summer arrives.

Goodness, I'm still doing a pretty poor job of keeping up with this space. Apologies, apologies. To be fair, I do have quite a bit going on at the moment. There's work, of course, plus playing fiddle for my church's worship band, I finally got my garden sown and my tomato plants in the ground, running, spending time with Jeremy, cooking dinner, walking Cael, making dresses, still unpacking and any other number of sundry tasks that I decide to throw in. But life is good. God is good. There are some new opportunities coming up for Jeremy and I that could change things, but be challenging and good; blessings.

The fireflies are out in full force in the evenings now, they have been for a couple weeks. The first gloaming that I saw their luminescent song playing across our front yard I knew summer had arrived in the mountains. I also realized how long it had been since I had enjoyed the sight of them--lightning bugs don't grace the streets and closes of Edinburgh, though that would make summer dim up in the Highlands that much more magical.

Lately the heat of summer has made its way into the valley, though the nights are still cool and fragrant to temper the summer sun of the daytime. I'm happy to be home, happy to realize and recognize the things that I missed and enjoy them once again.

these mountains mean home.

God is so good. All of the time.


Here's what my lately has looked like, care of Instagram:

lightning bugs lightening up the dim.

i walked for lunch one day at work.

zucchini cakes. {recipe!}

always in awe.

fresh summer south carolina strawberries.

done and done.

I can hardly believe it, but it's true. My dissertation is officially finished and turned in, there's nothing else I can add to it or change about it, even if I wanted to--and I don't, I'm done. It feels pretty good, I have to say, though there's still the small detail of whether or not I'll get a good mark on it or not. I'm pretty certain I'll graduate though, regardless of my mark (unless I wildly fail it, which I'm not anticipating), so that's pretty cool. I'm going to be a Master of something--though to be fair, I don't know that I'll ever feel comfortable calling myself a Master in Highland Studies, there's so much more for me to learn.
Here's a little peek into what the last few days looked like for me:

Hard at work, editing and honing my argument. And adding in a key element to my analysis that I didn't consider to add until this past Monday. Whoops, haha, at least I got it all in there.

I was rewarded for my diligence when Jeremy called me to tell me to look out our window at the beautiful sunset playing on Arthur's Seat and the surrounding crags. Just breath-taking.

I finished it around lunchtime on Thursday afternoon, and opted to go ahead to get it printed that day instead of fretting and overworking it that night and standing in a queue for ages waiting to get it printed and bound at the print shop. I was rather excited to be done and see it looking to lovely and professional, hence my goofy grin.

My pretentiously long and academic dissertation title, and cover page. Hah, it's not as complicated as that title makes it sound. Ooer, but don't I sound smart?

Today with my two bound copies, ready to go turn it in. A bit more subdued than Thursday, you know, being a respectable academic or some-such nonsense, and wearing my academia (and glarey) specs.


Yep, so that's it. It's done, and all I can do is wait. Well, that, and pack and pull details together so Jeremy and I can go home in two and a half weeks. Here we come Western North Carolina!

Thanks for all your encouragement and prayers during this whole process. It's been difficult and trying, but overall it's been so good, and so good for me. And this year here has been brilliant for Jeremy and I as well, we've grown and matured and learned to appreciate one another in completely new ways. All of it has been more than a blessing.

Here's to two and a half more weeks in this amazing city, let's soak up as much as we can before we're spirited away back home.


Caitlin

diagon alley.

When Jeremy and I were out and about in Edinburgh the other night to go see Ed Byrne, we decided to walk back home through Grassmarket and take a jaunt up to the castle to see if we could hear the tattoo going on. We heard the pipes from the tattoo before we even reached Grassmarket. We stood below impressive castle rock, gazing up at the huge new stadium seating and listened to the show.
On our way back down to Grassmarket, we took a close that we hadn't taken before. We found the clear remains of an arched door in the wall, probably once leading to a garden, that was all stoned up and filled in. I had my umbrella with me in case it rained, and couldn't help channeling a little bit of Hagrid.

Hah. Nothing happened unfortunately. But it's quite easy to imagine Harry Potter happenings and places around Edinburgh since Rowling birthed the idea of HP while living here. I mean, come on, doesn't Cockburn Street look like it could be Diagon Alley?

Or Victoria Street for that matter. Or any number of curvy, whimsical looking streets in Edinburgh.



Anyway, I'm still plugging away at my dissertation. Due the day after tomorrow! Ahh. On to more editing and perfecting.


Caitlin


Oh, thanks to all who have been praying for us and our imminent move. We just got word yesterday that our landlord wants to buy pretty much everything we offered her from what we've furnished the flat with. We basically just have to clean, pack and get out at the end of the month now (among other little things, but it's such a load off!). God is good!

contemplation over evening tea.

I sit at my computer as Edinburgh's evening light spills into my living room and down the left side of my body. The evening is cooling down from today's heat wave of seventy degrees Fahrenheit, and the clouds have come to bask in the glorious colors that always illuminate the sky at this time of day. It will still be some time before the sun decides to call it a day, but though the day lasts well into what should be night, it seems that the sunset itself stretches its own life during this time, lengthening that time between times, rather than lengthening the day or shortening the night. I have a trusty cup of tea in hand, well, near hand anyway, I can't exactly type very well (or quickly) while holding my over-sized green Ikea mug, I'm not quite that good.
My dissertation is actually coming along swimmingly, and I'm quite pleased with how well I'm staying on schedule. I'm due to finish the first half by tomorrow, which leaves me the latter half of the month to finish my first draft, and the whole nineteen days I'll have in August before its due to edit and revise, edit and revise, and edit and revise some more. I'm about twenty-two pages in, and over 7600 words down. So I really should be about half way--I'm fairly certain they're going to be pretty stringent about not going over fifteen thousand words, so hopefully I can keep it below that mark without having to exclude things I really wanted to write about. I've gone through ancient Celtic mythology, and then traversed the early Irish literature with Cúchulainn and Fionn MacCumhaill and other notable characters, and now I'm finally getting to settle down with the real meat of the dissertation, the folktales. I just read an article about folk-memory within folktales, and how important is it to remember that while these tales are entertaining and amusing to us now, they once held vital information and vestiges of beliefs and customs held by the people who so lovingly perpetuated them. To the early Celt, it was no stretch of the imagination for people to transform into animals and vice versa, it came with a great knowledge and as a way to continue learning through new eyes and new experiences. There was no rigid barrier between the human and animal forms, and in fact many animals held certain characteristics that mirrors things people saw in themselves, so it seemed not strange at all that there were those who could shift from shape to shape. I love the freedom of folktales, the innocence of imagination, the lack of that-isn't-possible attitude, where we can lose ourselves in a good story of a maiden being turned into a swan for one year, then back to her own form the next year, and a man who, having fallen in love with said maiden, turns himself into a swan to be with her. Why not? Why can't we fancy those things occurring at some where, some time, and transform our own minds from the cold scientific reality of what can only be tangibly proven.
I for one am a firm supporter of imagination, and 'what if?' stories of wonder and romantic notions of shape-shifting and things we cannot explain.
Here's to the unknown.

Caitlin

a spot of sun in the meadows.

When I woke up this morning, the sun was streaming in through the windows. Looking above the tenement building facing ours, which was itself bathed in sunlight which lit the sandstone in a rosy golden hue, all I could see was blue sky and warm sunlight. Jeremy unfortunately has to pull a double-shift at the shop today, or we both would have been out enjoying this weather.
As I wrote in my journal this morning, cup of tea and bagel beside, I opened our windows and let the warm summer breeze waft in and rejuvenate my senses. It is times like these where part of me wishes to be out of the city, when I have to choose between closed windows and relative quiet, or open windows and cool air with a side of traffic noises and squealing brakes. I really can't turn my music up loud enough to drown it out, plus I'd most likely have to listen to something as discordant as the noises shoving their way through my windows. I tried to ignore it while I could, but in the end I was convinced that an hour or two outside in the Meadows, away enough from roads and traffic, wouldn't go awry.

It didn't.

For an hour and a half I basked in the light of the sun and felt it's warmth soak into my skin, leaving freckles in its wake. I read--for my dissertation, because August 20th is all too near to spend too much time away from it--and I just enjoyed the solemnity of being outside on my own, letting my thoughts go where they would and enjoying a good read on the battle-goddesses of Irish mythology.
It really is amazing how a good sit in the sun seems to melt away all the tension warring for dominance in your mind. Yes, we are going home in a little more than two months, yes, we need to be out of this flat in a little less than two months, and yes, my dissertation is due in about a month and a half, but no, I am not going to let all those deadlines spoil the simplicity of an hour of sitting in the summer sunlight.
So here's to summer, and here's allowing ourselves to enjoy her fruits.


Caitlin

an afternoon in Roslin, and an evening on Arthur's Seat.

Our original plan with one of Jeremy's two days off this week was to go to see Holyrood Palace and Holyrood Abbey here in Edinburgh, but after we got ready and went to double-check the website about entry fees we saw that it is apparently closed for another week or so, I suppose someone important is in residence just now, since the Royal Family still uses the palace for their personal uses.
Anyway, so with that plan out the window we decided to use the afternoon to hop the bus down to Roslin to see Rosslyn Chapel and the small town of Roslin itself. It's quite an easy jaunt down there, just taking the number fifteen Lothian bus for about thirty minutes and it spills you out right in the middle of Roslin, the chapel being another five minute walk away.
It was a gorgeous, sun-filled day, warm with sweet breezes that come just as the heat from the sun begins to get under your skin. We walked down to the chapel, catching glimpses of it from behind fences and stone walls--yet the glimpses we caught made us pause to think whether we wanted to spend the seven or so pounds each to go in yet, since it is such an easy trip. The whole outside of the chapel was covered with scaffolding for renovations, and since they don't allow you to take photos inside, the outside was going to be my only opportunity to document our visit--and scaffolding is seriously a pain to photoshop out. So we decided to walk around the grounds of the chapel, outside the stone boundary wall, and enjoy our afternoon in the country.

After spending sometime laughing with each other and sighing at the views we walked the five minutes back into town and sat in the outdoor area with a couple pints and more laughing and more talking was the order of the afternoon. As usual, it was so nice to get out and just be with each other, to talk, to laugh, to reminisce, to make plans, and mostly just to love each other.

After our pints in the 'beer garden' area of the original Roslin Hotel we crossed the road to another little hotel with a bar area. This time we sat inside, in a large sun-let room with dark greens and blues in the plaid carpet and rich window treatments. I picked the table in front of the back center window which illuminated us like royalty--especially since we were the only two in the whole pub. When Jeremy brought our drinks, he also brought a chess set that was sitting on the bar just waiting to be used. I personally dislike chess with a pretty good-sized passion, though I've tried liking it with a brother and sister-in-law who love it and are avid players--I'm really just completely rubbish at it, seriously, rubbish. But Jeremy made me play anyway, and though I nearly lost within the first five moves (Jeremy found a way for me to block him) and then I proceeded to make stupid moves for the rest of the game and get frustrated with myself and the game--all the while muttering under my breath 'I hate this game'--despite all of that, I enjoyed myself. I enjoyed being the only two people in the whole bar, sitting at the far window, back-lit by the afternoon sun, and playing a game together. Again, the idea of just being together seems to simple, but it is just so good too.

We came back to Edinburgh then, another thirty-minute bus ride past the Pentland Hills, through Morningside and Bruntsfield, back to Tollcross where we had decided before we left to stop at another pub we had been meaning to try: The Cloisters. This pub is pretty much attached to the beautiful cathedral that is nestled right next to it, and the building may be just as old as well. Apparently, they have an amazing selection of cask ales which Jeremy enjoyed sampling, and the atmosphere in that place made them taste somehow better. We had our own little table tucked away in a corner between a window looking out onto the cathedral and the spiral staircase that lead to the basement. We stayed there a while then finally ventured back home to have dinner.

After dinner, and an episode of 'Game of Thrones', Jeremy looked at me then out the window and said, "It's gorgeous out there. You wanna hike up Arthur's Seat and watch the sunset? If we leave now we'll easily catch it."
How could I say no? So we packed up a backpack of essentials and made our way down to Holyrood Park, crosses its green spaces and paths and made our way up the extinct volcano of Arthur's Seat. We decided to stop just below the summit so we could have a little area to ourselves instead of having to share the area with the other people who thought it'd be a good idea to go up to watch the sunset. It was lovely to watch the colors deepen and the light fade as the sun set behind the city and the Firth of Forth--oddly setting to the North here. We could see all the way to the Highlands, their high and craggy peaks visible beyond the Forth Bridge. As the sun disappeared, the coolness of the night became more of a noticeable chill and we pulled on our jackets, and Jeremy pulled out a flask of whisky for a nip to keep us warm. It really is amazing what just a mouthful of whisky can do for your body temperature.
When the sun was gone and only remnants of its brilliance were left streaking the sky in a kind of tribute to its former glory we began the hike back down.

It was a truly lovely day, and one that Jeremy made sure to point out was all for the most part spur-of-the-moment, yet just as full and exciting as any day planned weeks ahead of time. Sometimes his laid back attitude definitely does trump my planned and organized one in ways that I don't expect, but love to see.


Caitlin

[Skye still coming soon, it's ridiculous how many photos I took and how much we saw, I want to do it all justice.]

perks of being a city-dweller.

Living in a city definitely has its perks, from being able to walk pretty much anywhere to the abundance of things to do and see. Another perk of our life in Edinburgh are the charity shops. They're more plentiful than grocery stores in our little Newington area, and they're always stuffed with hidden gems and amazing finds. I don't buy things often or I'd be completely out of money by now, but on occasion I'll splurge with a fiver or so. Here's an adorable plaid skirt that I got yesterday for £5.

Another wonderful benefit of this city is the Farmer's Market every Saturday on Castle Terrace. I've mentioned this before, but I've made a pretty religious habit of traipsing over there on a Saturday morning to admire the goods and procure something tasty for us. There are so many different vendors, some that are there each week and some that I've only seen there once. It's a great place to get local produce and  fresh goods and to support local farmers as well. I'd never really understood the importance or benefit of that until living in a city and comparing the produce and meat I get at Tesco to the quality of the things I can get at the market. I can't buy everything there--though I'd like to--because it can be a little more pricey than I can afford, but I try to at least buy my eggs there and the occasional Aberdeen Angus beef patties for burgers, as well as whatever freshness strikes my fancy that week. Here's my booty from the Farmer's Market this morning.

And for those of you wondering, yes, that's German bread freshly-baked locally in Edinburgh. Dee-lish.


Good times. And I'm still working on the Skye trip for those waiting with bated breath. Right, well, I'm off for a bite of lunch and spending some quality time reading about Celtic deities and their transmogrifying habits.



Caitlin

away to Skye.

We're saying goodbye to bonny Edinburgh for the next few days, and taking a trip up to the Isle of Skye. Two nights in Skye, one full day, and then on either side the traveling days will be going through Pitlochry and Inverness and then Glen Coe and the Wallace Monument. We're quite excited to get a better (and longer) view of the Highlands and Islands, especially Skye, as it's the one place that everyone tells us we need to see. In Gaelic a common moniker for it is Eilean a' Cheo--the island of mist--so we're looking forward to inspiring landscapes and mysterious mist-covered mornings.

Bye bye for now, fair Edina!

And a very happy Father's day to the best Dad a girl could ask for. Thanks for being an awesome dad, Dad. I love you an incredible amount.


Caitlin

here and there.

This is the view from my workout. I must admit that I feel pretty lucky to have this to watch instead of the tv screens that sit atop the other machines spilling out gratuitous and disgusting images of today's most popular music videos. I get to gaze out at Salisbury Crags as I listen to my own music, sometimes the Beatles, sometimes the Avett Brothers, sometimes Cake.

I snapped this from my phone last night as Jeremy and I ventured out for an evening out with each other, rather than an evening in next to each other. The clouds billowed threateningly over Old Town, and we walked right into them, careless of the imminent rain, merely happy to be in each other's company and anticipating good conversation over a pint or two.

I also caved and decided that our date out for drinks could also include dessert of Sticky Toffee Pudding and vanilla ice cream. Plus I've been working out and can work out extra hard next time, right? Either way, it was delicious as was the time we spent together enjoying the social scene of our city.

I took this in The Last Drop, a completely touristy pub on Grassmarket, but a neat little cave-like place with nice candlelit ambiance and low ceilings. We came here for one last drink after spending most of our time just down Grassmarket in the Black Bull. I came here with my parents when they were here and Jeremy had to work that day, so we decided to pop in so he could experience it too.

We bought our plane tickets home the other day, and it's finally sinking in that we're leaving this place in a few short months. Though we are looking forward to going home to family and beginning yet another new chapter in our lives, we can't help but weep a little at the thought of leaving the city that has really come to be a home away from home for us. We've grown and experienced so much here, it will always be a formidable year in our marriage, and we'll always keep this ancient city in its own little nook in our hearts. Not knowing when we'll return is probably the biggest fear. This city is now part of our story, and I know it will have a recurring role in the future, but not knowing when that might be is disconcerting. But I know there is a plan, and that we've grown attached to Edinburgh in this way for a reason, so I look forward to its next cameo in our lives and relish the time and adventures we still have waiting for us until September 6th. So here's to Edinburgh.
Dùn Èideann, tha gaol agam ort, gu bràth tuilleadh. 




Caitlin

a week back.

Well, it's been a week since we returned from our fantastic trip home and things are going well. I took my Gaelic exam, at least the second half of it, on Saturday afternoon and I think I did quite well on it. We went to a great church service at our church, New Restalrig on Sunday and enjoyed a nice walk through Holyroon Park, even if it did sprinkle on us a bit. We also went to go see Thor at the Omni Center, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not Oscar-worthy by any means, but it was a fun and humorous comic book based film to go see on a date with my husband. On our walk home I snapped this photo of the Duke of Wellington horse and rider statue with the Balmoral Hotel in the background.

Taken with my phone.

I've also gone on a cooking kick, where I'm not only making dinner pretty much every night, but also making lunch for the both of us a few days out of the week as well. I'm on this omelette spree right now. On the day of Laurel's wedding, Christal made the both of them (since they hadn't eaten all day, silly girls) an omelette with red bell pepper, spinach, and feta cheese--and I haven't stopped thinking of it since. Today I kicked it up a notch and added quartered plum tomatoes, fresh cilantro, and a hint of lemon juice, and boy was it tasty! I've also got this Moroccan Chicken Tangine recipe that I make quite often, and did again the other night. The spices and flavors of everything together is near divine. That cous-cous is simply a store-bought instant bag boiled with chicken broth and apple juice instead of water, with dried apricots, honey, lemon juice, and sliced almonds. It's absolutely delicious.

Also taken with my phone.

The days are lasting surprisingly long already. I suppose it's not surprising for someone who has lived here during the summer, but when there's still light in the sky at 10:45PM, and the sun starts it climb back into the sky sometime between three and four in the morning and you don't expect it, it's surprising. Up in the Highlands and Islands in midsummer the sun never really completely sets, it's what's called the 'summer dim'. I honestly quite like it as one who loves sunlight, even muted grey sunlight, coming through the windows of whatever room she's in.
It's nice actually, where I was walking to my fiddle class at 7PM in near darkness only a few months ago, now I walk home from my fiddle class in plenty of light and usually able to observe a brilliant light show by the dazzling sunset. Case in point, last night:

Also taken with my phone, though I wish I'd had my DSLR.

There's nothing quite like a spectacularly bright and colorful ending to a drearily cloudy and drizzly grey day is there? Well, Edinburgh sure knows how to do that right.

I'm still plugging away sifting through books and articles for my dissertation, and it's going well, but nothing of substance to really report, other than how lucky I feel to be writing a dissertation for which I must read old Scottish tales and examine Celtic beliefs and deities relating to animals among other things.

Oh, and happy birthday to Josh Foreman and Rachel Foreman Courser!

Caitlin

north carolina. [the trip home.]

Though I'm notably still quite tired, I feel rested enough to write a wee bit about our time back home, and I feel like Jeremy and I experienced and did so many things (and still didn't get to do all we intended) that the longer I wait to write on it, the less I'll remember to include. Firstly, I must say that being away from those mountains made me appreciate anew and enjoy, like an old sweet song, the beauty, verdancy, and familiarity of those blue ridges. Being there again, nestled in between those mountains and sheltered by trees, surrounded by family and friends, we remembered and solidified our desire to move back home to those joyful things and settle down.

my mountains.

After a full twenty-four hours of travel once we arrived at the Foreman house, we stayed up a little longer to say hello to everyone there, receive and give long awaited hugs, and try to take in the reality that we were really there. Then we crashed. With the aid of a noisy morning and a Moments latte we awoke and again settled into the reality that we were home. Things were pretty crazy as it was two days before Laurel's wedding and Mom Foreman was working herself to the bone, as usual, to prepare the food to perfection, but we managed to see her and her sisters, Becky and Debby, in her kitchen to say hello and go in for more hugs. That Thursday was probably the calmest day we had, but we were still pretty busy helping Mom in the kitchen and running errands with Dad Foreman, not to mention picking kids up from school, and dropped others off at soccer practice.
The next two days flew by. There was a breakfast for all the girls at Laurel's house on Friday morning, with the famous blueberry pancakes and a topping that can really only be called icing, but it's so much better than that. It was great to take time to visit, meet, and enjoy the company of the women in one place before the craziness of the rehearsal and the actual wedding day. I also looked after Zoe, Rachel's daughter, that morning as both Rachel and Cory were working. It was fun to get to know my new niece, and get to know her stunning personality a bit more.

the Zoe.

The rehearsal was not in the location that the wedding actually ended up taking place as the rain had decided to let loose it's fury on the mountains that afternoon, but after a while we got things sorted and in a small respite from the rain we ran up and at least got an idea of what the ceremony would look like in the field it was originally planned to be. If the rain wants to exhaust itself the day before the wedding that was fine with all of us, but we implored it to finish and clear off before the actual wedding. [Which it reluctantly consented to do.]

Attempting a quick run-through before the rain arrives again.

The rehearsal dinner was full of love, laughs, and good company. Laurel and Kent so perfectly complement each other it was amazing to see them together, surrounded and lifted up by their closest family and friends, on the evening before they become one flesh in the sight of God.
The wedding day was another full one. There was a worship service in the morning at the site of the ceremony to set the day apart to the Lord, and it was done with reverence and joy.

Jeremy spending some quality time with our niece, Seren, after the morning service.

My job as photographer began around 2:30 in the afternoon, after helping with this and that at Laurel's before going back to the Foreman house to get ready.
Though the sky looked threatening at times, the rain abstained from its fall until much later in the evening. Though getting everything ready took a bit longer than expected, it all happened in its time and it was beautiful. The ceremony was so well done and put together, from the music, the prayers, the vows, the ring-bearer hound-dog, and ultimately the love between Kent and Laurel. The rain started to drop little by little as I rushed to get the group shots done, but it held up long enough to spend a good amount of time with just Laurel and Kent, though they definitely got a little wet on the back of the golf cart as we rushed to get them to the reception.

Yep, they climbed the high dive--in the rain.

The reception was full of good food, good people, good music, and some crazy dance moves. I was able to take my photographer mode down a notch and enjoy a bit of the reception as well. It was just lovely, and again, full of joy.
The next day everyone was pretty much shattered, but we went to church (again with the aid of Moments coffee) and after church headed back over to Merri-Mac where all the food from the wedding still was and gorged ourselves on leftovers. Yum. Eve's violin concert was next on the list, so Jeremy and I, Zak and Brittney piled into Caitlin's car and we all went to support Eve--who did amazingly in her concert. She's a great little violinist, and made me quite a proud aunt.
We spent some time with Josh and Christal and the kids after the concert before heading back out to see a movie with everyone. For anyone who cares, Priest had an amazing concept but utterly failed to deliver a good plot and story, so don't waste your time. Though I hear the comic books are brilliant, so if you're into that I have it on good authority to highly recommend them.
Priest was also quite short, and as some of the us went to a different movie we had to wait on them to finish as well--so we snuck into Thor and watched a little of it before we got the call to say we were ready to go. Jeremy and I have since gone back out to see Thor and thought it was a fun film, we definitely enjoyed it.
The next day I was able to reunite with my closest friend and dear heart, Chelsea Rose. The Rose and the Thistle together again! We went out to lunch at Las Cazuelas (finally, and yum!) and then took a walk about Montreat, just talking and catching up a little. It was as if we'd never been apart, just picking up where we left off--though at the same time we were both disbelieving that we were actually in the same place again. We took silly photos, as usual, and we laughed together and made plans to live near each other again.

After a while it began to lightly rain and we went back to pick up Jeremy. We went for another pick-me-up at Moments then headed out to Asheville. We stopped by Barnes and Noble for a while to wait on my brother, Jake, to call us back. He is now taking care of Cael for us, and we were, all of us, excited to go see the pup as well as my loving brother. So when we got the call we all got back into the car and rushed over to Jake's house.
Cael has gotten so big! In reality, I don't think he's that much taller than he was when we left, but he's fattened up a bit and filled in. He's no puppy anymore! But it was so wonderful to see him, pet him, and give him some long overdue loving. He seems really happy at Jake's, he and Peter have a dog as well, Olivia, who seems like she'll teach Cael a thing or two and keep him in his place. We spent some time there, and decided to stay for dinner as well. Chelsea took us back to Moments to get Jeremy's dad's car, as that was Chelsea's last night in NC and needed to spend it with her family. It was absolutely fantastic to see her, and I look forward to the next time as well. Maybe I can get my arse in gear, be a good friend, and write her another letter.
Back at Jake and Peter's we sat around, wine in hand, while the aromatic spices of Peter's cooking wafted around us. He put together an amazing chicken curry dish with coconut milk, and greens, and sweet potatoes and also some naan bread. I'm not doing justice to all that went into it, but it was delicious! It was lovely to catch up with Jake's life and hear about Peter's job search and projects he's got going on. And I'm going to say it again, it was so great to see Cael and really know that he's healing well and enjoying his place in Asheville. Thanks to Jake and Peter for taking him, and thanks to Drew and Kelsey for keeping him up until then.

Jake and Peter.

Me and my pup!

Jeremy and Cael.

The next two days flew by as well. I had every intention of doing so many more things than we were able to do, but I suppose that's how it goes sometimes. An inordinate amount of time was spent waiting on the locksmith to attempt to pick, cut, and eventually grind off the lock on our storage unit--the keys to which were lost or thrown away in the Foreman's moving house last December. We kept the key this time, knowing now that we'll be moving back in September. After that was finally taken care of, we went running errands with Caitlin, getting a storage bin for all the things we brought back with us from Scotland. We both had checked two bags each, and left one whole bag plus the majority of the other bag back in NC to begin moving our things back, hopefully we won't have as much to ship in September. After errand running we went for dinner as Las Cazuelas with Caitlin, Rachel, and Zoe. It was great to spend some time with them apart from the craziness of the wedding.
On our last full day we stopped by to see Cael one more time and to say goodbye to him, as well as Jake and Peter, it was hard to leave him again, but not nearly as difficult as it was the first time. I think knowing that we'll be home in a few months made the parting a little easier. After saying our goodbyes there, we headed back out to Arden to see Josh and Christal and the kids. It's always a good time with Josh and Christal, we enjoy their company so much and we love their kids as well, so there's always people to talk to, or in some cases, play with. Those kids are growing up so quickly, and I have to admit that it's been hard being here sometimes knowing that they're all growing up and changing without me there to see it. Josh and Christal graciously offered us dinner, though we implored with them that we didn't need to eat their food, but it was quite delicious. Christal's mother, Susan, was there as well, and it's always nice to see her too. She's like another mum to me as well. We spent hours there without really realizing it, and before we left Josh pulled out his guitar and Christal her cello and they played us some songs that they had written together. We were able to see them play together at the wedding, but it is always so incredible to see and hear them playing and singing together. They really are so talented, and another great complementary couple. It was sad to say goodbye, but again, knowing when we were coming back this time made it better. And as Eden said to his brother and sisters "It's only four months, and then they are coming back to stay forever!"

The breath-taking view from J&C's house.

Me and my little buddy, Eden.

Dimitri demonstrating his awesome hand-made kaleidoscope.

Josh and Christal about to play for us.

We got back late that evening, and soon realized any plans we may have had to squeeze things in in the morning weren't going to come to fruition as our ride to the airport had to come quite early because of other things needing to be done that day. So arriving at the airport at 9AM, thinking we were going to be able to switch my flight so I could travel with Jeremy for extremely cheap, basically being told 'just kidding', waiting around for hours, luckily realizing in time that my luggage was only tagged to Paris, fixing that, watching Jeremy fly away on his plan five hours before mine left, waiting, waiting, waiting, and studying for my exam, then finally beginning my arduous journey home, waiting in Atlanta until nearly midnight, then finally flying to Paris, sleeping through breakfast and almost not getting it at all, Jeremy nearly being able to wait until my flight in Paris and get 250 euros in the process then not being able to, and finally touching down in Edinburgh over another twenty-four hours later made for a crazy time of travel.
But were back now, and we have things to do here, things to see and experience and things to enjoy and photograph. So for now, Edinburgh is home, but we look forward to making that ridiculous trip over one more time and settling down in those Carolina mountains.
Thanks to everyone who gave us a bed to sleep in, a cell phone to use, a car to borrow, a meal in our bellies, one well-needed hug after another, a wedding at which to give joy, and so many other things. And apologies to those whom we meant to see and pass the time with but simply ran out of time to pass. We'll see you all soon, and catch up with no time limits.
Whew, that really was a doozy of a post. Thanks for slogging all the way through it if you did. I hope the photographs were able to break it up enough. No more long posts for a while, I promise.


Content right where she is and joyful for the opportunity to be home,

Caitlin