Busy last few months!!

Since the last post I have travelled to the States and back bringing with me in tow a few days later, Kady!  The holiday's were filled with many flights, 8 to be exact but all worth the effort.  I arrived without a hitch to Bozeman Montana all be it a few hours later than I had hoped as I was already set to be travelling for more than 24 hours with my 4 flights and 7 time zones of change.  The greeting that awaited me at the airport was all worth it!  My mom, dad and Kady were standing at the bottom of the escalator and as soon as Kady saw me she flipped!  Everyone around us kept commenting that this was the happiest dog they had ever seen.

Christmas in Montana was nice and relaxing filled with family and catching up with dear friends.  We even went sledding on Christmas day, a feat that I have yet to accomplish here in Scotland.  After a week in Montana, Kady and I started our long adventure across the pond with a 10 day stop in Houston.  We were warmly welcomed by Jim and Valerie Barto, my Houston parents.  Unfortunately Kady came down with pancreatitis shortly after we arrived and she spent a few days over New Years in the Emergency Care clinic.  The clinic was super in their care for both Kady and me, allowing me to come and visit Kady to ensure both of us that she was recovering.

I flew back to Scotland 5 days before Kady made the big move.  I used Pet Relocations and even though we had a few hick ups here and there Kady did arrive safe and sound to Scotland.  Since she has arrived, we have had a house warming/welcome to Scotland party where Kady got to meet most of my new friends here.  We have joined the almost All American circle of  friends for a hike around Burn O'Vat, taken a stroll down Balmedie Beach where Kady played in the surf of the North Sea and proceeded to roll in the sand all while having a blast.

My most recent adventure was visiting the Reindeer Center in Glenmore, about 3 hours inland from Aberdeen in the Cairngorms Mountains.  We got to pet and feed them.

Enjoy the pictures taken over the past few months.

Kady checking out her new garden!

Nose at Burn O'Vat

Icicles at Burn O'Vat

Burn O'Vat waterfall

Kady on the dunes at Balmedie Beach

Kady bracing the wind, ears flapping and all

Mmmm your hands smell tasty!

You got any food for me?

Feeding the reindeer

Burn O'Vat pictures

Reindeer Center pictures

Craig Leacach, Glen Shee - Munro #1

On Saturday I summited my first Munro!  For those of you who don't know what a Munro is, a Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over 3,000 ft.  They are named after Sir Hugh Munro, who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munros Tables in 1891. Now for some of you 3,000 ft may not seem very high but for Scotland it is!  There are a total of 283 Munros and 227 subsidiary tops in Scotland.  We'll see how addicted I become to bagging them.

Our day of hill walking started very early. We left Aberdeen at 6:45 AM and headed into the Cairngorms where one of the local ski hills, Glen Shee is.  We arrived at the parking lot just after the sun had risen.  The hills were covered in snow and the sky was blue.  Knowing that the weather might give us some issues we started our walk, passing through and over creeks as we walked across the valley floor to the other side where the base of the Munro started.  We made the summit of Craig Leacach at high noon with blue skies, snow blowing from the 50 mph winds and gusts up to 80 mph.  Any stronger and I might not have stayed on the mountain.  We were going to attempt to bag an adjacent Munro but the weather started to turn and we decided to play it safe and proceeded to hike out.  Good thing too because our visibility was quickly reduced to a few feet in front of us as the winds picked up the snow.  In total we hiked 6.25 miles in 5 hours 9 min.  Not bad for a Saturday!

Here are some pictures from our adventure.

Before Shot

It's cold!!

Merry Christmas from Scotland!

My years of Ballet paying off as I cross a 1.5 inch wide beam of wood

Nearly at the summit, seeking shelter while the wind gusts up to 80 mph!

At the summit

Happy Hikers!

After shot

 The rest of the pictures can be viewed on my Picasa site.

My new digs

I've been in my new house here in Aberdeen for just over 3 weeks and I have managed to completely unpack and throw a cocktail party!  Here are some pictures of where I am living now and where Kady will come to live in January when she makes the big move from Montana to Scotland!

Kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen

Downstairs Shower

Dinning Room

Dinning Room

Garden

Front Entry

Looking into the front hall

Living Room

Living Room

Living Room

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom

Guest Bedroom

Guest Bedroom

Office



Office

Three Weeks of Travelling

It's been a long month, September that is!  Three days of official work and the rest of travelling and consolidating my life into a 20 foot long cargo container that is now sailing to Scotland.  While I was in the states I was able to visit Rachel, Brent, Aislin and Cadel in Seattle where we all had a great weekend.  We took Aislin bowling for the first time and here are two short videos from our trip to the bowling lanes.

I also spent three wonderful days in Montana with mom, Ali and Kady.  I've missed her so much and I can't wait for her to join me in Scotland in January.

More pictures and updates to come as soon as I get settled.

Can you spot a Puffin?

One of the things that I wanted to make sure I did while living in Scotland was to see an Atlantic Puffin.  I found out that along the cliffs just south of Aberdeen, Puffins nest during May and June.  I found that the local Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was giving Pick Out A Puffin! walks.  So I signed up!

What better way to see puffins than from a bird enthusiast!  We learned all about the sea birds that nest along the cliffs near Aberdeen.  Here are some pictures from my evening walk on one of the most beautiful Scottish days I've had yet.  It was still 75 degrees at 8 PM! 





Can you spot a puffin?




Here's a hint as to what they look like




Scotland at 9PM!