Week ending November 26

What a wonderful week this has been.  It was my week to make pumpkin pies.  I started with a whole pumpkin.  On Saturday I scooped out the guts, cut it up and baked it in the oven.  Then I had to steam it in a big pot because it wasn’t soft enough.  Tuesday I made the pies.  I put all the ingredients in the blender for the filling and the blender did the work of making the pumpkin smooth. It took about 4 hours to bake 10 pies.

At 8 p.m. on Tuesday we went with the Assistants to the President to visit a newly baptized member.  We were able to share our testimonies about the importance of serving in the church.  Then we invited the A.P.’ back to the apartment to sample one of the pies.  They were kind enough to take seven of the pies in to the Mission Home for us that night.

The last two pies we took to work on Thanksgiving Day to share with those we work with in the Archives.  None of them had ever tasted pumpkin pie, and their reactions varied from loving it to uncertain. 

We only worked for half a day on Thanksgiving.  We came home and I made dressing for the dinner and wrote in the blog “If you grew up in Grays Lake”.  I’ve been working on this for about a week, sharing my memories of growing up in Wayan. 

We had Thanksgiving Dinner Thursday evening at the Mission home with about 38 missionaries including senior couples from all over Scotland, elders and sisters from Edinburgh area, and President and Sister Griffiths.  What a wonderful dinner and evening it was.  The food was wonderful.  We had turkey, ham, potatoes, dressing, yams, several salads and of course, pumpkin pie.

On Saturday we visited the Georgian House, in the "New Town" area of Edinburgh [new meaning late 1800's).

The building you see is actually the exterior of several town houses all built together to give the impression of elegance.  The inside rooms were very nice,

but when you go downstairs to the servants area you begin to understand the hard life they lived to try and keep the wealthy happy and full.

Girls were forced into servitude at the age of 11 and had to work 18 hour days.  Servants learned to respond to the sound of the bell to take care of their masters needs.  It was an interesting presentation.

Week ending November 19, 2011

Preston England Temple

This week began with the Flynn’s coming over for dinner and Family Home Evening to discuss how to prepare a lesson the Mission President has asked us to create for the missionaries to present on  Family History.  The idea is to help the converts get excited to go to the temple to do baptisms for their own family members within the first three to six months of their own baptism.  Retention is much higher if you can get them to the temple as soon as possible.  It was a lively discussion and we came up with some great ideas.

Tuesday night we drove over and met with President Paterson of the Falkirk Branch in a "getting to know you"  interview.   We received a hint of what he has in mind but will wait to share that information when the calls are actually made and announced.  He also asked us to introduce ourselves and bear our testimonies in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. 

The youth were there having Seminary and then followed by Mutual.  They have Seminary on Tuesday/Thursday nights.  They had about 12 youth in attendance.  The young men were going swimming and so we learned there is a swimming pool in that town.  It was the first we had known if they had pools here or not.

Thursday night brought a wind storm that rattled our windows.  There was a slight amount of rain with it but nothing serious.  The temperatures this week still remain in the high forties and low fifties and no hint of snow yet.  Last year this weekend is when they received the big snow storm that started their snowiest year in a very  long time. 

Scotland/Ireland Mission Home

Friday night we joined the Flynn's at the Mission Home for dinner and to discuss our ideas for the lesson with President and Sister Griffiths.  It was a delightful evening.  We came away with a clearer understanding of what the President would like.  Now we need to finalize the presentation.  We are also having the Assistants to the President present our proposed lesson to a newly baptized member to see if the lesson outline works.

Saturday we took the Flynn's to Falkirk to see the Wheel, Callendar House, and their City Center . 

The Wheel is the world’s first and only rotating boat lift.  It was designed to connect the Union Canal with the Forth and Clyde Canal 115 feet below.  The canal is closed now for rides until Christmas season and already they are booked  for the season and so we will have to wait until next summer to experience that.  But you enter the wheel in your boat, the wheel turns lowering you the 115 feet and you come out in the next canal like our lock system.

We enjoyed out visit to Callendar House again.  We stopped by the kitchen and saw the item we showed you last week and asked you to guess what it was.  Unfortunately there were no guesses posted so we'll try this again and see if anyone posts a response this week.  What do you think this  is a picture of?

Mystery item from kitchen

In case you can't tell we enjoy the downtown area of Falkirk.  The enter city center is a pedestrian walk way with lots of shops.  We especially enjoy the "Pound" stores (dollar stores) and the thrift stores.  We'll have to take you there when you come over for a visit. (hint, hint)

Falkirk City Centre

Week of November 7 to 12, 2011

Bill went out with the missionaries a couple of times during the week.  I was asked to stay home as there were too many people going for their small homes and it would be overwhelming for the people to have that many.  It didn’t hurt my feelings.  It gave me a chance to make cinnamon rolls that I had been craving for several weeks but never stayed home long enough to make.

Bill shot over 10,000 images and I checked around 45 volumes of Deeds of Records.  We got an "all clear" from Salt Lake for the work from the week before.  That was good because they were cemetery records that were more challenging to image and more valuable for family history.  Now we can return those records and hopefully get another batch to do this week.

We also got to come to our flat on Tuesday and listen to a regional telephone conference for an hour and a half on Family History.     I served popcorn, candy and drinks to make the call more enjoyable.  There is a chance we may have one every two weeks but they think they will be able to have them at work the next time. 

On Thursday night we received a phone call from our mission president, President Griffiths, asking if we would be willing to go to the Falkirk Branch and be part of that branch.  They just had a change of leadership last week and he felt the Lord was calling us to go there.  It is about a thirty five minute drive from our home to the chapel.  We were delighted with the call and to feel like we will be a part of a branch. 

As a result of that call our plans on Saturday were to drive out there and find the chapel so we would know where we were going,  We set the GPS for the postal code and off we went.  We travel down M9 which is equivalent  to our freeway.  We drove straight to the building which is located on the outskirts of the city tucked back in a neighborhood on a dead end street.  There is a six foot fence around a beautiful, larger than expected building. 

We then set off to explore the city.   The city center is delightful with lots of small shops set along a meandering street.  We found all kinds of shops from pound (dollar) stores, to shops selling fabric, clothing, and toys.  In the middle of the block was an entrance to a mall that has as many stores as our malls.  There were some of the same stores like Claires.  We also saw a MacDonald's and Burger King.  The local Church  of Scotland was sponsored a craft show where they were selling all kinds of homemade items, and had displays from local charities and there was even one on  Family History.  It was a lot like what we see at home this time of year.

Instead of visiting a castle this week we visited the Callendar House, which has been turned in to a  museum.

Callendar House, Falkirk

 The museum had displays focusing on the history of the area.  Did you know the Roman Empire extended this far north?  They actually built a wall to keep out that barbarous Scot's.  The wall was about 39 miles long and 10 feet high.  Sections of the wall are still visible today.  Oh, and by the way the wall was built in AD 142.  How's that for old?

The House also features a Georgian kitchen.  The guide explained the workings of the kitchen and we could actually try and lift some of the cooking pots.  No wonder the cooks were big.

Any guesses what this item might be?

Keep guessing, we'll let you know next week.

The house is located in the middle of a park, with a wonderful walking path, a crazy miniature golf course, and a Par three golf course.  It was a wonderful place that I am sure we will visit again many times.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t try and find some golf clubs to rent or borrow and try out the course next summer on some sunny day.

We had lunch at the West End Bistro which had received the vote from the townspeople as one of the best places to eat in 2011.  We had carrot coriander soup and  tomato, cheese, and chutney sandwich for me and a type of Chicken sandwich for Bill.  It was as good as they said it was.

Today was Remembrance Day at Church.  We actually stood for a moment of silence at 11 a.m.  The talks were all about remembering those that died to protect our freedoms.  It was a very special meeting.  After church we drove to the local war memorial and laid a wreath. 

November 6, 2011

I can’t believe it is November already.  The last two nights we have had frost on the windows of the car though.  That was the first.  In the house this morning it is 66.7 but we still do not have the heat on.  Yesterday was a beautiful sunny fall day and it looks like today will be the same. Leaves are falling and we see lots of orange, but also still some green and still flowers.  Days are getting a lot shorter.  I start noticing it is getting dusky about 4:45 and by five it is dark.  Last night we sat in the living room and watched the fireworks for Guy Fawkes Night.

"Guy Fawkes Night is annually held on November 5. It is sometimes known as Bonfire Night and marks the anniversary of the discovery of a plot organized by Catholic conspirators to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London in 1605. Many people light bonfires and set off fireworks"

We celebrated the gorgeous day by going to  Tantallon Castle, Hailes Castle, and Dirleton Castle. 

Dirleton Castle is one of the oldest surviving castles in Scotland.  It has a beautiful formal traditional and contemporary garden and the longest herbaceous border as recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.  The gardens are beautiful. 

Castle entrance

Formal garden with herbaceous border

Tantallon Castle is surrounded by water on three sides and looks out across the Firth of Forth.  There is a huge rock called Bass Rock there that a Lighthouse is on.  It is sitting on the cliffs. 

Entry way to castle

Looking out to the sea

Bass Rock with lighthouse

Hailes Castle was built for a nobleman.  It has a small stream running through the grounds and a river right below it. 

These are all built three centuries ago.  Are you getting the idea there are lots of castles here?  We are just getting started exploring them.  Thanks to a Historic Scotland membership card we get in free.

Making the flat our own

This week Julia decided it was time to add some green to our flat.  Her first purchase was a rose plant.

Then she found a Christmas cactus and African violet.

And if that wasn't enough, she picked plants today to create a bouqet for our kitchen table.

The Adventures of Flat Stanley

Our granddaughter Brittanie sent us Flat Stanley in the mail.  Flat Stanley is a children's book about the adventures of a young boy who gets flattened by a bulletin board while he sleeps, but he's still alive.  The advantage of being flat is he can be sent to people all over the world and go on adventures with them.  We took Flat Stanley with us to see all sorts of places.


We took him to the National Archives where we volunteer.  He really got caught up in digitizing the records.

We took him to Burton Foods where they bake several different varieties of bisquits (cookies).

 We took him to our local library where he looked at all of the great chldren's books and watched kids playing games on the computers.




We took him to visit our local Primary School where he got to meet the teacher and take a tour.  He even got to have his picture taken with the class mascot!












He really enjoyed his trip to Stirling Castle--the Castle of the Kings.

His private tour guide Sandy

Trying on a suit of armour.

Sitting on the Royal Throne!

Trying on Royal Clothing.  Nice hat!

Checking out the food at the Royal kitchen.

His next big adventure was a train ride to downtown Edinburgh and a visit to the Edinburgh Castle.

Edinburgh Castle

A private bagpipe lesson!

 Just before Halloween he took a tour of Mary King's Close--an area below the streets of Edinburgh that's haunted and really spooky!

Tour Guide

Model of the Close.

Week of October 30

It was another good week. We worked with cemetery records some this week . These will be very useful in helping people find out about their family. It told who bought the plot, who was buried there and the relationship between that person and the one who bought the plot. It told where they died and when. We will continue to work on these records next week.

Monday we attended Family Home Evening at the mission home with other senior couples and senior sisters.  We watched  17 Miracles.  If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it.  It is about the Willey & Martin Handcart companies.

This weekend we took the tour “What Lies Beneath the Royal Mile?”   Elder and Sister Connelly set up the tour.  We went with them and the Flynn’s.

Mary King's Close (you and I would call it an alley) is one of the most famous in the city.  It's famous for the mystery surrounding it.  The close was named for Mary King, a lady who must have been important to have an alley named for her.
Think of a close as a very narrow space between two tall buildings.  On the ground floor were shops and businesses.  Up above were flats.  Some flats contained single families, others could be crowded with several families.

The living conditions were such that when the plague arrived in the 1600's it easily spread. In 18 months much of the population died.

In time these dwelling places were torn down and new buildings built on top.  In this area the government actually built a large complex and covered over the lower floors.  In some cases they used the lower floors for storage.  Some areas were just bricked off.
Eventually the areas were rediscovered and that lead to opening them up for tourists.  There are ghost stories associated with the tour.  Read more about it on their website http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/

Afterwards we ate at an Indian Restaurant that was having a special--buy one meal, get one free.  They forgot to tell us that we had to buy drinks, and that the rice and bread was extra.  Our bargain meal didn't turn out to be much of a bargain.