Week ending 17 February 2013

This has been a good week.  We did all those things I mentioned last week except eating pancakes on Tuesday. We save those kind of breakfasts for the weekend when we have more time.

 

We bought Krispie Kreme doughnuts for the office on Valentine’s Day.  They were wonderful as always. 

 

We went and saw an Agatha Christie play entitled “Back for Murder” for Valentine’s day and loved it.

Friday night we finally went back to Spylaw Tavern and took the sisters.  They had never been there yet.  We had planned it many times but something always came up to keep us from going.  We think they were not as impressed with it as we are but at least they have been now.

 Saturday morning I had a meeting with our legal advisor who is serving in Sulihull, England.  They are from Los Angeles, California and go home in 4 months.  So he is going around the various missions making sure we are trained because their replacements will not be here until September or October and so the President will probably take on more of the responsibility and they want us to do more so the President does less.

 It was a good meeting and I found out that I have come a long way in reading and changing leases.  I could answer all the questions he and his wife asked and was able to provide them with the charts and answers they asked for.

 I have 12 leases to finish up or start and finish between now and April 10^th.  I was in contact with the Crabbs this week and let them have a part in choosing the flat that they thought they would enjoy.  These are friends and work associates of Lee’s from his school days.  They will be going to Ireland on the 19^th of March and so I will not see them.  We will have to meet up someday though.

 Saturday, we had the meeting and then I worked on Primary for a while. 

 

Then we met the Hambelton’s at Edinburgh Castle to attend some events they were doing in celebration of renaissance  days.  We attended one on musical instruments and music by a man dressed in costume.  He was wonderful.  He played six or seven different instruments that I had never seen before.  He was very entertaining.

 

 The next one was a man who is a journalist and author of books.  He told us about how we got the saying Thin Red line from the Crimean War when the Scottish infantry line stretched out across a valley only two men deep to deceive the enemy into thinking they had a lot of others behind them below the crest of the hill and the enemy turned and left.  They were wearing red jackets with white stripes and their kilts or "man skirts" as the author called them.

 

We then went out to dinner to a Mexican place to finish our day with the Hambelton’s.  They go home in May and we will miss them.  They live in Meridian though and so we will get to see them again when we get home.

 

It was a wonderful week. 

National Pancake Day is Tuesday, February 12.  You can go to the store and buy your pancakes already made.  You will see more pancake mixes out though at this time.  All the stores have them placed in a prominent place though for Pancake Day.

 On Thursday is Valentine’s Day and I want to wish you all a Happy Valentine’s day.  In Scotland it is a day for adults.  You see no valentines for children to exchange.

 

I skipped Wednesday, how can I do that.  The first Krispie Crème Doughnut place is opening in Scotland and it is right here in Edinburgh.  It looks like all the ones in Utah or America and have the Hot light to let you know when they are frying them.

 Saturday I get to go into the office and meet with our legal advisor from England and we are going over leases.  He is coming up to meet with an attorney on Friday about HMO licenses and how they affect us.  I should be there for an hour to an hour and a half and then I am not sure what we will be doing.

 Because of his coming, last week I have been going through all of my flat folders writing down information that we need to know about each flat and what it says.  It is amazing the different kind of leases there are and how short or long they can be to say what they think needs to be said.

 

As an office staff we are reading the Book of Mormon.  We each read about 13 pages a night and then we take turns reporting on those pages.  Today is my turn and I am reporting on Alma 37 through 42 which includes Alma the Younger’s blessings to his sons.  He has three sons. One becomes the record keeper, one has been valiant all of his life and is told to basically continue what he has been doing, and the third is the one that is more like Alma when he was young and Alma is trying to get him to want to get back on the path.  Alma didn’t do the same kinds of things his son is doing but they both needed to change.  Also Alma knows he wants to understand what happens after he dies and Alma explains that to him.  In short, that is what I will be giving my devotional on this morning. 

Sharon, Lee, Adell, Sue, or Bruce, do you ever remember receiving a Father’s Blessing from dad?  I have tried to think back and I do not remember receiving one.

 

 

We went to the National Mining Museum on Saturday and I went down 1600 hundred feet in an actual coal mine and learned all about the work and working conditions.  We were given a tour by an actual miner that worked in the mines in that area.  The mines were all closed down within the last 20 years ago.  They were started back in the 1700’s. At that time everyone in the family worked in the mine from a very young age and conditions were horrible. It was very interesting to learn about coal mines and how it was mined.

 

 

Have a wonderful week.  It is time to get ready for work since I didn’t get to this yesterday.  We are having computer problems, but that is not the reason I didn’t get to it yesterday.  I had the devotional to prepare for, and sharing time to finish up in the morning since I just found out I was giving it Saturday while we were out exploring.

 

Week ending 3 February 2013

We had a good week.  Flats as usual provided the miracle for me.  I got the lease for the couple’s flat in Invergordon in place the day before they arrived.  We found a flat for the three sisters for the 1^st of March on Friday in the area they need it in and where one agent told me we wouldn’t find one that was HMO licensed in that part of the city.

 We had a fun Friday night going to Wannaburger with the Sisters for a hamburger, onion rings, and a root beer float. Then we came here and played Canasta; with grocery shopping to end the night on. Saturday the Sisters chose to stay home and get their flat cleaned and dinner mostly prepared for Family Home Evening for the Senior Missionaries.  It was their turn to host it at their flat as we take turns every 1^st Sunday of the month.  By the way we just return and it was delicious with Bill’s favorite, meat loaf.

  So for Saturday we caught the bus and explored some more of the city that we had not seen.  We went up Carlton Mound to see the Nelson Monument.  The Nelson Monument was built in memory of Admiral Lord Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.  It was this battle that started Great Britain on the path to world supremacy of the seas.  On top of this monument they installed a giant ball that drops from the top of the monument at precisely one o’clock.  This serves as a visual cue for the ships in the harbor to set their clocks by.  In addition a cannon is fired from the castle at the same time as an auditory cue of the time.  Knowing the exact time was important in navigation so sailors could figure out where they exact location.  Of course things have changed over the years with GPS units and digital clocks. 

 

 

 Up there also was a cemetery where we found a statue you wouldn’t expect to find in Scotland and that was of President Lincoln holding the Emancipation Proclamation in his hands and was dedicated to all the Scottish Americans who had died in the Civil war.

 

We also explored the City Museum of Art.  Bill did great with picking out the picture I liked the best on at least two of the five floors.  We actually liked the same picture at least twice.  He knows my tastes better than I would have guessed and better than I knew his.  My excuse is that some of the time he picked the picture because he liked the story that the picture told.

From there we visited the Museum on the Mound which talked about banking.  It showed their money throughout the ages, showed us what a million pounds in 20 pound paper money is, let us take a turn at trying to unlock a safe, and things like that.

 

We had lunch at a small tea shop or café with Bill choosing roasted dove breast on a salad and I had mushroom, garlic, and dill soup with bread.  We both agreed that my soup was the best with Bill liking it more than I did.  All of their soups here are pureed   into a smooth liquid.

Our last stop of the day was at the Writers museum dedicated to Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Sir Walter Scott.  I know you have heard of some of these writers.

 

The weather was sunny and cool and it was a wonderful day.