Malcolm and Naomi's Great Adventures

Merry Christmas from the McLeods!

2009-12-01T17:43:00.007Z

Lots of love from Naomi, Malcolm and Calum

Introducing Calum McLeod

2009-09-07T17:48:00.009+01:00

We realise that this introduction is far overdue, but for those of you who haven't seen pictures, we wanted to post them here. Calum John Bruce Squire McLeod was born August 8th 2009 at 5:17pm weighing a healthy 8lbs 8oz and measuring 50cm.

This is our first family photo that was taken when he was about 3 weeks old.

He is definitely daddy's boy. Malcolm was born to be a dad and Calum adores him. I know that this is the start of the two of them ganging up on me :-) But who can resist that face?

He started smiling pretty early and this is one of my favourites.

Living in the residence, we have a formal dinner every Thursday. It's an excuse to get dressed up and to put Calum in really cute outfits that I know he won't like when he's older. This picture was taken when he was around 12 weeks old.

We work on having tummy time each day and he's getting really good at holding his head up. This was taken at about 13 weeks.

We will try to keep this site updated with more pictures, but you can also see his videos on youtube.

Gotcha

2009-07-10T15:30:00.007+01:00

It's been almost two weeks since Stacie came for a visit. She really surprised us by bringing mom over with her! We thought the most exciting thing she would be exporting from Canada was peanut butter, but we were wrong. We came home from work to find them in our living room and it was quite a shock.

As if this wasn't enough of a shock at 35 weeks pregnant! On the following Saturday, our friends had arranged a surprise baby shower for us. It was perfect timing that both Stacie and mom could be there for it. Again, not a good idea to surprise the pregnant lady...they're very lucky they didn't also get a baby for the shower!

We are very fortunate to have the friends that we do. They went all out and spoiled us beyond belief. In addition to a MOUNTAIN of food, there were games, incredible decorations, a home-made cake and very generous gifts. It was the gentle push that we needed to start getting ready for the baby. I think that before this, we thought it was too soon, but it was very helpful to have a reminder that it's not that far away. Here are the things that we bought with the generous vouchers from Mothercare. We also received a Boots card that will keep baby McLeod in nappies for a while, which will be very helpful.

So, it's been a very exciting couple of weeks and it's very sad that Stacie had to go home, but we're thrilled that mom is going to stay for a while. Hopefully there won't be any more big surprises in the near future, although there were the nicest we've had in a while.

Waiting for baby McLeod...

2009-06-15T21:36:00.003+01:00

Well, we're anxiously awaiting junior's arrival which will be in less than 2 months now. In the meantime, we thought we would post some pictures to give you an idea of what's going on.

This picture was taken at 23 weeks, not too long after the scan picture from the last post.

This was taken at 26 weeks.

This is us at 32 weeks.

August 2nd will be here before we know it. We're very excited! We'll keep you posted. All the best from all three of us!

Introduction to Baby McLeod

2009-03-18T15:47:00.003Z

We are expecting a new arrival in early August 2009. With any luck, the timing will work out and we will still be on track to move home by Christmas. Although baby McLeod will be born in Scotland, we are hoping that it won't be long before you can meet him/her in person!

Mom's Birthday Surprise

2009-03-18T15:17:00.013Z

I realise that this has been a long time in the making. We were finally able to get our pictures off of our old computer and I've had a few spare moments to put together a post of mom's birthday surprise. This was also quite a few months ago now, but I still wanted to share it with everyone.

For mom's birthday, Malcolm and I told her that we were taking her down to London. What she didn't know is that we were actually taking her to Paris! It was amazing that we actually got on the plane before she knew what we were doing.

It wasn't until they started making the announcements in French that she thought something wasn't right.

This was the view from our hotel. Right outside Gare du Nord, it was a very central location that allowed us to take the tour bus from right across the street.

We explored the city and enjoyed the sights and sounds.

This was where we caught the bus. We were pretty lucky with the weather. It rained a little bit, but as you can tell from this picture, it was mostly sunny.

We visited the Bouillon Chartier in Montmartre. Established in 1890, it is the only one left of its kind and it provided meals for the working class that couldn't afford to eat out. It was a fascinating piece of history and a very good meal.

Inside, it is bustling with people. Long tables that you share and waiters that are keen to get you in and get you out. It was a great recommendation from mom who cut a review out of the Toronto Star 3 years ago!

We also took recommendations from our friend who lived in Paris. She told us about Chez Papa. Another great meal followed by chocolate mousse made from scratch.

Aside from the fun food, we also took in the more typical sights.

When we arrived home, we had a more traditional birthday party with cake and a few friends. We were welcomed home to a flat that had been decorated with balloons and enjoyed a nice evening at home. A welcomed rest after the surprise weekend getaway. Mom went back to Canada shortly after the trip. I feel bad that it took me so long to post, but you can see more of the pictures in our webalbum.

Long overdue

2008-11-18T23:22:00.004Z

I realise that much time has passed since our last post and I really don't have any excuses. It was really nice to have mom here over the summer and we were incredibly sad to see her go. We got up to all sorts of shenanigans while she was here...

We went to the lamas fair, a carnival that comes to St Andrews in the summer and went on some rides. Mom and I went on a 'roller coaster' which was an adventure in itself. I think we gave the guy a hernia because he had to push us up the ramp.

Mom got the chance to meet some of our friends. Little does she know, she secretly adopted most of them while she was here as a lot of them want her to be their mom too!

We went to a surprise birthday party that was World War II themed. It was held at the secret bunker and was a lot of fun.

Malcolm enjoyed sporting his kilt. Strangely enough, living in Scotland he doesn't get to wear it that often.

I also wanted to share that Malcolm was able to grow vegetables in our bedroom! He managed to grow peppers, herbs and tomatoes which is quite an accomplishment given the lack of sunlight. The three of us had many more adventures that I will add in the near future. Our computer died not too long ago and I've been unable to get the photos off of it, but I will post more when it's fixed.

It has been a rough start to the semester and Malcolm and I have lots of news to share. I will try and be more diligent about writing about it as it happens instead of these compact overviews of our life. I can't believe it's almost December, I think we're living in a time warp! Can't wait to see you all soon.

Six weeks of summer

2008-07-11T11:19:00.006+01:00

Wow! It's hard to believe how fast the time has been going and it seems like we haven't stopped to enjoy it. We had a wonderful time home in Canada, but it seems so long ago already. We had 2 weeks full of time with family and friends, punctuated by weddings, funerals and unexpected visitors. It was really nice to be home for a while and we realised that we're now in the home stretch. Since then, we've kidnapped mom and are holding her hostage in Scotland. We returned only for a few days before heading off to Poland for a magical wedding. Again, hard to believe that it happened. When we returned, I went on a course in Edinburgh and when I got back, my niece arrived! She's staying with us for three weeks and I hope she's not bored since we really had to get back to work. We've been trying to get back in the swing of things which is difficult in St Andrews during the summer. Since the students have left, the tourists arrive and there is a very different vibe to the town.

Aside from being sick far too much, the last six weeks have been a blurry blast! Here's the condensed version:

When we were home, poor Malcolm had an emergency trip to the dentist

We had an amazing birthday celebration for my dad

When we got back, our good friends got a kitten

We went to Poland for the wedding extravaganza

We celebrated Canada Day for all of St Andrews to see

I had the chance to see Elton John in Perth with Malcolm's co-workers!

And much more in between

I think we're all caught up now. Aside from that, I'm just working towards my deadlines. I apologise in advance if I appear to drop off the earth, the next eight months determine when Malcolm and I get to come home. That is, after all, the whole reason we're here. I have to keep reminding myself of that.

So, just a quick update to let you know what we've been up to. I will post more of my family's adventures in Scotland soon.

I should be fired...

2008-05-07T09:19:00.003+01:00

If keeping up to date with the blog was my full-time job, I would have been fired ages ago. I'm very sorry that I haven't been more diligent in posting what's been going on with us. I guess that last big piece of news was Stacie's visit. She was here for 2 weeks this time which was wonderful! We went to Ireland and met up with a friend from Canada. Of course, our favourite part of the trip was the Guinness store house.

We hired a car so that we could drive to Northern Ireland. It was cheaper than all of us taking the bus and we had a little bit more freedom. We went to the Giant's Causeway on the North coast.

Malcolm was an excellent driver! Things were much better once we had a proper map. We saw a lot of the countryside. Malcolm became very familiar with long twisty roads.

The Giant's Causeway was incredible. We spent at least an hour there playing on the rocks. It was very windy that day so I'm not sure how we didn't get blown into the sea. It definitely one of the worlds great natural wonders.

On Stacie's last weekend, we went back to Edinburgh and visited the underground vaults. Stacie still has yet to experience Edinburgh in the sunshine. I think she'll just have to keep coming back until she does.
We had an 'un-birthday' party for her since we were not going to be home for her actual birthday. Basically it was an excuse to have a party and eat cake. We were lucky enough to be joined by our good friends. So, all things considered, it was a wonderful trip. Always too short but never boring.

I will do my best to get back on top of posting. We will be home within the month, so hopefully I will have lots to write about.

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T23:33:00.002Z

Happy Easter to all! We just wanted to share our Easter activities. This year, our flatmate showed us how to dye Easter eggs.

First, you wrap the egg with leaves, flowers, grass and onion peels or any combination of these materials. Then you tie them in a nylon sock and boil them in a special potion

This is what they look like when they're done.

Malcolm was especially proud if his masterpieces. He had good right to be, as his turned out the best.

They were all very colourful. It was a really nice activity to do all together. We look forward to doing it again next year.

Just Wanted to Share....

2008-03-17T09:53:00.009Z

I thought that you might find this amusing. One of our friends has immortalized us in the form of cartoons. I like mine a lot, but Malcolm's eerily looks like him in every way.

Kathleen's Visit

2008-03-04T20:15:00.009Z

Kathleen arrived last Monday after a delayed flight from Toronto. Malcolm and I knew she had arrived the moment it started raining. It seems like whenever someone arrives, Scotland feels the need to welcome them with bad weather. On Tuesday, we visited Stirling University under equally poor conditions. Thankfully, on our second day in Edinburgh, Kathleen was able to witness first hand that the sun does shine here.....sometimes.

We had a great time in Edinburgh. On Friday, we had a nice dinner and then went to the vodka bar where they have over 100 types of vodka.....mmmmm. Here we are enjoying strawberry fizz.

We decided that it was easier to stay over so we booked 3 beds in a 4 bed room at a central hostel on the off-chance that nobody would book the 4th bed. Boy were we wrong! We checked in at 6pm and when we arrived at the room, there was a guy sleeping in the fourth bed. We tried to be quiet, but since we didn't know he was there, we woke him up. He said that he had to work at 4am, so we weren't too worried as that's around the time we were planning on coming back :-) Anyway, to make a long story short, HE STANK! He had obviously been travelling for a long time and smelled of dirty socks and underwear. The smell was even worse when we got in and we couldn't wait for him to leave so that we could air out the room.

The next day, Kathleen explored the castle and we did a little bit of shopping before returning to St Andrews for the big party. A couple of friends had birthdays very close together so there was a 'decade' party to celebrate.

Everyone had to come dressed in a style made popular by one of the decades of the 20th century. Malcolm and Kathleen chose the 80's, I chose the 60's and our friend Rob chose the 90's.

The party was a great success and everyone had a great time....maybe a little too great. Kathleen was leaving the next morning, and let's just say she was feeling slightly under the weather. We had a lot of fun with Kathleen here and we hope she did too. It's amazing how quickly a week goes! We managed to do a lot in the time that we had.

Since when is it February?

2008-02-13T23:42:00.004Z

Well...I'm still not entirely sure how it came to this, but it is now February and we haven't posted since before our trip home Christmas! We really enjoyed our time at home, it was great to be with friends and family over the holiday. We also had our fill of the 'white stuff'. Too much if you ask me.

When we came back, we struggled with being sick for a while and then had the exam period, by the time things started to get back to normal, it's February!! In the mean time, we each had a birthday. Aurelija made us each amazing birthday cakes.

She even included sparkler candles which as you can see, were a lot of fun. We were able to celebrate with our friends here in St Andrews.

Now that the semester is in full swing and things are starting to get really busy. I'm sure it will gone in a flash. The good news is that we're going to have lots of visitors in the next little while, so I will do my best to keep up on the posts. I hope this one hasn't been a disappointment. We just wanted to let everyone know that we're doing well and that 2008 is off to a good start.

'Tis the season

2007-12-17T09:04:00.001Z

This will be our last post before we go home for Christmas. We haven't seen proper snow in a VERY long time, and I'm not sure that we're up for it.....at least I'm not. I think we've been spoiled in Scotland. Don't get me wrong, it's cold, but not the same kind of cold. Anyway, there will be lots waiting for us (so I hear), and hopefully it won't follow us back. We were in Edinburgh last weekend for the German Christmas Market and it was spectacular.

I understand why people drink gluvine in the winter. I does a great job of keeping you warm, or at least drunk so that you don't feel the cold.

Since Malcolm doesn't drink red wine, he had to move on to hot chocolate with Amaretto...did I mention whipped cream? That's what's causing him all the problems in this picture. Aside from beautifully crafted stalls, there was also a fair, and ice skating. Unfortunately, it was raining, not ideal for skating. Here's Malcolm in front of the enormous faris wheel.

It was a great time! Little did we know that we would have the chance to enjoy it again before we came home as Duncan made the trek to Scotland one last time in 2007. He arrived on the Friday night, and we met him in Edinburgh where we got to indulge once more in the loveliness that is gluvine (this time Malcolm had mulled apple wine). We stayed in the big city for dinner before heading back to St Andrews. It's hard to tell in this picture, but here are the men in front of Edinburgh castle. If you look closer you can see the skating rink in the bottom left-hand corner.

We had a nice time in St Andrews (as per usual). We had dinner on the Saturday before proceeding to a house party. Some of my friends from around the department were having people 'round for an 'end-of-term' celebration.

It's much easier for PhD students and staff to have get-togethers at houses. It almost completely eliminates the possibility of running into your students when you're half-in-the-bag (or all the way in for that matter). This is important in St Andrews. Anyway, we had a great time...a little too good. Duncan had to leave early the following morning. Let's just say...he made his flight. We'll leave the rest for another blog.

See you in the new year!

Autumn in St Andrews

2007-10-05T17:02:00.000+01:00

It's hard to believe that it's fall already. We've been living here for more that a year which is both scary and reassuring at the same time. Since the clocks have gone back, we have been left with the all-too-familiar darkness at 4pm. That's why we've decided to go out and enjoy the sunlight when we have it.

We discovered this beautiful path (Thanks to our flatmate Aurelija) that goes right through the centre of St Andrews.
I don't think that the pictures do it justice, but the scenery was beautiful. Now we have the option of walking along the beach (not so great in the winter), or this beautiful river path.
Before we knew it we had walked the length of St Andrews. This Doocot is a medieval structure and houses pigeons to this day....who knew?!
It's nice to know that even though St Andrews is a small town, it still has treasures to be uncovered.
At times, when it really starts to 'feel' small, we can enjoy a relaxing stroll through the forest and be reconnected with nature. It will be interesting to see what St Andrews has in store for us to discover next.

A fine end to the summer

2007-09-16T16:28:00.000+01:00

I know that it's been an unforgivable amount of time since we've posted anything. Thanks for your patience...we hope it was worth the wait. Since our last post, we've been home to Canada and back. We were home for 3 weeks in total, but we still can't believe how much we did while we were there. We had lots of time with friends and family, and although we were not able to accomplish everything we set out to do, it was fun nonetheless.

We ate tons of great food, as you can see here at the Greek Garden (or "Garlic garden"as mom likes to call it). This was one of many meals that we were fortunate to have enjoyed with friends.

Our time home was also filled with lots of visits with family. Malcolm's grandparents had us all over for dinner. We had lots to celebrate, and we also just enjoyed all being together.

And what trip would be complete without a night of Piggins? Our favourite musical friends from Toronto were nice enough to set up a special gig in Guelph just for us! We were very lucky and had a wonderful time. It was a little more tame than usual....but then again...we are all getting a little older.

We caught up with friends that we haven't seen in ages and even had the opportunity to make some new ones. Thankfully, Malcolm was blessed with extremely long arms, which allows him the ability to take great pictures without even having to get up.

We truly enjoyed our time home, especially with family. It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed...it doesn't even seem possible. Kids are growing quickly and members of our family are moving forward in their lives. Although sometimes it feels like we're not a part of it, similarly I guess we are moving forward as well. We hope everyone in our lives knows how much we love them and that our 'community' in Canada is never far from our thoughts. Thank you for all of your support. It won't be long until we're all together again. Malcolm and I tried our best to see everyone when we were home, please forgive us for coming up short. There never seems to be enough time, we promise we'll make up for it when we're home for good.

Mom and Josh in Scotland/England

2007-07-31T09:35:00.000+01:00

It's hard to believe that Mom and Josh arrived 3 weeks ago. The time has gone so quickly, but we managed to cram a lot of adventures into a short space of time. Here you see everyone at Stirling castle. Our day in Stirling was spent between the William Wallace monument, the castle and the old town.

Even though St Andrews is small, it still has a lot to offer. On one of the very few days of sunshine, we made our way to the beach so that Josh could experience the North Sea. It may not look like it, but it was VERY cold. You can see a video of his other version of surfing (not the web) on our web videos.

We ventured to Anstruther, which is a little fishing village on the coast, world famous for their fish and chips. We didn't make it to the isle of May to visit the puffins because we all agreed that it was too far to go to be pooped on.

Josh did very well with trying new things. Aside from the world famous fish and chips, he was a little more adventuresome with haggis. He also tasted deep fried mars bars and authentic bangers and mash. The "thumbs up" means he approves.

For the last leg of their visit, we made our way down to foggy London town where we stayed for 4 days. I will let Mom and Josh fill you in on all of the details, as I spent the whole trip buried in the library. They explored touristy stuff and Josh even ventured out on his own. He's now an old 'pro' at navigating the tube, so feel free to ask him for advice if you're travelling to London.

While in St Andrews, we also visited Scotland's secret bunker. The ship 'Discovery' in Dundee that went to the Antarctic, the golf museum, and the graveyard at the cathedral. We had a few shopping trips to Dundee and a couple of movie nights. In Josh's spare time, he read the latest Harry Potter book twice! All in all, it has been a wonderful visit. This is my condensed version, but I know that they will both have a lot more to tell!

Stacie Round Two

2007-07-01T15:31:00.000+01:00

First of all, we need to apologise for the lack of posts lately. As some of you know, we had to move at the beginning of June. It took us a little while to get settled, but now we're very happy and we couldn't be closer to the centre of town. Stacie was our first guest at our new apartment. To celebrate the occasion, we discovered a place that sells Moosehead beer!

Her first weekend here, we headed north to the highlands to enjoy the breathtaking views and the hairy-coos. We made it all the way to Loch Ness. Unfortunately, Nessie didn't come out to play, but we met some interesting people who have seen her, or at least believe they did.

There were still some things that St Andrews had to offer that Stacie hadn't seen on her first visit. We went to the Golf museum and had a great time with the exhibits. I didn't know that Stacie and Malcolm were such avid golfers.

We were fortunate enough to have at least one nice day which we took advantage of to enjoy the beach. Here we are with St Andrews in the background.

Stacie and I took a short trip to Anstruther, just along the coast. They have world famous fish and chips which we happily enjoyed.

It was great to have her back again. We tried to convince her to stay longer, but alas, she had bigger and better things to get back to. Her last day here, she found out that she was offered a big girl job in Guelph. We are so happy for her. It might be harder for her to get away on vacation but at least now she can fly first class.

The McLeods' visit with the McLeods

2007-05-10T09:48:00.000+01:00

We just had a lovely visit with Malcolm's parents. They arrived on Thursday night and we spent a little time in the town catching up.

On Friday, we went for a walk along the beach and enjoyed some of what St Andrews has to offer. The problem with St Andrews is, you have to use it sparingly, you don't want to do too much at once or else there will be nothing left to see. On Saturday we made the 2 hour journey to Stirling, possibly one of the most beautiful cities in Scotland, not to mention the history! We visited the Wallace monument...
We visited the medieval castle and took in the amazing architecture of the old town. We learned a lot about the battles that took place on the land as well as the famous people who are associated with it: Robert the Bruce, William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots and so on.

On Sunday we ventured to Scotland's Secret Bunker. First opened to the public in 1994, this underground construction was built after the Second World War. It was designed to serve many purposes, among them, to house government if there was ever a nuclear attack. It was really interesting and Malcolm and his dad are convinced that this tourist trap is actually a front for contemporary spy operations. I think they may have secretly been recruited while I was in the loo.

Monday was a bank holiday, but unfortunately Malcolm still had to be accessible to his students. His parents ventured to Dunfermline, formerly the capital of Scotland. It's a small town with loads of history. Throughout the week, we explored the golf course, the scores, the castle and the cathedral of St Andrews, here are Malcolm's parents at the famous stone bridge on the 18th hole of the old course.

Duncan had to leave on Tuesday night as he was continuing on to France for business. On Susan's last night, Scotland said good-bye in it's own special way...with rain. It did however, make this beautiful sight possible. This is what we saw from our back yard...

It was a great visit and, as per usual, the time always seems to go too fast. This was the first of many Scottish adventures together. Next time we may venture to the highlands in search of our ancestors...or we may just sit in a pub and drink Ale. Either way, it's just nice to be with family.

Scottish Myths and Legends

2007-04-17T20:45:00.000+01:00

Over the next couple of weeks, maybe months, I will be providing some insight into some of the long sought after truth behind some of Scotland’s greatest myths and legends. Some will be brief and short, others more in depth. I will of course be using the inter-web as my main source of information and I will keep it as short as possible, however others will require tedious field work and experimentation. I hope you enjoy, and please comment as you see fit. If you have any questions or areas of focus you would like to see researched, let me know.

Malcolm

So we begin….

Scottish Myths and Legends

Who, Why and How was the traditional Kilt created?

Myth: Many believe the kilt was developed by the Scots to help sneak up on sheep since sheep could hear a zipper a hundred yards away.

Actuality:

The word kilt comes from the Scots word kilt meaning to tuck up the clothes around the body.

The exact origins of the kilt are uncertain, but this garment, along with the many clan and district tartans in which it is produced, has become a powerful symbol of Scottish identity, history and culture. Although based on traditions of dress which developed in the 'Highlands' of Scotland, you could say that the kilt forms the basis of a national dress that has come to represent Scotland in its entirety.

The kilt itself in its original form was a very basic garment which required neither the trouble of tailoring nor the frequent replacement which a pair of breeches (pants or trousers) needed. The obvious versatility of the material lent it many uses beyond clothing; at times, for example, the whole thing could be unravelled and used as a blanket covering. It allowed great freedom of movement and could be shed very quickly in situations of combat.

Identification at any distance of differing clans was due largely to the wearing of the various clan plant-badges of which, it will be noticed, is a considerable feature by an easily visible token in the bonnet so as to allow other clan members to know who their clan, septs and friends were in a battle. This plant-badge was worn on the bonnet or balmoral.

With the growing feeling of Nationalism in Scotland, the Kilt is being worn more often than in the last 100 years. Many Scotsmen are rediscovering their roots and beginning to show great interest in reviving some of the old traditions and customs of the Highlanders. The Tartan Kilt is probably the most World-wide identifiable garment worn by any one group of individuals.

Finally please never refer to it as a skirt, unless you enjoy a steel toed boot to the temple, however the sporran, in some cases can be referred to as a “man purse”.

Next week: Whisky....

Our whirlwind vacation

2007-04-09T14:09:00.000+01:00

Well...we survived and we hope all of you did too. Our trip home was fantastic! In a strange mix of going so fast and accomplishing so much, we're not sure if we got it right. Let's start from the beginning. We arrived late Saturday night (early Sunday morning) and were greeted at the airport by my sister and her husband who were kind enough to pick us up. Had a great sleep, then on Sunday we celebrated Malcolm's grandpa's 80 birthday! Here he is wearing a little something we brought from Scotland. It was a wonderful party, since we weren't home for Christmas, it was the first time we had all been together in a while.

On Monday we did some running around and got acclimatised to the city (which has changed a lot in six months!) We even got to see my dad play basketball which was great. Tuesday was an exciting time. Malcolm's parents had arranged for us to go to a Leafs game. Those of you who know Malcolm will understand what a HUGE event this was for him. We had a great time at the game and they won!

Because we were only home for a short time, friends of ours suggested that we make a night of it in Toronto, so we got a hotel and partied it up in the big city! It was lots of fun. The rest of the week was kind of a blurr punctuated with joyful reunions and time with friends and family. Malcolm had an unfortunate run-in with his dentist but ultimately survived. On Thursday, I went to London and had a chance to meet up with the old Master's gang. It was surreal having lunch at the Grad Club and it felt just like old times. Friday night, we had arranged to be at the Jazz so that anyone that we had missed could come out for a drink.

We were amazed at how many people showed up! It was an eclectic mixture of people and we are so grateful to those who made the trip. The only negative part was that the evening evaporated. Before we knew it, it was 2:30am and we were standing in line for pizza. What happened?

Saturday was super special. My sister-in-law had arranged for the whole family to be in one place (a task in itself) and we got to spend the afternoon and early evening together. For those if you who know my family, this is always a good time! One thing that we miss being in St. Andrews is the business of home. It was wonderful to be surrounded by everyone we love. That night we had a very nice night with close friends, one of which made the trip all the way from Ottawa to see us. On Monday I got to visit with my aunt and uncle that I haven't seen in ages. We all went together to visit my grandma, who, all things considered, is doing quite well.

Overall, it was an amazing trip. It was so nice to see everyone and to just be emerged in all of the familiar sights and sounds of home. One thing we realised was that we are eager to return for good. St Andrews is great for now, but it does have a built-in expiry date. We belong in Guelph and being away really brought that to the fore. As for right now, we are extremely happy and couldn't have asked for a better situation. We did our best to get to everyone while we were home, but there never seems to be enough time. We will try to make our next visit in the summer more relaxed as we will be staying for longer. I had mild separation anxiety having to leave mom, yet again, but I know that it will soon be quelled with her awaited return to Scotland in the summer. Thanks to everyone who made our visit home so special, we are so grateful to have such great people in our lives.

Almost time

2007-03-21T09:27:00.000Z

This is just a short note to say that we are only a few days away. Consequently we won't be posting while we're in Canada. We will no doubt have many things to post when we get back to Scotland. Nights of drunken debauchery, family time and time with friends. We hope to see you soon!

At least I'm not herding sheep.

2007-03-07T20:35:00.000Z

So, we all know why we moved to Scotland, so Naomi could get her PhD, get a good job, make a lot of money and I would never have to work again. When she made her final decision of St Andrews (she is so smart, she was accepted to all 11 schools she applied to except one – ignorant Americans do not know what they are missing) I decided I should look for a job, I knew that sitting at home all day watching the sheep go by might influence my temptations. I started to surf the web looking for job posts, thinking I would be lucky to find a job in a bar or something similar. About two weeks before we left, I came upon an add for a Disability Adviser for the University (not quit my forte, I’m a Gerontologist, kinda, the opposite of working with young students, sort of like a Pilot driving a taxi still- getting people to were they need to go just in a different manner) I thought: “what the hell?” After filling in the dozens of applications and reference forms, I was granted an interview, step one achieved. So, we flew to the Island with hopes of a great education and a sustainable income. After the interview I felt confident and within the day was offered the job, one problem I had no visa, back to Canada the next day and here we are now.

Who will I be seeing today?

So many of you might ask: “What the hell do you do?” “Advise people on what type of disability they should get?” Not quite. I’ll give you the technical version:

I am one of the Disability Advisers and am consulted by students and staff who have physical disabilities, sensory impairments, ongoing medical conditions, mental health difficulties and autistic spectrum disorders. I am responsible for assessing and meeting identified needs and raising awareness of these in a developmental sense throughout the University.

Long story short, I am a shoulder to cry on, and a cleaner of tears…. Most of my day involves students coming in to seek help and advice, and for the most part I give it with open arms, however there is always that one student…the one who sucks the life out of you, the one who spends more time with you then with school work (you wonder why they are struggling) I also do advocacy work for the town and school, as well as policy development and all that jazz. Its an interesting job, every week is a different one, I have been exposed to so many new weird diseases and illnesses, I feel I could be a member of House MD (Lupus anyone?). The job is both physically demanding (I have to walk to work) and emotionally draining (when is someone going to listen to MY problems). I love the Job, no ulcers this time around, and I couldn’t ask for better co-workers (until last month I was the only male on staff, story of my life). I look forward to the next couple of years, and I still get to keep up with my gerontology – I get all the mature students.

My weekly box of tissue.

At least I have a nice view.

Official Countdown

2007-03-02T14:30:00.000Z

Just a quick note to draw your attention to the new countdown timer on the sidebar. It has the number of hours and everything! We can't wait to see everyone.

Yodel-eh-he-hoo

2007-02-20T09:40:00.000Z

We just returned from our adventure in Switzerland! We had the opportunity to spend the weekend with Ryan and Anne and what better place to meet but the land of chocolate, mountains and cheese.

They picked us up from the airport Friday night and we spent the evening in Geneva. Anne took us to this lovely little restaurant for some delicious fondue. I must say, there's nothing better than a HUGE pot of cheese. One thing we learned is that you have to be careful what you drink with the fondue or you might end up with a congealed mess in your tummy, who would have thought?

Saturday morning we got to see where Anne is living, just over the border in France. We picked up a few things and then we were on our way to Interlaken. We were both so grateful to Anne for driving us around as we got to see so much of the countryside.

Once we arrived and got settled (after a breathtaking drive into the Swiss Alps) we walked around the town breathing in the fresh mountain air and enjoying the uncommonly warm weather. For dinner we had Raclette...mmmmm....a huge plate of melted cheese! Could there be anything better?

Interlaken is absolutely beautiful. The four of us decided we wanted to see the quaint mountain town from another perspective. We booked a paragliding trip so that we could see what the birds see. This is us before hand enjoying breakfast in the sunshine. You can't see in this picture, but we were watching the other paragliders who were just above us.

We drove up the mountain where we got to choose our pilot. We were to be attached to them for the flight, I must say, it wasn't a hard decision because they were all EXTREMELY good looking. Here is a picture of Ryan and Anne getting ready.

Then we had to run off the mountain until the parachute filled with air and it was smooth sailing for 5000ft. The view was incredible. Please visit our link to 'Our Videos' where you can see more details of Malcolm's journey.

Below is just a taste of what it was like.

We landed safely in the park conveniently located in the centre of town.

The weekend went by too quickly but we managed to do a lot with the time we had. The best part of the weekend was being able to sit and talk with our two great friends. It was the perfect combination of relaxation and activity and we all have memories that will last a lifetime.

Coming Soon.....Switzerland

2007-02-14T10:34:00.000Z

We are sorry that we haven’t posted anything in the last couple of weeks; both of us have been completely knackered every night, and we end up spending the weekend sleeping till 3 p.m. However, we are off to Geneva and Interlaken Switzerland this Friday for a weekend away with Ryan and Anne. So sit tight, and in the next couple of days, we will post all our fun stories about chocolate and ckoo-ckoo clocks.

Stacie MacFrance

2007-01-22T16:10:00.001Z

Stacie arrived early Wednesday morning. We left Glasgow as soon as possible (as you do) to return to St Andrews in time to meet Malcolm for lunch. I'm not sure how, but we managed to stay up until almost midnight with neither of us having had any sleep. The next couple days were spent quietly in St Andrews. Then to Edinburgh where the real party began! We were very fortunate because our friends Carol and Colin (who live in Edinburgh) were able to spend some time with us while we were there. We went out for a special dinner at Maison Bleu where we ate the most amazing food (and drank some amazing drinks!)

Here you see Haggis balls..mmmmm.

Here you see my kind of birthday cake!

We spent most of Saturday touring around Edinburgh. We visited the castle and all of the little tourist shops along the Royal Mile. We were moving surprisingly fast considering all of the yummy concoctions we drank the night before. (See below).

Outside the castle, we had the privilege of meeting William Wallace who was nice enough to pose for a picture. What's not featured in the picture is the tattoo he has on his right cheek, which he told me, he only shows to birthday girls. Yeah me!

After our day of roaming around the Auld Toon, we went on a literary pub tour of Edinburgh. It was nice because we were actually learning things whilst getting drunk so we didn't feel so bad. The tour guide was superb and taught us a lot about authors and their historical ties to the city. Afterwards, we continued the evening with Carol and Colin for.......you guessed it.....more drinks.

On our last day, we had a nice brunch and then Carol gave us a short tour of the Scottish section of the National Museum. We saw things like Robert the Bruce's sword, Mary Queen of Scots tomb. But more importantly, we got to dress up!

Here's me pretending to be a Beserker.

Here's Stacie as a Viking.

In retrospect, I think the exhibit may have been designed for children. But we made the clothes fit and we had lots of fun dressing up. Not to mention we gave the security guard something to laugh at. We finished the tour of the museum with a trip up to the roof where you can see the whole city. It was still a little rainy but it was magnificent.

Here we are on the roof with the castle in the background. We came back to St Andrews shortly after this on the train. It was definitely one of the most memorable weekends ever and we can't wait to go back. It was the company that made the weekend so special. We look forward to Stacie coming back for a visit for more Scottish history and drinks!

2007-01-15T14:55:00.000Z

Ok, so I've decided that Stacie is coming tomorrow. She actually doesn't arrive until early Wednesday morning, but since I won't be sleeping, I'm going to pretend that its tomorrow. Things are going well, I wrote my application of literary theory exam on Saturday and I think it went well. Now that my course is finished, I have NO excuses for putting off my reading. This semester is going to be really good. Although, I must say, I can't believe that we've finished one already. Time is going a little too quickly for my liking. Anyway, I'm off to the library. The next post will include Stacers! Hopefully with some embarrassing pictures.

2007-01-04T16:10:00.000Z

I know that I'm a few days late in wishing everyone a Happy New Year, however, I also know that for some of you, today is the first day you've started to feel 'normal' again. We had a very quiet night. Malcolm's boss invited us for drinks in the afternoon which was great. It also gave us the chance to socialize with my supervisor and his wife. I must say, I was a little nervous at first but they are such nice people and it gave us a chance to get to know each other outside of the university 'bubble'. I'm sure that Malcolm felt the same way being able to relax with his co-workers who are ALL super cool. Anyway, that was our night, nothing too outrageous and now we're back to the grind but not for long.......I would like to take this opportunity to officially start the 'Stacie is coming to St Andrews' countdown. That's right, SHE'S COMING FOR A VISIT. I know that I am noticeably more excited than the rest of you but I can't wait. For those of you who don't know, Stacie and I have been friends since kindergarten which puts us at around 20 years of friendship now. I can't believe she's stuck around this long! She'll be here in:

13 DAYS!

(did I mention I'm excited?)

We wish everyone a very safe and happy 2007.

First Christmas in St Andrews

2006-12-30T14:50:00.001Z

We were a little sad not to be coming home for Christmas this year, but I think we made out alright. Christmas eve was very eventful. Our friend invited us to spend Christmas eve with her and her friends in Edinburgh. Her flat-mate in St Andrews hired a car and offered to drive us there and back. We went to church in the morning and spent the afternoon in the town. Leaving St Andrews was a little tricky because the rental car died before we could even get on the road. Luckily AA came and had us on our way in under an hour. We arrived in Edinburgh to be greeted by the friendliest people in the world. Not to mention enough food to feed an army and presents! That's right, to make us feel included in their Christmas traditions they got us pressies so that we could celebrate with them at midnight. The evening wasn't complete until everyone had a swing at the pinata. It was loads of fun.

We didn't get home until very late (or early depending on how you look at it). We slept-in Christmas day and opened our lovely presents from home. We had some time on the webcam and lots of phone calls. We wanted Christmas day to be as relaxing as possible so we had a floor picnic in front of the fire. We watched old cheesy movies all day and didn't leave the house. It was fabulous.

For dinner, I made us a stuffed chicken for two, mashed potatoes and broccoli with cheese sauce. It was nothing compared to the Christmas dinner(s) we would have had at home but I did my best.

We ended up spending the whole day nestled in front of the fire and enjoying the best present Santa brought us this year.....each other. On boxing day Malcolm's boss invited us for dinner. We met the residence wardens who were stuck here over the holidays and Malcolm's boss stuffed us all with food and drinks, so much so that we're hoping to go to their place again for Hogmanay (New Years) for round two. We wanted to tell you all how much we miss you and that we were thinking about you all this holiday season. Thank you for making our first Christmas away from home one to remember.

First day of winter

2006-12-21T14:20:00.000Z

With Christmas only 4 days away, we just wanted to take this opportunity to show you some pictures of our neighbours front yard. As you can see, there are still flowers (albeit a little frost-bitten) but, they're there!

It figures, the year we're not at home, southwestern Ontario is granted warm weather for Christmas. It's sunny and warm with no chance of snow in sight. Not fair! Oh well, it goes without saying that winter will come eventually.

Here in St Andrews, the weather has been consistent. Not too cold, not too windy comparable to the fall weather that we have in Canada. I hope we haven't spoken too soon, but it's really nice to wake up in the morning and go out our door to be greeted by these flowers that are still hanging in there. We got our first frost earlier this week, but we know that we're going to have a green Christmas. As for the rest of you in Ontario, you may still have a chance at a white Christmas.

Our little Christmas tree...

2006-12-17T22:33:00.000Z

Here is our little Christmas Tree!!! We would like to say thank you to Susan for sending it along with Ducan and for the cute tiny decorations. We'd also like to thank Duncan for carrying it around Europe with him in his suitcase. Thanks to Vicki for the lovely hand made decorations. You can't see in this picture but we now have an abundance of presents underneath. Thank you to everyone who sent us things (you shouldn't have) but it will make our Christmas overseas feel like home.

Duncan McLeod of the Clan McLeod

2006-12-17T22:12:00.000Z

Duncan came to visit us the first time after we hadn't even been here a week. It was long before we started the blog so we don't have any "official" evidence (which is probably a good thing). He arrived on Friday afternoon and we went out for a nice dinner. The next day a drink and a haircut....as seen below.

Although we may have skipped the haircut bit.

Then it was off to Dundee for some food and shopping. Dundee is the closest "Metropolis" in Fife. It's the fourth biggest city in Scotland, which isn't saying much. Anyway, we had a great time watching all of the people bustle around doing their shopping. We had an afternoon drink at this old pub.

Because we skipped lunch, we were all very hungry around 4:30pm which is the wrong time to look for a place to eat. We finally found a Turkish restaurant to take us early and it was fantastic. The meal finished off with some cloudy concoction which left me rather loud and mouthy on the way home. We made it back to St Andrews just as the young ones were getting ready to go out and had the rest of the evening at home to relax. All in all, it was a very nice visit, we look forward to many more like it.

Our life in St Andrews

2006-12-13T11:23:00.000Z

Now that Malcolm and I have settled into a routine, we've found happiness in the strangest of places. We've adopted random pets from around town. This one found us the other night so we invited her in for a drink. She didn't stay very long but it was nice to pretend that we had a cat, if only for a little while. Plus, you get all of the affection and none of the work.

We're hoping that she'll come back for a visit sometime. Also, as some of you know, we live beside the burn (translation: wee river). Everyday when we walk to the town center we pass a wonderful congregation of ducks, Mallards no less. Anyway, we've discovered two things about them. One: they are very well fed and two: they have no fear.

We end up saving just about anything so that we have an excuse to feed them. They're just so much fun and they're very amusing to watch. Last week we had a Majestic swan in the burn for a few days but I wasn't able to get a picture. Next time he's there I'll be sure to get one. Who knows what other wildlife will show up in the future.

Finally I have to tell you about the strangest and yet most pleasant thing that we've discovered living in St Andrews. First of all, I have to say that St Andrews has maintained a lot of it's traditional "small town" attributes. The familiar butcher shop, the milk delivery man...Etc. This is one of the best ones though. IT'S THE ICE CREAM MAN!!!!!

He comes by our neighbourhood frequently in this traditional ice cream truck (it's hard to see, sorry about the picture, I was chasing him down the street). He plays the wonderful music that he has to wind by hand and he serves tasty treats at a bargain price. The first couple of times Malcolm and I heard the music, we thought we were going crazy. Then we realized that it wasn't a dream. The most ironic part of it all is that he's usually parked at the end of our street Tuesday nights at 8:00pm just as I conveniently come home from my weight watchers meeting. I've resisted so far, and it's not that I necessarily want to eat ice cream, I just love the fact that we HAVE and ice cream man.

Christmas celebrations

2006-12-05T15:32:00.000Z

So, they take Christmas very seriously here in St Andrews. Malcolm and I spent last weekend enjoying everything that St Andrews had to offer. There were reindeer... This is a big one, he didn't look too impressed. And there was also a baby reindeer...He wasn't too sure what was going on.

Most of the main streets were blocked off for the festivities. They brought in carnival rides (which didn't look too safe I might add). I don't know what happens when you get older, if you just see things differently or what. 10 years ago, I would have been first in line to get on those rides and now I find myself questioning their maintenance records. Is that normal?

Anyway, more traditionally there was some highland dancing and yes....Bagpipes....of course.

luckily, this time of year, it's pitch dark at around 4pm. Malcolm and I gathered at the "Kingdom FM" tent where they were broadcasting live to await the lighting of the lights in St Andrews.

It was very exciting, Santa was there and everything. Although his costume was questionable to say the least, it was great to see all of the little kids so excited. Here you can see the video of the main event.

I know what you're thinking....it's a little anti-climactic. To be fair, this is big for St Andrews. Given that it's such a small town, I think they did very well. If we had been 6 years old, it would have been the event of the year. Aside from being slightly "provincial", it was very entertaining and we had a great afternoon. We drank mulled wine and indulged in PM's 50p chips promotion. I can't wait to see what they do for New Years!

Lunch with our new friends

2006-11-30T10:03:00.000Z

One of the first things that I did when I enrolled in school here was attend a "Post grad induction day". It was supposed to be one of those boring "welcome to the university....blah blah blah" affairs, but it actually turned out to be very interesting. It was a day-long event with various speakers, lunch and wine! Anyway, part of the day is designed so that you can meet other grad students not necessarily from your department. One of the first people I met was an extremely friendly gentleman from Botswana. We chatted for a little while, compared stories...Etc. I couldn't get over how friendly he was and how genuinely interested he was in my boring life. We parted shortly after and I didn't think anymore of it. St Andrews being the size it is, you are almost guaranteed to run into people you know on a regular basis. A few weeks later I ran into him on the street. Not only did he remember my name, but he remembered everything I had told him during our brief encounter. I was shocked! Mostly because I know that he's met a lot of people because of his nature but he remembered me. When Malcolm and I returned from Canada, I was walking him to work and who did we run into? That's right, him. I was astonished when he put out his hand to introduce himself and said "Ah, you must be Malcolm". I couldn't believe it. How did he do that? I probably mentioned Malcolm's name once in a brief conversation at a wine reception over a month ago. This is just one of many things that makes him special. He invited us to his place this week for a traditional Botswanan dinner.

There were 6 of us all together that enjoyed oxtail, beans, dumplings and butternut squash. OH MY GOD!! It was delicious, who knew an ox's tail could be so tasty?

Anyway, we had a lovely time and Malcolm and I are still astonished by the sincerity of this man. It's amazing how in life you cross paths with the most random of people and it turns into something great.

Raisin Weekend

2006-11-26T20:35:00.000Z

So, for those of you who don't know, St Andrews University is the oldest University in Scotland. It was founded in 1413 and has many traditions. One of which is held during "raisin weekend". It's a tradition that involves mostly the 'freshers' but also third and forth year students. Each fresher is assigned a mother and a father. They each spend time with their 'child' doing various activities, all of which include vast amounts of alcohol. In the past, the child would present their parents with a pound of raisins as their way of saying thanks. The modern day equivalent has translated to a bottle of wine. This right of passage culminates on the Monday when the parents dress their children (embarrassingly of course) and give them a 'receipt' in exchange for their wine. It usually consists of something big and bulky that the child has to carry to St Salvitors quad. We saw everything from couches to pig's heads. Anyway, once in the quad, a MASSIVE foam fight breaks out and the freshers go to town on each other. It's an interesting tradition that most of the students here experience and our friend from Canada took part. Here she is dressed as a star.

And here is just a taste of the craziness that happens in the quad with the foam (which is really shaving cream...it smelled really good).

It was freezing cold that morning and also raining, I'm gad that a fellow Canadian got to participate in the event, but you couldn't have paid me enough to do it. It's amazing the different rituals that each university has for their freshers. Something to keep in mind for when I start teaching.

The Royals

2006-11-23T22:15:00.000Z

I know you've all been waiting on the edge of your seat to find out what happened to us in London. After we dropped mom off at the airport we weren't really sure what we were going to do. We thought about seeing a show, but Spamalot was sold out and nothing else was very appealing. So, we walked around Piccadilly and stumbled upon Old Bond Street where we saw all of the posh shops like Armani, Chanel, Gucci...etc. You get the idea, so we decided to go to a shop where we would feel more comfortable..Hamleys! It's a ginormous toy store that was buzzing with excitement, reminded us of the one in the movie Home Alone 2. We spent about an hour just walking around and playing with toys. Malcolm found the toy of his dreams, it's a remote control beetle! Needless to say, he's been playing with it everyday since.

Here he is outside the shop. Anyway, we were strolling along enjoying the scenery and we decided to walk through Green Park. Since we were both so nackered from the bus trip we sat down and watched the birds (specifically the Magpies which happen to be my favourites).

Then, in the distance we heard drumming and piping, so we decided to walk towards the sound. We came out in front of Buckingham Palace where there were some people standing around the gates. By this time it was 2:00pm so we knew that it was too late for the changing of the guard. There weren't very many people there so we weren't really sure what was going on. We waited for a bit and enjoyed a hot chocolate, since we didn't have anything else planned we decided to stick around. There were tons of policemen on motorcycles speeding about and the roads were closed so we knew it had to be important. Then, suddenly, the gates opened and out rolled the royal car! This is how close we were.......not close enough to be invited for tea, but we did receive the "royal wave".

I know that it's hard to see, but trust us...she was there. We discovered that you can tell if a member of the Royal family is in a car by the crown on the roof. The bigger and fancier the crown, the more important the person. So, we followed the crowd to Marble Arch.

As it turns out, they were dedicating a new monument to New Zealand as well as celebrating remembrance day. It was a big event, many dignitaries, representatives, secret service, snipers and even Elton John! We waited for a very long time and crowds thinned out because it was FREEZING. By the time it was over, we had another great view of everyone leaving. This time we saw Prince Phillip, Camilla and WILLIAM!!!!

We also saw Harry, he was riding in a separate car with some military dudes. It's a quick
shot, but it's him!

So, after all of that excitement, we wandered around a little more and ended up back in Piccadilly.

We ended up going to see a movie to pass some time before we had to get back on the bus. We left London at 10:45pm to arrive back in Dundee at 6:30am. Needless to say, we got back to St Andrews as quickly as possible for a nap. So, after everything, it was a very eventful trip to London, emotionally draining but well worth the 20+ hours on the coach.

So sorry

2006-11-21T10:07:00.000Z

Well, we definitely need to apologize, it's been over a week since we've posted anything. Although we were still adjusting to being here on our own and settling into a routine, it's no excuse for leaving you in the dark. As most of you know, we had to say goodbye to mom last Saturday. We left St Andrews around 5:30pm and arrived in Dundee where we boarded the lovely National Express bus for a short 10 and 1/2 hour bus ride. All things considered it was actually quite pleasant and we were doing ok by the time we reached Heathrow airport, as you can see.

However, we arrived at 6:30am and mom didn't have to check-in until 10:00am. We had some time to spend together before she had to leave which was nice, much better than being rushed. We found the check-in section and then settled in a nice cafe for a long leisurely breakfast. Then we walked around the terminal for a while and were astonished at the lines to go through security. All British airports were implementing new policies with regards to liquids... Etc. Needless to say, we got mom to check-in extra early just in case.

We had time to say goodbye and despite being tired we had a great time. After check-in, we waited with mom for her very own private escort (not the kind you pay for) and they whisked her away, (a little too quickly for my liking). We met a nice lady who, as it turns out, was on mom's flight and with whom she had a lovely conversation on the way back to Canada. Because of her escort, she was able to avoid the terrible lines and as it turns out, those lines provided her with some entertainment as she was at the gate 2 hours before her flight.

Malcolm and I, alone at Heathrow airport, sleep deprived and me having an aggressive attack of 'mommy-itis' had a good cry and then got on the tube to go into Londontown. We really enjoyed having mom here and when we get home at night I half expect her to be there. Still, we talk everyday and she can envision us going about our daily tasks. We look forward to her coming back in the Spring and we might even be living in a new apartment that would avoid the 2x4's!

We miss you mommy!! Thanks for the visit. Our next post will be our adventures in London and let me say one thing.... They involve the Royal Family so stay tuned.

The Last Hurrah!!!!

2006-11-09T16:01:00.000Z

By the time some of you check this message I may be high in the skies on my way back to the Scottish colony of Canada. The days have just flown by even though I resisted all Naomi’s entreaties to go everywhere possible while I was here. After all I have to have something left to do on my next visit. That will happen when the weather is warmer and the heather is in bloom on the highlands I hope.

A rather deflated end to my ancestral quest. We went to Dundee again last Sunday with the intention of going on to Monifieth but the extremely curtailed local bus service meant that we would only have 45 minutes there before the last bus of the day returned to Dundee, so we went shopping instead. I should say that Naomi & Malcolm went shopping while I held down a bench in the mall and watched all the people scurrying by. It’s kind of like bird watching, you see all types of plumage and characters.

Since we could find no way to contact St. Brides church directly, Naomi found an internet link on the Dundee birth registry which offered genealogy searches so we are signed up for them to pursue the information we have. They will report to Naomi on whatever the results are.

In the spring, I would still like to go to Monifieth as it may well be as beautiful as Broughty Ferry.

I had only 2 trips up the 2x4s this week (and another tomorrow) and each one was harder than the one before. I guess I’m still not in shape. I find the wind very biting and it seems to blow right through me. Enough complaints. We have tickets for the overnight bus on Friday which will take us directly to Heathrow airport from Dundee so I will miss London entirely. Naomi & Malcolm can spend the day there then ride the bus back to Dundee overnight. It’s a good thing they are young and can take it.

A special note to A & W (that’s Ace & Wife, not Albert & Walter) Watch for your mail from Scotland

I am looking forward to seeing everyone soon.

Arrrrrh! Me noggin's knockin...

2006-11-03T09:41:00.000Z

A short tale of woe to begin. I had a lovely conversation with Father McCarthy on Tuesday. He had already looked up the parish register and was sad to inform me that his church was too young to have any record of dad. It was consecrated in 1892.He also said that some families had transferred over from St. Brides church in Monifieth which is the next town down the road. Also now a suburb of Dundee. There is also a central birth registry in Dundee, which I don’t think dad contacted. The bad news is that the only phone number we could find for St. Brides does not accept incoming calls. I guess they don’t want to hear from their parishioners except in confession. I will go back to Fr McCarthy again soon.
Tuesday night Naomi showed me another yet another route up the ###### hill. By going along the bottom in the opposite direction then turning left, the slope is very gentle and very picturesque and ends up on Abbey Lane. (No Beatles in sight even tho it was Halloween) The problem here is that at the top of the hill, the energy saved in the climb will be twice expended in the distance to get to the town centre. Oh well we weren’t going there anyway. We were off to Weight Watchers for the dreaded consequences of enjoying both fish & chips and deep-fried Mars bars on the same night. Guess what? I actually lost 3 pounds. It must be the Scottish air. Or maybe that ###### hill.

Thursday afternoon Naomi & I went up the 2x4s to go to town then we walked up and down every street I think. We went to the castle ruins at the water where I read too much information about the local history & the gory Reformation to remember properly.

The wind was just howling in from the North Sea. My ears are still ringing. Naomi had to go to class so I retrod the streets and gawked in some shops for an hour. It’s a good thing I only brought a small suitcase so I couldn’t buy any of the beautiful items I saw. It’s just stuff right!

After class and Malcolm finishing his hard day’s work, we dined at Le Roustique an authentic Scottish French restaurant. The food was magnifique and at least as sinful as fish & chips but the Pièce de Resistance was the bottle of white wine that accompanied it.

That is the reason me noggin’s knockin. As most of you know , my capacity at a sitting is one glass of 7% alcohol But I managed to put away 2 ½ glasses of 12%. It was a very strange walk down the 2x4s to home. I will not be doing that again !!! (The drinking I mean) TaTa 4 now.

The ancestral search begins...

2006-10-31T12:31:00.000Z

Due to the absolute necessity of staying up til 4 am local time to listen to The World Series I was slow to get moving on Saturday so we didn't set out for Broughty Ferry until after lunch. To get to the bus station we had to go up the hill but on a different route. We went further along our side before turning right. Naomi said it would be easier. Not! The slope was only about 20 degrees but the distance was 3 times longer. Thankfully the Fife Council was kind enough to provide me with a bench (2 actually) half way up as we had another 2 blocks more to reach the bus. Away to Dundee which is about 30 minutes then just 4 miles more as Broughty Ferry is now within the Dundee city limits. The old town is only about 10 blocks by 6, by the river Tay. It looks to have provided a defense for Dundee originally and it seems to me to be almost 90 percent the original stone buildings. One tavern said"In business continuously since 1838". Date stones are nearly all before 1900 except the Post Office (which is now a pub) says 1907.

Now to find the Catholic church. Naomi & I saw a huge church which is now a fancy restaurant while Malcolm offered to go in the opposite direction. He phoned back the information that 1 was Pentacostal & another the Church of Scotland. There seemed to be a church on every other corner. The English always refer to Scotland as That GodForsaken land so why did they need so many churches? So Naomi & I went into the new old Post Office & bought a map of the area.
Meanwhile Malcolm had covered another 4 or 5 blocks and found more Churches of Scotland. The lady at the P.O. told us where she thought the Catholic church was and eventually we found it after wandering up & down many old cobbled streets that run perpendicular to the waterfront.
Guess what! The church was locked up and not a person in sight so Naomi wrote down the information board by taking a picture of it and we went off to find something to eat.

After refueling, we reversed direction & made it back to St. Andrews. I walked more on Saturday than I have in more than 3 years so needless to say Sunday was pretty much a wipeout for me. I phoned the church on Monday but the priest was not in. When I explained my story to the lady who answered the phone she said they had some baptismal records there & the father could check them for me. She also said 1889 was not so far back but she sounded a lot older than me and might have thought I said 1999. We'll see in the next chapter of this odyssey.

ACCHH! 'tis a bonnie blog by Ellie McSvensson

2006-10-27T22:10:00.000+01:00

Here I am, being held prisoner in dank and dour St. Andrews where the weather is wet and blustery. We live on the downhill side of town and to get to the town centre we have to climb the hill. There are 115 2x4 paving stones (Malcolm says 116) at an angle of 30-35 degrees to get up the hill. I did this twice this week. I stop at stone 65 where there is a garden gate to rest. It made me think I must be related to the Grand Old Duke of York since when I was only half way up I was neither up nor down. However it certainly is worth the trip. Most of the town is stone buildings that are even older than I am and the history of the place enfolds you as you wander like a dazed tourist gawking at chimney pots, tile roofs and ornate carvings as you misstep the cobbles and forget that traffic is coming at you from the right.

My scottish ancestry (I think - more on that later) tells me that by writing a blog I will be saving megapence on phone calls and anyone reading it can answer in the comments and save themselves lotsa money too.

Tomorrow we are off to Brouchty Ferry by way of Dundee so I hope to have some interesting news to report soon.

I returned to Scotland a Master

2006-10-27T21:30:00.000+01:00

Well, it actually happened. I returned to Canada and got my piece of paper. Surrounded by the people I love, the University of Western Ontario validated my last 2 years of hard work and tears with a lovely ceremony. We all looked wonderful and they even charged us 30$ to look that way.

Here is a nice picture of me with my parents. I don't think there's been one of these in 14 years. I think we're even standing in the same position. Anyway, it's nice to have and I'm glad my graduation could make this Kodak moment possible.

Here's a picture of me and the 'real' Mr. and Mrs. McLeod (Duncan and Susan). It was very nice that they made the trip to London to support me. I must say, I'm very lucky to be a McLeod.
Here's us, the 'pseudo McLeod's, or the McLeod's in training if you will. I wouldn't have wanted anyone else by my side. It's thanks to him that I was able to finish, and I will forever be financially indebted to him. After I'm finished my PhD, I'll go and join him on the corner.

Here's me with Doug and Erin at the Martini bar (man we felt old!) It was nice to hang out even though we were all exhausted and no...Despite Erin's efforts, Doug has resisted the dark side once again.
We went for dinner at 'Under the Volcano' the night before, which made sitting through the ceremony in the morning very uncomfortable for Malcolm (see picture below).

There's a Volcano in my pants!!

Mommy and me. She doesn't know this but one of the reasons I insisted on having ALL of my names on my degrees is so that her full name is on them too. Thank you mom, I would never have done it without you.

Here is lovely picture capturing the moment. Doug and I are united with our idol Marjorie. We hope to have a nifty robe like hers someday.

So what now? With a Master's degree in Spanish, I believe the next step will be "¿Quiere ud patatas fritas con su pedido?"

Heading Home!

2006-10-13T18:37:00.000+01:00

Just a quick note to say that there won't be any new posts for a while because I'm going home for graduation. I'm really excited to see everyone and more excited to actually see the piece of paper. I still have this sinking feeling that I'll get up on stage and someone will say "I'm sorry Naomi, we don't have one for you. You'll have to start over". More importantly I'm going to see my honey! Here is a picture of us, we will be reunited soon. Hopefully there will be some heavy celebrations! Anyway, I look forward to seeing most of you soon, if not I'll be sure to get back to posting as soon as possible.

.....Ciao!

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship 2006

2006-10-10T15:49:00.000+01:00

So, I know that we're now living in the birthplace of golf. I wish that I could be as excited about it as others seem to be. I can appreciate golf for what it is and respect it, but I personally have absolutely no enthusiasm for it. That being said, I am really enthusiastic about the celebrities that come here to play golf. I'm still waiting for my first 'sighting' but I'm sure it will happen eventually. There were rumors that some Hollywood celebs were here for the Aflred Dunhill Links Championship. People like Michael Douglas, Hugh Grant, Dennis Hopper and my personal favorite, Bill Murray (who if given the opportunity would probably have thrown my undergarments at him just to get his attention). So my friend and I went to check it out.

This is the famous bridge on the old course.

This is a photo of Vijay Singh, people were following him around all day so I assume he's important. (I apologize if I've offended any golf fans).

This is a Spanish golfer that we followed for a few holes. He was very good looking but he knew it. We learned 2 things from him. 1. It's very difficult to see where the ball goes when it's flying through the air and 2. He wears boxer briefs. We were at a loss trying to figure out anything else that was going on.

This was as close as we came to a celebrity. One of the caddies looked like Rod Stewart. I know that the picture is from far away, but if you look closely, you'll spot the mullet.

This is a picture of the west sands with the old course behind it. Rumor has it that Sean Connery likes to walk the sands at 7am when he's in St Andrews. I'll have to remember that.

All in all, it was a very eventful day. I vowed to learn more about the sport of golf, and my friend became bound and determined to get a job at the old course hotel for a shot a changing celebrities' sheets. One of the nice things about the golf course is that you can visit for free if you're a student. If you want to play there, you pay the same as a resident of St Andrews which is a fraction of the price they charge tourists. Keep in mind that you have to be at a certain level before they let you in to play, but people like me they let in for free to admire the talent. I know what you might be thinking...."Naomi, you shouldn't be checking out golfers...you're married!" My answer to that is simple: The women's tour will be coming next summer and they're fair game for him.

.......FORE!!!!

Slowly but surely...

2006-10-10T00:37:00.000+01:00

Well, I'm going to start adding pictures so I hope it goes well. Here are some pictures of in and around St Andrews as well as our house.

This is Malcolm's building where he'll be working. And below is my departmental building.

Goundskeeper Willie takes care of the beautiful gardens (and you think I'm kidding!)

This is North Street, it's where most of the University Buildings are located. Did I mention St Andrews really only has 3 streets...well...this is one of them.

This is the bridge that we cross everyday to get over the 'burn' (wee river). It takes us into the town centre.

This is St Andrews Castle.

This is St Andrews Cathedral.

And this is a lovely view of our flat. It's very nice, we really lucked out with this place. For all we knew we were signing a lease for a cardboard box on the corner. It's a 7 minute walk from here to North Street. For that matter, it's a 7 minute walk to anywhere in St Andrews. It's little but wonderful. We absolutely love it!

....until next time

Uhhh.....I'm new at this

2006-10-05T15:50:00.000+01:00

Well...Here I go. I have to admit, this kinda freaks me out! I'm sure that I'm going to be world's worst 'blogger' (whatever that means), but I figured....."Hey, everyone else is doing it so what the hell!" I hope that this gives our friends and family a better way to check-in on what we're up to and what's new in our world.
Please hang in there as I try to figure it out.