Loch Ness

Hey
I didn’t catch up on Saturday. LOL . We had a great day at sea on Saturday. It’s a little cool, but so it is this time of year in the British Isles. On Sunday we made our visit to Edinburgh, Scotland. It is so beautiful and unique, but it is often gloomy. The first time I was ever there it was in 2007 in August with Sean, and we had one sunny day out of 5! I love Edinburgh Castle. The most famous resident was probably Mary Queen of Scots, but she mostly lived in the castle, Holyrood a mile down the hill from Edinburgh Castle. The whole day was breezy and cool, but we enjoyed the city.

Edinburgh Castle

Monday we were in the Scottish Highlands. In a previous blog from April, I mentioned the Cherokee encoding for the love of nature. The Scottish part of me has that encoding of mountains. My family members such as the Alexanders, the Wimpys, and the Browns were immigrants who had come from Scotland and settled in the Virginia mountains and the North Georgia mountains. Oral history from our family says the Alexanders came from Scotland during the 1600s. As we traveled through the Scottish Highlands around Loch Ness on Monday, I felt as though I was “home”. We had a lovely time, and I know I want to go back and spend lots of time there and hopefully Carter and Ammon will feel as I do and learn about their Scottish heritage as well.

Tuesday has been spent in the Shetland Islands. We are ported at Lerwick, and we got to see some Shetland ponies today. However, we were told not to pet them. Ammon and Carter enjoyed seeing them none the less. Hoping all is well in your worlds today and God bless you all. Chat soon. Haven

Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers. I ‘m looking forward to blogging to you all from England. God bless you all.

When we swam Sunday evening it was chilly. Ammon
enjoyed the pool. She would swim for about 30 seconds or a minute then she
would say, “I need to get out.” She would then sit in our lawn/pool chairs for
a few seconds then say, “I want to swim!” , so then she would run back to the
pool steps where I awaited her with open arms. Carter stayed in the pool for
two minutes, swam to the side and firmly stated, “I’m cold, and I want to go
in.”

However, on Wednesday when it was warmer and the pool water
was warmer, our friends, Lizzy and Gavin, came for a visit, and they played
soccer (thanks again for the net help, Gavin) and swam with Carter and Ammon.
They had a ball! All four enjoyed the swim, and Carter finally decided that he
liked the pool. Good start to our pool season!

Our Pool!

Folks, I love the color YELLOW. I have also been known (with
frequency) to have rooms in a house painted yellow. Yes, it is bright and helps
my mood index. The color makes me happy. Now, I cannot wear shirts that are
yellow because with my ruddy complexion the two colors really clash. However,
if my shirt has a yellow stripe, I can “pull it off” LOL (Dolce and Gabbana are
going to read this and BEG me to be a fashion editor for them!)

The summer before Ammon and Carter were born was the last
summer we had the bird feeder going “full force” (before the squirrel debacle
where they broke our bird feeder). We had a multitude of goldfinches coming to
the feeder. I remember the summer vividly because the parent goldfinches taught
their babies to fly in the back of our house where our pool is. I could tread
water on my back, look up to the sky, and watch goldfinches zip above. It was
such a treat!  Well, they have started coming back again since the new feeders are up, and it is amazing how the whole yard around the feeders LIGHTS UP when there is a goldfinch  perched there: It brightens the area, and it brightens my soul.

Has anyone heard of, have knowledge of, studied about, or
been to Waltham Abbey in London, England? Well, I plan to visit it during my
upcoming visit to England. The family and I are doing a round-trip cruise of
the British Isles. It will be our first with Princess Cruise Lines. It will
Ammon and Carter’s 7^th cruise! Okay…back to the Abbey

Folks, this abbey will probably be dum, dum, dum,… the
setting to Haven Caylor’s first novel! I will divulge pieces at time between
now and publication (probably late autumn), but the time is late 12^th century (approximately A. D. 1190) and the majority of the setting takes place around an abbey. Now, Waltham Abbey will only be a physical plan because my setting is fictitious. My novel is historical fiction. The story-line itself is about life, love, friendship, and our relationships with the Lord Almighty.  The novel may take place in the Middle Ages,
but it’s themes are timeless and 100% pertinent to the 21^st century.

Please, if you do have some information on Waltham Abbey or
have friends/family who are Medieval Times buffs send some comments/help my
way.

I feel kind of bad. I just read where I should have put out my humming bird feeder in March! It’s almost June! I hope they forgive me! Oh, well, assuming that they do forgive me there should be some humming birds any day now. I hung the feeder from the front porch eaves Saturday but none came (I’ll bet those hummingbirds didn’t come that evening because they were waiting for Jesus’ return and the end of the world…LOL).  But seriously, the feeders are up, and I am ready for those little stinkers to enjoy their sugar-water nectar! Sippin’ time! Come and get it!

Update-Monday May 23, 2011: As I was typing on the front porch swing on Sunday night, a hummingbird visited the feeder. I was pleased, and I think he was too.

….but I am shooting their butts off our bird feeders with the BB gun.

I’m so tired of squirrels eating all the birds’ food. Right now we have the pleasure of seeing purple finches, gold finches, indigo buntings, brown thrashers, chick-a-dees,  tufted tit-mice, cardinals, and many more adorable birds, but the dang squirrels keep eating their food, and the birds don’t want to come around to empty feeders.

It’s best when we have our dachshund, Buddy, or our mother coonhound, Katie, to run them off, but neither of them is out at 6:00 in the A.M. when the squirrels begin their dining terrorist acts. Those squirrels broke our last bird feeder! At one point during the past 7 years, I had a stove pipe around our shepherd’s hook where we have the bird feeders, and the squirrels jumped from the nearby magnolia trees to on top of the feeders. The squirrels have PLENTY of trees and nuts (hickory, black walnut, etc.) as well as scraps I throw away (far from the house), so I know they have other food sources. So, I am back to using the BB gun. I get some good target practice, and the dogs start their fun and excitement as soon as they hear me cock the rifle. Wish us luck.