The Highs and Lows of Singing

Yesterday at church I was all ready to teach my Primary class - and no one showed up! Two of the kids were out of town and the other girl was sick. So I went in to Relief Society.

This is where the low of singing comes in.

We sang "O My Father" for the Opening Song and "Families Can Be Together Forever" for the Closing Song. Don't get me wrong - I like both of those songs, and I'd be happy to sing them most other times. But it was the week before Christmas, for crying out loud!!! Why were we not singing Christmas songs!! I don't care what the lesson is about - you should sing Christmas songs the week before Christmas!!

Can you tell I feel very passionately about this?

Fortunately, last night I experienced a high of singing. My sister's ward was working with a Methodist church to put on a Messiah Sing-a-Long. The soloists had been assigned and had been practicing, and there were some people who had been attending practices to learn their parts. But the rest of us just went that night and got to sing the great songs from the Messiah.

If you've never sung the Messiah, you should sometime. The music is beautiful and fun and challenging to sing. The last time I sang it, I was a soprano, but I can't hit those notes anymore! So last night I sang the alto part for the first time, along with Kimberly and my two nieces. I didn't hit every note, but I hit enough of them so that I didn't embarrass myself!

There were probably over 300 people there, so it was a large group singing. After we sang the first song, "And the Glory of the Lord", the four of us could hardly contain ourselves! We were so excited! To feel the power of that beautiful work being sung was so incredible. The "Hallelujah" Chorus was, of course, the highlight of the evening. I never fail to be moved by that majestic piece.

I was tired last night, but I'm so glad I made the hour drive to Clear Lake to participate in the Messiah Sing-a-Long. What a beautiful way to remember our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Fortunately, the high was much higher than the low was low. (If that makes sense at all).

I Know the Feeling

Friday evening, Kimberly and I went out for dinner. There was a family of five seated near us. Mom and Dad, plus 3 kids. Two boys, ages about 14 and 10, and a little girl, age about 6.

After Kimberly and I finished our meal, she slipped off to the restroom. So I was watching the family, who had just received their food. I'm nosy like that. The 10-year-old somehow stuck his sleeve in some sort of sauce, so he and the Mom were working at wiping it off. The older brother must have been making comments, because suddenly the Mom leaned toward him and said the following (with accompanying hand gestures):

"Just please stop commenting! Please! Just stop it! You are so exhausting!"

Then she resumed eating, while I tried to keep from laughing out loud!

You are so exhausting!

I'm going to remember that one!

Betty Crocker - I Thought I Knew You!

Let me just begin this by saying that I've been making boxed cake mixes for over 35 years now. (Yes, I do use boxed cake mixes. I think they taste better. I never use canned frosting, though.) I've had great success over the years making cakes.

So when I made Kimberly's birthday cake in September, I was expecting it to turn out. Imagine my surprise when I turned the cake out of the pans and the bottom stayed in the pans! I was not expecting that! Fortunately I was able to salvage the bottom pieces and reconstruct and frost the cake. It wasn't the prettiest cake I've ever made, but it still tasted good!

Fast forward to the end of October when I made Scott's birthday cake. I decided to read the instructions more carefully. To my surprise the instructions only said to grease the pans. There was no mention of flouring the pans. I have never made a cake where the instructions didn't say to grease and flour the pans. I even looked at a Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix to see if it was just the white cake mix that had changed, but no, the instructions on both boxes were the same.

Recalling the cake fiasco of Kimberly's birthday, I followed the instructions (although a little skeptically I might add) and just greased the pans. Sure enough, the cake came right out with no sticking.

When did Betty make this change? What did she do to the cake mix that warranted this change? And why wasn't it written in big bold letters on the front of the box!! I do know that Duncan Hines still requires greasing and flouring, so it's not an industry wide change.

I have to say, now that I know, I may stick to Betty Crocker cake mixes. I have always hated flouring the cake pans so it's nice not to have to!

Hooray!

On Saturday, Scott got his official over 18 driver's license. It doesn't expire until October 29, 2017, when he turns 24.

What does this mean?

It means that all 3 of my boys have driver's licenses that will expire when they are 24.

What does this mean?

It means they will be old enough to go to the DPS by themselves.

What does this mean?

It means I NEVER HAVE TO TAKE A CHILD TO THE DPS AGAIN!! EVER!!

**Happy Dance! Happy Dance!!**

Can you tell how much I love the DPS?

Two Important Dates

I wanted to make note of a couple of important dates:

October 28th.

Jeffrey hit the 18 month mark on his mission. How did that happen? His mission is 3/4 over. He will be home in 6 months.

Time has gone by very quickly. Yet it also feels like he has been gone forever.

I'm so proud of him for choosing to dedicate two years to serving the Lord. I love this picture. I think it shows how happy he is to have made that choice.

October 29th.

Scott turned 18. And I don't have a picture. What a bad mom I am.

I'm finding it hard to believe that MY BABY IS 18! I'm getting old.

Scott's a great kid. I actually enjoy having him around. I'm grateful for his strong desire to do what's right and for his love of the gospel. In a little over a year, he'll be serving a mission. Following in his older brothers' footsteps.

It's exciting to recognize these important dates in Jeffrey and Scott's lives. I'm proud to be their mom.

The Driving Test

Scott is a licensed driver! Woo hoo!

But it wasn't easy.

The whole ordeal started a couple of weeks ago when Scott and I went to the DPS near us and discovered he would have to wait six weeks to take his driving test. We weren't happy about that, but weren't sure what we could do about it.

I had heard that the DPS an hour from us had shorter wait times, but the only way to find out would be to drive there. The DPS is too busy to answer their phones any more (as the message on their phone so nicely states). I wasn't thrilled with the idea of the drive, but one morning I got up and did it. I made the drive.

The only good thing? There's a very nice Buc-ee's along the way. I love Buc-ee's! (And if you don't know what Buc-ee's is, that's your loss)!

After waiting a few minutes, it was my turn. I asked the nice woman behind the counter how long the wait for the driving test was. She told me they were making appointments for a week from that day. I asked her if there was any way we could change Scott's appointment to their location. She asked if he was with me, I said no, but I had his permit. She took it, looked him up online, and asked when the following Friday we would like to come in. I left their office with an appointment for Scott the next Friday! Hallelujah!

The day finally arrived. We made the long drive to the DPS. After waiting a little bit, Scott and the DPS tester went out to the car. About 15 minutes later they walked back in.

Scott was not happy.

Apparently he had hit the curb while parallel parking (which is the first thing on the test). This was enough for the tester to flunk him. He didn't even let him do any driving. Because he hit the curb while parallel parking. (I'm still not sure what they were doing out there for 15 minutes).

We were very annoyed, to put it mildly. We rescheduled for the following Monday - 10 long days away.

It was not a fun hour drive home.

I blame myself for his parallel parking problems. With Robert working in Salt Lake City, it fell to me to teach Scott to parallel park. I'm a pretty good driver, but I'm not a good parallel parker. I understand how to do it, but the execution isn't always good. Also, the night before his test, we had driven to the DPS closer to us to practice in their parallel parking area. He was doing great there. The problem is that their parallel parking spot is about 2 feet deeper than the parallel parking spot where Scott took his test. So he got used to going further into the spot.

But even if he had hit the curb, that seems to be a stupid reason to not let him continue the test.

Fortunately Robert came home the weekend before the retest. So on Saturday we made the hour long drive to the DPS so Scott could practice parallel parking there. And receive coaching from Robert - who is a very good parallel parker. By the time we left, Scott had parallel parking down.

Monday morning we made the long drive back to the DPS. Unfortunately he had to retest with the same guy.

Fortunately we had a much better outcome this time. He passed!

As we waited at the desk for the tester to complete the paperwork, he told Scott that he needed to work on relaxing while he was driving. Really?!? This man had already failed Scott once, and he expected him to be relaxed while driving with him? I really had to bite my tongue to keep from saying something!

Needless to say, it was a much pleasanter ride home!

And now my baby is a licensed driver. Here he is in front of his sweet ride:

(Okay, it's not a sweet ride. But it's ride. And that's all that Scott cares about.)

It's nice to have him driving. But now he's really independent. And that's a little bit sad.

Steve Jobs

I was sad to hear of the passing of Steve Jobs yesterday. What an incredible innovator he was. My life has been impacted by his genius.

I have an iMac and a MacBook Pro, and I'm constantly amazed at how easy they are to use.

I've had an iPod Shuffle and I currently have an iPod Touch. The majority of my music is stored on my iPod. With a simple touch I can choose between a wide variety of music.

I've only had my iPhone for a month, but I already love it and can't imagine having any other phone.

iTunes was a lifesaver in Italy. It was the only way I could download Criminal Minds every week (and you know how I love Criminal Minds).

I'm sad that he won't be around to create more Apple products.

But I'm sadder for his family. He leaves behind a wife and children who will miss him very much.

Steve Jobs was only 56. Only 5 years older than me. Way too young.

R.I.P., Steve Jobs. You will be missed.

Switcheroo

I bought a Blu-Ray player. We don't have any blu-ray movies, and I will still probably buy most of our movies in the DVD format. But it will be nice to have for certain movies, and I like the idea of accessing Netflix and other things through the TV.

After an explanation of the differences from a friend (Shelley), I bought a player that had built-in Wi Fi (the same one she has). This meant the player should be all ready to access our home Wi Fi.

Only it didn't work out that way. As I was reading the instructions, I read that I would need a LAN adapter for the USB port in the front of the machine. And when we hooked up the machine, the message on the screen said I needed a LAN adapter to access the internet.

Shelley didn't mention anything about a LAN adapter. I was confused and gave up last night, deciding to call her in the morning.

This morning I was looking at the instructions again and noticed that they were for model number 380. I was pretty sure I had bought model number 580. I looked at the box, and sure enough, it said 580 on the front. So I looked at the Blu-Ray player itself.

Model number 380.

No wonder mine wouldn't access the internet while Shelley's would.

It wasn't the right model in the box.

I'm wondering. Did Sony mess up? Or did someone pull a switcheroo at Target?

I'll be heading back to Target this morning. I hope they don't think I'm trying to pull the old switcheroo!

A Small World

Today I had the opportunity to go see Gladys Knight and the Saints United Voices Choir. (That could be a post all on it's own. They were truly amazing.)

I was sitting next to an older woman. She turned and said, "You look familiar. I feel like I should know you". She didn't really look familiar to me (I'm terrible at recognizing people), but I told her my name.

She got an excited look on her face and said her name was Jeanette Matis. Her husband had been the bishop of our student ward at Texas A&M when I was there 30+ years ago!

When her husband turned to face us (he had been talking to the friend they brought), I immediately recognized him. He looks pretty much the same - just older.

It was so much fun to talk to them and catch up on their family. I told them about our family, and we talked about other students who had been there when Robert and I were there.

I have a special place in my heart for Bishop Matis. He made it a point to go to the weddings of any members of the ward who got married. Remember, this was when the closest temple was in Mesa, Arizona. So no wedding was close. That year at least 10 couples got married, and he made it to every wedding.

Our wedding was in Manti, Utah, so it wasn't easy for him to come to it. But he did. And I'm so grateful to him. My parents aren't members, so he was like a father figure for me there.

I told them both today how grateful I was that he had come to our wedding. I wanted them to know that the sacrifice he made, back when he had still had young children at home, was still remembered by someone - 30 years later.

I love how, in the church, you never know how or where you might run into someone from your past.

Refinanced!

Today I went down and signed the papers to refinance our house. We lowered our interest rate over 2% and cut 10 years off our loan, while only raising our payment $100.00 a month. I'm pretty excited about that.

I wasn't excited about signing all of the papers associated with refinancing. Any of you who have bought or refinanced a house know that there are a bajillion forms to sign. (Okay, I might be exaggerating - but only a little!)

If you look at the first sentence of my post, notice I said "I" went down and signed the papers. Not "we". Since Robert is in Salt Lake City, he had to fill out a power of attorney so I could sign for him. He got off MUCH easier than I did! Not only did I have to sign my name on every paper, but I also had to sign for him. But I couldn't just sign his name. I had to sign this:

Robert W. Clutter by Laura M. Clutter as attorney in fact thereof.

All of that! Every time!

And to make matters worse, I had to sign all of it in cursive! The only time I write in cursive is when I sign my name and when I write numbers on a check. That's it. I really had to stop and think how to write some of those words in cursive! It wasn't fun!

I think Robert owes me. Big time.

DPS Woes

So we're in the process of trying to get Scott his driver's license. As I've mentioned before, our year in Italy put us behind schedule.

Scott has finished the online class and his hours of required driving. Today we went down to the DPS to schedule an appointment for him to take his driving test. Yes, you do have to go down to the DPS to schedule an appointment. Seems a little crazy to me.

Scott is the first of my kids to have to take a driving test. In Texas, parents used to be able to sign a form saying they didn't want their child to have to take a driving test. You would just go down when all of the work was completed, and your child would be given a driver's license. Much simpler. But they changed that rule a couple of years ago.

So off we went to the DPS. Anyone who has been to the DPS knows that there's a very good chance you're going to wait one, two, or even three hours in line. I had a book and was prepared to wait. Imagine my surprise when we pulled into an almost empty parking lot. And walked into an almost empty waiting room. And waited only a couple of minutes for our turn.

Too bad the wait for an appointment for a driving test isn't that short. I knew we would have to wait, but I am still a little disbelieving as to just how long the wait is.

Is it one week? Nope.

Is it two weeks? Guess again!

Is it three weeks? I wish!

Is it four weeks? No sir-ee.

Is it five weeks? Getting closer.

Is it six weeks? Ding, ding, ding!

That's right. Scott's appointment is six weeks from today. SIX WEEKS!

Does anyone else think that's excessive?

I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing to make teenagers take a driving test. But if you're going to make that change - ADD MORE PERSONNEL!!

Okay, my DPS rant is now over. Until the next time I think about how long we have to wait and I have to keep driving Scott places...

Insurance. Bah.

When we moved back to Houston, my husband's company changed him from their international division to their domestic division. In the process, they dropped our insurance. But they didn't tell us. We found out when Robert went to the doctor. Nice, huh?

Fortunately, after some phone calls to HR, Robert was able to get us insurance - retroactive back to the date we came back to Houston.

Unfortunately, we didn't get the chance to check things out closely and ended up with dental insurance I'm not happy with. The coverage is good, because it's a DMO. But I'm not happy with the choice of dentists. I don't like going to the dentist and I feel comfortable with very few dentists. Therefore the chain dental places are out of the question. And the chain dentists make up probably 95% of the dentists in the plan.

I did find one that looked promising. Then I went to his website. When a dentist's personal statement, which he has posted on his practice's website, has misspellings and grammatical errors, that's a serious red flag for me. I'm funny that way!

Fortunately, benefits selection is coming up soon. I think we're going to put off going to the dentist until January. Hopefully their other plan choice will be better.

A List

I have been an absent blogger lately. So here's a list of stuff going on in our lives:

1. Instead of going back to Milan and then on to Abu Dhabi, Robert has been assigned to a new project. Not foreign this time. Instead he'll be spending the next 16 months in Salt Lake City. Yep, Salt Lake City. It's kind of funny that the Mormon randomly was assigned to the Salt Lake City project! He's okay with it, but he's not looking forward to winter. We would, of course, prefer to have him here in Houston. But in his profession you go where the work is, and lately it's not been in Houston. At least we won't have to deal with major time differences and communication hassles.

2. I got a new car! It's a 2011 Toyota Venza in a really pretty blue color. The Venza is kind of a cross between an SUV and a station wagon. It's very comfortable and surprisingly roomy. It's also a good height for ease of getting in and out of. That was a main criterion of mine. After driving a small car in Milan for a year, I knew I wanted something a little taller than a sedan. I actually went around to different car dealers and asked to just get in and out of certain cars. The Venza passed that test, plus many others. I'm really loving it.

3. Our year in Milan threw Scott behind as far as getting his driver's license. We're working really hard so he can get his license in the next couple of weeks. They've changed the requirements since our other 3 kids got their licenses. They all had to have 14 hours of driving time. Scott has to have 34 hours of driving time. That's a big difference! Robert drove with him the first 17 hours. I refuse to get in the car with the kids until they've driven for a while with Robert. But yesterday Scott and I went out for the first time. And he did really well. He's a good and cautious driver. I didn't get scared any time! That's always good! As Robert said, now it's time to work on the little things that make driving more comfortable for the passenger. We plan on driving an hour or two every day so we can go get him his license soon!

4. Once Scott starts to drive, he will have the privilege of driving my 2003 Honda Odyssey. Won't he be the coolest kid at the high school! He doesn't care, though, he's just glad to have something to drive. We are having a disagreement though. He has named my Odyssey Phyllis. I don't think she looks like a Phyllis. I think she's too sporty a minivan to be called Phyllis. That's more the name for a Dodge Caravan. What do you think? Is Phyllis a good name for Scott's ride?

5. Kimberly just got back from her four days at Dragon*Con, which is a gigantic Science Fiction convention held in Atlanta. She went with 8 friends, and they had a great time. She met some celebrities and got a couple of great pictures taken with two of them. I still find it amusing that my daughter is such a lover of Science Fiction conventions. And Monster Truck rallies. And hockey games (especially if fighting is involved).

6. Jeffrey has been on his mission for over 16 months. 2/3 of his mission is over! How can that be? Didn't I just drop him off? He is really loving serving in Veracruz. Time is flying for him too, which is always good. I'm glad his mission has been such a postive, growing, spiritual experience.

7. I'm getting ready to make calls to home repair people. We have a ballast in the kitchen that is going out. For a while the light wouldn't work, and then one day it randomly came on. We haven't turned it off since (and that was about 2 weeks ago). I really need to call an electrician and get that fixed. Plus our garage door is acting up, so I need to get that checked out. I also need to call a chimney guy. We have a nice gas fireplace, but I'm afraid to use it. We sometimes hear birds in the chimney, so who knows what is in there. It needs to be cleaned out before we can use it. I'll probably wait until October or November though. No point in making the chimney guy swelter. And finally, I need to call an exterminator. I've been seeing ants in the house, and they need to go! Anyone have any good recommendations for an electrician, exterminator, or chimney guy? I think we have the garage door guy covered.

8. I'm hating my kitchen right now. I hate my white laminate countertops and ugly pickled cabinets. I really want new cabinets and countertops. Plus a new oven and dishwasher. And new flooring. And new lighting. Too bad I don't have the money needed to get all of that stuff. Darn kids in college or nearing college!

9. Our front yard is dead. In fact, it's just dirt in some places. Scott and I have decided we should just give up for now. In the Spring I think we'll put in a sprinkler system and resod the front yard. Just start over next year.

10. I miss playing canasta. While in Milan, I had met a group of American women and we were playing canasta once or twice a week. I miss that.

There you go. An update on us. And finally a new post!

August 21st

Twelve years ago today, my mother passed away.

Six years ago today, my father passed away.

I will always miss them.

Hard to Believe

I'm finding it hard to believe that school starts tomorrow.

Probably because Scott didn't get out of school until June 24th. That means his summer vacation this year will be just short of 2 months.

I'm also finding it hard to believe that my baby will be a senior this year. A senior. Which means he will be graduating, and my years of having kids in public school will be over. Forever.

It's going to be a bittersweet sort of year.

Home Port - Southampton, England

In the early morning of July 28th, we arrived back in Southampton. Our cruise was over. Since we had to get to Heathrow Airport for late afternoon flights, we decided to take advantage of one last shore excursion - to Stonehenge.

Our tour guide showed us some interesting sights along the way. Here's just one of the herd of wild horses that roams the countryside in southeastern England.

We also saw some traditional thatched houses. So pretty to look at, but I think I prefer shingles for my own house!
We stopped in the small town of Salisbury so we could see the Salisbury Cathedral. Too bad so much of it was covered in scaffolding.
Then it was on to Stonehenge. It was as amazing as I imagined it would be.




Proof that Robert and I were there!
After leaving Stonehenge, our tour guides took a little detour so we could drive by Windsor Castle, one of the royal residences of the Queen.
It was a whirlwind morning and early afternoon, followed by a long flight back to Houston, but I'm so glad we did that last excursion. I had always wanted to see Stonehenge and I didn't know if I would ever get the chance again. It was a fitting end to a wonderful cruise around the British Isles.

Ninth Port - St. Peter Port, Guernsey Island

We arrived in St. Peter Port, Guernsey Island on July 27th. I've included a map so you can see where the island is located in relation to England and France. Although closer to France, Guernsey Island is a British Crown Dependency.

A view of the port. We began our shore excursion here. We elected to do a drive around the island, with a few stops along the way. Usually we would have a tour guide and a bus driver, but this time we had a combination tour guide/bus driver. He was great. Not only was he interesting and informative, he was great at maneuvering our bus around the narrow streets of the island.
A view looking out toward France (not that you can see it).
Guernsey was occupied by the Germans during World War II. I didn't know this until I read the excellent book "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society". It was interesting to see remnants of the occupation.
We got to visit the workshop of Bruce Russell and Son, famous gold and silversmiths. I bought a beautiful pair of earrings which will remind me of Guernsey every time I wear them.
The grounds were beautiful.
We also went and visited the Little Chapel, which may be the smallest chapel in the world. The chapel was built by Brother Deodat and is completely decorated with pebbles, shells, and pieces of broken china (donated by Wedgewood).
Another view of the chapel.
I had to take a picture of a Guernsey cow.
Guernsey Island was beautiful. I loved everything about it.

Eighth Port - Cobh, Ireland

On July 26th, we arrived in Cobh (pronounced Cove), Ireland. We decided that we needed to see Blarney Castle, so off we went on another shore excursion. On the way to Blarney Castle, we drove through the town of Cork. From the windows of a bus, it's not a very pretty place.

Blarney Castle was beautiful. Here's our first view of it.

I love round towers.
It's fascinating to see how the castle was built out of the rock.
I love this view.
The beautiful free-standing bell tower.

Many people go to Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone. Robert and I decided not to do that for two reasons. 1. We didn't want to climb the 100 narrow, slippery steps. 2. We didn't want to wait in line for two hours. We only had 2-1/2 hours at Blarney Castle, and we wanted to shop at the Irish Woolen Mill. I have my priorities! If you look at the top of this picture, you can see where people kiss the Blarney Stone - a feat which requires you to lay on your back and lean way over the edge (probably reason 3 why we skipped it).
We were intrigued by this garden on the castle grounds. It was really full of poisonous plants.
I'm glad we went to Blarney Castle, even if we didn't kiss the Blarney Stone. It was a beautiful castle to see. And the shopping at the Irish Woolen Mill was fabulous!

Seventh Port - Dublin, Ireland

On July 25th, we arrived in Dublin, Ireland. Robert and I decided to explore Dublin on our own, so we took a taxi to St. Patrick's Cathedral. Our cab driver was great. He knew his town and pointed out lots of sights along the way.

St. Patrick's Cathedral, built in 1220, is the largest cathedral in Ireland. It was a surprise to me because it wasn't a Catholic cathedral. It's actually a cathedral for the Church of Ireland. I had always assumed it was Catholic.

Here's just one of the many beautiful stained windows found inside the church.
After leaving St. Patrick's Cathedral, we wandered around Dublin for a while. We were sightseeing, but also on the lookout for the statue below. This is Molly Malone, of the famous song, "In Dublin's Fair City".
I have a lot of Irish blood in me. Every year on St. Patrick's Day, my family would sing Irish songs. My Dad loved to sing them loudly and with great feeling. I remember singing the song about Molly Malone. When I read there was a statue of her in Dublin, I knew I had to find it. For my Dad.

We spent a short day touring Dublin. We decided to relax on the cruise ship for part of the day, since we had had a number of long days before. But I'm glad we had the chance to do a little exploration.

Sixth Port - Liverpool, England

On July 24th we docked in Liverpool, England. We didn't stay there, though. This was our only opportunity to take a shore excursion into Wales, which we wanted to do.

We boarded a bus and began our drive to the town of Llangollen, Wales. We stopped along the way and I was able to take some pictures of some newly sheared (shorn?) sheep.

After arriving in Llangollen, we had the chance to do a little shopping. Then we boarded a steam driven train for a ride through the scenic wilderness.
Wales is beautiful. But I wasn't surprised by that. Every place we visited on our cruise was beautiful.

We passed by this town. Your guess at pronunciation is as good as ours! We ran across a lot of strange names like this in Wales.

After our train ride, we drove to Chirk Castle, which is a 700-year-old fortress. Parts of the castle are still occupied.

The gardens behind the castle were filled with beautiful flowers - including many roses like this.

This is a view of the back of the castle. I think I like this better than the front.

On the way out, the bus drove by past these beautiful iron gates. They used to grace the entry to the castle, but are no longer used.

I'm glad we took the opportunity to take a shore excursion into Wales. I'm not sure we'll ever make it back to the British Isles, so it was nice to travel in all four countries.

Fifth Port - Greenock, Scotland

On July 23rd we docked in Greenock, Scotland. We then took a bus to Loch Lomond, the largest lake in Great Britain. When we arrived at Loch Lomond we boarded the Astina for a cruise around the loch. As we waited to board the boat, Robert and I were approached by 3 Scottish teens who wanted to know if we knew when the boat was leaving. They were thrilled to find out that not only were they talking to Americans, but Texans no less! It was fun to talk to them, although I will admit that we had a hard time understanding them sometimes. Apparently folks from small towns in Scotland can have really heavy accents!

The cruise around the loch was wonderful. Very relaxing and full of amazing sights. I love this picture. The dark patches are actually the clouds' shadows drifting across the land.
One of the many amazing homes we saw on the loch. I think this one is now a hotel.
May I interject here to say that this weather was typical of our whole cruise. It rained on us the first day (in La Havre), but other than that, we had days like this the whole cruise. And this is not typical weather for the British Isles. Everywhere we went, the locals kept saying how fortunate we were. And we really did feel fortunate. Traveling is definitely more fun in sunny weather! Oh, and the temperatures were in the 60s and 70s every day. Ideal.
Beautiful.
This castle was actually on a little island in the middle of the loch. Can I just say how much I love castles? We need castles in Texas!
This was the tour guide for one of the other groups. Our tour guide was great, but I was disappointed he wasn't wearing a kilt like this guy.
We made a pit stop for bathrooms and shopping. And to get a picture of this guy - a fine example of a Highland bull. I love the long hair. I guess it keeps him warm in the cold Scottish winters.
We saw so many scenes like this. Scotland is a beautiful country.
We spent some time at the Scottish Wool Centre. We got to see this amazing border collie at work.
Back at the farm, he would be herding sheep. But here he was herding ducks. Very masterfully, I might add. It was a lot of fun to watch him at work.
After the border collie demonstration, we went shopping in the Scottish Wool Centre. So much to buy and not nearly enough time or money!

This shore excursion was long and jam packed. It was a great, but tiring day.