Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (and CityLink Buses, and Caledonian Ferries and Scottish Taxi Drivers)!

     Today I want to praise public transportation!  Most specifically Scottish Public Transportation!  We just returned from an eight-day trip to Scotland.  For the first time (ever, I think) we didn't rent a car, even for a portion of the trip.  And we probably had one of the most stress-free trips ever.  Even the disruptions on our two flights out of the US didn't bother us very much. 
     When we got to BWI to catch our connection flight to Philadelphia, there was a slight problem--no plane!  Interestingly enough, we got hustled back to the check-in counter, and herded into a five-passenger taxi for an incredible 90-minute DRIVE to Philadelphia.  That was one happy taxi driver!  All courtesy of US Airways, thank you.  When we finally borded our plane to Scotland (booked to the gills with passengers who had been trying to get out of Philly for two days due to "ash closures" in the UK), our plane "broke".  Five hours later we ended up leaving at midnight, with "dinner" served to us at 1:00 a.m.
 
Needless to say, we were late arriving to Glasgow and in danger of missing the 12:30 train to Oban.  No worries.....our intrepid Scottish taxi driver (unfortunately, I could only understand every third word he spoke in a Scottish accent so thick I thought maybe I had landed somewhere else) ferried us AHEAD of the train to the next station so we could catch it!  Plus, he locked his cab and carried our bags into the station for us, and introduced us to the station master.

     
The rest of our trip was like that--buses ran on time, people made sure we got "concessions" for being seniors, even though we weren't UK residents, train conductors rescued me from what I was sure was the fatal mistake of getting locked back on the train while Guy watched in horror as I sped away down the track to the next station (that's another story).  Did you know that being left on the train after missing your stop just means that you have been "overcarried."  I LOVE that word!  Isn't the train station below just adorable.  It's the one at Pitlochry, but almost all of them look like this.

Our taxi drivers to and from our hotels and our Bed and Breakfast were knowledgeable, friendly, and determined that we would see the best that their cities could offer.  For about $250 we had an incredible transportation experience for an entire week.  And stress-free!  We never worried about driving on the "wrong side of the road," we didn't have to puzzle out roundabouts, we never had to find a parking space, and we didn't have to fuel up with "petrol".  And mostly, we didn't argue about anything having to do with highways, best routes, incorrect maps, or incompetent driving.(you all know what I am talking about, don't you?)

       I never thought I could fall in love with buses and trains, but I've been converted.  Here's to ScotRail and CityLink!  And I haven't even started on the Caledonian MacBrayne Ferry to the Isle of Mull and our awesome tour guide to Duart Castle.  His take on life on the Isle of Mull - "nobody died of stress last year, and only six people died of boredom!"
     We didn't "die of boredom" on our trip; we just sat back and enjoyed the ride........

Weekend of Enjoyment

I got a full dose of "Momism" this Mother's Day weekend.  Guy and I went into NoVa to visit with Patrick and Blanton.  Blanton gifted me with a full manicure and pedicure Friday evening before our dinner at Present, a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant in Falls Church.  We ate our way through "Autumn Shawl", incredible "spring rolls" made from rolled rice crusts, and I had the "beef special" which was shredded beef mixed with vegetables, scallions, ginger, smoked in a bamboo shaft.  It was awesome.  Duck, calamari, and soft-shelled crabs also got shared with everyone.

Moving Forward, One "Stitch" at a Time...

It's been a busy and productive week; finished up lot's of stuff for Masterworks Chorus, played piano a little, sang a little, went to two book clubs and exercised my mind, finished three quilts and mailed one off to Susan for Baby Kirsten.  I found some great gifts for my daughters-in-law for their birthdays and Laura's wedding shower, and am excited to be seeing both of them (and our sons) within the next two days.  We bought a new camera for our trip to Scotland; now we will just have to wait and see if that little Icelandic volcano causes any more air travel excitement.

Business plans are taking shape.  We will be taking our training classes on our Gammill the first week of July and the machine will be delivered shortly afterward.  I should be up and running by August, I think.  I've even reserved my domain name, and will start planning my web site soon.  Guy is busy reading the 265-page computer manual that we will have to become familiar with.  Shown above are a few pictures of the machine we are buying, for those of you who don't know what a long-arm stitcher looks like.  This one comes with a computerized module that is pretty incredible.  The picture below shows the size of the machine.  It's a 14-ft table with about a 4-ft bed.  I'm finishing up quilt tops like crazy so I will have lot's to experiment with.  It's going to be a beautiful Mother's Day Weekend.....happy Mom's Day to all my friends, grandma's, aunts, etc.