Kentucky Scottish Weekend

View from the balcony of our room at the Lodge

We arrived at the General Butler State Park in Carrollton, Kentucky about 2:30 in the afternoon. We checked in and headed to our room. As requested, we were in connecting rooms with our friend, Bob. We had met Bob and his wife, Marilyn, (friends for 40 some years) at Carrollton for the last 2 years. Marilyn passed away suddenly last August so this trip was a bit bittersweet. We knew that dinner would be late so we headed to Subway for a late lunch then back to our room to get dressed for the evening.

We have been sponsors at the Weekend for the past 3 years which means a very nice get together on Friday night with a buffet of salads, sandwiches, meatballs, desserts etc and lots of adult beverages. And ya gotta drink Single Malt Scotch at a Scottish get together, right??? Yum.

We also met up with our friends, Jan and Al, who we met on our first Alex Beaton Tour to Scotland in 2004. Last year at this get together, Jan gave me a pink bracelet to wear. She was beginning chemo two days later for breast cancer. I wore that bracelet continually until January of this year when I knew she was over the chemo and well on her way back to good health. It was soooo wonderful to see her happy and healthy even with her short hair.

Alex delivering the Ode to the Haggis

At most Scottish functions like this, they have an Ode to the Haggis. As many times as I've heard it, I have yet to understand more than two words in it. It is a poem by Robert Burns. If you wish to read it and get a decent translation and learn more about the wonderful, tasty, yummy Haggis, go here. (Ok, I'll admit it--I'm a wee bit weird but I happen to like Haggis.)

Saturday morning, we headed down the road to the event. Scottish Weekends and Highland Games consist of Pipe Band contests, Individual Piping contests, Scottish Dancing contests, Clan Tents, British Cars, Vendors, Sheep Dogs and of course, entertainment. We usually look around at the vendors, check out the clan tents, and then head to the entertainment tents. I love Pipe Bands and watching the dancers but my real love is Scottish music and in particular, Alex Beaton's scottish music.

The official opening to the Games/Weekend is usually held around noon of the first day. This is when all of the attending Pipe Bands meet together as a Massed Band. National Anthems are sung--the Star Spangled Banner and Flower of Scotland. Even though each band has it's own Drum Major, there is always a Head Drum Major who is in charge of all of the bands. 4 years ago I noticed, with glee, that the Drum Major was sporting Montgomery tartan. I am a member of Clan Montgomery and we have one of the prettiest tartans out there. It is one of the few that is purple. Since that time, I have met Greg Cutliff (the Drum Major) several times. He and his wife, Tana, sat at our table last night. Obviously I had to get my picture taken with him in his full regalia.

Me with Greg and Tana Cutliff

Of course, I took lots of pictures so I have included a few. Here goes.

Chuck and Bob checking out one of the cars.

British cars

Alex and Greg before Opening Ceremonies

Greg in full regalia

Pipers come in all sizes

Alex performing

Dueling Bagpipes. Two members of the group MacTalla Mor.

Saturday evening was the Ceilidh which included Alex, MacTalla Mor, dancers, pipers etc. Unfortunately, I was a bit under the weather and spent most of the evening in the Porta Potty. Ugh!! I'm not quite sure what made me sick but I think it was the Shepherds Pie I had for lunch.

Sunday morning we headed to Kirking of the Tartans. This is a church service held at most Scottish Games. One of the parts of the service is called Flowers of the Forest. Names of Clan members who have passed away during the year are mentioned. Our friends, Al and Jan, had submitted Marilyn's name. We normally would have stayed for Alex's first performance of the day but the weather was horrible. High winds and heavy rain. The big tent was heaving a LOT during Kirk and I wasn't too thrilled about the thought of it coming down on me. A couple of the Vendor's tents had already blown down and they were all packing up and leaving. There were less that 100 people in attendance and it looked like there weren't going to be a lot more. Sooo, we said our goodbyes and hugs and left for Findlay.

We pulled into our northern home at about 2:30. As good as it was to be home, I wished we were pulling into Sanibel instead of Findlay. I miss my baby birds!!

On Our Way North

I was awake at 4:58 AM to turn off the alarm that was set for 5:00. Of course, I didn't get to sleep until about 2:30 so not much sleep. We closed windows, shut blinds, turned off fans (I may have forgotten one), hauled out the trash, packed the computer, and were in the car at 6:00. We set the GPS and it said we had 731 miles to go today to get to Cleveland, Tennessee. We always stay at the same motel (the Ramada) on our way north. Don't know why, just do!!

We left Sanibel and Florida in gorgeous sunny, hot weather. It progressively became cloudier and cloudier. Part of it was smoke from brush fires around Punta Gorda. We took turns driving although Mr. Snowbird drove longer since I refuse to drive through rush hour traffic in Atlanta. Once we got out of that traffic, I took over for the last hour and a half. Of course just as I took over, it started raining. By the time I hit Chattanooga it was POURING. Did I mention, I dislike driving in the rain--a lot!! We pulled into the motel at 7:00 PM. I of course had white knuckles!! We checked in, unpacked what we needed for the night--including a bottle of red adult beverage. Then we hopped back in the car and went to Wendy's for take out. Back to the hotel for sandwiches and several glasses of the red stuff. Even though I am whipped, I HAVE to stay up until 11:00 so I can see LOST. I am not about to miss that.

Tomorrow we head to Carrollton, Kentucky where we will meet up with friends at the Kentucky Scottish Weekend. We will also see our friend, Alex Beaton, as he entertains at these games. We are staying at the lodge at General Butler State Park where the games are held. I don't know if there will be internet access there so you may not hear from me until Sunday or Monday. We will head on to Findlay Sunday afternoon.

I always hate to leave Sanibel but it seemed harder this year for some reason. I think it's because more and more of our lives revolve around Sanibel, CROW, and all our friends down there.

Wordless Wednesday-Harry Potter Scenes

If you have seen the Harry Potter movies, I believe that this loch at Glenfinnan is used in the movie.

If you turn around and look in the other direction, you can see the railroad overpass used in the movie.

I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Wordless Wednesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida volunteering for a Wildlife hospital rescuing and rehabbing wildlife. I even dumpster dive for injured Raccoons!! I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! I also have a blog called Branches and Roots where I talk about genealogy and my ancestors. OK, enough about me. Back to Wordless Wednesday.


Enjoy more Wordless Wednesdays at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom

Happy Birthday to My Beautiful Granddaughter

Born May 5, 1997

Happy Birthday Erin. How can you possibly be 11 years old already? Wasn't it just yesterday that I held you when you were just an hour old? Wasn't it just yesterday that 5 days later I held you while your Mom was in your Aunt Carol's wedding? Wasn't it just yesterday----ok, I guess you get the idea!

Grandma Nancy and Erin at Aunt Carol's wedding. 5 days old.

Here she is at 7 months old. Don't you just love that big smile?

Touchdown! Oops she has her Indians outfit on rather than her Browns outfit. Anyway, she was even into sports way back then.

Erin's first birthday. I'm sure that dress was never the same.

Her first steps from Daddy to Grandma Barbara.

This is a heck of a way to take a bath!

This is one of my very favorite pictures of Erin and her Aunt Karen. Erin was the flower girl for Karen. Since Karen lived in California, Erin had never had a chance to really get to know her. Here she is giving Karen a kiss just before the wedding.

Here she is the first time she learned to ride her bike without training wheels. Her mom worked and worked with her that day and she finally took off--and hasn't stopped since.

My Harry Potter Wannabe

Did I mention that Erin loves sports? I like to think she got that from her Grandma Nancy. First it was soccer, then it was T Ball which led to softball and baseball, and on to basketball. She excels in all sports. She refers to herself as a "Soccer Dude". You go girl!!

That was then.

This is now.

That was then.

This is now.

She pitches.

She plays base.

And she catches.

And she loves sports memorabilia. Here she is wearing her Dad's old swim team jacket.

She's very musical. Here she is playing a duet with her cousin Noah.

She loves her cousins, Luka and Ethan, even when one is screaming his head off.

And I think she is one of the greatest granddaughter's a grandma could have. Erin, you are the best. Have a great birthday and I'll see you soon. Love and Hugs, Grandma. Oh yeah, Grandpa sends his love too.

LOST

I always love to read Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer's take on the latest episode of LOST. Unfortunately her neck of the woods had tornado warnings tonight so her local station was broadcasting weather news instead of LOST. I hopped over to her blog hoping to read about what she thought of tonight's show even though I hadn't watched it yet. Weird huh? Wouldn't you think I would want to see it before I found out all the spoilers from someone else? Imagine how disappointed I was. Probably about as much as she was in not being able to watch the show herself. Am I making any sense at all? I think it is just to late to be posting and maybe I should just give up, go to bed, and watch the show tomorrow and hope that Shannon has been able to see it online and has given her review of the show!! Anyway, goodnight all.:-) And Shannon, I'm glad you still have a roof on your house.

NEW!!!

OK, so I'm futzing around with a whole new look. As you may have read, in the last Bloggy Giveaway Carnival I won a new header from Momof3Girls. Her hubby, Ron, designed me a whole new header. I had wanted to incorporate Sanibel, wildlife, the beach, the kids and grandkids. I sent him some pictures and this is what he came up with. I think it pretty much says it all. Then I decided I needed a new look to go with the new header. If anyone has tried reading my blog in the past hour, they have probably wondered what the heck was going on!!! Anyway, this is what I'm going with for now. I may decide later that I'm not that thrilled with the way it looks and change it again. Afterall, a woman can change her mind can't she. And when you are my age, you change it a lot!! :)

Anyway, Deb and Ron, a BIG THANKS.

Wordless Wednesday-Sunset on Sanibel

This is just one of the things I love about Sanibel Island.

Also, I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Wordless Wednesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida volunteering for a Wildlife hospital rescuing and rehabbing wildlife. I even dumpster dive for injured Raccoons!! I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! OK, enough about me. Back to Wordless Wednesday.


Enjoy more Wordless Wednesdays at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom