Hassells in the Highlands

Bits and bobs.  What a fun expression. I have heard it several times here and have decided I am going to add it to my own list of expressions. It means 'this and that.'   'Odds and ends.' That's what this post is about. Bits and bobs. * THE GROCERY STORE You may recall from a very early post that they have shopping carts here with four wheel drive. They are so much fun to shop with!  They glide along so easily - until you try to turn. Then you really have to manhandle them. Here, shopping carts are called 'trolleys.'  Of course, in the US, a 'trolley' is an open-air, often electric, bus-like form of transportation. It sounds funny to hear moms ask their young child to sit in the trolley. The grocery stores are kid-friendly. At least Tesco is. At the front of my local Tesco, there is a stand with at least 3 kinds of fruit in it. It is meant for children. Isn't that a great idea?  When my children were young, we loved going into S...

The Pentland Hotel is a lovely old hotel right in the middle of downtown Thurso. By 'downtown,' I mean it's right in the middle of town, at the town square. My first introduction to the hotel was during my first week here. Cathy said, "The ladies get together on Wednesday mornings at 11 am for coffee. They meet in the lobby of the Pentland Hotel. Would you like to go?"  Potential new friends AND Coffee? Of course I did! I walked with her there in the rain. And there I met several other ladies. Coffee at the Pentland seems to be a little like meeting at Starbucks in that groups of women meet there to fellowship over coffee. Or tea.  Except it is so NOT Starbucks.  It is old and has carpet and upholstered chairs and has a sort of  'presence' that only old buildings have. And it has a bar. And occasionally I see men there having a beer at 10:30 am. There seem to be several different groups - women, mostly - who meet there....

Daisy is the name of my long arm sewing machine. She is an HQ (Handi Quilter) Avante, which means she has an 18" throat space. She came with a 10 foot long frame. Daisy was adopted in March she and became part of our family when she arrived in mid April. How did I know she was a girl, you ask? Well, just look! She came wrapped in pink! And the very next question I am sure you are dying to ask is "WHY did you buy her when you were about to leave the country for 18 months?" That answer is complicated. Daisy arrives! For many years, I sort of had this pie-in-the-sky idea of owning my own long arm machine someday. But it would have to be used because there was no way I wanted to invest that much money into something in case it turned out I wasn't good at it. Or didn't like it. So I cruised Craig's List regularly, watching for someone who might be upgrading their set up and wanting to sell their old, used one. Sometimes ...

The Scottish Highland Games. Men carrying and throwing logs. That is what I envision when I think of Scotland. Well, that..... and kilt-wearing bagpipers. I'm not sure where that image of burly muscly log-throwing men came from, but I think we must have attended an event when I lived in England as a child. Many small (can I even say most) towns have their own Highland Games sometime over the summer. The one we were able to attend was the Halkirk Highland Games, located in Halkirk, which is about 7 miles from Thurso. It is a small and lovely little town but it sure brought in the crowds of people. And although it was the last Saturday in July, it felt like about the end of October, weather-wise. Some  of you may be asking about now, "What are the Highland Games?" The advertisement for the event called it "the Scottish version of a mini Olympic Games." It is a traditional and spectacular Scottish sporting event and is the premiere...