It has been a while...have you missed me?

It has been a while since I last posted on the blog...things continue to be busy for us.  This last month we have been going to Glasgow each Tuesday to meet with people.  We continue to work three days each week in the Edinburgh Centre.  We attended the Glasgow Stake Conference about a month ago and met 4-5 people who were interested in meeting with us.  We have been going over each Tuesday to set up a “mini” Employment Center.  We also took a trip to Chorley, England to deliver an old computer to our “boss”. 

 

We received a new computer for our Employment Centre in Edinburgh and the old one was to be returned to Birmingham.  Our boss suggested he meet us half way between Birmingham and Edinburgh to get it returned.  We suggested that we meet in Chorley because then we could attend the Preston Temple to make the trip more interesting.  It was a lot of driving…but we enjoyed the day.

Spring is beginning to surface.  The long, dark winder nights are becoming a thing of the past.  It is staying light now until after 6:30 p.m., the sun us up by 6:00 a.m., and the days are getting warmer.  This last week we had no rain and three straight days with total sunshine.  That is a change from having rain every day since November and the sun only popping through rain clouds occasionally.

 

This is the tree we see from our kitchen window.  The blossoms were pretty and now the green leaves are coming.

 

 

The green leaves are beginning to pop out on the hedges and below the daffodils are coming up through the grass.

 

This is a park behind our flat that we walk through often.  There are about 8 of these mounds along the path through the park with trees and now the daffodils are coming up through the grass.

 

 

 

The crocuses are also coming up through the grass.  It is a pretty time of year.

 

Time is moving on.  Next week we will be at our 11^th month mark with only 7 months remaining.  We are getting anxious to come home in October, but there is still much to do here.  I was thinking the other day that I have now been retired for one year...but haven't stopped working.  The time has certainly gone fast.

Saturday we taught a career workshop in Alloa and have two other workshops scheduled in Falkirk and Kilmarnock for April.  We also have scheduled a workshop in May in Edinburgh and Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.  Stornoway is on an island on the northwest coast of Scotland and should be a very interesting weekend.  It will take a full day to get there – driving and a ferry ride.  We will spend a day in the workshop and another couple of days touring the island.  The Isle of Lewis is about as far north and west as one can get in Scotland.  The Shetland Islands are farther north but I don't think we will get there.  We are going to Ireland again the end of March for a training session with the three Stake Employment Specialists.  This is the first time this type of training has been done so we hope it goes well. 

Here is the room in Alloa all set up waiting for the workshop to begin.  Unfortunately we only had two participants make it to the class.

We taught our CV Writing Class last week and had 7 Chinese students attend the class.  After the class we all went to a restaurant for another “hot pot” dinner.  This one was similar, but not as good as the first one.  It is totally different Chinese food than one finds at home…but apparently very authentic.

 

 

Each person had their own hot plate and bowl to cook the dinner.  Plates were brought out with all the "fixins" to begin cooking. 

 

We went to Linlithgow Palace again with some missionaries that had not been there.  We are now becoming the official "tour guides" since we have been here longer than many of the missionaries and know our way around. 

 

This is the view from the top tower of the Palace looking back to St. Michaels Church.  The Church was built in the 13th century and is still being used today for weekly services.

 

 

These cathedrals are truly amazing structures.  The sound inside is really good.  We sat an listened to a fellow playing the organ.

After the Palace we went to a real fun pub for lunch.  One of the best places to eat is a pub or tavern.  We went to the Lion & Unicorn.  The building dates back to 1635 

The pub is on the west side of Stirling...about an hour drive from our flat...but well worth the drive.  The food is excellent.  Fortunately we have a nice tavern near our flat...the Spylaw Tavern which we go to often.  The food is almost as good but it is a 15 minute drive.