A Wee Leetle Greeting From Scotland

We are having a great time and Scotland is beautiful. We've visited castles with the most gorgeous knot gardens. I told my friends that this is what my knot garden is supposed to look like---of course, mine is paltry in comparison.

The golfers are having a lot of fun, although the actual golf isn't so good. The weather---in Butch's words, "we had sunshine, wind, rain, and sleet---then we moved to the second hole." They have a saying here: "sun at 7, rain at 11" and it seems to be true. You can tell we are the tourists as we're the only ones with umbrellas---the Scots don't even wear rain hats.

The best thing we did was arrange for a private "coach" and driver. Ivor has become our new best friend. He anticipates our every need. He surprises us every morning with little treats. Makes me feel like I'm at a scrapbook retreat! Oh, and Butch has gotten him into geo-caching. Ivor found his first one in Dornoch. He's hooked! We've taken him to dinner and out for drinks with us and the guys are taking him to play golf with them tomorrow. I told him I'd drive the coach tomorrow and he handed me the keys. I guess we're actually driving our driver now---and taking him on vacation!

The food has been good, albeit, very unusual. I've been adventuresome---willing to try it all. Today, we went to an antique fair. One of the Scots asked me how we were enjoying our trip. I said that it has been fabulous, but the haggis---not so much. Haggis is a kind of mush made with blood, guts and oatmeal all mixed up. It's black---as is the black pudding, made from blood and oatmeal. This is the stuff that the poor people ate, but I guess no one told them that they're not so poor anymore....

One last thing---it stays light out until almost 11 p.m. and is dark for only about 5 hours. I guess I've never been this far north before.

I'm picking up a wee bit of an accent. I'll quit with the "blethering" (babbling) now me lassies, lest I start to look like an "eejit" (idiot).

Pictures when I get home....