Belated Mum Post

Mum has been and come back from Scotland, but I promised to share a bit of her trip. I would like to credit much of my writing talents to my v. fancy education. However, the greatest influence has been from Mum, who writes the BEST letters and is a wonderful storyteller. I have told her she needs a blog, but she thinks she has nothing to say. Ha!

She went to The Orkneys to visit my cousin J and help her finish painting rooms in the new home. She packed her paint brushes. Well, you have to have the proper tools! [Side note here: on Mum's last visit, she spent all day winding up & down a narrow spiral staircase bringing down boxes of cousin's Hubby K. Mum thought they were books. There were not. They were his ROCK collection. I thought they were a bit heavy, said Mum.]

The Orkneys are off the northern tip of Scotland, v. remote, windy & COLD! When my husband had asked her if it was cold, she said it wasn't that cold. "Not cold?! My SIL was wearing a hat & winter coat with gloves in June!" So then Husband got an atlas. The Orkney's are one degree difference in latitude to Alaska. Yeah, not cold . . . .

You may remember that I shared her first email to me, detailing how she hitchhiked up the coast of Scotland to make her ferry. Here are a few excerpts from her emails:

Dec. 1st

Haven't heard from you for ages ? I did get a very brief note from D but other than that not didly squat from anybody.Hope you had a great thanksgiving. I am making decent progress but the days are SO short ; it is dark by 3-30 and it isn't bright enough in the morning to get started before 9am. J's cooking is incredible .I shall definitely miss all these catered meals. lots of love Mum

I wrote back, Haven't heard from ME??? Who's in the arctic??? Hahahaha

Dec. 9th

J and I are going in to Kirkwall this morning and my comment last night was that we were going to shop till we drop and K and J burst into laughter and and said hey ,yes , this is Kirkwall you're talking about. It takes all of half an hour to get around ALL of the shops .I'm hoping for good sailing weather on Fri.and not the same fiasco as getting up here. Yesterday we had lunch with the local air-traffic controller who said he would guarantee good weather and no cancellations .I shall attempt to keep you informed and I will have my cell on when I get to Dulles.See you Sat. Lots of love,Mum

Dec. 10th

I have put coat no. 3 on the stairs today and now I am going to relax with some knitting which I am doing for J. She completed a sock over a year ago and started on the second one and it was just waiting for me to come along and finish it.I walked across to the pub a few minutes ago to mail some stuff for J (the PO is in the pub) [Oh, come on, Mum. We know you were slugging back a few pints! Hahahahaha Kidding.] It is only a few yards away but I was very glad that I had my quiltty coat ; I could easily have frozen from the wind and sideways rain. TTYL L.M.

Dec. 12th

The sun is shining over Scappa Flow and it is like glass.Looks good for a ferry run tomorrow. Not that it s a guarantee. [insert family stuff here] OK , back to the sock!!!! just have the foot left. Love mum

Dec. 13th

This is probably the last e-mail I shall send before I embark on the return journey.I am gearing up to get on line and get my boarding pass and a seat. As I glance out of the window Scapa flow does not look so calm today ; I see white horses and I see a boat which is tossing about. There are a few hours before sailing and one can hope that it will calm down before the evening.I won't be taking pictures ; we sail at midnight.See you soon. L.M.

As it turns out, the ferries weren't running due to rough seas. Cousin J helped her book a flight to London, so she managed to make it back. And now we are gearing up for the Xmas family gathering tomorrow. I'm going to make a prediction: Mum is going to say, "What's that postcard illustration on this post?" I wanted to do something because Mum didn't take any pictures. Hehhhhh . . . . [This is where she says, "Well! The battery was dead!" Yeah, I know.] Anyway, I wanted to do a some sort of graphic and when I was getting clipart for Scotland, this one showed up. I don't know if Kilt Guy is golfing [Mum will set me straight on this] but I thought it was a funny picture. So that's why. This is where she'll say, "Oh you and your brother are so much alike!" Hahahahaha

P.S. Mum emailed me:

Scottie guy is participating in the Highland Games (that has to be capitalized!) and swinging the shot-put which weighs a ton.