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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Hill of Fearn, Scotland - our new home

The trip

Our plane flight went rather well, as previously mentioned.  The second night didn’t go as well as the first. We put the kids to bed at 8. But to Kathy it was 2 in the afternoon, because she woke up 2 ½ hours later and didn’t want to go back to sleep! Both of them decided after a few hours ‘napping’ it wasn’t time to go to sleep. They finally went to bed around 3 am. Don and I hadn’t slept at all up to that point so we were very tired the next morning. After just a few days we’ve gotten back into a routine. I think we’ve adjusted to the time pretty well.

The house

Friday we headed up to Tain. It was about a 4 hour drive because of the stops we made. We were welcomed at the Cashner's house with lunch – tacos – my favorite!!  The Cashners put up with us until evening. Then we made our way over to our house.  I must say that I love my house!!  I must try not to get too attached. We thought it only had 3 bedrooms, but there is a bonus room in the back. It’ll make a great play room/school room/craft room. The carpet is pink. I love the color pink, but it doesn’t make a good carpet color! I plan on putting down some fun large area rugs in there. Our room is an en suite. There’s a laundry room off the kitchen. In the garden is a wooden play house for the kids. Inside is a small dresser filled with toys. I don’t know who left it here, but the kids are enjoying it.

Shopping

Grocery shopping is pretty easy. They have different names for some things, but if you’re not sure what it is, just read the label. Other shopping is a little more complicated. For larger items, such as furniture, you mostly order online or by catalog. The catalog ordering reminds me of out-of-the-way places where people would order out of the sears/roebuck catalog. This is an out-of-the-way place!! The first Saturday we went to a charity shop(thrift store) and found a couch set, hutch and desk for me. Some things we will be looking for at charity shops, other things we’ll buy new. Don ordered our bed and mattress just the other day. It came just this past week, a lot sooner than we expected. We had to reorder the mattress since the one we had ordered wasn't to our liking. Oh, the joys of ordering by mail! If we order anything, it’ll take a while to get here. We've also been able to find a kitchen table/chairs, a bed and dresser for the kids, a bookshelf for the play room, a phone stand and a desk for Don. We ordered a few more things for our living/dining rooms. Little by little we’ll fill up this house.
Tain is a small town. We live in a neighboring village called Hill of Fearn. Someone told us people would keep painting over the ‘n’ to make it read “Hill of Fear.” It's very quiet unlike the noise of what we're used to in Rochester! We’re not too far from the water. The first Saturday we stopped at the hotel in town for sticky toffee pudding. It was great!!!  Something I have to learn to make! Sticky toffee pudding is a chocolate cake with a toffee sauce poured over it. Ours was also served with vanilla ice cream, strawberries and a raspberry.

Bethel Baptist Church

Bro Keith Cashner is the pastor of Bethel Baptist Church.  Our first Sunday here was really nice. They have an afternoon service. It was a little different getting up on Sunday and not preparing for church right away. I kind of liked it since Sundays can be a pretty busy morning with a bunch of little kids. The Cashners are renting a room to hold services in. It took me back to the time my family was in Germany. After the church service we went back to the Cashner’s house for some fellowship. The second Sunday we were here the church celebrated their first year anniversary. The fellowship afterwards was a lot of fun!  We had such good food!!  Another thing I need to learn to make - roasted tatties.

I am really enjoying settling in. Tomorrow our boxes come in. I am so ready to have our stuff!!!  I am looking forward to unpacking and adding our personal items to the house!

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