The favoured pair

While watching Craig Ferguson Late Late Show clips on youtube today and admiring Margaret Cho's boots I remembered that I own the same pair that she wore on an episode a few years ago: The Frye Julia lace-ups!

I have travelled across Wales, England, and Scotland in these boots, road-tripped across the US in them, had a woman in Los Angeles, California pull into a gas station for the sole purpose of asking me what they were and where I bought them, slept in them and ran through airports in them.  They have been re-soled three times and I still get compliments on them every time I wear them. I LOVE those boots and if I wasn't planning on being cremated I would want to be buried in them.  

On the shore of Loch Lomond

Jetlagged

Doing my rock star impression in Austin, TX

Supposed to be working

Glasgow

Going by these photos it would also appear I have a uniform besides running gear...Jeans, boots, oversize tee and leather jacket

Random musings

Random musings tonight.

I *like* running hills. It might not always be fun but tonight was one of the good ones once my legs got over feeling dead from the past two days of being sat at a desk.

If you like seventies style, you gotta watch "Rush", I'm more NASCAR than F1 but Ron Howard made a very entertaining movie that was a feast for the eyes--and I'm not just talking about Chris Hemsworth aka Thor.  The wardrobe in this movie is AMAZING.



Finally remembered to submit my picture for the INKnBURN #MondayMontage!

I love living in England but that fondness ends at all the pay to park areas.  This is a selection of the parking ticket receipts I fished out of my car before taking it in to be MOT'd yesterday. It passed by the way :-)

Speaking of passing, I passed my Theory and Hazard Perception tests on Tuesday. Just missed one on the former and got through the latter with more than enough points despite scoring a big fat zero on one of the clips where I apparently clicked the mouse button too many times.  Some of the questions are common sense but for the majority of it you need to know the Highway Code book inside and out. It should also be the latest version, my book from AA was from 2011 and I had one question that wasn't anywhere in my copy.

Blackberries are still ripening although we are getting to the last of them.  Someone decided to bring out the camera when I was on the step ladder trying to reach over the fence and into the hedge trying to pick as many as I could to freeze for later.  I do appreciate getting to admire how awesome those boots are though. 

I'm being assimilated.  Yesterday I was struggling to say dollar rather than pound when discussing American/Canadian/British money.  

After joining an American expat women's group on facebook I was reminded about how lucky I am to be a runner and how much I appreciate the running club.  It has made the transition to living here so much easier than it would have been otherwise because it has introduced me to so many awesome people.  I still get homesick and miss my friends back home but I don't have the sense of isolation that so many others have.  

Today was the Scotland vote for independence, as of yet we don't know the outcome and I'm not going to share my feelings about it here but it does make me sad to think that any future visits I take to our neighbouring country up north might require a passport check.  

My first "official" loch

At this rate I may actually get all of my 3 days in Scotland trip posts done in October (wouldn't lay any money down on that though, lol).  Loch Lomond was my first official visit to the shores of a Scottish lake, fitting since it is the largest freshwater body of water for surface area in mainland Great Britain.  My guide for the trip suggested we skip the tourist-laden southern areas and we stopped at an access that only had 3 other cars in it just a bit further north.

What impressed me was how tidy most of the areas were/are in the UK

See, not a bit of debris anywhere but then again trash bins were available everywhere

Mist rolling in over the hills on opposite bank

Looking north at the mountains getting progressively taller

So incredibly peaceful, you couldn't hear the highway noise, just the waves rolling in

Love the play of light as the clouds and mist shifted

So clear

Duck swimming through the waves

I don't put much stock into astrology but I do certainly seem to live up to my Pisces nature when it comes to water

Smile :-)

On the road again

Haven't done a song in a while so leaving with a live version of "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" from The Real McKenzies

A couple of hours in Glasgow

One of these days I will sit down and plan a proper visit to a place instead of waiting until the last minute. I miss so much but have also seen far more than I ever dreamed I would get a chance at seeing.  Here are a few pics of the Glasgow drive-through.

Cute, eh? Check out the sporran on the front

Mix of the old, the not as old, and the new

Taking pics of the other tourists taking pics

Quite a sordid and bloody history if the Scottish man who stopped to translate for me is to be believed. Public hangings and floggings apparently

Sensing a theme? 

Glasgow Cathedral. Read more about it here and here.  I can't say enough nice things about the Historic Scotland staff, they were incredibly helpful and friendly and even took the time for a long chat (I learned quite a bit about the Glasgow-Edinburgh rivalry, lol)

Construction is ongoing but also as unobtrusive as possible

Even on a dreary overcast day the colors are gorgeous

Can you imagine this being your church?

They were very dapper and scholarly

Looking towards the Necropolis

The red car certainly stood out

Memorial of the Glasgow Necropolis bridge

Hopefully you can read this by enlarging the pic, if not go here

Looking back

I found the architecture of the memorials and graves quite fascinating

Looking at the cathedral, check out closeup of monument in next photo

Scottish Lyrics to "Wee Willie Winkie"

Wee Willie Winkie rins through the toun,

Up stairs and doon stairs in his nicht-goun,

Tirlin' at the window, cryin' at the lock,

"Are the a' the bairnies in their beds, it's noo past ten o'clock."

"Hey, Willie Winkie, are ye comin' ben?

The cat's singin' grey thrums to the sleepin' hen,

The dog's spelder'd on the floor, and disna gi'e a cheep,

But here's a waukrife laddie that winna fa' asleep!"

Onything but sleep, you rogue! glow'ring like the mune,

Rattlin' in an airn jug wi' an airn spune,

Rumblin', tumblin' round about, crawin' like a cock,

Skirlin' like a kenna-what, wauk'nin' sleepin' folk.

"Hey, Willie Winkie - the wean's in a creel!

Wambling aff a bodie's knee like a verra eel,

Ruggin' at the cat's lug, and ravelin' a' her thrums

Hey, Willie Winkie - see, there he comes!"

Wear it is the mither that has a stoorie wean,

A wee stumple stoussie, that canna rin his lane,

That has a battle aye wi' sleep before he'll close an ee

But a kiss frae aff his rosy lips gies strength anew to me.

Looking out over Glasgow

We have Mr. Tennant to thank for our bright whites, he patented bleaching powder

Loved this twisted tree

Yes, this really should have gone up at the start of the necropolis pics