Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Scotland Day 3 (I think...). We toured Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh Castle and also had a whiskey tour yesterday. The palace is still in use by the Queen when here in Scotland. We only saw the older parts of it, though we did view some current reception rooms. Pictures were not allowed, but I bought a book with pictures to look at later (and for DH). DH can't manage the audio equipment we get on most tours. He was getting too lost and frustrated, so I just tell him the highlights. Did you know the difference between a Palace and a Castle? Apparently the Palace is where the King/Queen lives, and the Castle is a fortress. I never knew that! I didn't much like the taste of the whiskey but the tour was interesting and DH liked it.

We ate at a great pub last night not far from the hotel. I had some wonderful fish cakes. I did try haggis yesterday btw. It was like spicy hash. SIL said that the haggis on the first day was better than that at the hotel here, but I thought it was tasty. I wouldn't eat a lot of it, but a bit with my eggs was fine.

Speaking of tastes, I do like the coffee which is called Americano. Apparently it is made by first making espresso by forcing steam at high pressure through coffee beans, then adding more boiling water. It tastes stronger, but good. Only whole milk is available, not cream. I'm drinking my morning allotment now while waiting for DH to wake up a bit later (it is just about 8:30 am here now).

We are free to wander on our own today, then leave for the highlands tomorrow. We plan to check out the old town (which we drove through yesterday), and check out some Closes, which are narrow alleys off the main streets with interesting places down them. Thankfully it is supposed to be mostly dry today. It rained all day yesterday and we were frozen. I may post more pictures later while DH is napping, but here is one from the whiskey tour yesterday. Have a thoughtful Tuesday!

Liz, your vacation looks like fun.

I have lost the wt that I gained from recent med changes. Quit taking the med because gain of 12 pounds in 20 days and because I was sedated all day long while only taking a single capsule. I was supposed to take one every 8 hours. So I have 60 pounds of regain 100 pound total remaining loss. Eating is back to baseline. Occasional ice cream when I travel. Alcohol remains too much.

My surgery is scheduled for 24 th of this month. Well known neurosurgeon. I will have 2 days in the hospital. I am supposed to be 1 st case. Everyone is fresh and had their coffee and ready for the day. We were first and second cases with WLS.

Adalyn is growing so fast. Crawling well. Stands and gets around in the walker. She has 4 teeth in and 2 more trying to poke through. She is delayed in speech and does not do direct eye contact well. She is very focused on things that get her attention but mostly hard to get her attention. She has periods of increased activity. She still does not sleep through the night. We have taken care of 100s of children over the past 44 years. We know atypical behavior. The university in Searcy has child development center and we will have testing done when she is old enough. Her mom, DD#1, has started a math class to get her back in the mode of study. She plans to study nursing.

My Mom is doing well, she and her sewing circle have made over 800 little dresses for the girls. And about half that many pairs of shorts for the boys. The last batch is headed to the Ukraine. The goods are received by schools or clinics usually with a strong connection to a church.

DS#1s new chicken house went together well. Still waiting for some more parts to come in before we can put chickens in it. Doing some mowing. And some organization projects.

More later, David

David, I was just thinking about you and hoping you'd check in! I can't believe Adalynn is such a big girl! Makes me realize how soon Becca will be there. Teeth and crawling, omg!

I missed about the surgery, but I hope it all goes well!

So nice to hear from you David!

Top picture is the chicken coup. 16x24. They are gathering quite a few eggs but they are real small. Then Adalyn and me riding the tractor. Next is my mom with DDs and DGDs. Next is one of the poodles on the road to the river cabin, early morning fog and heavy dew. The last 2 are pasture prep and land clearing.

Love those baby pics!

Oh my goodness, those chunky babies are the cutest! Blessed man you are David!

Love the pictures David. But back to your comment on atypical behavior. Are you thinking that Adalyn might be showing signs of being on the autism spectrum or something similar?

Yes. Something in the spectrum. High functioning but we don't rule out other mental health problems. Mom is bipolar. Bio grandmother is bipolar. Bio grandfather is not normal either.