This post is brought to you by the letters T-i-n-o

Tino wanted to write this post because it features him goofing around at Stirling Castle. Of course there were cannons and arrow slits and stairs... so many stairs. Our tour guide informed us that her boss gets emails from people complaining about "Why was the castle build on a hill? It's so hard to walk around and all the stairs and..."

Well, gee, call me crazy, but I'd want good drainage AND the ability to spot any invaders headed my way if I was the one who was going to be living in a castle...

The next four won't be as funny unless you've seen the Lego Batman movie where he is throwing a temper tantrum on the stairs and saying "no, no, no, no, no, no." Just picture that when I ask, "Tino, whaddaya say we do some more stairs?"

I wore that poor guy out! And as I'm running around the castle taking his picture, a foursome of high school kids approached me and asked if I'd take a picture with them. I assumed they wanted me to take one of the four of them, but the boys attached themselves to both sides of me while I have Tino in front of me and the girls snapped a picture! I said, "of ME!? You guys are funny!" They probably tried to find the craziest person in the castle to get a selfie with. *sigh* So somewhere on the internet there's possibly a picture of Tino, me looking windblown, and some laughing kids. Adventures!

 

A Scottish flower post

My family teases me regularly because my photo storage from my phone has not saved or whatever for a good 600+ days. I have too many photos, many of them nature-related, and they give me grief about "how many sky pictures do you need? How many flowers? Why are there pictures of bugs? Mother!"

I can't help it. Sign me up for an intervention.

Anyway, the photo above (which may be the one I'm proudest of- not bad for a phone picture) is of a thistle (Scotland's national flower) in the foreground and Stirling Castle in the background. Just the castle itself is going to take more than one post as I took a tour and tramped all over the place and then I remembered that Tino wasn't in any of the pictures so I retraced some steps and took even more photos.

But that is not this post.

This one is of some of the lovely flowers I encountered, so if you're not a flower person I hereby give you permission to skip it. No worries.

Above, a Blueblossom and below, a diligent Scottish bee working on a thistle.

These possibly had nametags which I didn't have the foresight to take pictures of, so I dunno what they are, but they're in part of the impressive Queen's Gardens at Stirling Castle.

This tree, (feel free to click on the photo), has a sign saying

"Apple 'Stirling Castle' First Raised in 1831 Cambuskenneth"

Seeing as my great grandmother Frances was born in 1900, that's one seasoned apple tree!

Roses and a view of the walls to give a little idea of height.

Above, a Catawba rosebay which is apparently a fancy way of saying it's a kind of rhododendron.

Below, my app says these are European Beech.

Above, Oriental poppies.

Tino with a Blueblossom, below.

Above, Colorado blue columbine and hybrid tea roses below

Another view of the gardens. The sheer wall up to the right leads to the balcony off the nursery where the children played, up high, no doubt overheard by the women lounging about in the Queen's Gardens.

Looking forward to sharing more of Scotland with you!

 

Another random rundown (not the Scotland post)

 

He's waiting to go to the pool. And waiiiiting. And waaaaiiiiting.

I finally was home long enough to get my cold weather clothes out of the closet and drawers so that the summer things could fit in. I was tired of hunting through boxes for the outfit I was looking for, but we left for a trip as soon as Damon got home from school, came home almost a week later only to unpack and repack for the Scotland trip and got back from that to go to the wedding. My clothes had been in boxes tossed on a chair and it was driving me crazy! Now that I'm reorganized I can breathe a little better and find my sundresses, which is a big win!

Weather has been all over the place lately, but we had a beautiful sky the other evening. Last night it stormed and Honey was most unhappy, but thankfully it was over before midnight so we all got some sleep. 

Looks like more storms today so we'll tackle stuff we've put off or not been home to do and enjoy not watering the garden. I was weeding yesterday and got eaten alive. Not a fan. Must remember to put on bug spray before venturing outdoors! I blame no-see-ums. The bites aren't all mosquitoes- they're somebuggy small enough to chomp me under my watch band and I've no idea how that happened. As soon as I figure it out, I'm going to bite them right back!

Family wedding round up

We were privileged to attend Dada's cousin's son's wedding. Haha. His name is Charlie, and his parents are Sherri and Doug. Sherri has been one of my besties for a long time, and she won't mind when I tell all y'all that she's a farm girl at heart. Usually in jeans and a T-shirt, or her pink hoodie, she is effortlessly beautiful makeup free, sun in her hair, a smile on her face. Here she is in fancy dress, with a fancy hairdo, and sparkly makeup to emphasize her loveliness! We were all so excited to come help them celebrate!

The lovely bride, Trisha, is a new friend. I've only had the opportunity to hang out with her a handful of times, so I'm looking forward to getting to know her more in the future. Her father passed on seven years ago, so her brother escorted her down the aisle. I thought her face here captured all the feels of a wedding day- that tidal wave of emotions.

Charlie, the tall groom on the right, and his big brother Michael who officiated and did a wonderful job!

Jana, I got this photo specifically for you. I love how the little girl is soaking up every single detail of Trisha's veil and train!

The groom's beautiful sister, Katelyn, was among the bridesmaids. It was great to hang out with her at the reception; she's been a traveling nurse for awhile and I never get to see her!

It seemed everyone was so excited for this wedding to happen. Charlie has loved Trisha for many, many years. It was beautiful to see everyone's happiness on their behalf.

So off we went to the reception where Shenanigans ensued.

Yes, Tino attended though I realize now I forgot to put him on the RSVP. Good thing he doesn't eat much.

I told Dada that he, Liam and Lizzie should go photobomb the bridesmaids as they were all in the same soft purple shade!

Michael and Doug giving their speeches. It can be nerve wracking but they both did an excellent job. I very much enjoyed hearing more about Charlie and Trisha, especially the story of how Michael and Trisha were in the same gifted class while Charlie faked a learning disability so he could go to the special ed class to play with the toys!

Mother-son dance with his sweet Mama. She looked absolutely gorgeous.

We sadly didn't get everyone together, but we scraped up some family members for at least this picture! So good to see the Indiana crew- we missed our Maryland fam!

The handsome fella on the left is Pap, Dada's Dad. His sister, Aunt Evelyn, is the groom's Grandma, and her husband Leon. She's had some health issues recently and has had lots of people praying for her, so it was a wonderful answer to prayer to see her at the wedding and looking radiant!

Thank you so much for inviting us and allowing us to share your day and your joy. Many blessings on your marriage and your future. We love you!

 

Feeling like Sunday morning

 I love telling stories in reverse order. (*rolls eyes*) Okay, the morning after the wedding (which I haven't blogged about yet, so bear with me- you're not losing it) it was decided that our whole kit and caboodle would have breakfast at Bob Evans AND we would get to meet up with friends of ours. Some of us did a coffee run whilst others slept in or showered or swam, in Damon's case. We got to Bob Evans and needed seating for 14 so all the cousins could sit together and goof off while the adults could hear themselves think. And there's always Shenanigans.

Together again for the first time in 12 years!

These kiddos had started elementary school together and then between 2nd and 3rd grade their family moved to the other side of Ohio. The kids found each other on social media and checked in on each other once in awhile, and then orchestrated the breakfast when we figured out we'd all be in roughly the same spot in Ohio. Thanks for coming to see us! Damon had just been a little guy when they left, so they were delighted to see how big he was, which made him blush a little. Hopefully there are more adventures together in store and it's not nearly as long between visits!

All that swimming, traveling, and eating wore the boys out. We made it home safe, picked up the dogs from the friend who graciously watched them, and hope to not have to go anywhere today. Have a good one!