Category Archive

Roberta’s birthday was this weekend. So we all went out to lunch at the “Forge in the Forest” in Carmel by the sea. Marnie our dear friend flew down to spend a few days sharing our craziness. So her and I went out and found the most perfect birthday cake. Prepare yourself!

From Blogger Pictures

Isn’t that the most perfect 37th Birthday cake ever?!?! Yes, it’s a green turtle cake. And to add to the fun instead of the normal 37 candles, or even the two 3 7 candles we went with the “feliz cumpleanos” Happy Birthday in Spanish. We are living in California after all.

Roberta couldn’t help it, she smiled! It was contagious.

From Blogger Pictures

Then to the horror of all, we set fire to the poor fella!

From Blogger Pictures

Now for the birthday quiz. Let’s see who’s who in the land of Turtle knowledge.
RUAT?

We decided to get out of the house for a bit last weekend and headed down to Big Sur. Big Sur is an area with lots of Redwood trees and tranquility. It’s 26 miles south of Carmel on highway 1 along the coast.  I know the distance because I helped out with the Big Sur Marathon a few weeks ago.

You can go from this type of environment.

On the road to Big Sur

To this

Beach along Highway 1

And finally you reach this in less than 25 miles.

Big Sur Creek

Here everyone is having a relaxing time.

Roberta Chillin Out

The Scowling Teenager

Molly Playing

Nora cooling off

And finally the coffe, soda, ice cream shop made from an old bus.

The Bus Cafe

Nora’s science teacher called today to annoy us about making sure to sign ALL of her homework or she wouldn’t get credit for her assignments. Even if she’s done them. Annoying to say the least.

This same teacher is a fervent believer in Global Warming and “Saving the Environment”. So far I’ve successfully kept my mouth shut and haven’t contradicted any of her teachings, at least not until the girls are at home and we can discuss things.

Well, Miss annoying annoyed me to day. One of the things she called us about on a Saturday was to make sure Nora was working on her “Alternative Energy” project. She’s in the 4th grade. Do you really need to call and check whether she was working on her project on a Saturday? She wasn’t, but that’s besides the matter. Now however, I have decided to help Nora with her project. Ya, I know. This is going to end badly. (-;

We’ve decided that the alternative energy isn’t going to be something as inefficient as wind, or solar. No, we’re going to do the project on something with some real possibility. Nuclear power! Yep, we’re going to do her project on different nuclear reactors and how carbon neutral they are. (-;  How, unlike wind, they don’t kill migrating bird populations. I cannot wait to see this woman’s face when Nora turns in her project.

Hahahahahahaha…. Evil laugh! I love messing with the tree hugger crowd.

Well, it seems that Comcast has turned down the throttle. Oh well. I knew it couldn’t last.

Internet and cable were hooked up this morning at the new house. All I can say is WOW!!!

From the “Married too long” file.

This morning I unplugged my pre-pay phone (no address yet) from the charger and discover it is turned off so I turn it on and grab some coffee. I wait about 10 minutes, get Roberta’s number off the phone and use the house phone to give her a call to touch base and instead my phone starts to make noise. So I quickly hang up thinking I’ve dialed my number by mistake. Nope, it’s Roberta sending me a text message at the exact same time as I’m trying to call her. We’re only 1100 miles and a time zone apart.

It’s all a matter of timing I suppose. Either that or we’ve been married too long. (-;

Here is a link to a video showing views of the Edinburgh area. Edinburgh will be missed after we leave.

Here’s a vedeo from the BBC Documentary “A Picture of Britain”. Nice quality views of Scotland and Edinburgh.

One of the things I’ll really miss about leaving Scotland will be my Thursday night music nights. I’ve gotten into the habit of walking up to the Dean Tavern after dinner on Thursdays and joining with the Nitten Folk Club for a few hours of music and fun.

The Nitten Folk Club works more as a sing around than a jam session. We inhabit a back room of the Dean, an old dance floor, set up the tables in a large square. Ian kicks off the night with a bang of the gavel and asks for a volunteer to start. With a flip of a coin we go clockwise or anti clockwise. Don’t expect any one style of music. On a typical night you can here Scottish folk, musical themes, American, Maritime, Blues, etc etc. A few songs from last nights session.

• The Yew Tree (lyrics)
• Midges
• Barrett’s Privateers (lyrics)
• The Bantam Cock (lyrics)
• Caledonia (lyrics)
• Follow the Heron (lyrics)
• The Pub with no beer  (lyrics)
• 12 and a Tanner a bottle (lyrics)
• The lakes of Ponchatrain
• Dahn the Plug’Ole (lyrics)
• When father papered the Parlour  (lyrics)

So, if you’re ever in Newtongrange Scotland on a Thursday night, go visit some really good folk and have a grand time. Tell the folks there hello, grab a beer, and join in on a night of fun.

Contact: Jim Weatherston

email: nittenfolk@aol.com

Mobile: 07850 869 759

Yep, the rumors are true. We’ve made our plane tickets and will be moving back to the States on the 11th of November. Our Scottish adventure is coming to a close.

There is sadness and expectation both. It will be nice to get back to the states and see friends, it’s also sad that we will not get to experience nearly as much as we wanted to. That’s life I suppose.

I’ve accepted a position back in Monterey, CA. So, surfing, diving, beautiful coastal living here we come.

Molly and Nora at Asilomar Beach

Monty Python’s A Life With Brian ending. It’ll just make ya smile. (-:

And if that’s not good enough for a gut chuckler. Then here’s another with a touch more geek factor involved.