Tomorrow we get on an airplane to fly back home. This was an interesting day. We drove from Couper Angus to Perth where we attended the church of a friend. She had to work, so wasn't there herself. However, they had an outdoor service and baptized six people in a round, children's inflatable pool. It was about 18" deep, so a bit of a feat! It had rained and the wind was cool enough for jackets, but hearty Scots... they were not even shivering after being dipped into the water!
Then we drove south to Stirling and easily found the 250' or so tall stone monument you see here on a hill that is also about that height. This is the William Wallace monument. Think "Braveheart" -- only the real Wallace used a sword that is over five feet long. It is encased in glass about 1/3 of the way to the top. Experts think he was about 6' 6" to be able to use a sword that large. (Sorry, Mel Gibson. You may have been better looking, but certainly needed camera angles to fill this man's kilt.)
After lunch there, we drove south to the town of Falkirk and had a spin on the Falkirk Wheel. This simple and terribly impressive marvel of engineering takes small boats from one canal to another using a process that is rather unbelievable unless you see it. This is a picture. A boat goes into one of the 'gondolas' cradled in the circles at the bottom at water level, and another enters at the opposite one at the top. Then the whole thing turns round like a wheel and brings the top one down and the bottom one up. Silently. Effortlessly, about 80 feet from one level to the other. It was an amazing ride! YouTube link
Now I'm ready for some sleep, but have to say a word about quilts... I found one quilter in Old Deer, a sweet woman who lamented of her one UFO of about six years. I comforted her with my own sad PhD stories and we had a great visit.
Scotland is noted for woolens. There are many shops with everything from basic yarns to finished cashmere, but I've only spotted one show with quilting cotton. They didn't have much of a selection, so I left my money in my handbag (they call wallets purses here). Instead, I spotted this yarn in a sale bin and thought it might be good for embellishment on landscape quilts. The shop owner told me that some shops are just starting to have quilting classes.
We did see several pottery 
shops. The one that caught my eye most quickly was this one in Dunkelden (sp?). Since we cannot take pottery home without some risk, we didn't go inside.Except for Friday, the weather has been excellent. On Friday all the clouds over Great Britain emptied their load. It was very wet. The other days have been sunny, so much so that I got a sunburn on Saturday.
My husband is golfing. He did Gleneagles Thursday and is at a city course in Edinburgh today. There are 500+ golf courses here!
Our time here for the Homecoming/Gathering of the Clans has been fabulous. On Saturday night we joined my clan (Leslie) and nearly 200 other clans, 6000 of us, for a march from Holyrod Palace up the Royal Mile on cobblestones to Edinburgh Castle. The streets were absolutely packed with people cheering as their own clan went by. In some places we could only walk three abreast, as there were so many people. Only in Scotland do people of all sizes and ages show up by the thousands to celebrate their families!
It was emotional too. I felt so proud to have Scottish blood in my veins. At the castle we were treated to an historical presentation showing the tenacity and inventive spirit of the Scots. One who represented a recent generation born elsewhere said that even though he was born an Aussie, he was Scottish through and through. My father was not born here, nor me, but I feel the same way.
Tomorrow we go north where my family roots are, and we might look for a gravestone or two. I'd love to find some living relatives but the chances are very slim. I don't have enough information and my great aunt married a Reid, one of the most common names in this Psalm 23 country.
We were at Crief Friday morning (no rain there) and it is so beautiful. I didn't take enough pictures but hope to post some after we go back through there at the end of next week. And I will keep looking for quilt shops!
Tomorrow we get on an airplane to fly back home. This was an interesting day. We drove from Couper Angus to Perth where we attended the church of a friend. She had to work, so wasn't there herself. However, they had an outdoor service and baptized six people in a round, children's inflatable pool. It was about 18" deep, so a bit of a feat! It had rained and the wind was cool enough for jackets, but hearty Scots... they were not even shivering after being dipped into the water!
