friends we had made on the tour, and finally went to bed, in anticipation of what the next day held.

I think I'm going to post this as 'day one' and do day by day posts, because with working on my dissertation and other things I really don't know how often I'll get to work on this. So here you go, day one of our adventure in the Highlands and the Isle of Skye. Hopefully days two and three will be able to be written and enjoyed within the next few weeks.

after thought.

2011-07-02T13:36:00.000-04:00

Look! I did get some sun today! Hurrah.

All right, all right. Back to the dissertation...

a spot of sun in the meadows.

2011-07-02T09:46:00.000-04:00

When I woke up this morning, the sun was streaming in through the windows. Looking above the tenement building facing ours, which was itself bathed in sunlight which lit the sandstone in a rosy golden hue, all I could see was blue sky and warm sunlight. Jeremy unfortunately has to pull a double-shift at the shop today, or we both would have been out enjoying this weather.
As I wrote in my journal this morning, cup of tea and bagel beside, I opened our windows and let the warm summer breeze waft in and rejuvenate my senses. It is times like these where part of me wishes to be out of the city, when I have to choose between closed windows and relative quiet, or open windows and cool air with a side of traffic noises and squealing brakes. I really can't turn my music up loud enough to drown it out, plus I'd most likely have to listen to something as discordant as the noises shoving their way through my windows. I tried to ignore it while I could, but in the end I was convinced that an hour or two outside in the Meadows, away enough from roads and traffic, wouldn't go awry.

It didn't.

For an hour and a half I basked in the light of the sun and felt it's warmth soak into my skin, leaving freckles in its wake. I read--for my dissertation, because August 20th is all too near to spend too much time away from it--and I just enjoyed the solemnity of being outside on my own, letting my thoughts go where they would and enjoying a good read on the battle-goddesses of Irish mythology.
It really is amazing how a good sit in the sun seems to melt away all the tension warring for dominance in your mind. Yes, we are going home in a little more than two months, yes, we need to be out of this flat in a little less than two months, and yes, my dissertation is due in about a month and a half, but no, I am not going to let all those deadlines spoil the simplicity of an hour of sitting in the summer sunlight.
So here's to summer, and here's allowing ourselves to enjoy her fruits.

Caitlin

an afternoon in Roslin, and an evening on Arthur's Seat.

2011-06-29T08:40:00.000-04:00

Our original plan with one of Jeremy's two days off this week was to go to see Holyrood Palace and Holyrood Abbey here in Edinburgh, but after we got ready and went to double-check the website about entry fees we saw that it is apparently closed for another week or so, I suppose someone important is in residence just now, since the Royal Family still uses the palace for their personal uses.
Anyway, so with that plan out the window we decided to use the afternoon to hop the bus down to Roslin to see Rosslyn Chapel and the small town of Roslin itself. It's quite an easy jaunt down there, just taking the number fifteen Lothian bus for about thirty minutes and it spills you out right in the middle of Roslin, the chapel being another five minute walk away.
It was a gorgeous, sun-filled day, warm with sweet breezes that come just as the heat from the sun begins to get under your skin. We walked down to the chapel, catching glimpses of it from behind fences and stone walls--yet the glimpses we caught made us pause to think whether we wanted to spend the seven or so pounds each to go in yet, since it is such an easy trip. The whole outside of the chapel was covered with scaffolding for renovations, and since they don't allow you to take photos inside, the outside was going to be my only opportunity to document our visit--and scaffolding is seriously a pain to photoshop out. So we decided to walk around the grounds of the chapel, outside the stone boundary wall, and enjoy our afternoon in the country.

After spending sometime laughing with each other and sighing at the views we walked the five minutes back into town and sat in the outdoor area with a couple pints and more laughing and more talking was the order of the afternoon. As usual, it was so nice to get out and just be with each other, to talk, to laugh, to reminisce, to make plans, and mostly just to love each other.

After our pints in the 'beer garden' area of the original Roslin Hotel we crossed the road to another little hotel with a bar area. This time we sat inside, in a large sun-let room with dark greens and blues in the plaid carpet and rich window treatments. I picked the table in front of the back center window which illuminated us like royalty--especially since we were the only two in the whole pub. When Jeremy brought our drinks, he also brought a chess set that was sitting on the bar just waiting to be used. I personally dislike chess with a pretty good-sized passion, though I've tried liking it with a brother and sister-in-law who love it and are avid players--I'm really just completely rubbish at it, seriously, rubbish. But Jeremy made me play anyway, and though I nearly lost within the first five moves (Jeremy found a way for me to block him) and then I proceeded to make stupid moves for the rest of the game and get frustrated with myself and the game--all the while muttering under my breath 'I hate this game'--despite all of that, I enjoyed myself. I enjoyed being the only two people in the whole bar, sitting at the far window, back-lit by the afternoon sun, and playing a game together. Again, the idea of just being together seems to simple, but it is just so good too.

We came back to Edinburgh then, another thirty-minute bus ride past the Pentland Hills, through Morningside and Bruntsfield, back to Tollcross where we had decided before we left to stop at another pub we had been meaning to try: The Cloisters. This pub is pretty much attached to the beautiful cathedral that is nestled right next to it, and the building may be just as old as well. Apparently, they have an amazing selection of cask ales which Jeremy enjoyed sampling, and the atmosphere in that place made them taste somehow better. We had our own little table tucked away in a corner between a window looking out onto the cathedral and the spiral staircase that lead to the basement. We stayed there a while then finally ventured back home to have dinner.

After dinner, and an episode of 'Game of Thrones', Jeremy looked at me then out the window and said, "It's gorgeous out there. You wanna hike up Arthur's Seat and watch the sunset? If we leave now we'll easily catch it."
How could I say no? So we packed up a backpack of essentials and made our way down to Holyrood Park, crosses its green spaces and paths and made our way up the extinct volcano of Arthur's Seat. We decided to stop just below the summit so we could have a little area to ourselves instead of having to share the area with the other people who thought it'd be a good idea to go up to watch the sunset. It was lovely to watch the colors deepen and the light fade as the sun set behind the city and the Firth of Forth--oddly setting to the North here. We could see all the way to the Highlands, their high and craggy peaks visible beyond the Forth Bridge. As the sun disappeared, the coolness of the night became more of a noticeable chill and we pulled on our jackets, and Jeremy pulled out a flask of whisky for a nip to keep us warm. It really is amazing what just a mouthful of whisky can do for your body temperature.
When the sun was gone and only remnants of its brilliance were left streaking the sky in a kind of tribute to its former glory we began the hike back down.

It was a truly lovely day, and one that Jeremy made sure to point out was all for the most part spur-of-the-moment, yet just as full and exciting as any day planned weeks ahead of time. Sometimes his laid back attitude definitely does trump my planned and organized one in ways that I don't expect, but love to see.

Caitlin

[Skye still coming soon, it's ridiculous how many photos I took and how much we saw, I want to do it all justice.]

perks of being a city-dweller.

2011-06-25T08:11:00.002-04:00

Living in a city definitely has its perks, from being able to walk pretty much anywhere to the abundance of things to do and see. Another perk of our life in Edinburgh are the charity shops. They're more plentiful than grocery stores in our little Newington area, and they're always stuffed with hidden gems and amazing finds. I don't buy things often or I'd be completely out of money by now, but on occasion I'll splurge with a fiver or so. Here's an adorable plaid skirt that I got yesterday for £5.

Another wonderful benefit of this city is the Farmer's Market every Saturday on Castle Terrace. I've mentioned this before, but I've made a pretty religious habit of traipsing over there on a Saturday morning to admire the goods and procure something tasty for us. There are so many different vendors, some that are there each week and some that I've only seen there once. It's a great place to get local produce and fresh goods and to support local farmers as well. I'd never really understood the importance or benefit of that until living in a city and comparing the produce and meat I get at Tesco to the quality of the things I can get at the market. I can't buy everything there--though I'd like to--because it can be a little more pricey than I can afford, but I try to at least buy my eggs there and the occasional Aberdeen Angus beef patties for burgers, as well as whatever freshness strikes my fancy that week. Here's my booty from the Farmer's Market this morning.

And for those of you wondering, yes, that's German bread freshly-baked locally in Edinburgh. Dee-lish.

Good times. And I'm still working on the Skye trip for those waiting with bated breath. Right, well, I'm off for a bite of lunch and spending some quality time reading about Celtic deities and their transmogrifying habits.

Caitlin

coming soon.

2011-06-23T10:23:00.000-04:00

Just to let you all know that I will be writing up a sizable post about our trip to the Highlands and Skye, but it'll take some time. It was the most incredible trip I've ever been on, I'm still reeling from all the beauty and wonder we beheld. So here's a wee taster to tide you over until I can get it finished. Enjoy!

The overlook at Ruthven Barracks ruins.

One of the stone cairns at Clava Cairns near Inverness.

Eilean Donan Castle.

The castle ruins at Kyleakin, Skye.

The Faerie Glen, Skye.

A 'Hairy Hieland Coo' in his natural habitat.

Jeremy and me at Glen Coe.

And that's not even the half of it. Stay tuned.

Caitlin

away to Skye.

2011-06-19T18:19:00.000-04:00

We're saying goodbye to bonny Edinburgh for the next few days, and taking a trip up to the Isle of Skye. Two nights in Skye, one full day, and then on either side the traveling days will be going through Pitlochry and Inverness and then Glen Coe and the Wallace Monument. We're quite excited to get a better (and longer) view of the Highlands and Islands, especially Skye, as it's the one place that everyone tells us we need to see. In Gaelic a common moniker for it is Eilean a' Cheo--the island of mist--so we're looking forward to inspiring landscapes and mysterious mist-covered mornings.

Bye bye for now, fair Edina!

And a very happy Father's day to the best Dad a girl could ask for. Thanks for being an awesome dad, Dad. I love you an incredible amount.

Caitlin

here and there.

2011-06-09T08:54:00.001-04:00

This is the view from my workout. I must admit that I feel pretty lucky to have this to watch instead of the tv screens that sit atop the other machines spilling out gratuitous and disgusting images of today's most popular music videos. I get to gaze out at Salisbury Crags as I listen to my own music, sometimes the Beatles, sometimes the Avett Brothers, sometimes Cake.

I snapped this from my phone last night as Jeremy and I ventured out for an evening out with each other, rather than an evening in next to each other. The clouds billowed threateningly over Old Town, and we walked right into them, careless of the imminent rain, merely happy to be in each other's company and anticipating good conversation over a pint or two.

I also caved and decided that our date out for drinks could also include dessert of Sticky Toffee Pudding and vanilla ice cream. Plus I've been working out and can work out extra hard next time, right? Either way, it was delicious as was the time we spent together enjoying the social scene of our city.

I took this in The Last Drop, a completely touristy pub on Grassmarket, but a neat little cave-like place with nice candlelit ambiance and low ceilings. We came here for one last drink after spending most of our time just down Grassmarket in the Black Bull. I came here with my parents when they were here and Jeremy had to work that day, so we decided to pop in so he could experience it too.

We bought our plane tickets home the other day, and it's finally sinking in that we're leaving this place in a few short months. Though we are looking forward to going home to family and beginning yet another new chapter in our lives, we can't help but weep a little at the thought of leaving the city that has really come to be a home away from home for us. We've grown and experienced so much here, it will always be a formidable year in our marriage, and we'll always keep this ancient city in its own little nook in our hearts. Not knowing when we'll return is probably the biggest fear. This city is now part of our story, and I know it will have a recurring role in the future, but not knowing when that might be is disconcerting. But I know there is a plan, and that we've grown attached to Edinburgh in this way for a reason, so I look forward to its next cameo in our lives and relish the time and adventures we still have waiting for us until September 6th. So here's to Edinburgh.
Dùn Èideann, tha gaol agam ort, gu bràth tuilleadh.

Caitlin

we went adventuring in the borders.

2011-06-04T15:59:00.001-04:00

Lindisfarne. The Holy Island, it was full of ancient stone and sacred history. To be there in the midst of it all was absolutely incredible, and incredibly humbling. A pilgrimage there would be well worth it.

Bamburgh Castle. We only had a short stop here, but it surely left its formidable impression on us. We also listened to the first book of the Saxon Tales by Bernard Cornwell before we went, which made it that much cooler. Imagining Uhtred of Bebbanburg within those great walls was quite easy.

Alnwick Castle. Pronounced "Ann-ick" and the place where the first two Harry Potter movies were filmed. We enjoyed exploring and taking little amorous breaks in the alcoves of old stone. It was a breathtaking fortress still owned by the Percy family. In the State Rooms there were recent family pictures set up everywhere. It was surreal to realize that a real family still owned it and it was actually someone's home. Albeit not their only home, and one much bigger than anyone I know is used to.

The solemn monument in Flodden Field to the Scots lives lost in the battle here so many years ago. The countryside surrounding it was so idyllic and serene, it's hard to imagine it being the site of such brutal violence.

A day full of sights and sounds both ancient and modern. This great isle is so full of history it's hard to choose which histories to go and relive. But we're going to experience all we can while we're still here. Here's to another day and another adventure.

Caitlin

getting back on the horse.

2011-05-31T14:42:00.000-04:00

I got to use this phrase literally today as Jeremy and I were able to go horseback riding south of Edinburgh at Lasswade Stables. I found an amazing deal on Groupon and bought a two hour hack for the both of us for Jeremy's birthday. It's been more than ten years since I've been on the back of one of those beasts, and even after all this time it was difficult for me to keep my cool as I stuck my boot in the stirrup and swung my leg over the grey muscled back. As the stablehand adjusted the length of my stirrups and told me how to hold the reins English-style even he could tell how nervous I was--which, admittedly, made me even more nervous, can't horses sense that kind of stuff? The horses Jeremy and I were on were called Starsky and Hutch, respectively, and I was assured that I had no need to worry about being thrown off and kicked by these horses--I laughed nervously and told them that that's what I was told about the horse I had been on ten years previously before it tried to throw me off and took off at full gallop with me hanging off the side of the saddle. So yes, I was nervous, and no, I wasn't thrown off this time thankfully, though I was worried a number of times about falling off. After today I think that the pommel was a great addition in Western-style riding, giving you one more thing to hang on to as your horse goes down steep rocky hills, through rivers, or trips unexpectedly--all of which happened on our hack today. I have to admit that if I had somehow seen a video or known in any way all of the things I'd do on the horse or the trails I'd traverse, I probably would never have gotten back on. But I suppose not knowing was exactly what I needed, and I'm alive and in one piece right now and just that little bit more comfortable again with horses which is what I wanted. Though, I must say, I was worried at first about my ring fingers falling off, they were turning blue as I was gripping the reins so firmly and didn't loosen my grip for at least forty-five minutes, I eventually and gradually began trusting my horse and calmed down enough to know that I didn't need to hold them like a vise the whole time. I still have all my fingers.
The two hour ride itself was pretty calm for the most part, and unlike driving, the horse knows where it's going and you can look around at the scenery for the majority of the ride--though I had to pay attention to low-hanging branches and leaves most of the time too--that an apparently the swallows aim for you, I got pooped on going through the trees beneath a few swallows high up in the branches. But the land out there is gorgeous. Rolling green hills and countryside, towering green old-growth trees with gnarly moss-covered roots, spring flowers of yellow, white, and brilliant purples. We crossed a bridge on the way out and back, and that view of Midlothian was breathtaking, and it reminded me of home, of Western North Carolina. It was so nice to be out of the city for a while, not hearing traffic and sirens, but birds and bugs in the trees and nothing really at all. The silence of the countryside is rejuvenating. I think the best part of the ride though was when our guide lead us through an Aspen tree grove. I haven't seen Aspens since living in Montana, and when the breeze felt its way through those trees, the leaves quivered and shook just like I remembered and it made me glad. Most of the trees were younger, but there were some older ones as well, with their white bark and tall bodies swaying and quaking in the wind. Jeremy reached out at one point and grabbed a leaf; he gave it to me on our way back to the bus stop. How well he knows me.
It was a great day out with Jeremy doing something that we'd never done together before. He frequently turned around in his saddle to check on me and ask if I was okay, especially after we tried trotting a few times--I began to get the rhythm of it again, but man is it jarring! It'll be a memory we keep from our time in Scotland forever, and I'm glad that I mustered up the courage to do it, and I'm glad that nothing insane happened too. All in all, a good day, a good experience, and a great way to celebrate (a little late) Jeremy's thirtieth birthday. I apologize for not getting photos, but I probably would have fallen off had I tried to bring and use my camera on this trip, but hopefully I've given you enough detail to use your imaginations. :)

A little sore now in the rump region but quite happy,

Caitlin

a week back.

2011-05-27T14:52:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been a week since we returned from our fantastic trip home and things are going well. I took my Gaelic exam, at least the second half of it, on Saturday afternoon and I think I did quite well on it. We went to a great church service at our church, New Restalrig on Sunday and enjoyed a nice walk through Holyroon Park, even if it did sprinkle on us a bit. We also went to go see Thor at the Omni Center, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not Oscar-worthy by any means, but it was a fun and humorous comic book based film to go see on a date with my husband. On our walk home I snapped this photo of the Duke of Wellington horse and rider statue with the Balmoral Hotel in the background.

Taken with my phone.

I've also gone on a cooking kick, where I'm not only making dinner pretty much every night, but also making lunch for the both of us a few days out of the week as well. I'm on this omelette spree right now. On the day of Laurel's wedding, Christal made the both of them (since they hadn't eaten all day, silly girls) an omelette with red bell pepper, spinach, and feta cheese--and I haven't stopped thinking of it since. Today I kicked it up a notch and added quartered plum tomatoes, fresh cilantro, and a hint of lemon juice, and boy was it tasty! I've also got this Moroccan Chicken Tangine recipe that I make quite often, and did again the other night. The spices and flavors of everything together is near divine. That cous-cous is simply a store-bought instant bag boiled with chicken broth and apple juice instead of water, with dried apricots, honey, lemon juice, and sliced almonds. It's absolutely delicious.

Also taken with my phone.

The days are lasting surprisingly long already. I suppose it's not surprising for someone who has lived here during the summer, but when there's still light in the sky at 10:45PM, and the sun starts it climb back into the sky sometime between three and four in the morning and you don't expect it, it's surprising. Up in the Highlands and Islands in midsummer the sun never really completely sets, it's what's called the 'summer dim'. I honestly quite like it as one who loves sunlight, even muted grey sunlight, coming through the windows of whatever room she's in.
It's nice actually, where I was walking to my fiddle class at 7PM in near darkness only a few months ago, now I walk home from my fiddle class in plenty of light and usually able to observe a brilliant light show by the dazzling sunset. Case in point, last night:

Also taken with my phone, though I wish I'd had my DSLR.

There's nothing quite like a spectacularly bright and colorful ending to a drearily cloudy and drizzly grey day is there? Well, Edinburgh sure knows how to do that right.

I'm still plugging away sifting through books and articles for my dissertation, and it's going well, but nothing of substance to really report, other than how lucky I feel to be writing a dissertation for which I must read old Scottish tales and examine Celtic beliefs and deities relating to animals among other things.

Oh, and happy birthday to Josh Foreman and Rachel Foreman Courser!

Caitlin

north carolina. [the trip home.]

2011-05-24T10:22:00.001-04:00

Though I'm notably still quite tired, I feel rested enough to write a wee bit about our time back home, and I feel like Jeremy and I experienced and did so many things (and still didn't get to do all we intended) that the longer I wait to write on it, the less I'll remember to include. Firstly, I must say that being away from those mountains made me appreciate anew and enjoy, like an old sweet song, the beauty, verdancy, and familiarity of those blue ridges. Being there again, nestled in between those mountains and sheltered by trees, surrounded by family and friends, we remembered and solidified our desire to move back home to those joyful things and settle down.

my mountains.

After a full twenty-four hours of travel once we arrived at the Foreman house, we stayed up a little longer to say hello to everyone there, receive and give long awaited hugs, and try to take in the reality that we were really there. Then we crashed. With the aid of a noisy morning and a Moments latte we awoke and again settled into the reality that we were home. Things were pretty crazy as it was two days before Laurel's wedding and Mom Foreman was working herself to the bone, as usual, to prepare the food to perfection, but we managed to see her and her sisters, Becky and Debby, in her kitchen to say hello and go in for more hugs. That Thursday was probably the calmest day we had, but we were still pretty busy helping Mom in the kitchen and running errands with Dad Foreman, not to mention picking kids up from school, and dropped others off at soccer practice.
The next two days flew by. There was a breakfast for all the girls at Laurel's house on Friday morning, with the famous blueberry pancakes and a topping that can really only be called icing, but it's so much better than that. It was great to take time to visit, meet, and enjoy the company of the women in one place before the craziness of the rehearsal and the actual wedding day. I also looked after Zoe, Rachel's daughter, that morning as both Rachel and Cory were working. It was fun to get to know my new niece, and get to know her stunning personality a bit more.

the Zoe.

The rehearsal was not in the location that the wedding actually ended up taking place as the rain had decided to let loose it's fury on the mountains that afternoon, but after a while we got things sorted and in a small respite from the rain we ran up and at least got an idea of what the ceremony would look like in the field it was originally planned to be. If the rain wants to exhaust itself the day before the wedding that was fine with all of us, but we implored it to finish and clear off before the actual wedding. [Which it reluctantly consented to do.]

Attempting a quick run-through before the rain arrives again.

The rehearsal dinner was full of love, laughs, and good company. Laurel and Kent so perfectly complement each other it was amazing to see them together, surrounded and lifted up by their closest family and friends, on the evening before they become one flesh in the sight of God.
The wedding day was another full one. There was a worship service in the morning at the site of the ceremony to set the day apart to the Lord, and it was done with reverence and joy.

Jeremy spending some quality time with our niece, Seren, after the morning service.

My job as photographer began around 2:30 in the afternoon, after helping with this and that at Laurel's before going back to the Foreman house to get ready.
Though the sky looked threatening at times, the rain abstained from its fall until much later in the evening. Though getting everything ready took a bit longer than expected, it all happened in its time and it was beautiful. The ceremony was so well done and put together, from the music, the prayers, the vows, the ring-bearer hound-dog, and ultimately the love between Kent and Laurel. The rain started to drop little by little as I rushed to get the group shots done, but it held up long enough to spend a good amount of time with just Laurel and Kent, though they definitely got a little wet on the back of the golf cart as we rushed to get them to the reception.

Yep, they climbed the high dive--in the rain.

The reception was full of good food, good people, good music, and some crazy dance moves. I was able to take my photographer mode down a notch and enjoy a bit of the reception as well. It was just lovely, and again, full of joy.
The next day everyone was pretty much shattered, but we went to church (again with the aid of Moments coffee) and after church headed back over to Merri-Mac where all the food from the wedding still was and gorged ourselves on leftovers. Yum. Eve's violin concert was next on the list, so Jeremy and I, Zak and Brittney piled into Caitlin's car and we all went to support Eve--who did amazingly in her concert. She's a great little violinist, and made me quite a proud aunt.
We spent some time with Josh and Christal and the kids after the concert before heading back out to see a movie with everyone. For anyone who cares, Priest had an amazing concept but utterly failed to deliver a good plot and story, so don't waste your time. Though I hear the comic books are brilliant, so if you're into that I have it on good authority to highly recommend them.
Priest was also quite short, and as some of the us went to a different movie we had to wait on them to finish as well--so we snuck into Thor and watched a little of it before we got the call to say we were ready to go. Jeremy and I have since gone back out to see Thor and thought it was a fun film, we definitely enjoyed it.
The next day I was able to reunite with my closest friend and dear heart, Chelsea Rose. The Rose and the Thistle together again! We went out to lunch at Las Cazuelas (finally, and yum!) and then took a walk about Montreat, just talking and catching up a little. It was as if we'd never been apart, just picking up where we left off--though at the same time we were both disbelieving that we were actually in the same place again. We took silly photos, as usual, and we laughed together and made plans to live near each other again.

After a while it began to lightly rain and we went back to pick up Jeremy. We went for another pick-me-up at Moments then headed out to Asheville. We stopped by Barnes and Noble for a while to wait on my brother, Jake, to call us back. He is now taking care of Cael for us, and we were, all of us, excited to go see the pup as well as my loving brother. So when we got the call we all got back into the car and rushed over to Jake's house.
Cael has gotten so big! In reality, I don't think he's that much taller than he was when we left, but he's fattened up a bit and filled in. He's no puppy anymore! But it was so wonderful to see him, pet him, and give him some long overdue loving. He seems really happy at Jake's, he and Peter have a dog as well, Olivia, who seems like she'll teach Cael a thing or two and keep him in his place. We spent some time there, and decided to stay for dinner as well. Chelsea took us back to Moments to get Jeremy's dad's car, as that was Chelsea's last night in NC and needed to spend it with her family. It was absolutely fantastic to see her, and I look forward to the next time as well. Maybe I can get my arse in gear, be a good friend, and write her another letter.
Back at Jake and Peter's we sat around, wine in hand, while the aromatic spices of Peter's cooking wafted around us. He put together an amazing chicken curry dish with coconut milk, and greens, and sweet potatoes and also some naan bread. I'm not doing justice to all that went into it, but it was delicious! It was lovely to catch up with Jake's life and hear about Peter's job search and projects he's got going on. And I'm going to say it again, it was so great to see Cael and really know that he's healing well and enjoying his place in Asheville. Thanks to Jake and Peter for taking him, and thanks to Drew and Kelsey for keeping him up until then.

Jake and Peter.

Me and my pup!

Jeremy and Cael.

The next two days flew by as well. I had every intention of doing so many more things than we were able to do, but I suppose that's how it goes sometimes. An inordinate amount of time was spent waiting on the locksmith to attempt to pick, cut, and eventually grind off the lock on our storage unit--the keys to which were lost or thrown away in the Foreman's moving house last December. We kept the key this time, knowing now that we'll be moving back in September. After that was finally taken care of, we went running errands with Caitlin, getting a storage bin for all the things we brought back with us from Scotland. We both had checked two bags each, and left one whole bag plus the majority of the other bag back in NC to begin moving our things back, hopefully we won't have as much to ship in September. After errand running we went for dinner as Las Cazuelas with Caitlin, Rachel, and Zoe. It was great to spend some time with them apart from the craziness of the wedding.
On our last full day we stopped by to see Cael one more time and to say goodbye to him, as well as Jake and Peter, it was hard to leave him again, but not nearly as difficult as it was the first time. I think knowing that we'll be home in a few months made the parting a little easier. After saying our goodbyes there, we headed back out to Arden to see Josh and Christal and the kids. It's always a good time with Josh and Christal, we enjoy their company so much and we love their kids as well, so there's always people to talk to, or in some cases, play with. Those kids are growing up so quickly, and I have to admit that it's been hard being here sometimes knowing that they're all growing up and changing without me there to see it. Josh and Christal graciously offered us dinner, though we implored with them that we didn't need to eat their food, but it was quite delicious. Christal's mother, Susan, was there as well, and it's always nice to see her too. She's like another mum to me as well. We spent hours there without really realizing it, and before we left Josh pulled out his guitar and Christal her cello and they played us some songs that they had written together. We were able to see them play together at the wedding, but it is always so incredible to see and hear them playing and singing together. They really are so talented, and another great complementary couple. It was sad to say goodbye, but again, knowing when we were coming back this time made it better. And as Eden said to his brother and sisters "It's only four months, and then they are coming back to stay forever!"

The breath-taking view from J&C's house.

Me and my little buddy, Eden.

Dimitri demonstrating his awesome hand-made kaleidoscope.

Josh and Christal about to play for us.

We got back late that evening, and soon realized any plans we may have had to squeeze things in in the morning weren't going to come to fruition as our ride to the airport had to come quite early because of other things needing to be done that day. So arriving at the airport at 9AM, thinking we were going to be able to switch my flight so I could travel with Jeremy for extremely cheap, basically being told 'just kidding', waiting around for hours, luckily realizing in time that my luggage was only tagged to Paris, fixing that, watching Jeremy fly away on his plan five hours before mine left, waiting, waiting, waiting, and studying for my exam, then finally beginning my arduous journey home, waiting in Atlanta until nearly midnight, then finally flying to Paris, sleeping through breakfast and almost not getting it at all, Jeremy nearly being able to wait until my flight in Paris and get 250 euros in the process then not being able to, and finally touching down in Edinburgh over another twenty-four hours later made for a crazy time of travel.
But were back now, and we have things to do here, things to see and experience and things to enjoy and photograph. So for now, Edinburgh is home, but we look forward to making that ridiculous trip over one more time and settling down in those Carolina mountains.
Thanks to everyone who gave us a bed to sleep in, a cell phone to use, a car to borrow, a meal in our bellies, one well-needed hug after another, a wedding at which to give joy, and so many other things. And apologies to those whom we meant to see and pass the time with but simply ran out of time to pass. We'll see you all soon, and catch up with no time limits.
Whew, that really was a doozy of a post. Thanks for slogging all the way through it if you did. I hope the photographs were able to break it up enough. No more long posts for a while, I promise.

Content right where she is and joyful for the opportunity to be home,

Caitlin

photo ramble.

2011-05-09T13:45:00.000-04:00

Jeremy and I are leaving the day after tomorrow for North Carolina, and we are utilizing trip to also begin bringing back some of our clothing and things that we won't be using for the next few months until we move back permanently to North Carolina. Since I haven't used my lovely lenses and adapters for my DSLR, I've decided that it's best to go ahead and take them back home. Since I know I'm losing them--not my camera, mind you, just all the attachments and extras that I normally don't use--I went out on a quick photo ramble today around Southside, shooting interesting things and playing with my old 50mm lens that was originally part of my father's old Canon film SLR. I bought an adapter that would allow me to use it on my current Rebel XTi DSLR, and I haven't really gotten around to playing with it since being here. It was interesting since it is a completely manual lens, I have to set to aperture on the lens itself then coordinate the shutter speed accordingly in the Manual setting on my Rebel. It was entertaining to see what I could remember from my fully manual photography classes in high school. The 50mm lens has a fixed focal length which means I can't zoom in or zoom out, and it was good for me to realize how much an easy zoom lens can be a crutch to a photographer. There was a quote that my photography teacher in high school had us build a composition around in our art journals, I don't remember who said it, but it goes something like "If your photographs aren't good enough, you aren't close enough." I think this is so important as a photographer, you can play with depth of field and focus when you physically use your own legs as a zoom rather than a quick flick of your wrist on the lens.
My ramble was unfortunately cut a bit short due to a rogue Scottish rainstorm that moved in so quickly that I found myself running down Nicolson Street, past coffee shops with open doors and people with umbrellas, back to my flat to keep my bag and camera from getting wet. It was rather nice though, the rain was a warm spring rain rather than a chilling winter shower, and the wind that picked up with the rain was a refreshing one instead of one that makes you wish you had seal skin as it nips and bites at your exposed arms. Cut short though it was, I still was able to get some interesting shots. I played around a bit with them in Photoshop and these are my favorites.

The stairway in our building.

I love the weathervane in this one.

The stones in this wall looks so worn and experienced. If stones could speak, huh?

A pub just around the corner from our flat.

I've also posted this last photo as photo of the week on the tab above, go check it out if you want to hear more about composition and editing.

Feeling happily artsy,

Caitlin

i heart faces. [motherhood]

2011-05-09T13:35:00.000-04:00

How apt that this week's i heart faces challenge is motherhood. There are many mothers in my life right now, as I mentioned in my Mother's Day blog, and there are many who have inspired me to be a great mother myself when the time comes. My own amazing and talented mother, of course, will have probably the biggest impact on my mothering style and inclinations, but another mother in my life taught me--as an adult--about the day-to-day life of being a mom, a wife, and woman, an artist, a fashion designer, a seamstress, a teacher, I could literally go on and on. Christal is my sister-in-law, she married Jeremy's brother, and she currently has five children. I have been with the family since before the third one, Eden, was born. She has had home births for all of her kids, and I have proudly been on 'Call when labor begins' list for both of the children since Eden as well. Before I met Jeremy and his family I was quite nervous around children, more specifically infants, I just didn't know how to hold them and I may or may not have thought I'd hurt them if I breathed on them too hard.
But the early morning that Eden was born I was able to hold him at just hours old. It was perhaps one of the most memorable experiences of my life, that, and then also a year or two later when I sang him to sleep in my arms for the first time and felt his little body calm down and finally yield to sleep with his sweet little cheek against my chest as I sang 'Old MacDonald', his favorite song, to him in slower and quieter tones the longer I sang. Anyway, I have been present for the next two births, Ariel and then Seren as well.
My entry this week is from Seren's birth. She is only minutes old in this shot, and Christal had just had her put into her arms and looked at her third daughter for the first time. The hand in the photo is actually Christal's oldest daughter, Eve, eager to make a connection to her new little sister. I love that Seren has wrapped her little hand around Eve's finger, the only kind of hug she can give. As trite as 'the miracle of birth' may sound, it is remarkably true, even as a bystander. I look forward to continuing to learn and love with my nieces and nephews, who have lovingly and sometimes frustratingly helped prepare me for when I have kids of my own.

Check out the other entries for this week by clicking the link above.

happy mother's day!

2011-05-08T08:52:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mum, as well as my marvelous mother-in-law. I've admitted gotten pretty lucky in the case of both of those roles in my life, and I am so thankful for them. A happy day also to all the other mothers in my life, both family and friends, I hope your day is filled with joy and delight, love and laughter. Even though it might not feel like it all the time, being a mother is one of the most important and awesome vocations one can be called to, and I appreciate all of the mothers in my life being a beacon of inspiration and a tower of learning. Thanks to mothers especially today, but let us all try to appreciate the ones in our lives every single day of the year.
Cheers to Mums!

My own Mother and me, from the last six years.

being together.

2011-05-07T12:32:00.001-04:00

Jeremy and I had a number of errands to do yesterday in preparation for our trip back to North Carolina next week, one of which being a jaunt to an outdoor/army supply store down on Leith Walk. So we took the bus, though we rarely do that--I think memories of the last time we walked from the bottom of Leith Walk all the way to West End full of burning feet and blisters still haunt us. We caught the bus, got only a block or two turned around but eventually found what we were looking for. It's so nice to get out and about again, to see parts of the city we haven't really seen in months. As we were walking back up Leith Walk to a different bus stop we popped into a near-empty pub for a sit-down, a drink, and to enjoy each other's company. The pub was quite neat on the inside, deep mahogany paneling with matching furniture trimmed in a forest green leather. The pub only had a few people in it, so we went to the back corner--past the adorable old man with his whole bag of golf clubs beside him, and we just sat and reveled in being together, not doing anything.

Here we are, together. :)

Things seem to have been on auto-pilot lately, and we seem to rarely cross paths--though we have for extended periods of time, it was more like just being in the same room than spending time together. So our whole day out was almost like a date-day, even though we went out for errands and not specifically for amorous intentions. But it's nice to be reminded why we were attracted to each other in the first place, and to look at my husband and know that he is mine and I am his, and that neither of us have to worry about the 'dating scene' ever again--though we can lovingly, and sometimes laughingly, remember our time of dating each other. We laughed and talked, and then we caught a bus back home, ran a few more errands--made fun of the girls running around Edinburgh in just tights and a top, they apparently think tights pass for trousers, someone should tell the poor lambs--then back home, and I made some dinner and we spent some more time together. It was nice to be together again, really together and not just near each other. I am so thankful for my husband, and so blessed to have him in my life.

Here I am, modeling my drink and the opulently colored furniture.

A happy wife,

Caitlin

dissertation topic officially cracked.

2011-05-04T15:49:00.000-04:00

Well, I've been slamming my head against this topic for months now trying to crack it, and finally I have some semblance of what I'm going to be researching and writing about.
My plan is to analyze and explore the motif of animal-human transformation within traditional Gaelic narrative. I'm still looking at ways to narrow my focus and anchor my research, but the biggest hurdle has been crossed, and it feels great. I sent an e-mail to my advisor and it was official okayed by him today, so thank God for that!
This is how that makes me feel:

So we'll see how I get on from here.

We're going to North Carolina in one week! What?! Much to do before then!

Caitlin

evidence.

2011-05-01T13:25:00.000-04:00

This is proof that both Edinburgh was gorgeous today and that I went out and enjoyed it. I walked all the way around Holyrood Park, it was absolutely lovely.

To be fair, this next shot wasn't from today, but from Friday. When I was uploading the other photos from my phone I remembered this one and had to share it. Taken in the Meadows.

lately.

2011-05-01T08:51:00.001-04:00

Lately things have been busy with nothing at all. Isn't it frustrating when you feel so rushed and busy, yet you don't really end up doing anything? You just feel anxious about the things you're not doing, or should be doing, or will be doing.
This morning Jeremy and I listened to a sermon from Jeremy's grandpa, Edmund Clowney. We have a number of sermons saved on our itunes, and when we can't make it to church for various reasons (this morning being, again, that Jeremy's back prevents us from walking anywhere too far, and Jeremy had to be at work at one o'clock to boot). This morning we listened to Pop Pop reading Phillippians 4:4-6, which has always been a favorite verse of mine. Anxiety tends to be the bane of my own existence even when I try to suppress it, but these verses reminded me of some beautiful promises I tend to forget about in my own clouds of stress and anxiety. The clouds disperse and the sun comes out, warm and gentle on my face, and I am thankful.
A couple weeks ago, Jeremy and I took a trip to Northern Ireland to visit some friends, Billy and Katie, and it was great to spend time with them, catch up, laugh, and enjoy each other's company. It is always nice to get away and do something new for a while. And we have another trip coming up quite soon as well--we leave for North Carolina in about ten days! I can't believe it's already so close, we still have some planning and packing to do. We're planning on bringing just the bare necessities for the trip, and packing full our other suitcases with things we know we won't need or use from now until we move back to NC in September. So there's still plenty to do from now until then, as well as studying for my Gaelic exam which is the day after I come back from NC, and also continuing to chip away at this dissertation topic which is finally beginning to form itself into something coherent in my mind, but not yet ready for public revelation.

A shot of Jeremy and I goofing off below Mussenden Temple near Whiterocks Beach, NI.

Last night was the fire feast of Beltane, and today, according to the Celtic calendar is the first day of summer. Jeremy and I caught a fleeting glimpse of the fire up on Calton Hill from North Bridge last night, but since I have an odd aversion to crowds and it cost money, we didn't venture up to Calton Hill for the festivities themselves. But it's another gorgeous day in Edinburgh, and I have a mind to go out an enjoy it.

Until next time,

Caitlin

i heart faces. [pets]

2011-04-25T14:31:00.000-04:00

I had to enter this week's i heart faces photo challenge. Not because I have the perfect photo, but because I have the perfect pet, whom I miss dearly. This is Cael, for those of you who do not know him. He's about two thousand miles away from me right now, staying with my brother while my husband and I are in Edinburgh while I get my Master's degree. He's also recovering from a back injury, and it has been hell having to worry about him and know that there is nothing I can do from this far away for his fear and pain.
I have literally thousands of photos of Cael, but this one struck me as I was perusing them. Waiting to go outside, his favorite place, he is giving me his usual brown-eyed plead to just open the door. I called his name as he was looking outside, and he immediately flipped his head up to where I was, his ears flopping behind him, and I loved the way the sunlight illuminated his face. Cael is the best pup anyone could ask for, so this one is for him. Love you, little guy, and miss you. See you soon.

the spring has returned.

2011-04-13T13:21:00.002-04:00

I meant to write on these things soon after I got back from experiencing them, but time, it seems, never ceases to find ways to elude me and my intentions. It was this past Sunday that I finally was able to get out and enjoy what spring has brought to this city. I've been feeling it, knowing it was here for a few days, maybe a week, but I hadn't gotten the opportunity to go out and give it its due attentions. But Sunday, Sunday is a day a rest, and it was resting in the beauty and warmth that had been bestowed finally upon us here in Scotland that I intended to take advantage of. I donned a skirt, easily removable shoes, and a sleeveless shirt, as well as packing the essentials: moleskin notebook, pen, book, and music-listening device, blanket, and food and water, of course, then I trekked down to Holyrood Park and its extensive green spaces, gorgeous views, and sun-warmed patches of earth. I spread out my blanket on an appropriately unoccupied, perfectly balanced spot of shade and sun, and basked in the glory of the return of the prodigal spring. The spring cursed for leaving us once summer's warmth encroaches a little too heatedly and then again when autumn's crisp nip becomes a vicious bite with winter's arrival. But finally, that which was lost is again found and the rejoicing becomes that much sweeter for its absence and the extremes borne in that absence. I read, I wrote, and I simply reveled in the symphony of sunshine on my skin as I listened to whimsical music fit for an afternoon of such revelry. I occupied my little patch of gold for an hour or two then retired and left the spot for someone else to enjoy. With the sun still warming my face and skin, I walked the extra few minutes out of my way for the perfect finish to the first springtime frolic, a proper Mr. Whippy ice cream cone. I returned home refreshed and with a new array of very lightly evidenced freckles, not to mention on smile on my face and a satisfied sigh in my heart.

My little patch of golden springtime.

The first time these have been used this year.

The essentials.

Hoping for just a little color...

The perfect end to a perfect revelry.

Welcome back spring time! You've been missed.

Caitlin

i heart faces. [shadows]

2011-04-11T08:10:00.002-04:00

This week's challenge on i heart faces is 'shadows.' As shadows and contrast are two of my favorite artistic elements, and ones I use quite often, I thought that entering this week would be a great idea. Shadows have always fascinated me. Ever since seeing Peter Pan as a child, the idea of shadows having a mind of their own piqued my imagination. This shot was from a wedding I did a few years ago, Emily and Matt. Their love was so physically present and tangible, it wouldn't have surprised me to see that manifesting itself independently in their shadows as well. Maybe it did...

good for the soul.

2011-04-09T16:46:00.000-04:00

I just spent three hours talking, laughing, and reminiscing with my closest friend on Skype, and I had no idea how much my soul needed that. She makes me laugh and lifts me up more than anyone except Jeremy, and knows just what to say to keep me encouraged and confident in my studies and intellect. I got further bouncing dissertation ideas off of her than I did with professors at school. She knows how I think and knows the questions to ask to get my thinking in the right direction. And sometimes we are just insane together, and I miss those silly times in front of photobooth taking ridiculous photos of ourselves. God blessed me majorly when he gave me Chelsea as a friend, and I pray that I am as much of a blessing to her as she is to me. Thank God for bosom friends, right Anne Shirley?

One of the first photos of us taken.

One of the last photos of us together before our lives took us to separate places.

We have way too much fun.

my hairs.

2011-04-06T12:19:00.001-04:00

They have been cut. Actually, I let Jeremy cut my hair. This isn't the first time, and he didn't do too bad. I figure, he lets me cut his hair, so why not show him the trust he shows me and let him cut mine? I realize that logic could have backfired, but fortunately it did not. I've tweaked some things here and there, but all in all I'm quite happy with it. It was time for a change, and I was honestly getting so sick of pulling my hair every time I put my bag on my shoulders. I'd have to fight to get it untangled, and it was just becoming a burden. So it's been chopped off and now I can enjoy a painless time as I shoulder my bag and head out the door.

Keep praying for Cael. Things are still unclear as to what has happened, and how serious it is.

Caitlin

a day in the highlands and other such happenings.

2011-04-03T08:56:00.001-04:00

This past week has been a whirlwind of emotion, of fun, of fellowship, and of sight-seeing. As you know from my last post, my parents came to Edinburgh last weekend to visit Jeremy and me, and to celebrate my birthday as well. It was wonderful not only seeing them, but being able to see Edinburgh through the eyes of a tourist again. I know there's a stigma attached to being touristy, especially when you live in a place, but there's something special about looking at a place through the lens of the expectant and awe-filled tourist. So it was nice to get another glimpse of this amazing city--and Scotland itself--with that doe-eyed wonder of newness and awe. We did a number of things in Edinburgh itself, and also went to Stirling, which was brilliant. On Wednesday we went on a tour at the Whisky Experience at the top of the Royal Mile, and I have to admit that it was quite well done. They have the largest single collection of single malt whisky in the world, which was quite impressive in its back-lit glass shelving. My father and Jeremy enjoyed a tasting session of the four biggest whisky regions in Scotland: Lowland, Highland, Speyside, and Islay. I personally enjoyed my tasting of whisky from the Highland region, a distillery called Ben Nevis--named after the highest peak in Scotland. I can't say the same for my mum's tasting, she declared that it just tasted like rubbing alcohol. She's never enjoyed alcohol though, so to expect her to enjoy a single-malt was unfair. I'm proud of her near-perfect ability to not screw up her face at each sip of her glass though. Way to go, Mum.

A very small part of the largest whisky collection.

The lads' whisky tasting.

The lads tasting their whisky.

Then on Thursday my parents booked a trip that Jeremy and I would have never done ourselves--as 'locals' that like to think they can't do anything touristy at the risk of exposing our real state of long-term and awe-struck tourists desperately trying to be locals (mostly for want of money to do touristy things). Ahem, anyway, my parents booked a day trip to the Highlands with Haggis, yes Haggis, Tours. We piled into a bright yellow midi-bus at 8AM on Thursday morning that had bright red letters on the side that said 'Wild and Sexy Tours'. Luckily, it was easy to forget what the bus looked like when you were inside of it. Also luckily, it was actually a really great tour. Our guide was really funny and engaging, and really knowledgeable as well--full of stories and history. We drove up through the countryside to Glencoe, the site of the infamous and terrible Glencoe massacre by the Campbells of the MacDonalds. We stopped there briefly, then continued on up to Fort Augustus and the southern end of Loch Ness, and we went on a cruise of the loch and hoped for a glimpse of Nessie, but we had no such luck. But Loch Ness is gorgeous and daunting, at nearly a mile deep and the waters as black as a moonless night. I have no problems imagining a kind of 'monster' able to keep itself hidden and elusive down there. After we left Fort Augustus we came back down the other side of the Highlands, and saw the Glenbogle house for anyone who has seen the show 'Monarch of the Glen'. We went through Perthshire, and had a quick stop in Pitlochry. Back on the bus and around the city of Perth, then finally through the Kingdom of Fife and over the bridge back to Edinburgh. It was amazing to see the differences between the west and east Highlands, but to also recognize the beauty and glory of both--and all in the same day to boot. It was nice to finally get up to the Highlands, if only for a wee taster session, and Jeremy and I are looking forward to finally get up there to spend some real time in the countryside camping, walking and backpacking over hills and through glens.

Glencoe.

How'd you like that house in Glencoe? Yes, please.

Loch Ness.

The east Highlands. Any Western North Carolinians recognize something familiar?

My dad even connected with his Scottish roots and bought a Harris Tweed flatcap. That, and drank plenty of Scottish single malt and beer. Aye, he's got a little Scotland in him all right.

The handsome Scotsman.

I'm still trying to pin down my elusive dissertation topic, which seems to have taken a dive into murky waters to imitate Nessie--but I'm confident in my ability to track it down and force it to succumb to my will, and unlike Nessie, it will be broken and tamed. Hah.

On a more serious note, Jeremy and I received word last night that our pup, Cael, was taken to the emergency vet yesterday (mostly because it was the weekend, and no other vet was open) due to his unexplained whimpering and crying, and inability to move around very well. Drew tells me that the vet can't find anything specifically wrong yet, and worst-case scenario it could be a slipped-disc. So please, please pray for Cael, and the vet looking at him, and also for Drew and Kelsey who are having to deal with all of this. Pray for Jeremy and me and well, because as it was hard to be away from the Cael before, it's even harder knowing that he's in pain and scared, and I'm thousands of miles away from him. Cael is on bed-rest of a couple weeks, and on some pain-meds so pray for his speedy (and honestly, pray inexpensive) recovery as he'll be going back to the vet in a week's time to see if he has improved.

Pray for this little guy.

Hopeful,

Caitlin

weekend in photos.

2011-03-29T08:36:00.000-04:00

Again, I'm short on time to give you all a proper update with both words and photos, so I figured you'd settle for just photos given the choice. My parents are here, they arrived on my birthday--which was on Saturday-- and it's been lovely to show them around our city and spend time with them. I've got a dissertation meeting today, then more touristy-stuff with the parents, so life continues on and I've only got a little time to stop and fill you in here. I'm going to keep promising until I do it--a proper update coming soon!

Birthday breakfast, flowers, and gift--compliments of mo leannan, Jeremy.

Birthday drinks and eats with my parents and Jeremy at the Black Bull on Grassmarket.

My mum and me!

Sunday at Edinburgh Castle. Stained glass of St. Columba at St. Margaret's Chapel.

My adorable parents outside Edinburgh Castle.

Graveyard in Stirling, just below the castle.

Inside Stirling Castle.

Quintessential bodaich, old men, outside a pub in Stirling.

A tremendous sunset over Edinburgh to finish up the day quite nicely.

Right, until next time! :)

Caitlin

etsy wednesday.

2011-03-23T16:35:00.001-04:00

(This is me taking a break from all my editing, honing, and writing for my essays--not procrastinating.)

I just had to share this Etsy shop that I just found, it's called Jeunebugs. This woman, Jeune, from Oregon makes the most gorgeous jewelry out of real leaves, pine cones, acorns, among other things too. They're just absolutely gorgeous, and I couldn't help but just stare at their delicate beauty. Here's a collage of some of my favorites. Those aspen and oak leaves took my breath away. Check her out!

How gorgeous are these?

Okay, back to work. Back with a real update soon!

Caitlin

busy busy.

2011-03-19T08:07:00.000-04:00

Here are some snapshots of what the majority of my days look like. I'll be back to properly update once I get these essays finished and I've aced (fingers crossed!) my Gaelic tests.

Faithful companions.

Lullabies.

Fionn MacCumhail

And to make things a little more interesting, here's a shot I got last night on my way home from my fiddle recital/concert thing. More on that to come.


Moon over the Meadows

Until I'm considerably less stressed-out,

Caitlin

i heart faces. [sun flare]

2011-03-15T12:36:00.000-04:00

So this week's iheartfaces.com photo challenge theme is 'Sun Flare'. Since Edinburgh has been drearily devoid of any sun this week I've decided to go back into the archives of my photography and pick a really nice one that fit with the theme. This was for the bridal portraits of my dear friend, and college roommate, Hannah, which was probably one of the most enjoyable shoots I've ever been on. She climbed up on this hay bale without any help, and without worrying about her dress, then she leaped off of it when we were finished. She's a country girl, born and bred, and the shots in this field really embodied her little-bit-country flare.

a wednesday.

2011-03-09T13:09:00.004-05:00

A few things that have made this a good day:

Feeling pretty good after taking my Gaelic test this morning.
Walking home from class in sunshine.
Seeing this on my way to meet Jeremy's aunt for coffee.

Spring is coming!

Knowing that even the snowfall last night couldn't hold back these crocuses and their spring splendor.

Having a mocha and a good chat with Aunt Tessa, and then getting to hold the three-month-old she was babysitting.
Going to see my husband at work, he gives the best hugs.
Perusing a vintage shop on the way home.
This cup of afternoon tea.

Knowing that I'm going to make a fair dent in my Traditional Narrative essay tonight.

So here's to a good day, yeah?

I also wanted to call myself out to you lot, because I have made myself a liar. In my post about my crocheted socks, I said that those would be the last creative thing I would do before I turned in my dissertation. Well, I was mistaken. The other day I started crocheting a hat, and a couple days later I had finished it without really thinking about it. Whoops. Oh well, now I have a new hat. It's quite nice actually, it's a slouchy kind of hat with nice ribbing and it's a warm brown color as well. I've enjoyed wearing it on this chilly almost-spring day--I can't bring myself to admit it's still winter, I am so ready for spring. Here are a couple snap-shots of my new hat.

On another exciting front, I was given a gift certificate to Amazon.com for my upcoming birthday, and I ordered some adorable shoes that I have been wanting, and they arrived yesterday! I've been wanting and needing some black shoes that aren't heels, and are dressy, but that also aren't ballet flats because my feet get so cold. I've been seeing these kind of shoes around for a while, and I love how classy and vintage they are. I'll be able to wear them with nearly any kind of outfit, so I'm excited to try them out.
Here's a photo of the new wardrobe addition.

It's so lovely to begin to notice spring's imminent arrival, isn't it? As I was walking to meet Aunt Tessa for coffee across the Meadows and I saw the long pathway of those mighty little crocuses, that promise of new life and color, the knowledge that the darkness is receding and light is staking it's claim upon the season again--it made me warmer somehow, even though this windy day was bitingly cold. I was warmed by the thought of spring. How beautiful is it that anticipation can have that effect? The knowledge that something better is coming, something you've been waiting for through the long winter. And it's even sweeter because we've been through this winter; spring's life and light just wouldn't be the same if we didn't have the darkness and the cold, the depth of winter still keeping its tenuous hold on us as we see the signs of springs arrival, and then that grasp finally breaks with the warm breath of spring finally returning to greet us. And we smile and laugh and remember the winter, we remember the chill and the dark, and we delight in the newness of the warmth and light.
So come, spring, I am waiting to delight in you once again.

Most contentedly,

Caitlin

farmer's market.

2011-03-05T09:23:00.000-05:00

I went to the Farmer's Market again this morning in Edinburgh, just beneath the looming presence of castle rock. I couldn't resist a buffalo burger two weeks in a row, so I got one for myself for lunch, and--good wife that I am--got one for Jeremy and brought it to him at work. I also purchased a meat pie again this week, we got the Laird's Game Pie last week--complete with venison, wild boar, pheasant, and wood pigeon--and this week I got the Cullen Skink pie, which is not lizard for any of you are differently familiar with the term. This one contains Scottish smoked haddock and leeks in a tarragon and fresh dill, cream and lemon sauce. Yeah, it sounded good to me too, that's why I bought it.
I also got some Arran cheese, again. Last week we got the stone ground Arran mustard cheddar cheese, and that definitely did not last long. This morning I picked up crushed herb cheddar cheese and claret cheddar, and I'm pretty confident that they'll be just as tasty--mostly because the nice lady gave me samples of both of them. One of these weeks I'll be prepared enough to know what I'll be cooking for the week and I'll be able to get some fresh local produce as well, and maybe even grab a little container of snowdrops to brighten up the kitchen too.
But for now, I'll enjoy my Arran cheese and Cullen Skink pie tonight, and look forward to perusing the freshness of the market again next week.

my first pair of socks.

2011-03-03T13:28:00.003-05:00

Admittedly, after I finally finished the first sock, I looked at the ball of yarn that looked so little like that second sock I needed, and I stopped crocheting for a least a month. But I have emerged victorious because I now have a pair--yes, a pair--of handmade crocheted socks. They very nearly match in size, the difference is hardly noticeable--which is impressive because I didn't use a pattern and I made them at least a month apart. So here you have it, my physical creativity used-up until at least August when I turn in my dissertation into which every ounce of my creativity and intellect will go (hopefully), which incidentally I still don't have a topic for, and the time to cross that bridge is nigh.
But for now, enjoy reveling in the sock glory. :)

hers was a life beautiful.

2011-02-28T08:26:00.001-05:00

It's been two years today since Ryan Alea was unfettered from her bonds of this earth, and it hasn't gotten any less surreal that she's really gone. Nor has this day hasn't gotten any easier to deal with.
Miss you, RAY.

guilty.

2011-02-25T16:58:00.000-05:00

I most definitely indulged in a guilty pleasure today. The last couple days have been beautifully full of spring's promise of warmth, sunshine, and light jackets. I had to walk a mile or two to deposit some cash in the bank, and on my way back I ducked into a shop. This is no ordinary shop. When Jeremy and I first plucked up enough courage to enter one day we reveled in what we saw--we finally understood what it the metaphor meant "like a kid in a candy shop." We were the kids, and it was no metaphor--we literally were in a candy shop. No joke. This tiny wee shop has thousands of different candies and sweeties stuffed into it, protruding from shelves, hanging from the ceiling, behind glass cases--everywhere you look, there is something deliciously delectable to behold. Not only that, but they serve hot drinks and ice cream as well. Today I popped in not for any of the elaborate chocolates and truffles, nor the simple and well-known candies--I went in for the simplest of spring and summer treats. A single dollop of pure vanilla dairy ice cream with a flake stuck in it. I first tasted this heaven-in-a-cone in a coastal town in Northern Ireland (Molly or Adrian, if you're reading, can you help me out with the name of that wee town?) about seven years ago (has it been that long?!) and ever since I was smitten with the simplicity of it. The ice cream is just regular white vanilla soft-serve ice cream, and the flake is made by Cadbury and it's kind of indescribable if you've never had one. In my opinion, it's not the most amazing treat by itself, but stick it into a cone of soft-serve and you've got something completely different.
So there you have it, I indulged today. It was delicious, and it made me even more excited about the imminent weather change. These ice cream cones are usually called a 99 flake or something of the sort, because you normally only pay 99p for it. I paid £1.30 for mine, but you know what? It was totally worth it. I even managed to snap a photo with my phone before I completely devoured it for you lovely readers to enjoy--though I highly recommend enjoying one of these lovelies with sense that it not sight at some point.

YUM!

unexpected change of plans.

2011-02-22T10:25:00.001-05:00

So I've finally updated my photo of the week for this week, I apologize for not getting up on Sunday--I've given you lovely excuses in the commentary on this week's photo, go check it out.
This past weekend was actually quite nice. I thought it would be a disaster because I had the whole day on Saturday to get work done because Jeremy was working a double and I had plenty of reading to do, and as I discovered the web-based program that lectures at UoE use to put up PDF readings and what not was down for the weekend. Again. So I had all this time to myself, and could not do what needed to be done. So after wasting a little time puttering around the internet I realized that a student is not my sole occupation, that I have a flat that has been embarrassingly neglected in the cleaning quarter for quite some time. So I cleaned. And you know sometimes when you begin to clean, you just keep thinking about more things that you could clean and tidy, and you end up enjoying it? My family used to call it beaver fever when I was young, I'm not sure why--I think it was because beavers seem the kind of animal that would enjoy tedious cleaning what with all that stick-gathering and dam-building they do. But yeah, I just kept going and cleaned pretty much our whole flat--the soundtrack to the cleaning-montage consisting of Johnny Cash and Mumford & Sons. Whenever I get 'the fever' I try to clean as much as I can, because I still remember how I usually feel about cleaning--which aren't typified by amiable feelings.
So with a clean flat, and a happy-but-tired husband at the end of the day I felt quite accomplished, even though I got zero of my reading done for the weekend. (Yes, WebCT was down on Sunday too.) And I was able to invite guests over for Monday night, and didn't have to worry about cleaning all day before they came.
Then Sunday I discovered that through Gmail you can use an internet phone that allows you to call both landlines and mobile phones in the States for absolutely free! So I spoke with my dear one, Chelsea Rose, for over an hour--and it was so good for our souls. Then Jeremy called his parents (a few times, and finally got through) and we spoke with them and his little brother, Jesse, for almost three hours! It was wonderful to be able to talk without worrying about money or time. It was great to hear their voices.
And even though yesterday was definitely not part of the weekend, last night we had Kevin and Ally Aiken over for dinner, and was so wonderful to spend time with friends, just talking and catching up--and of course enjoying some tasty home-brew (shout-out for the ginger beer they brought for me).

Even though this weekend began as a potentially-wasteful change of plans, it ended up being more fruitful than I could have hoped for. And better for our hearts than any amount of academic reading could have been. So here's to an unexpected change of plans.

Cheers,

Caitlin

a mountain summer.

2011-02-18T16:01:00.001-05:00

As February plods along, and I keep spying comments from my friends back in North Carolina about how beautiful the weather is there right now, I cannot help but reminisce about last summer. The summer I thought I might be leaving the Carolina mountains for good, the summer that saw so many memories made and much laughter heard. I didn't know it then, but it was the beginning of my realization, my realization that I love those mountains, and those forests and creeks--they had become part of who I am.
I've never been a huge poetry writer, I tend more for prose myself, but last summer I was incited to compose a poem. When I did rarely write poetry it was usually about longing for somewhere I wasn't, the occasional nature poem, or something about Jeremy and me. But this came out of no where, and I had to write it down, then I honed it, perfected it, and ended up loving it. It was like nothing I'd ever written before. It's one of those poems that you've written and you vaguely recognize the people in it, the feelings, and the surroundings, but it's not quite you--it's like your life in an alternate reality, if that makes sense. A poesy-version of your life.
Well, all this talk of spring and my recent discovery of my belonging to that place has made me remember that poem, and I thought I would share with you all. So without any more explanation, here it is.

Carolina Mountain Song

I’ll keep these memories in a mason jar, this sweet Carolina summer.

We make muggy memories while sipping sweet tea that clinks with amber ice on the porch,

The glasses in our hands sweating as much as we are.

But we don’t care much because we have each other, sweat and all.

Our salty skin sticks together in a brief embrace.

The heat may restrain the physical touch of our promises,

But cannot hinder the way his eyes linger, like a honeybee over a new flower, on my face; my chest,

Breathing, glistening in the summer sun, as a river of salt runs down my dress.

Gloaming in the mountains has descended, and we revel in her mystery.

A vividly pale beauty that encompasses every color and none at all in one glance

The mountain song wings through the trees, touching every oak and pine

That air finds its way to us and plays us her music, sweet like summer strawberries, beneath the fading light.

The sun hides her face behind the ridges, but the heat doesn’t seem to notice

Pinks and purples color the sky in shades only found on a night like this once in your life

They creep across the misty mountains with otherworldly shades and shadows.

He tucks a dark curl behind my ear and sings a song meant for only me and these mountains.

Orchestras of lightning bugs are lightening up the twilit trees against a craggy blue,

And the smell of rain is fragrant on the evening breeze.

Oh, that breeze! Our own little piece of heaven

In this humid heat you could cut with a knife.

“Well… it’s a nice night for a knife fight.”

He says in a drawl more southern than my red gingham dress.

His green eyes meet my blue ones and we laugh and sigh together

For our last sweet summer in high Carolina.

by Caitlin B. Foreman

Well, hopefully that can tide me over a wee bit until spring really does make herself known here in Scotland, and until I can go back and appreciate the summer dusk of the Carolina mountains once again.

Caitlin

i heart faces.

2011-02-15T16:05:00.000-05:00

So I've decided to enter an iheartfaces.com photography challenge as another way to get back into snapping photos all the time, and as a way to interact with other photographers as well.

This week's challenge theme is 'Red' in honor of Go Red for Women. I chose this photo of Carlee I did for her senior portraits, because it embodies so much of what I think women should be--confident, fun, and not afraid to be silly and laugh at themselves--and that's definitely Carlee. So here you go. I'll probably be doing this every couple weeks or so, there are new challenges each week.

Enjoy. :)

Caitlin

a few of the things...

2011-02-15T09:48:00.001-05:00

that made my Valentine's day full of joy...

My husband bringing me home two dozen red tulips.

...and chocolates! Which I shared with him of course. I secretly think he bought them more for himself than for me, but he generously makes sure I eat as many as I want then he'll swoop in and eat the others. :)

The way the afternoon light illuminated the tulips when set in front of our window, and how I'd forgotten how much I love tulips until he came home with them.

Getting to spend a special day with my guy, mo leannan. And getting one of those rare photos with both of us in it--that we both like.

Sitting down to and enjoying a dinner of steak with bleu cheese butter, bacon-spinach mashed potatoes, and lemon-butter asparagus tips, and the look on Jeremy's face when he put the first bite in his mouth--it was apparently still really hot. I'm kidding, it's so rewarding cooking for Jeremy because he loves everything I put in front of him.

I appreciate Jeremy every day, but it's good to have another day in the year to remind us to tell each other again how much we mean to one another.

I am so thankful to have been blessed with a husband like Jeremy, I couldn't have asked for more. I hope everyone else had a great Valentine's day as well, regardless of whether you've found your perfect other half to spend with whom to spend it.

Caitlin

scarflette!

2011-02-13T11:45:00.000-05:00

What do you get when you combine vintage military buttons, pure scottish wool yarn, and 10mm crochet hook?
Well, if you're me you end up with this scarflette! I've been wanting to make one of these for a while, and I finally saw some gorgeous wool in a yarn shop on Victoria Street called K1, then I found the buttons in a thrift shop less than a block from our flat. I love how versatile it is, there are so many things you can do with it, these are only a few I'm sure.
I've been working on socks for a while now, and this project was a nice quick job to relieve the tedious work of crocheting said socks, it only took me maybe two hours to crochet, and most of that time I was also watching a movie or multitasking in some way, it could go way faster. What do you think?

Oh, and I also updated my photo of the week today--that should usually happen on Sundays from now on.

Caitlin

heritage.

2011-02-11T12:43:00.003-05:00

I was asked today if I could choose any citizenship to have in the world, what it would be. My answer was actually quite surprising to me, and will be to anyone reading this who knows me well. I thought about it, and replied,
"If you had asked me this six months ago, I would have undoubtedly said Irish, Scottish, or British. But today, honestly, I'm an American and I'm quite happy to be. I'd take dual-citizenship, sure, but I'll keep my American citizenship, thank you."
To anyone who has heard me pine away for Ireland in the last seven years since I first visited, this might come as a surprise. Don't take this wrong though, I am quite happy to be where I am right now, in Scotland learning about things that most definitely concern my heritage. But this semester my classes comprise of two subjects very interesting to me, Traditional Narrative and Traditional Gaelic Song. Through my lectures and reading so far, especially in Traditional Gaelic Song, we have looked at the idea of song and sense of place. This element is very important in Gaelic song and poetry--which are virtually interchangeable--and is something worth a closer study in understand the nature of the songs. Yesterday in class the lecturer, Dr. Margaret Mackay talked to us about what sense of place means, and she mentioned a Spanish word--pardon my forgetting the actual word--that essentially means a feeling of belonging, of home, a sense of being right where you needed to be. She then asked the class to go round and talk about what that might mean to us individuals.
Being away from family and home in North Carolina has been more difficult than I had foreseen. Coming to Scotland was the fruition of a dream I've had for a long time, and I hadn't even considered the fact that I might miss where I had come from. I knew I would miss family, but since my family is already so far spread across this green earth I didn't think much of flinging my own little family of Jeremy and myself out across the wide sea. But I'm not just a Barker anymore, I'm a Foreman and I had become embedded in that family so much that my abrupt uprooting was more jarring than I anticipated. I miss family birthday gatherings, I miss little children, my nieces and nephews running around, I miss having brothers and sisters around all the time, and I miss the occasional but always memorable encounters of sitting and just listening to Grandmother and Grandfather tell stories.
So when it came to me to speak in class yesterday, to tell about what created my sense of belonging or place I didn't hesitate in saying "family." And not only family, I said, again to my surprise, but the green sheltering mountains of the Blue Ridges in our little mountain valley. There's a sense of safety and comfort about that place, those mountains, and those verdant forests. That's not to say I haven't felt that sense of belonging elsewhere, I have, in Ireland so many years ago and here in Scotland as well. But I've realized that here is not where I really belong. My ancestors belonged here, and so it runs in my blood, but my ancestors picked up and moved in a perilous journey over the sea to make better lives for their families--I am that family, generations later, and I am thankful for their sacrifice, for their own uprooting and departure of that familiar comfort and belonging. I owe it to them to not just cast away the new heritage they created for me in coming back to the old, unimpressed with the new, but to appreciate the heritage of my immediate family and delight in coming here and discovering a new facet of who I am.
That's what I was missing before. I was so ready to go back to my deep roots and become what my ancestors were, that I forgot where my actual home was, where I really belonged.
Not only that, but in studying the culture and folk life I so longed for here, I realized that the tradition and folk culture from whence I came is in part cut from the same cloth as that of this rich place, and that I grew up knowing it and participating in it.
And so, in realizing my dream and coming to the British Isles to study and become part of its tradition I have realized that was already part of a tradition just as rich, and so very similar. If nothing else is accomplished here--though I know it will be--I am happy to finally realize what I have in my cozy, mountain-crowned corner of western North Carolina, and that I dearly miss it, my roots still aching there, with family, friends, familiarity, and belonging. I see the country of my ancestors and love it like they did, but I will not forsake what they gave up for me.
I hope this post makes sense. I am so happy with what Jeremy and I are doing here, it's an adventure that we'll never forget, it's part of who we are, it's in our blood and our connection to it is undeniable--but it's not home. We will come home after a much-needed and well-appreciated jaunt back to the roots of our heritage.
Part of my missing home is probably the fact that I'm living in a city, and not used to it. I like it, but I'm definitely more of an open-country, trees, mountains, wildlife kind of girl. Here are some things I'll be happy to see again.

Early morning mountain fog on Black Mountain's railroad tracks.

The absolute breath-taking beauty of autumn in the mountains.

The verdant green of the Carolina forest, climbing Craggy Pinnacle.


Far off views of mountains at sunset and woodland as far as the eye can see.

happy birthday!

2011-02-09T03:39:00.001-05:00

To my dearest and closest friend, Chelsea Rose. She and I are thousands of miles apart, but still closer than ever. We've had so many ridiculously fun times--I can't wait to have more. Vegas or Edinburgh, Chels? Happy birthday, dear heart, I hope today is brilliant. Love.

zzZzzzz.

2011-02-08T14:01:00.000-05:00

Jeremy and I finally broke down and bought a memory foam-esque mattress topper for the old, uncomfortable, spring-in-the-back, wake-up-sore mattress that came with our flat. I was seriously missing the whole box-spring and mattress thing that we Americans are used to after three months of tossing and turning sleep. Last night I didn't wake up once until my alarm went off this morning, and a snoozed waaaay too long. A comfortable night's sleep is definitely something you take for granted when you're used to getting one every night. And honestly, I'm ready to start taking it for granted again. A soft bed is one of the best things in the world. I can't wait to go to sleep tonight! (How sad is that?!)
Right, off to Cearcall Gàidhlig for some Gaelic conversation.

Oidhche mhath, Good night,

Caitlin

why the change?

2011-02-06T08:52:00.003-05:00

I realize that this is the third or fourth time I've changed not only my blog's title, but theme and layout as well. You'll all be happy to know (and can point this out to me the next time I get the itch to change again) that I'm going back to my roots and will be sticking to them.
Black currant thoughts came about when I began this blog for as assignment during my undergraduate degree at Montreat College. I wanted a theme, and I drank tea, and--I still do really--drank it religiously, so I decided to write each post, cup of tea in hand, and the kind of tea I was enjoying would be the post title. Black currant was my favorite tea at the time, and I enjoyed the play on currant and current. Oh, how clever I am! Hah. Anyway, I ended up changing it because it got tiring to have to drink a cuppa each time I sat down to write, or I wouldn't have a post title. After a jaunt into themes such as 'to while away the time'--created to express my yearning to be in Europe somewhere doing what I am now doing--and 'i shelter in thy honour'd shade'--a lovely homage auld Rabbie Burns and the brilliant city in which I live, Edinburgh--I have decide that both of those seemed to limit me in what I wrote about and even the length of my posts. Going back to black currant thoughts means that I can have a cuppa if I feel like it, black currant or otherwise--a good Scottish breakfast does me right well in the mornings-- and it means that my web address makes sense again.
Adding in the bit about 'wrought by a compulsive thinker' gives me a feeling of being able to just write thoughts, whether they're here or there, large or small, fleeting and insignificant or deep and profound. And by 'compulsive thinker' I mean that I think entirely too much, about silly things, about things that aren't there and don't have any weight in my life at all, and occasionally I'll think about something worth it, something that makes me enjoy my over-active thinking muscle. I really do mean occasionally, and the term compulsive thinker is meant not an ounce of pretentiousness. Yes, I think a lot, yes, I think too much sometimes, but no, by no means are my compulsive thoughts the thoughts of a brilliantly intelligent brain. If anything, the times when I might have thoughts that could be categorized as brilliant or intelligent (not usually both at once) they are anything but compulsive.
So there you are, my friends, I hope this change will mean that I write more often, not being restrained by the need to post beautiful photos of Edinburgh, or pine away at the thought of being somewhere else.
I'm here, and I am happy.
Cheers.

whispers.

2011-01-24T05:21:00.003-05:00

These are verses of a hymn sung yesterday at Greyfriars Tolbooth and Highland Kirk. All the words struck me like a gale of westerly wind on an open plain, but these two verses especially. I thought some of my readers would appreciate them as much as I did.

Lord, you sometimes speak in whispers,
still and small and scarcely heard;
only those who want to listen
catch the all important word.

Lord, you sometimes speak in silence,
Through our loud and noisy day;
we can know and trust you better
when we quietly wait and pray.

For those who wish to look up all the words, it was written by Christopher Martin Idle in 1938, and the title is the first line of the hymn, Lord, you sometimes speak in wonders.

Quietly listening,

Caitlin

a new year.

2011-01-04T10:50:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are, it's another new year. Twenty-eleven. Doesn't it seem like just a second ago that it was the year 2000, and here we are now, closer to 2020 than 2000. I don't really think I can get my brain wrapped around that. This year past has brought many changes for Jeremy and I, and if this new year brings even half of the excitement of the last, it shall be quite a year, indeed. I will be graduating with a Master's degree this year, and we shall be deciding if staying in Scotland is in the cards for us. Decisions will be made, another move is almost inevitable, and perhaps just maybe I might be able to start a career--but who knows?
There is a little kitten sleeping in the chair next to me. No, we didn't get another pet. We're watching Jeremy's cousin Tom's cat, called Pete. He's quite cute and fun to play with, but admittedly he just makes me miss Cael. Hopefully, he's another thing this year will bring us. I'll be pursuing options to having Cael shipped over, and I hope all goes smoothly so that we may have him with us again. My brother decided to keep him for us just a little longer, and we are grateful. Though the fact that I haven't seen him in over four months now is rather painful sometimes.
I've resolved this year to put myself out there more, to make friends, and not worry about making a fool out of myself. There are so many things that I have missed out on, and will miss out on, if I continue to worry about what others may think of me. And really, I think I'm giving them and myself too much credit to assume I would be more than a passing thought in some people's minds. I live in Scotland, and I was to see it, to have adventures here, to experience it to the fullest, because I might be going back to the States in less than a year, and I might not come back. I'm young, I'm outgoing (kind of), and I have the world at my fingertips, so why not take advantage?
I will write more this year. Not including my dissertation. I will write more for myself this year.
I will take every opportunity this year to learn all that I can, within and outside the classroom.
I will love well this year, and learn how to serve selflessly, all whom I come into contact with.
I will learn to play the fiddle, and by the end of the year, attempt to play at a session in a pub here in Edinburgh.
I will look back on this year in 2012, and be completely pleased with what I have accomplished.

What are your resolutions for the year? And how do you plan on keeping them?
Oh, and since I promised. Here are some photos of our new(ish) flat on West Crosscauseway.

The lounge and library. There's a door to the right leading to the hallway.

The other half of the lounge/dining room/study

The bedroom. I would love it, if that fireplace worked, but alas, it doesn't.

The kitchen, the door into it is to the left of the table in the previous lounge photo.

Now you have a better picture of how we're living over here. Not pictured is the entry hallway which has doors to the bathroom, our bedroom, and the lounge--but it's not really exciting enough to photograph.

I hope everyone's 2011 brings them the pleasantly unexpected.

Bliadhna mhath ùr!

Caitlin

christmas cheer.

2010-12-23T07:24:00.003-05:00

This Christmas is going to be quite different from any Jeremy and I have had thus far in our married lives, and before marriage no doubt as well. Our flat is not festooned with Christmas decor, there is no tree, and there are no stockings (though we do have a no-fire-allowed hearth, mantle and fireplace). We are in a country that is a thousand miles away from his immediate family, and a little less far from my own, but the distance is still uncrossable. We don't even have Cael with us this year. All of these things you'd think would make for a cheerless Christmas, if you put stock in all of those things to make Christmas eve and morning what they are. And yes, I'd love to be with the Foremans or the Barkers tomorrow and the next day. But this year will shall find our cheer in each other, in the traditions we can still uphold, in seeing Jeremy's aunt, uncle and cousins (we shan't be family-less on Christmas, and for that I am ever grateful), and also in focusing on what this time of year signifies for us. I think it's important to have Christmases like this every once in a while, to remind us that it's not the twinkle lights, stockings hung by the fire with care, stacks of perfectly wrapped presents, tinsel and garland, nor even the breakfast casserole and strawberry butter that is reserved only for Christmas morning (though I am definitely still making that this year). But it is about being with those you love, even if you cannot be with all of them, and about remembering that Christmas is about the life-giving joy that is realized in the birth of Jesus Christ and letting that emanate through your life to all those around you, not just family, nor yet just friends either, but that everyone you come into contact with can see the joy carried in your spirit with the knowledge of this season. I will try to be the bearer of that joy these next days, and hopefully carry it into the new year and beyond as well. Happy Christmas to all those who read this, and I hope yours is filled with the joy and uplifting peace of this season, regardless of your religious tendencies.

I leave you with a photo of our new city, taken yesterday as the sun was making her way to her nightly resting place illuminating the fallen snow and old stones of the city. This view is a gift in itself.

Joy to the world,

Caitlin

someone sure did let it snow.

2010-12-06T10:46:00.000-05:00

It's snowing again today, covering up the already half-melted foot of snow already blanketing the city with its serene white shroud. Normally, I don't mind snow as long as I don't have to drive in it. But it's irking me a little bit because if not for it, I'd be finished by now with both my written Gaelic exam and my oral exam as well, and I'd be home free with just an essay to finish by Friday. As it is, the written exam has been canceled and rescheduled for sometime in January, and now my oral exam is postponed to Wednesday. Sigh. I suppose I'll just have to let go and enjoy the frigid beauty it brings to these old stone buildings and cobbled city streets.
Here's the view from our living room window.

Till I'm finished with this essay,

Caitlin

mid-november. really?

2010-11-17T15:23:00.000-05:00

Can anyone else really believe that we're half way through November yet? And that Thanksgiving is next week? Does it seem to anyone else that the older you get, the quicker time slips by without you noticing, and the next thing you know you're a year later and you're not sure how you got there? At this time last year I was just settling into the insanity that is the Christmas season at Biltmore--yes, it starts about a week into November. Our plans were still for Jeremy to be the one in school and perhaps maybe we would go to Scotland, but for now we'll just worry about the usual: money, jobs, and what the heck we're doing with our lives. And now, a year later, I am the one in school, and we really are in Scotland, in Edinburgh, and I'm getting a degree in Highland Studies and learning to play the fiddle. Really?
It does feel a bit more tangibly real now that we're in a long-term rental and can finally settle in and make a home. But still, sometime I have to stop, look around at the beautifully old Georgian architecture of the main square of my campus, or out my door, through the buildings to the craggy mount of Arthur's Seat sitting just yonder in Holyrood Park, a stone's throw away from my front door. (Okay, so I'd have to have a really good arm for it to be an actual stone's throw, but still, it's right there.) But it's all true, we really are here, I'm really doing this degree--though don't bother asking what my dissertation is on, because I still have no idea--Jeremy has a good job, and we're living here, in Edinburgh, where we wanted to be. I know I am incredibly blessed to be here, and I am so thankful that things worked out just so for it all to happen. But sometimes--sometimes I still wonder what I really am doing here. Yes, yes I'm going to school and Jeremy and I are on an adventure and what have you. But really, why am I here, what will the future bring us on this path that we're on? Regardless of what you may think, I know I am here for a reason, and that there's a purpose for all that we're encountering and experiencing here, but I can't help letting my so-human mind wander and question and honestly, sometimes just despair at not understanding a distinct purpose for my time and studies here. I know I should just sit back and enjoy it, and take it as it comes, but if any of you know me at all, you'll know that that's not how I do things. I have a hard time not having a framed plan complete with bullet points and a checklist. There's nothing I like more than revising a plan and checking things off a list and experiencing the satisfaction that comes from the accomplishment of a well-laid plan come to fruition. And nothing I hate more than uncertainty and stress from loose ends.
But you know what? Maybe that's why I'm here. Maybe I need to tone the control-freak in my brain down, and maybe kick her out all together. Because the truth is, as long as I am doing what I love and finding my real purpose in the only thing that matters, then what can truly go wrong? Lots of little things might snag here and there, but what are those but flavours that make life that much more brilliantly complex and beautiful?
I am here. I am learning Scottish Gaelic. I am learning to play the fiddle. I am getting a Master's Degree in Highland Studies. I am living in a city that is older and more full of history than anywhere I have ever lived. I will relish all of that in the here and now, and not fret about what will come of it in the future. For if I focus too much on what is to come, I'll miss out on all the loveliness and flavour that will make what comes that much better.

I hope my words can encourage you other control-freaks and future-worriers, and maybe we can all help keep each other accountable to really letting go. Yes?

Here's to the unknown.

Caitlin

Oh, and photos of the new flat coming soon. :)

an old favourite: cider stew.

2010-11-11T15:26:00.001-05:00

As Jeremy and I have 'smart' phones now (I put that in quotes because I'm not entirely convinced by the concept, especially now that I have one and it seems downright stupid A LOT), ahem, now that we have these seemingly intelligent cellular devices I have been able to take and easily post photos to my facebook, which means I have been taking many photos of food I have been making. The most recent of these is the Cider Stew I made the other day. (Sam, the Scottish Stew is coming, I just want to make it again so I can take some proper photos, never fear.) This recipe is one that I have loved for many, many years as my mother used to make it for us on crisp autumn days when the weather is just right for a sweater and thick socks and on icy winter nights when the frost on the windows creeps up the panes like it's dying to get in and share in the memories being made. Not to be confused with 'Spider Stew,' which is what a friend of my mum's thought she was being served when she first heard the name. Gross! My mum sent me this recipe a year or so again at my request when the weather began to cool and the leaves began their yearly performance, and it's been a cold weather staple with Jeremy and I since then. I made a few tweaks to her original recipe to make it my own and that is what I am giving you tonight.

Cider Stew
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 pounds pork loin steaks, cubed
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups apple cider
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
4 carrots, chopped
6-8 baby new potatoes, chopped
2 onions, sliced
1 package mushrooms, quartered
2 Granny Smith apples, chunked (do not peel)
1/2 cup cold water and
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper

Note: I usually go more by feeling than by exact measurements, just do what feels right, and what your crock pot has room for.

Directions:
Combine flour, salt, pepper, and thyme and toss with meat to coat. Brown in skillet with oil on medium-high until sides are brown, but not cooked through. Place chopped veggies in slow cooker, then add apples and meat (I usually add whatever juices have culminated in the skillet as well). Combine cider and vinegar; do not add water, and pour over meat and veggies. Cover and cook on low setting for 10 to 12 hours. After allotted time, turn cooker on high. Blend the half cup cold water with the fourth cup flour and stir into stew. Cover and cook until thickened, about fifteen to twenty minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Makes eight to ten servings.

Notes: If you're reading this from the UK, by cider I don't mean alcoholic cider, but really strong, yummy, cloudy apple 'juice'. I used Copella English apple juice this time and the flavour was really nice.

Also, if you're wondering what sort of mushrooms to use I've used two different types, normal button mushrooms which are always nice, and this time I used chestnut mushrooms which have a nuttier flavour which complements the cider.

My mother usually used just normal vinegar in her recipe where I used apple cider vinegar, I don't think it really makes that much of a difference so if you just have regular vinegar that should be fine. I'm just an apple maniac and used anything apple whenever I can.

Now go enjoy your delicious, slow-cooked, autumnal stew and if you make it, come back and let me know how it turned out. We enjoyed ours with a buttered slice of oatmeal bread and a glass of apple cider (yes, the real stuff, you British folk), but white wine would probably be nice as well. Slàinte mhath!

Caitlin

the pup.

2010-11-02T13:21:00.002-04:00

My Cael.

I wanted to write a post about this because it seems that I am at a loss at what to do next, and perhaps with the advice or ideas of my beloved readers I might come across a way to remedy the situation.

Our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Cael, is sadly not with us here in Edinburgh yet. And unfortunately I'm not sure when we'll be able to get him here. It was the original plan to have him shipped over after us in October sometime, but with our housing situation being unstable--in a temporary flat because there wasn't anything available when we got here in September--and with the expense of shipping him we wanted to be sure we would be here for a while before we invest in sending him, as well as the logistical nightmare of actually getting him here with paperwork in order and avoiding quarantine. On the bright side, the huge stress of what to do with him until we could ship him was graciously solved by my older brother, Drew, and his wife, Kelsey, who offered to take him for us until we could get him to us here in Scotland. They've been great in helping us out with that, but now that it looks like Cael's going to have to be staying Stateside for longer than expected they can no longer keep him. They're quite busy with their jobs and having a dog for a month or so is quite different from having him for three or four or more months. So unfortunately their jobs just aren't conducive to having an animal relying on them being home and around for attention or time for adequate walks and other such things as dogs require. So though they have been an absolute Godsend for keeping Cael until now, it is time for him to move on to someone who's life is a bit more suitable to keep a dog.
It looks like right now, since the long-term flat we just got doesn't allow pets, and I'll need some time to either convince the landlord to let me have Cael, or finagle a way to have him there without the landlord knowing, so it looks like January would be the earliest we could realistically get him here. It sucks. And I'd like to have already had him here now and avoided all this, but things don't always work out the way you plan, and we have to deal with things as they happen. So while this is not at all how I planned this going, this is what I have to deal with, so I am.

Here's the rundown. Cael is a spaniel, like I said, a small breed but he's bigger than most Cavaliers--maybe about twenty-eight or so pounds. He's almost three years old, so he's right about at the end of the puppy stage, though he can still get a little hyper. He's fixed, and that seemed to calm him down a bit and make him a lot less dominating, but it really wasn't a huge problem before we had it done. He's a sweet heart, and just wants to be around people and interact with them. Wherever you are, that's where he wants to be. He's a companion first and foremost, but he knows how to be on his own as well. Jeremy and I both worked nearly everyday, so he was used to being by himself for five, six, or seven hours at a time, and sometimes more.. He loves being outside and going on walks. He has a backyard right now at my brother's house and it seems like even though he can be out on his own, that he needs someone out with him to make sure he does his business and not just sniff around and chase leaves across the yard. Though he's fine just being put outside on occasion in the backyard to just be there instead of inside. I think that's where walks would come in the best, to take him out and tell him to go 'potty' helps him remember why he's out there amidst all the sights and smells that make him forget what he needs to do. He's also not a very vocal dog. In our experience, the only time he barked was when we left for work, and even then he'd only bark for maybe four or five minutes then go on to chewing a bone or playing with his toys. I think he'd be best with a family, and even with a family that already has a dog, because he's quite social and likes the company, and I think a family atmosphere would be good because there's always so much going on and people coming and going to keep him company.
Anyway, I won't go on and on, but he is a good dog, and as with all dogs, he needs the proper attention and work that comes with being a dependent animal. I can give anyone more information who wants it. If you guys have any ideas of someone who would be willing to keep him for us for a time, until we can get him over here with us, let me know. And those that will, please pray that this is resolved quickly and smoothly as it quite stressful for all involved--for me, trying to coordinate this an ocean away, and for my brother I'm sure as well, who wants to give Cael everything he needs, but just can't do it all right now because of his busy schedule. Thank you all for praying and thinking of us. Things here are going well, but I can't believe that this semester is almost over--I still have so much to do! I hope all who read this are quite well.

Caitlin

goings-on and my yearly autumn revelry.

2010-10-22T11:37:00.000-04:00

On any given day in Edinburgh you can have weather from grey with good Scottish rain that falls slightly to the side-like, to bright, shining sun, to blustery wind that eddies and swirls amongst the fallen leaves and back again. This wreaks havoc on a compulsive planner's nerves. Take today for example: While I was quite thankful for my black wellies as I trudged through the rain this morning on my way to class, I felt rather silly walking home three hours later in beautiful, golden sunlight, the traces of the earlier torrent nearly vanished and here I am trudging again because it's actually really difficult to get full range of movement in knee-high rubber boots. Who trudges when it's beautiful and sunny outside? This girl, the planner, the one who coordinates her umbrella and rain boots--they're just both black, so really I'm not that bad. Living in Edinburgh has been teaching me, among many other things, that you've got to roll with the punches; that you can't control everything and sometimes you might wear your rain boots when it's gorgeous outside. Hint, hint, so is everyone else who left their flats at 11AM and saw the downpour in progress before they got dressed--you're not alone.
But then there are other days, like yesterday, when everything about it is perfect. And when I say perfect I mean perfectly autumn, which is what heaven will be like in my opinion. I noticed it as I rushed to class, having dressed for the weather that had encompassed the previous two, i.e. flipping cold, and when I got to class and stripped off my scarf, glovies, coat and sweater I was still steaming up my glasses. After a good hour of Gaelic, however, my internal temperature had balanced itself, and as I stepped out of 19 George Square I couldn't help but to wander into the fenced garden that is in the centre of the square. An escape of nature amid the studious stone Georgian buildings of the square. On a crisp and sun-laden day such as it was yesterday an escape like that is a necessary part of the day. I found a bench in the center of the garden which has a surrounding wall of tree and bush that shields someone within from the constant reminder of the city, and I sat and wrote and reveled. The wind blew through the boughs, sending a flurry of autumnal color raining down on the solitary benches and winding paths. It was one of those days when you can smell the intoxicating scent of autumn on the breath of the wind, and undeniably feel it in the crisp air. The white wisps of cloud moved swiftly overhead and the sun revealed its face through the veil of autumn cloud. Every once in a while, a fellow reveler would walk by, and the telltale crunch of the fallen leaves beneath their steps was ever-so satisfying to the ear. You know, there's something about the richness of color in the autumn leaves, the golden-brown, tawny-yellow and the occasional flourish of crimson or sugary-orange, it all makes my senses palpitate with joy and fervor for the season. Yet still, even among the richness of the autumn color there was the evergreen of the holly bush--that stalwart plant--which is one of all seasons, yet it invokes the promise of winter and Boreas' arrival, fast and fair, into this ancient stone city. As I sat, the other benches were acquiring occupants, those who, like me, cannot resist a day like yesterday and must revel in its loveliness. I did not linger there too long though, moments such as those are fleeting and someone else surely desired my place there, my reveling bench, before the colors fade and that beauty dies away.

The path I followed to my reveling bench.

Besides sitting around, slack-jawed, staring at pretty leaves, I really have been getting an education. My classes are going well and I'm learning a lot. I still feel a bit like I'm in over my head, but I know that will pass and I will conquer my fears of not being good enough or whatever other silly thoughts are forcing their way into my mind. Gaelic, or Gàidhlig, as it is in it's own language is going quite well. It's difficult, but I can feel it getting easier and the words and pronunciations coming into my mind quicker and quicker. I mean how counter-intuitive for an English speaker to pronounce pigheid like "pee-atch"? I mean really. Now that is one of the more difficult ones, and it means parrot (and possibly sometimes magpie as well) but still. It's rough on the brain. Or here's one, more of a crazy Gaelic construction than just a word, but, in Gaelic, there is no verb "to have" (why? I have no idea, we all know the Highlanders knew the idea of possession), so in order to contribute possession they say "at." Here's an example, if I wanted to say 'I have a dog' (I miss you, Cael!), I would say 'Tha cù agam' which literally means 'A dog is at me.' Of course, that sentence also employs the use of a prepositional pronoun, using 'at' and 'me', aig (the word for 'at') + mi (pretty obviously the word for 'me') becomes agam. If I were to say 'Mary has a dog,' it would be Tha cù aig Màiri, 'a dog is at Mary.' Fun, isn't it? And we learned this within the first week, so that just indicates how difficult the actual difficult stuff is. But I am enjoying it, really. It's quite different learning something because you have to, and learning something because you want to. And I want to learn Gaelic, so I have proper motivation to get through the propositional pronouns and lenition (I'm not going into that here, sorry).
My other class, The Supernatural World, is quite interesting. It explores the traditional superstitions and magical thinking that is so latent within Scottish culture, from divination to changelings and the fairies, witchcraft to the second sight among Scottish families. It's really neat to look at the folklore that comes from this area and the Highlands. I'm also doing a Approaches and Methods in Gaidhealtacht Studies which is basically seminars each week on different topics within Highland Studies that I'm interested in given by the expert in that field to give me an idea of what I might be more interested in with relation to my dissertation. I have to write essays for both of those classes then an exam for Gaelic at the end of the semester.
Jeremy is enjoying his Arthurian Scotland class that meets in Edinburgh Castle, and he's job-hunting as well. Were still enjoying being slightly touristy with sight-seeing and exploring this gorgeous city. Tonight we're going to Sandy Bells, a pub that has live traditional music every night and was the hub of the folk music revival here in the 60s, which is pretty brilliant.
Sorry I've written a novel here, I hope to update sooner next time--we'll see how that goes. I hope this post finds all who read it quite well. Until next time.

Slàinte mhath,

Caitlin

An seo ann an Dùn Èideann. [Here in Edinburgh]

2010-10-03T08:49:00.001-04:00

It was a month yesterday that we have been here in Edinburgh, and I can hardly believe it. The time is already flying by and I'm about to enter into my third week of classes. After a bit of a rough start, just lack of confidence and things being so different, I'm settling down well into my classes. Gaelic is difficult, but I'm motivated and have an awesome encourager in Jeremy. I have Gaelic everyday, and each morning about fifteen minutes before 11:10 I leave and enjoy a walk through the Meadows, a huge public park with tree-lined paths and open green meadows between them. It really is gorgeous, and the leaves are beginning to change which makes it that much better. That being said, seeing the changing leaves makes me remember what I'm missing in the North Carolina mountains right now--my favorite season, autumn, and the crispness of air, and the sight and smell of autumn in the mountains. Everyone who reads this and is there right now, please give my love to the sugar maples and yellow birch trees, okay? So here are some photos of my daily walk through the park.

Needless to say, it's a walk that never really gets old, there's something different to notice each time I walk through it. The trees lining the path are nice because they give a semblance of shelter to walk through when it's raining. They don't keep out the rain entirely, but they do help a bit. All the classes I have are in the same building, and in fact the same room as well. The building used to belong to a bloke who was apparently friends with Robert Burns, so it's entirely possible that the room in which I sit each day may have a past that includes long nights of conversation and poetry in the company of the great Scottish poet, which is pretty cool. Here's a photo of my building in George Square.

Last weekend, Jeremy and I had an excursion to Cairnpapple Hill which is an ancient Celtic site west of Edinburgh. We took the train to Bathgate and from there, after quite an experience trying to find the bus stop and know which bus to take, got a bus to Torphichen, and from there walked the quoted 'fifteen minutes' to Cairnpapple. It was more of a forty-five minute walk, but since Cairnpapple was admittedly a bit of a let down, the gorgeous walk there through the countryside made up completely for it. It was nice to get to know the train station and bus system a bit as well. Not quite what we expected, but a wonderful first excursion outside the city nonetheless.

We walked right through a herd of cows to get to Cairnpapple.

This weekend was a bit different because my brother Stephen and his wife Meghan came to visit Edinburgh and us. They'd been planning to come here for a while, but decided to put it off until we got here so they could see us too. I'm so glad they did, it's always wonderful to spend time with them and catch up on the life and times of Steve and Megh. We walked round Edinburgh, hit a number of great pubs, went on a Ghost Tour on Friday night (which wasn't that scary) and Jeremy, Stephen and I climbed Arthur's Seat yesterday. Again, having Holyrood Park and Arthur's Seat right in the middle of the city and like having a little taste of the Highlands within walking distance. It's a great escape and a fantastic way to walk off the many pints you inevitably have when you're here as well. While we were climbing, at about halfway up, someone at the top of began to play the pipes. They began with Scotland the Brave and it was so perfect. We hear the pipes easily even as far down as we were, and it was brilliant hear as we traversed to the top of this historic mount.

See the piper up there? Perfect.

My brother, Stephen, and me.

Great day. The sun went down over the Old City, gorgeously, as it often does. Stephen and Jeremy did another Ghost Tour into the underground vaults beneath the city, while Megh and I opted to stay behind and have a few more drinks where ghosts were less likely to be seen. On the way back to our flat we stopped for a late night snack at Franco's for fish and chips, which hit the spot after a night of pub crawling like nothing I've ever had before. Delicious.

Obviously taken in daylight, not when we typically frequent it.

So there's your update for now, hopefully I'll be able to update a bit more often now that I'm getting into the swing of things. We're doing well, enjoying all things new, but we do miss our family and friends back in North Carolina. Love to you all.

Caitlin

still new.

2010-09-21T17:22:00.001-04:00

Everything is still trying to settle down. I'm through my first two days of classes and I think I'm going to have a really excellent albeit challenging year. Jeremy's now been registered to take an open class through the University called "Arthurian Scotland," which will be once a week for ten weeks--the class meets in Edinburgh Castle! How cool is that? Jeremy's been writing and reading a lot, and is planning on finding work soon, but is enjoying some much deserved time off. I've just begun reading George MacDonald's Phantastes and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I'm only about six chapters in and I can already recommend it. MacDonald is brilliant with his descriptions and word usage, the images he creates are stirring. It really is wonderful. Well, I'm off to study Gaelic till bedtime.
Oidhche mhath!

Caitlin

the inordinately large photo blog.

2010-09-17T16:18:00.001-04:00

We've finally gotten some internet at our new place so I can finally catch you all up from the last two or so weeks. Hopefully this will all format correctly to the actual post, but let's not hold our breath.

First of all, it was with a heavy heart that we had to leave Cael behind, but when he looks like this and he's in the care of such wonderful family we have to be glad and just miss him for a little while. (Thanks, Drew and Kelsey!) This is him in his very exciting new backyard in Greensboro, NC.

Cael in his new habitat. :)

When we arrived in Edinburgh, we were greeted by Tessa, Jeremy's aunt, and she took us back to their home in New Town, which is row after row of gorgeous Georgian architecture. They were wonderful hosts to us as we settled into our new city and looked round for a flat of our own. Thanks so much to Paul and Tessa Clowney for putting us up, feeding us, and letting us put our own weight a bit round the flat! Here are some photos from our stay there.

Front door to Paul and Tessa's


The lovely architecture of New Town.

Our room.


The stairs we had to climb to get there.

The writing spot I frequented at our window, with tea, of course.

Here are some neat shots I got from our window there. The first just as the sun was beginning to set, and the second was in complete night--the light is from the city lights and if you look closely you can see the stars as well.

Dramatic clouds are an everyday occurrence here.

It's just as lovely at night, is it not?

Naturally, we did some sight-seeing during our first weeks here. Some along with some friends, Billy and Katie, who came to see us from Belfast (via vacation in Mallorca). This city is vibrant with culture, heritage, and history--we've only begun to taste all is has to offer. From St. Mary's Cathedral in the West End of Edinburgh, to Edinburgh Castle on Castle Rock, New College in Old Town and the Royal Mile, Arthur's Seat in Holyrood Park--a haven dropped right into the middle of the city, to the Scott Monument and more, Edinburgh is not a place to be seen in one day.

A cathedral we passed nearly everyday in New Town.

Inside said cathedral, St. Mary's.

Our first view of the castle, we were rather surprised by it actually.

A more composed view of castle rock and Edinburgh Castle.

New College, house of Theology at Uni of Edinburgh, right below the castle.

Right in the middle of the city actually--on the way to Arthur's Seat.

Edinburgh at night.

We caught the end of the Fringe Festival, denoted by fireworks at the castle.

I have so many more photos of things we've done and seen, but I think I would be sitting here for weeks if I uploaded and captioned all the photos I'd like to for you. To pick just a few more, Edinburgh has a number of beautiful graveyards which are a beautifully somber thing to explore here. Greyfriars is right within the Old Town, and houses a number of mentionable things--one being Greyfriar's Bobby, the loyal dog who watched over his master's grave for fourteen years. As well as Flodden Wall, a commemoration of the Scottish lives lost at the Battle of Flodden against James IV. Another graveyard I've visited is Saint Cuthbert's which is situated on the edge of New Town off Princes Street, nestled in the shadow of castle rock. Here are some photos I captured at both these yards.

Flodden Wall at Greyfriar's.

St. Cuthbert's

Shaded rows, St. Cuthbert's.

Beneath Castle Rock, St. Cuthbert's.

Now, of course, the reason we are here is because I am going back to school. I've done a few things at the school so far, but classes don't start until this coming Monday. International Day was this past Sunday which began with a welcome ceremony in McEwan Hall; there are over 8,000 international students at the University of Edinburgh this year, both undergrad and postgrad! Jeremy and I explored the sprawling campus which melts right into the city surrounding it. Most of my classes will be in George Square which is about a five or ten minute walk from the Royal Mile. We went to Old College which is actually undergoing an archaeological dig at the moment which can be read about here. It was fun exploring the different facets of this huge school, especially when compared to the college Jeremy and I both graduated from in Montreat with it's total student population of something like five hundred. Jeremy and I ventured out and went to an indie night at Teviot House, which is one of the student unions at the Uni (it has three bars inside it!). We ended up really liking one of the bands we heard called Kid Canaveral (check 'em out!), and though we enjoyed ourselves we couldn't get over how young the people around us drinking alcohol were. They looked about twelve! We also thought that the lead singer of Kid Canaveral looked like a perfect combination of Jeremy and our friend Billy May!

McEwan Hall, the graduation hall for UoE.

Old College.

Dig at Old College.

Kid Canaveral. (Billy/Jeremy lovechild?)

So I've finally arrived at our new flat. I don't have decent photos yet, but I will leave you with the gorgeous view I have from my kitchen window. For those of you that know me, yes, it really does help me enjoy doing dishes!


Kitchen view, and CLEAN DISHES!

I will leave you with a typical sight seen anywhere around Edinburgh, though this one was particularly endearing so I snapped a photo.


Old man in a kilt!

Till next time, lovely readers! It won't be so long before another photo post that I'll have to post one like this again, never fear!

Caitlin

grey and rainy--a day for writing and wonder.

2010-09-10T07:24:00.000-04:00

I am watching the rain fall over New Town from my third floor open and unscreened window with a cup of tea in hand. I am also listening to it fall softly, rhythmically, upon the neatly rowed Georgian houses and on the trees in the walled gardens behind them. I can also smell that rain, and it is a smell that never fails to put me at ease.
I can faintly hear the noises of the city around me, but the sights and sounds of the rain are far too captivating for me to really notice.
I find it rather humorous that of the almost ten days we've been here I chose to write here or in my journal on the only two days on which it has rained. So looking back to this time it might seem that it was raining nonstop from the time we arrived. But that is so far from the truth, it has been sunny and warm for every other day, and even cleared up to such conditions on the other day that it rained this week. I suppose it is safe to infer that I prefer to write on rainy grey days than on warm sunny ones.
This city truly is amazingly beautiful. I wish I could post photos, but I cannot until we find a flat and I can get my other computer set up. But photos there most certainly will be once we find a place. We looked at another flat yesterday, and we're really praying we get it. It's literally only about a minute's walk to my school, and wonderfully located for everything else in the city centre. We found a little coffee shop called the Beanscene just round the corner from this flat, and we sat there about about an hour the other morning just taking everything in--it was perfect. I'm so excited for our time here, and feel so blessed to be able to have an opportunity like this. I am ready for us to have a place and school to start, because it still feels a bit like we're on vacation, and I feel a bit displaced without a place to call my own.
But regardless, we're loving it here and really enjoying exploring our new home.

Caitlin

in edinburgh.

2010-09-03T14:05:00.000-04:00

We're here! It's beautiful and quite lovely here, for the second day it has been sunny all day. I can't post photos yet because we don't have our iMac set up yet, but I will as soon as I can. Just know that we're here, and we're happy, and we're absolutely loving this city.

God is so good.

2010-08-30T20:02:00.002-04:00

Over and over again, God has proven himself faithful. When things seem to be at their worst, and we don't think we'll make it, and we're crying out in desperation, "Lord, please. Please take care of us." And we finally after trying time and time again to do it ourselves, put our trust and faith in Him completely. And He comes through for us. Every time. First with the visas, and now with the car. Praise the Lord, we sold the car today. We're signing it over and getting paid for it tomorrow--the day before we leave. I don't have time to give you a full update, so the next time you hear from me we'll be in SCOTLAND! I have time for only this, God is good. Jeremy is an amazing organizer--we got more into the back of that bug than I ever thought could fit into that little thing. I miss my pupper, but I know he's in wonderful hands with Kelsey and Drew. I also miss my best friend, Chelsea Rose, but am so excited for where we both are in our lives, and where we are going.
See you on the other side!

hallelujah!

2010-08-23T15:55:00.000-04:00

Our visas have been officially approved and issued. Just waiting for the UPS man to deliver them into our hands. Storage unit also gotten and paid for. Now just to sell the car. And, since I'm watching it now, for Liverpool to beat Manchester City today. Come on you Reds!
God is so good!

preparing.

2010-08-20T14:30:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was quite a wonderful day. It all began with an early morning latte and writing session on the porch of Moments Coffee Shop on a drizzly mountain morning. I always love getting up with Jeremy and going into work with him. I get to sit, shop to myself, and think, read, write, and take some time for myself, for repose. Here's an excerpt from my journal entry yesterday morning:

This grey morning is no doubt how I'll normally be greeted by mornings in Edinburgh. Lucky for me, these mornings are my favorite. There is just something about those shades of grey tinged with a golden morning lavender, and the clouds weaving their sodden way between mountain peaks, leaving a light mist to rise out of the sleepy trees.

I cannot really describe the feeling I have when I think about where we'll be in two weeks' time. It's a kind of anxious excitement tinged with a looming fear of the unknown. It's a bit like the feeling I had before leaving for college at Montreat, but magnified and shifted slightly.

It's always nice to commit my feelings to paper, it's a kind of therapy in itself, and always makes me feel better, for a little while at least.

I also went on a long walk yesterday morning with Chelsea, and my loyal pup up and around Montreat. It was nice to get out and be active, while having wonderful company and conversation as well. Montreat will always have a special place in my heart, there's just something so peaceful about that sleepy mountain valley that never ceases to ease my fears and anxieties for a time.

Chelsea and I also decided to do a bit of shopping yesterday afternoon as well, and I found my school bag. The school bag for this coming year that I have been searching for for months now. Something that's not a backpack and not a laptop bag either, but something that will carry both my mini-computer and a few books as well as double as a purse. Not only did I find this bag, it's also bright green--which is perfect. It has plenty of room and many useful pockets, as well as a little change purse that is attached, which is perfect because so much of the money I'll be carrying around will be coins. It also comes with a little umbrella with a pocket for said umbrella, which I'll most definitely be needing on occasion in Scotland. It's perfect, and I'm so glad I got it.

I also received my new glasses in the mail yesterday. I've always wanted some tortoise shell glasses and I finally ordered some at the beginning of August and got them in the mail yesterday. They're quite scholarly, and seem to perfectly fit the coming chapter of my life. They totally make me look smarter. :) Heehee.

Yesterday evening was also wonderful for I was able to spend it with some of my best friends that I made at Biltmore this past year. Incidentally they are some of the people I trained with last year, and we've been close ever since. Marcy had us over for beer, guacamole (with salt!), and delicious burgers on the grill. Marcy and her husband, Bob, were of course there, Jeremy and I, and Fred was there as well. It was great to get together and talk and joke around again. I'll surely miss them all.

Marcy had also gotten me some earrings that I've been wanting since training last year. At Biltmore, within Antler Hill Farm is a blacksmith named Doc Cudd. He is absolutely amazing, so if you're ever there you must go see him. But he makes this little leaf earrings, by hand, and they're incredibly beautiful and unique. Everyone loves them so much and as soon as he makes them, they're off the shelves, and I haven't been able to get any this whole year. Marcy, amazing lady that she is, managed to get a pair for me (and for herself as well), and I'm so excited about them. Fred made me a CD of some songs from when he was in the Marine Band and went to the Mountbatten Festival of Music in London in 1992 and played with the Royal Marines and some awesome bagpipers, plus some Loreena McKennitt, which you can never go wrong putting on a CD for me. The first song playing on my player down below is one that he gave me, though performed by a different bagpiper--I couldn't get the actual songs he gave me on the playlist. But yet another perfect gift!

I am blessed with wonderful friends, and will miss them all dearly.

Caitlin

two weeks to the day.

2010-08-18T10:44:00.001-04:00

Yes, that's right. Two weeks from today (technically tonight at 6:25) Jeremy and I will have gotten everything finished and packed and be boarding a flight to London where we will then hop another flight to our new home in Edinburgh, Scotland. It still doesn't feel completely real. Like I've said numerous times, I don't think that it will until I'm on the plane or maybe even on the way from the airport in Edinburgh to Jeremy's aunt and uncle's flat. As I sit here, two weeks from my departure, I look around me realize, for the millionth time, that there's still so much to do. And when I say that, at this point, it's really just a bunch of stuff to take to Kiwanis or Goodwill, and a few things here or there to finish packing. So while it feels like a lot, I think it'll go by really quickly. The one little thing that is still eating away at my mind whilst I do everything, even sleep, is the fact that we have yet to hear about our visas. Those little things could make or break our next two weeks. If don't receive them before we're due to fly, we technically cannot enter the United Kingdom at all, which makes sense because I sent our passports along with our visa applications, as well as other important supporting documents. I know this is what we're supposed to be doing, and that the Lord will come through, but I can't help but stress out--it's what I do. It's only really been five business days since they began processing it, which was the minimal amount of time they said it might take, so it's not like they're long overdue to get us back our stuff. I know everything will come through, I have faith, but sometimes it is hard to maintain. I had tea with Chelsea's mom last week, and she reiterated to me something that Chelsea had already told me numerous times, something that has been an almost mantra in their family for years:
Don't doubt in the dark, what He has shown you in the light.
Hear that, Caitlin? You know Scotland is where you're supposed to be. Don't fret and doubt now that things have gotten difficult. Take heart, have faith. The Lord provides.
I'll keep you updated as these next two weeks progress, and inform all my lovely readers when our visas are approved. :)
I must go, for who can resist a face like this begging you to take him outside?

Stalwartly waiting,
Caitlin

i shelter in thy honour'd shade.

2010-08-13T18:24:00.001-04:00

Well, the time has most certainly been whiled away, and we leave in just about two weeks for Edinburgh. (How crazy is that?!) It is time for me to shift to the new phase of my blog, since it will be used primarily to keep up with friends and family no longer near us, and to chronicle our adventures in Scotland. I found the above silhouette of the skyline of Edinburgh which included Edinburgh Castle and St. Giles Cathedral and thought it appropriate to welcome all my readers and crown my writings from now on. The title of my blog and also that of this post is the last line of the stanza that opens and closes the address Robert Burns wrote about Edinburgh. I've created a page that explains this as well, called 'name.' at the top of my blog, but I will also post the original poem here. It's beautiful, and made me love Robbie Burns all the more. The poem in it's entirety is as follows.

Address to Edinburgh
Robert Burns, 1786

Edina! Scotia's darling seat!
All hail thy palaces and tow'rs,
Where once, beneath a Monarch's feet,
Sat Legislation's sov'reign pow'rs:
From marking wildly scatt'red flow'rs,
As on the banks of Ayr I stray'd,
And singing, lone, the lingering hours,
I shelter in thy honour'd shade.

Here Wealth still swells the golden tide,
As busy Trade his labours plies;
There Architecture's noble pride
Bids elegance and splendour rise:
Here Justice, from her native skies,
High wields her balance and her rod;
There Learning, with his eagle eyes,
Seeks Science in her coy abode.

Thy sons, Edina, social, kind,
With open arms the stranger hail;
Their views enlarg'd, their liberal mind,
Above the narrow, rural vale:
Attentive still to Sorrow's wail,
Or modest Merit's silent claim;
And never may their sources fail!
And never Envy blot their name!

Thy daughters bright thy walks adorn,
Gay as the gilded summer sky,
Sweet as the dewy, milk-white thorn,
Dear as the raptur'd thrill of joy!
Fair Burnet strikes th' adoring eye,
Heaven's beauties on my fancy shine;
I see the Sire of Love on high,
And own His work indeed divine!

There, watching high the least alarms,
Thy rough, rude fortress gleams afar;
Like some bold veteran, grey in arms,
And mark'd with many a seamy scar:
The pond'rous wall and massy bar,
Grim-rising o'er the rugged rock,
Have oft withstood assailing war,
And oft repell'd th' invader's shock.

With awe-struck thought, and pitying tears,
I view that noble, stately Dome,
Where Scotia's kings of other years,
Fam'd heroes! had their royal home:
Alas, how chang'd the times to come!
Their royal name low in the dust!
Their hapless race wild-wand'ring roam!
Tho' rigid Law cries out 'twas just!

Wild beats my heart to trace your steps,
Whose ancestors, in days of yore,
Thro' hostile ranks and ruin'd gaps
Old Scotia's bloody lion bore:
Ev'n I who sing in rustic lore,
Haply my sires have left their shed,
And fac'd grim Danger's loudest roar,
Bold-following where your fathers led!

Edina! Scotia's darling seat!
All hail thy palaces and tow'rs;
Where once, beneath a Monarch's feet,
Sat Legislation's sovereign pow'rs:
From marking wildly-scatt'red flow'rs,
As on the banks of Ayr I stray'd,
And singing, lone, the ling'ring hours,
I shelter in thy honour'd shade.