Our July was filled with friends—some of whom we just socialized with and others of whom came to stay with us. We began the month bidding farewell to John and Lynn Kelly from Bisbane, Australia (formerly of Bethesda, MD). They stayed with us a few days on their way to the Northern Highlands so that Lynn could see the house where her grandfather lived up in Wick and get in touch with some of her roots. Three days later, we welcomed Don's cousin Naomi (from Bellingham, WA) who was with us for a week. We had some rain and some sun during her visit, but all in all we were able to do a good bit of sight-seeing from Comrie and environs and further afield to Dunkeld one day, to St. Andrews and the East Neuk of Fife another day, and to Killin and Glen Lyon on yet another. A week after Naomi's visit we welcomed Peter and Kathy Benjamin (of Bethesda) who were with us for a week. For part of their visit, we all drove up to Loch Torridon which is in Wester Ross, part of the Northern Highlands. We rented a cottage for 4 days and had a great time sight-seeing and walking in the area. You can see photos from these visits by scrolling through the July blogs.
Right now the annual Comrie Fortnight village fete is on. Peter and Kathy were with us for the Fancy Dress Pram Derby, which was great fun. (In the top photos above you can see the Comrie Pipes and Drums in their new rain gear as well as the winners of the Pram Derby, The Jimi Hendrix Inexperience.) Last Saturday afternoon we enjoyed the Fancy Dress Bicycle Parade (photos also above). We're looking forward to next Saturday's float parade which is always the highlight of the fete.
July also saw us driving, along with Haig and Trish Hamilton, up to Kingussie (about 2 hours north of here) for lunch with Sandy and Patsy Thomson, who live north of Inverness. This was the second time the 6 of us have met up like this, the previous time being about 6 years ago while we were over here on holiday. (You can read about our unusual connection with both these couples as well as see photos on the July 13th blog.)
The Deil's Cauldron Restaurant held its third annual Bastille Day celebration on July 14th at The. There were petanque games, drinks, and lots of good food, not to mention lots of folks to visit with. As a result of our sitting with Simon and Sophie Thomson from Comrie's deli, we met their French friend Hebert, a former chef. The next day we were able to go wild mushroom picking with Hebert and Simon. It was a great adventure, crawling over fences and scrambling through the woods beneath low-hanging boughs to look for early fungi. It was a bit too early for a good harvest but still we came home with enough fresh chanterelles for a delicious risotto and a chanterelle omelet (see blog for July 15).
In between visitors and social occasions we bought a "new" car (used but 2 years "newer" than the one we had). We like the make and model of car we had but wanted to get a diesel version for better gas mileage. (We were getting around 34 or 35 mpg on the old car.) We bought the same make and model, only a slightly larger version. So far on our first tank our odometer is showing 48.5 mpg. At the price we pay for petrol over here, that is a great boon! (If you'd like to see what an economical car looks like, check out the second July 29th blog.) We're very happy with this car as it is prettier, roomier, and peppier than the old one in addition to getting the better gas mileage.
Here's a happy health story for you. Just before leaving the States I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and put on a low dose of a beta blocker. Since coming to Scotland and getting on the National Health Service, they have monitored my blood pressure every six months and I have continued with the medication. When I had my six-monthly check last week, the nurse said my reading was low--92 over 60. She looked at all my previous blood pressure readings and while none of them had ever been this low, none had ever been the slightest bit high. She questioned me about my blood pressure history. I told her I'd always had excellent readings until my December 2002 check when it was quite high. As a precaution, the Kaiser-Permanente nurse practitioner put me on the lowest dose of a beta blocker. Since then, I've quit work, we've moved to Scotland, and I've lost weight. In fact, according to the local medical centre records, since my blood pressure check last January, I've lost 33.3 lbs! The nurse and I think that I probably never had high blood pressure and should go off the medication. I saw my doctor this past Monday morning who confirmed what the nurse and I had concluded. I am now even healthier than I thought I was!
Don has just started running a course for admissions officers, a course he helped develop and train faculty for. He has 31 enthusiastic students. In October, he will be teaching a new management course, which he also developed. He continues to enjoy and get great satisfaction from his online teaching and his students certainly seem to get a lot out of the courses.
We hope your summer has been a good one so far and that you don't have too many "dog days" in August. Thank you for your e-mails. It's so good to know how you're doing, where you've been, and what you're up to.
Love,
Lynn and Don
Right now the annual Comrie Fortnight village fete is on. Peter and Kathy were with us for the Fancy Dress Pram Derby, which was great fun. (In the top photos above you can see the Comrie Pipes and Drums in their new rain gear as well as the winners of the Pram Derby, The Jimi Hendrix Inexperience.) Last Saturday afternoon we enjoyed the Fancy Dress Bicycle Parade (photos also above). We're looking forward to next Saturday's float parade which is always the highlight of the fete.
July also saw us driving, along with Haig and Trish Hamilton, up to Kingussie (about 2 hours north of here) for lunch with Sandy and Patsy Thomson, who live north of Inverness. This was the second time the 6 of us have met up like this, the previous time being about 6 years ago while we were over here on holiday. (You can read about our unusual connection with both these couples as well as see photos on the July 13th blog.)
The Deil's Cauldron Restaurant held its third annual Bastille Day celebration on July 14th at The. There were petanque games, drinks, and lots of good food, not to mention lots of folks to visit with. As a result of our sitting with Simon and Sophie Thomson from Comrie's deli, we met their French friend Hebert, a former chef. The next day we were able to go wild mushroom picking with Hebert and Simon. It was a great adventure, crawling over fences and scrambling through the woods beneath low-hanging boughs to look for early fungi. It was a bit too early for a good harvest but still we came home with enough fresh chanterelles for a delicious risotto and a chanterelle omelet (see blog for July 15).
In between visitors and social occasions we bought a "new" car (used but 2 years "newer" than the one we had). We like the make and model of car we had but wanted to get a diesel version for better gas mileage. (We were getting around 34 or 35 mpg on the old car.) We bought the same make and model, only a slightly larger version. So far on our first tank our odometer is showing 48.5 mpg. At the price we pay for petrol over here, that is a great boon! (If you'd like to see what an economical car looks like, check out the second July 29th blog.) We're very happy with this car as it is prettier, roomier, and peppier than the old one in addition to getting the better gas mileage.
Here's a happy health story for you. Just before leaving the States I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and put on a low dose of a beta blocker. Since coming to Scotland and getting on the National Health Service, they have monitored my blood pressure every six months and I have continued with the medication. When I had my six-monthly check last week, the nurse said my reading was low--92 over 60. She looked at all my previous blood pressure readings and while none of them had ever been this low, none had ever been the slightest bit high. She questioned me about my blood pressure history. I told her I'd always had excellent readings until my December 2002 check when it was quite high. As a precaution, the Kaiser-Permanente nurse practitioner put me on the lowest dose of a beta blocker. Since then, I've quit work, we've moved to Scotland, and I've lost weight. In fact, according to the local medical centre records, since my blood pressure check last January, I've lost 33.3 lbs! The nurse and I think that I probably never had high blood pressure and should go off the medication. I saw my doctor this past Monday morning who confirmed what the nurse and I had concluded. I am now even healthier than I thought I was!
Don has just started running a course for admissions officers, a course he helped develop and train faculty for. He has 31 enthusiastic students. In October, he will be teaching a new management course, which he also developed. He continues to enjoy and get great satisfaction from his online teaching and his students certainly seem to get a lot out of the courses.
We hope your summer has been a good one so far and that you don't have too many "dog days" in August. Thank you for your e-mails. It's so good to know how you're doing, where you've been, and what you're up to.
Love,
Lynn and Don
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