It's Been Awhile!

A couple out riding their bikes today stopped me as I was on the way back from the laundry room and asked if I was the lady who did the blog. I thought they meant the Periwinkle Park blog but he said, no, they meant mine. And they said they were worried about me because I hadn't posted for so long. I admitted that I spend a lot of time on Facebook, therefore have let my blog go by the wayside. But--it did kind of give me a kick in the you know what so thought I would catch everyone up on what I've been up to.

I was spending 4-5 days a week at CROW but with the snowbird volunteers back, I'm only working 3. We pick up patients on Thursdays and I work in the clinic on Fridays and Saturdays. We have been feeding MANY baby squirrels this fall. Very time consuming but I really enjoy it. Another plus was that we have hired another vet. Dr. Steph was an intern a couple of years ago and stayed on for two years as a rehabber. She left last June but they hired her back this fall. YAY!!! Be sure and check out CROW's up to date, new and improved website.

In October we headed to Walt Disney World for 4 nights staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. If you stay there, you can take a special tour of the Savannah and get up close and personal with the animals. Part of the tour includes a wonderful meal at Jiko's, their really nice restaurant.
I also treated myself to the Characters in Flight in Downtown Disney. This is a balloon which is tethered but goes up in the air. I've been wanting to do that forever. Chuck doesn't like heights so I went alone.
From Orlando, we headed up to Stone Mountain, Georgia to attend the Stone Mountain Highland Games. We met up with our friends, Vard and Lora from Michigan, and our Montgomery "cousins" from Clan Montgomery and we got to see our favorite Scottish singer, Alex Beaton. We are enjoying the cooler weather here in SW Florida. It was a very hot summer. And thankfully, we have (so far) escaped any hurricanes or tropical storms. We still enjoy our deck. Here are a couple of sights from our deck. So, I guess this posting is thanks to the people who stopped me today and asked if I was the lady who had the blog. I neglected to get their names but thanks guys. Hope you read this.

I'm Goin' to Disney World

We are leaving tomorrow for 3 days at Disney World. We already had plans to go to Stone Mountain, Georgia on Thursday for the Scottish Highland Games. I kept seeing Disney ads on TV stating that for the price of a 12 month season pass, Florida residents could get 15 months. So we decided, what the heck, let's give it a try. After all we are only 3 1/2 hours away. I then looked through my email from TravelZoo and found cheap rates at the Port Orleans Riverside. So, we decided to go for it. We leave tomorrow morning for WDW. We will check in, pick up our yearly pass, and head to Epcot to partake of their Food and Wine Festival. The menus look yummy! That still leaves Tuesday and Wednesday but since our pass allows us to Park hop, we will probably hit a couple each day--who knows?
Then on Thursday, we will head up to Stone Mt. to meet friends of ours. We will find something to do on Friday then go to the Games on Saturday and Sunday. Then head back home.
Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that I probably won't be on here for awhile. I didn't want you to think I had deserted ya'll. (Gotta get used to Georgia speak here). Anyway, I'll see you later.

Kentucky Scottish Weekend

Last weekend we stopped on our way north in Carrollton, Kentucky for the Kentucky Scottish Weekend. We have been doing this for 5 years now. We met our friend, Bob, who came down from Michigan and other friends, Al and Jan, from Cincinnati. The above picture shows Greg Cutliff, the Drum Major for the Massed Bands and yours truly in our Clan Montgomery finest. His is a lot finer than mine!!

On Friday night, we attended the Sponsors dinner. Of course we had the Ode to a Haggis and yup, I had some haggis. In fact I had two helpings. We also had a raffle and Cheryl, another friend, won a bottle of Kentucky Wine.
The next day we spent much of our time in the Entertainment tent listening to yet another friend, Alex Beaton, and a new group to us, Coyote Run. There was also a British Car show going on outside the tent. Since it had poured the day before and the field where people had to park their cars was nothing but mud, Al decided to enter his Mini Cooper, Wee Beastie, in the car show so he could park on pavement. Little did he know that there was a lst place trophy in his future.
One fun thing about Highland Games is that they usually have Sheep Dog demonstrations. I suppose I should say Geese Dog demonstrations.Even the Sheep were watching. They were probably saying, "Better them than us."

That night there was a Ceilidh (pronounced Kay lee). The Ceilidh involved Alex, a pipe band, dancers, pipers and Coyote Run which brought down the house.This young man is only 11 years old and is absolutely amazing. He even had adult pipers in awe.
Here is just a peek at Coyote Run. They were amazing!!
We had a great time meeting up with friends, watching some great entertainment, hearing the drone of the pipes, and of course--lots of men in kilts!!

Be With You Soonl

Just to let everyone know that I haven't disappeared. We left Sanibel last Thursday am and drove 12 hours to Cleveland, Tennessee where we spent the night. The next day we drove 6 hours to Carrollton, Kentucky where we met three of our friends. I got "gussied" up in my Clan Montgomery tartan skirt and we attended the Patrons dinner for the Kentucky Scottish Weekend.
The next day we attended the games where we spent most of our time listening to Alex Beaton and a fantastic group called Coyote Run. Yesterday after attending Kirk and listening to Alex one more time, we headed to Findlay. We went out to eat last night at a new, very nice seafood restaurant here in town. It's about time they got a decent seafood restaurant here. I won't miss Sanibel quite so much, I guess.

Today, I spent the whole day cleaning two rooms and starting to get rid of a lot of stuff!! More about that later. I did take pictures this weekend and will post them when I get the chance. Lots to do this week but just wanted you all to know I made it to Findlay safe and sound.

Headin' North

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we will be heading north on I75. We will probably drive to Cleveland, Tennessee tomorrow then on to Carrollton, Kentucky for the Kentucky Scottish Weekend. We will meet our friends, Bob, Jan, and Al there and get to see our favorite Scottish Entertainer, Alex Beaton.
With any luck at all, this will be the last time we have to pack up and go north for the summer. We are putting our 100 year old home on the rather slow market this summer. We just decided that at our age, we didn't really need to maintain two homes and since we spend most of the year in Florida anyway and since we have made so many friends down here and spend so much time at CROW, this was the place to be. So, anyone want to buy a home?

I'm not looking forward to all the work we have to do this summer to get this house ready to sell, get it on the market, and hope it sells in a reasonable length of time. We will probably have an auction to get rid of the household contents and the result of years of my collecting things like ruby glass, bells, and Hummels.

One thing I am looking forward to, though, is a 2 week trip to Ireland in June with Alex Beaton (see above) as our tour guide. We have gone on two trips to Scotland with him and this is his first tour of Ireland. Our friends, Jan and Al (see above) are going with us.

So, there you have it. The good, the bad and the ugly of the summer to come.

Stone Mountain 36th Annual Scottish Highland Games Scottish Festival

So, we attended the Stone Mountain Scottish Highland Games Scottish Festival this past weekend. Usually we make this a stop on our way south to Florida for the winter. This year, as most of you know, we migrated to Florida the lst of September. So we had to travel north 604 miles and 10 hours (with stops) to attend for the 5th year in a row. We always stay at the Stone Mountain Inn because it is so accessible to the sights of Stone Mountain and is walking distance to the Games. Our main draw to the Games is to meet up with and be entertained by our friend, Alex Beaton, but also to join our friends and family from Clan Montgomery.




Now, you must understand, most Highland Scottish Festivals are called Highland Games because of the Games. Although, I have observed some games at various festivals, I tend to spend most of my time at Alex's tent or at the Montgomery tent. So, therefore--no pictures of the games or Highland Dancers. I do, however, have pictures of various things from the weekend. So here goes.

After the rain out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday were crisp but sunny. Here are a few of Alex's faithful bundled up for his 10:00 performance.

You see all kinds of dress at Scottish Festivals.

There are always Clan Tents. This year there were about 100 clans represented.

Every Games has an opening ceremonies where dignitaries are introduced, bands march, speeches are given and national anthems are sung. And of course, crowds watch.

Stone Mountain always has LOTS of Pipe and Drum bands. This year, the featured band was the Royal Canadian Mountain Police Regimental Pipes and Drums all the way from Alberta, Calgary, Canada. (BTW, regimental in terms of kilts, means, nothing is worn underneath the kilt. All together now, Oooooo, Ahhhhh.)

Of course, every Pipe and Drum Band has pipes.

And drums.

And men in kilts. (Ok, so there are ladies in kilts too.)

And when bands get together, they are known as Massed Bands.

Also at the Games are Heeland Coos. (Translation--Highland Cows.)

Falconry. This is a Red Shouldered Hawk. Gorgeous, huh?

Vendors, crowds and bands.

And of course, Clan MacMedic.

Then we have the Atholls. The Chief of Clan Murray is known as the Earl of Atholl. Alex has a whole litany of jokes and comments about the Atholls. BTW, our favorite pub in Glasgow, Scotland is the Atholl Pub! Gotta love it. Sorry to all the Murrays out there.

And then there is Rhu, the future Earl of Eglington, the hereditary Chief of Clan Montgomery. I love little boys in kilts.

This was the about the only fall colors we saw but at least we saw some.

This is Stone Mountain--the view from the hotel parking lot.

The Stone Mountain carving of Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee

I caught a glimpse of the carving through the trees on our way back to the hotel. So, goodbye to Stone Mountain and to the Games. We had a great time and are looking forward to next year's festival.