Monthly Archives: July 2012

Where Are You Gav?

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I’ve always wondered what happened to my old flame, Gavin McRae – it was the two of us that went to Scotland as well as his home just north of Manchester.

Gav was a riot to be around, maybe sometimes a bit too wild for me, but we had some good times for sure.  He had been working in Africa before we met and then when he was traveling in Canada he met a friend of mine in Toronto.  She called me up as he was leaving to head West, and she said she was sending him my way so he had someone to contact once he got to the west coast (I was living in Vancouver at the time).

He eventually showed up and we hit it off right away.  I took him home for Christmas so he wouldn’t be all alone for the holidays and the rest is history.  We stayed with me for a while, we took a couple of trips here and there, Scotland being one of them.

But old flames become old flames at some point, and we lost touch.  I remember him randomly phoning me on New Year’s Eve about a year after we split and left a hilarious message, but I didn’t know where he was or how to get a hold of him anymore, and I haven’t heard from him since.

I’m sure he’s having a blast somewhere in the wide world; always up for an adventure was our Gav!  I’d love to hear from him again and find out what he’s been doing all these years.  Did he ever get married?  Did he keep traveling?  Did he go back to Uganda again?  Where are you Gav?

1998 Scotland Trip Recap #1

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Without even reading over my journal again I can tell you that my favourite place from the entire Scottish trip back in 1998 was Skye.  Absolutely it was Skye.

I fell in love with Dunvegan, and I loved how all the road signs had Gaelic as well as English on them, helped me figure out the pronounciation!

But it was just exactly what I had thought Scotland would be – remote, beautiful, misty, soggy, and full of friendly folks.  We hiked up all sorts of random places, got soaked of course, got misted in at the top and had to wait before coming down, went to beaches, lighthouses, silversmiths, and through it all got to stay with Gavin’s Dad at a friend’s wee little cottage in the middle of nowhere.  Perfection!  I think it even got the warmest it ever was in the whole trip while we were on Skye.

I ordered my kilt at a shop in Dunvegan, Gav’s dad set it up for me while we were out and about, and I remember when it arrived at home weeks later it even smelled like Skye!  Ah, so dreamy!

I remember we met a couple of neat folks on the ferry back too, can’t remember their names but the lady was really sweet, I remember really liking her.  I’m sure time has plucked out the stuff I didn’t like and left the good bits for me to remember the most, but it doesn’t matter – I’m happy!

Yes indeed, Skye was my highlight for sure.

Oh No! My Kilt Doesn’t Fit Anymore!

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Alas, the day has come when my kilt no longer fits.  *Big Sigh*

Granted, I did buy it quite a long time ago, back in 1998 when I came to Scotland for the first time.  I was with my old flame Gavin and we were visiting his Dad on Skye, and while we were out hiking (and almost killing ourselves I might add, nearly sliding down a huge cliff) his Dad spoke with the folks at Dunvegan (the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland) and got me sorted with a beautiful MacGregor kilt.

Being young I bought the short version, partly because I thought it looked prettier and partly because I couldn’t afford to get the longer version!  It’s too bad really, but such is life.

I can actually still get in it, but it has to ride waaaay up on my waist – I have a very short torso so this looks very Erkel-ish – and I have to use the last settings on each of the buckles.  And remember how I said it was short?  Well, now that it’s way up high on my waist that also means it’s way up high on my legs!  Certainly not appropriate for a Real Lady!

So I’m wondering if perhaps I should get one from Highland Titles, have a change of tartan?  Of course I feel very partial to my MacGregor, I’m not sure if I want to change over, but I’ll scope out what’s available now that I’ve got my new title of Lady of Glencoe.

What do you think I should do?  Opinions?

What If There Are Trees?

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I was daydreaming the other day about camping out on my land that I bought in Glencoe Wood and I suddenly realized that it might not be so easy as I thought – what if there are trees packed in there with no space to lie down!?!

Don’t get me wrong, having trees on my plot would be awesome, especially if they are big old ones!  I suppose I could bring a hammock just in case?  Sleep curled up in a ball, hedgehog style (are there hedgehogs in Scotland?) ?  Not sleep at all?  Who knows!  It’s fun to daydream about going there, and hopefully I actually will go sooner than later.

I promised my good friend Mark who lives in Ireland that I would come and visit him before we turned 50, so I’ve only got 12 years left!  I was thinking it might be this year, but then his job moved him to Portland Oregon for a couple years so now he’s going to come visit me instead, and no point in going all the way over the ocean if he’s not there, it would be much better if we could wrap all visits together.

Guess I’ll just have to wait a little bit longer….That’s okay, it’ll give me more time to perfect my Gaelic!