Chicago

Long day. Flight leaves at 10:30 CST - no more figuring out time change :-)

We actually set our clocks back in Scotland last week for the end of daylight savings time, and will it again tonight in the US.

Sleeping in my own bed tonight!

Julia

Sydney calls it interesting...

3:00 PM London time

We thought we would be put up for the night in Manchester and put on a flight home Sunday. We both wanted that! I think I wanted it more as I have been sick for two days, not keeping anything down, and really not trying lately. I mean, what's the use? I have gotten a whole orange juice in me this afternoon, so that's progress. Didn't sleep more than a few hours the last few nights so I'm sleep deprived. Sydney has been my brain on this trip home and is getting to be an expert at navigating all the different airports and rules. I almost left a bag behind at one of the inspection stations! Her boarding pass says "Froemke/Sydney, World Traveller". That, she is! It feels like we've been in airports all day. Oh, yeah - we have.

As you can tell by Sydney's blog, we'll get home tonight, but it's a long day!

Boys are asked to bring a pillow for me on the drive home, please.

Julia

Very interesting flight home 2

Written @ 2:00 PM London time, 9:00 AM Minnesota time.

In the London airport. Came here from the Manchester airport after the flight from Inverness. We were able to get a flight to Chicago from here, and then a flight to Minneapolis. Unfortunately the flight arrives in Minneapolis at 11:45pm. So it will be midnight before we get home, and I got up at 5:00 AM Scotland time, which is midnight (the day before) Minneapolis time.
Sydney

Very interesting flight home

Written @ 8:00 AM Scotland time, 3:00 AM Minnesota time.

I am sitting in the Inverness airport. The flight should have left by now but one of the engnes failed as it was started. While they are repairing the engine, the airplane has no power and no heating. So we are sitting in the terminal where it is warm. We had a short connection time in Manchester to begin with, and now because of this delay we're not going to be able to catch the flight to Philadelphia. We're not sure what flight we will catch to get home.

Sydney

Loch Ness Tour

The Loch Ness tour we got was very cool. We took a bus from a pickup point in Inverness to the Clansman hotel harbor. The bus driver was very nice and she talked about all the landmarks we passed. After the bus ride we got on the boat and headed toword Urquhart castle. The boat ride was very nice but it was short and very windy on deck. After the boat ride we got to explore Urquhart castle. It was very interesting, we got to climb the tower and explore the castle grounds. The signs were very informitive, but the castle changed sides so many times I got a little confused. After that the bus picked us up and took us back to Inverness. I think the weirdest thing I learned was that on the boat you can get hot chocolate and whisky. Mixed together. Very strange. Overall I really liked it.
Sydney

OWLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is a raptor rehabilitation center in Inverness, and they have a little wagon they can move around town to advertise for their organisation. It has information about the raptors and four owls that go around with it. there are Amber and Skye (Eurasian eagle owls), Muske (a Short eared owl), and Willow (a Tawny owl). You can donate to take pictures, and for two pounds I got to get a picture of me holding Willow!!!!!!! We got a couple of good pictures but none on the iPad so I can't post any. It was VERY cool.
Sydney

Daal

I made dinner for every one the night before we left Lekmelm forest. I tried a new recipie for Daal, and it turned out pretty well considering I had no way to accurately measure spices and I made a triple batch with only enough onions for a single batch. Everyone enjoyed it, exept Storm who was wolfing it down so fast so he could go trick-or-treating I don't think he actually tasted it.

Sydney

Ugh

Not feeling well today. Sydney and I had a great meal last night, shared appetizers and both ordered fish & chips. Something didn't agree with me and I was sick in the middle of the night. She's fine. Not feeling well this morning. I'm hoping it goes away as we are headed out to do the Loch Ness tour this afternoon.

Sydney's goal is to have fish and chips as often as humanly possible while we're here. We've had some good ones and some greasy ones. I told her that maybe tonight we might just have soup and salad. She looked straight at me and in a very strong voice said, "I am NOT having SOUP!!"
We had so much soup in the forest, multiple times a day, with the same base ingredients and attempts at different flavorings. I don't think she'll be up for it in a while. Take note, Andy!

More after the tour.

Julia

Landmarks

A picture I couldn't post last night...
One of our favorite landmarks when walking the old road to Ullapool.



Julia

Beaufort Hotel

Here's our hotel in Inverness. Too bad it doesn't have a good wi-fi and we weren't able to skype :-(



We're actually sitting at a Starbucks right now just to get internet access.

Julia

Shower!

Need I say more?!

Julia

Inverness... Again!

We've arrived back in Inverness! An early morning bus and a 90 minute drive through the countryside and we were here. It didn't take us long to drop our luggage off at the hotel (room isn't ready yet) and find our way to a little cafe to have our usual - hot chocolate with chocolate snacks :-)

No internet at this place (but we came for the chocolate anyway). We'll connect up when we can and send all the blogs. Until then, we'll spend a day exploring the little shops in the heart of the old part of the city.

Skype tonight hopefully!!!

Julia

Halloween in Scotland

Halloween in Scotland seems to be a lot like halloween in the US, celebrated with carving pumpkins and trick-or-treating. I planned on going trick-or-treating with Storm this year, and I am very excited. I am going as a pirate as that is very easy to put together with what I have on hand. I also have an awesome homemade eye patch that I made out of extra tire rubber they have in the workshop. Unfortunately Storm and I only got to trick-or-treat at two houses, and the person at one house had never heard of trick-or-treating until Storm had told him earlier that day. So we didn't get to much candy. But we did get toffee apples and a molassesey bar called a flapjack.

Holden, you had better be saving me some chocolate bars.

Sydney

Lateral thinking

Today we were moving books around, and I came across a book of lateral thinking puzzles, they are really cool, one of my favorites is

If the average eskimo eats ten walruses in a lifetime, and one walrus is equivalent to five and a half penguins, how many penguins would he eat if he couldn't get walruses?



Answer:
None! Eskimos live in the arctic, penguins live near the antarctic.

I love puzzles like this.

Sydney

Weather in Leckmelm

The weather is very strange here, one minute it will be raining, and snowing, and sleeting, and hailing all at the same time, and you can't see across the sea loch. And then the next minute all the clouds are gone and the sun is out, and the only way you could ever tell that it was just raining, or snowing, or sleeting, or hailing, is that the sawhorses are a little bit wetter, and the puddles are just a little bit bigger and things seem just a little bit damper than normal. And then it starts raining, and snowing, and sleeting, and hailing all at the same time all over again.

Sydney

Last few days WWOOFing

Sydney and I have had two days off and have just two more days of work before we head back to Inverness. Yesterday we went to Ullapool, today (Monday) we walked to Leckmelm Gardens - just down the road from where we're staying. This is a beautiful little area with natural and cultivated plants, and a small field in the center with 6 to 7 sheep. It was a wet, dreary day and we came back and spent some time drying off and reading in the camper.

The next few days will be spent gathering and drying firewood as we've all used a lot in the last week and the woodshed is running low. We'll catch a bus back to Inverness early Thursday morning.

Julia

Single malt whiskey, at 10:00 AM?

Sydney and I have been at the quiet, little cafe this Sunday morning and a group of guys came in. They said they'e a local band. They're still drunk from last night and I do wish they would have bathed in the last 6 months :-)

They came to sit with us (we're the only ones here) and we had a hard time getting rid of them. One guy offered Sydney a drink of his single malt whiskey from his flask. She declined. The manager had to help herd them away and then they got in trouble for cursing up a storm and making noise.

And we thought it was going to be a quiet Sunday.

Julia

Hitching

Sydney and I got up this morning to the same downpour we went to bed with. The streams are very full and everything is muddy. We decided to head to town anyway, in the rain, but instead of walking the old road we decided to walk the main road and see if we could hitch a ride.

The third car picked us up and, what do you know, it was somebody Sydney knew!!! In Scotland?! How does that happen?! His name was Scott and she'd met him on two different forays to a nearby farm with Stormy.

Here at our little cafe. Warm. Dry. Hot chocolate!

Julia

Zimmerman

The German Zimmerman, Jon and Till, took they day off as they had finished their project yesterday. They went to Ullapool and came back with wine. (They said it was easier to carry than a keg of beer.) While Sydney was taking her bath I got to sit with just the two of them and talk. They really didn't take the opportunity to be with us much while they were working, but give them some time and a few glasses of wine and I got to know them better.

They're headed out on Monday and will head South. They usually have no destination in mind when they travel but right now they plan to make it to the South of England to be with a friend for Christmas. They just keep going - looking for work and practicing their trade.

Overall, I truly appreciate all the people I've met on this trip.

Julia

Bath!

Tonight we got a bath and it was so nice to get clean from head to toe. It was an experience, though.

I asked Sydney to blog about it and she wasn't interested. To be honest, she didn't really want a bath. I told her it would
1) get her clean before we head into town tomorrow
2) be a story to tell
She said she'd rather tell the story of how she didn't take a proper bath for two weeks :-)

Her only comments about the bath were:
- before you start the fire in the pit below the tub, make sure to get Box of Frogs out first (he's the playful 5 month old kitten)
- when you're bathing, everything in the water was warm
- everything out of the water was freezing
- she dropped the hair conditioner and it almost rolled into the fire
- it was strange to get rained on WHILE you are bathing

I have to say I picked one of the coldest, most windy nights to have a bath. The tub is between the kitchen and the woodshed and open on the other two ends, and the wind was cruising through. There's a little tarp you can put up on one end to shield you from all the people walking by, but it doesn't cover the entire opening, and it doesn't stop the wind. There's a little roof overhead to keep the rain off, but the wind still carried some into the tub. It's been cold and wet the last few days. It snowed yesterday and we had a few flakes and a lot of sleet today.

So we fill the tub, start the fire below it, and wait for it to get warm. We lit the candles as there are no lights. Then we put a wide, thick board in the water and sat on it so our butt doesn't get burned from the heat of the fire. Sydney was a little concerned when she saw bubbles coming up from the bottom of the tub, just like you see when a pot starts to boil. You always have the option of pouring more cold water in if it gets too hot.

Sydney went in first. By the time she got out the fire was down to just coals. I threw two more long boards into the fire pit and hoped it would be enough for my bath. Sydney was right - everything under the water was toasty warm and everthing out was FREEZING. After I washed up, I felt the log burning and the flames heat the tub underneath my butt on either side of the log. I leaned back in the water and tried to get all of me under. The fire spot was right under my low back and it felt SO good, but it was so hot I couldn't stay there long. I just kept shifting around to warm different parts on my back.

The wind was bringing birch leaves in (which I kind of liked in the water) and I had to keep picking them out of my hair. I wanted to stay in the heat but it was eventually time to get out and dry off QUICKLY. Sydney and I were very happy that we started a fire in our camper before the bath as we were able to walk into a toasty space.

Typing this now with a heavy, sleet downpour on the roof. It's nice to be warm! That was a lot of work for one bath, but I still enjoyed it. Most of it :-)

Julia

My daughter :-)

I am loving this trip with Sydney! I've enjoyed spendig time with her, working and cooking with her, snuggling with her at night, and talking with her on our evenings and our long walks. What an amazing time we have together, and what an amazing girl!

The Happy Mom!

Steaming moss

It was snowing/hailing/sleeting/raining on and off all day, but when it was not snowing/hailing/sleeting/raining, it was very beautiful the sun came out and it got much warmer. Once when Mom and I were near our caravan amd it cleared up a bit, we saw the moss steaming in the sun. It was very pretty.

We worked on organizing the depot today and have made a lot of progress. We have stacked all the pipe, coiled all the wire, moved the barrels, and laid down some pallets to put the aluminum sheets on. We haven't figured out what to do with the chicken wire yet though.

They also have no squirrels here. None. They are considered RARE here. I can't wait to get back home to see the squirrels. When I get home I also going to make much more bread. Especially flatbread.

Sydney

Beautiful Moonlight Walk!

The moon is waxing and is SO beautiful!! After dinner it stopped snowing and the entire sky was clear. Ineta, Sydney, and I took a moonlight walk through the hills and up to the viewpoint (with organic red-wine in hand, courtesy of Jonathan - another wwoofer).

From here you can see the entire sea lake, the lights from Ullapool, and out to the sea. It was chilly, but we stood at the top and talked and looked at the view and shared stories. Meeting Ineta was one of the best things that came out of my WWOOFing. I'll have to tell you more about her later. (I'm not sure I'm even spelling her name right.)

Overall, it was so beautiful! We met the ponies on the way down and as Ineta and I started talking about energy work, Smoky Bear, the little colt, came over and nuzzled me and kept us company as we talked.

Full moon in a few nights and I'll probably go up again.
Did I say it was beautiful?!!

Julia

Jeepers Creepers

Today the German guys (the Zimmermen) learned the term "Jeepers Creepers" as that's one of Stormy's favorite phrases. They were practicing using it as we were making dinner - putting it at the end of sentences or trying it out in different types of situations. The funniest was after dinner, when Till got into the bath and the water had been heating for HOURS! We heard him yell "Jeepers Creepers" and knew he had it down.

They finished their work on a new platform they're building for the yurt and it's really nice. The thing is, once they were done, they were bored for the rest of the afternoon. They really like working - and I think they like playing as well. We haven't seen that other side of them as they've been working the entire time they've been here. Let's just say I think they can make a little trouble if they don't have something to do :-). They will take a few days rest and will leave on Monday.

Julia

Snow!

Nobody believed me when I said the forecast predicted snow. Well, today it snowed - all day! It started out as tiny hail then moved to big, fluffy flakes. It snowed on and off all throughout the day. Nothing stuck for more than 30 minutes and most of it melted when it hit the ground. It was really beautiful, but very damp and chilly. We were out working in it all morning but then Sydney and I volunteered to make bread, which meant me sitting over two hot fires to cook it flatbread-style on the griddles under the kitchen shelter. Nice! Now I felt like I brought a little bit of Minnesota to Scotland!

Julia

Broke the loo

Today Sydney and I were working on organizing The Depot at camp. Essentially The Depot is the junk pile that has been added to for many, many years. Pipe, stove chimneys, lots of chicken wire, tubing, old gas containers, sheets of aluminum from an old camper that was cut up. You get the picture. I told Em that we would organize it. This will take days to complete.

The first task was to cut steps in the hillside so we can get in and out easily. Sydney did a great job of this. Then we pounded log posts into the hillside to create a pipe storage rack. Then it was time to move and organize the pipe. The first three pieces were long and very heavy. We were doing well until the third piece slipped back on us...

Then there's the composting toilet (which I will not take a picture of). Complete open-air with a little screen for privacy. Instead of walking down the hillside, you walk onto a platform between two trees. You're then in the treehouse loo. Below you is a column of logs that make up the pit that extends from the seat to the forest floor 8 feet below.

When the pipe slipped it hit the bottom corner of that 8 foot column of waste and sawdust. (Very thankful for the sawdust! We add a handful each time we use it.) Two logs popped off of one corner and stuff was starting to spill out. And I will tell you that they are needing a new toilet as that 10 feet is essentially filled to about 90% capacity.

Ugh. My next job was to get some 6 inch nails and hammer away until I thought it would hold together. Looks good for now. Cross your fingers. That's a job I don't want again!

Julia

Box of Frogs

This is Box of Frogs. We call him Box. He's an adorable, 5 month old kitten that loves to play, loves to help Sydney and I work, and loves to jump on the Zimmerman - and the Zimmerman can't stand cats!

Julia

Homesick!

We're getting homesick!

Julia and Sydney

Testing my firemaking skills

My firemaking skills are being tested. I'm pretty good at starting and keeping a fire going, but it's a constant task around here. And, it's wet. The hillsides are soggy and wet as we are actually on a sort of forest bog and the water runs down in trickles all over the place. It's foggy and damp even when it hasn't rained for days. Sydney and I noticed a little puddle of water about the size of a dinner plate. It hadn't rained for several days and the little puddle just wouldn't dry up. It was just starting to yesterday, and then it rained again :-)

The paper is wet. The wood is wet. The good, split wood - spruce that was chopped down last year- was near it's end when we were getting here so there is none left now. We're using small sticks and the dense rhododendron wood, which is really hard to start. Once you get a fire going you need to stack wood up around the perimeter to dry out so you can keep it going.

We are sleeping in a small camper (they call it a caravan) and it has a tiny wood stove in it. It's been getting down to 30-35 degrees at night. We stoke up the fire each night and get it until it's a sauna inside, then lay on top of our sleeping bags and try to fall asleep. Within an hour the fire dies out as it just can't hold more wood than that (And I couldn't take it if it got any hotter). The stove and the caravan keep the heat a little while longer, but within another hour the stove is cold. At some point in the night we're in the sleeping bags with blankets on top. It's no use stoking the fire at night as we'd have to get up every hour to keep on top of it. If you miss your opportunity then you have to restart the fire from scratch. Not worth it. I have also taken to bringing a hot water bottle to bed at night, but it's a balancing act as you don't want to touch it while the stove is hot, but you want to pull it in with you when you get cold.

Trying to keep warm. Perfecting my fire-making. Good thing as we have a week left!

Julia

Shopping in Ullapool

Quiet day in Ullapool. Our main goal was to get more chocolate. We started out at a little cafe and had our chocolate cake, chocolate tiffin (dense chocolate with bits of nuts and fruit) and hot chocolate. Then we headed to the local store for a few bars to take back to camp. We'd brought two bars of emergency chocolate from home but we've already tapped into the second bar and anticipated we'd need more. Mission accomplished!
Ran across a local crafter's market and bought a felted hedgehog pincushion that we fell in love with.



We also caught a few pottery places here that are wonderful! Here's one that I liked...




Then it was off to lunch and our bit of internet time. We'll head back soon and hopefully have a dry walk back. If it's not raining we'll head down to Leckmelm Gardens and let you know what that's all about.

Miss you all! Love you,

Julia and Sydney

For Holden

Homework for you...
What kind of a car is this?

WWOOFing

So, we've been here a week and will send all the blogs when we get to Ullapool on Wednesday. Em has been trying to get her phone/internet service fixed but no repairman has shown up yet.

What I've experienced is that WWOOFing is more a way of life here than a short term situation, and there are a LOT of WWOOFers. Every single WWOOFer we've met has been doing this for over a year and plans to continue until "things change". Some people just live this way. Most of the people are younger - in their early twenties. They'll move from farm to farm with no definite dates, just moving whent the time is right- always finding a new place. Backpacking and hitching their way around Europe. They may get a job here or there to make a little money and they're back to WWOOFing.

That matches perfectly with the Zimmerman/Journeyman from Europe. That is their way of life - to move around and see the world, using their skills to do work for a little while and then move on to the next place. I wasn't sure how long they would stay here but they're building structures for the camp and are enjoying it - and we're feeding them well! They aren't getting paid for this work but they're OK with that. They ask for the compensation that they feel is appropriate for the work they are doing. If they work for a business they expect pay that is equal to that of other skilled workers so that the business can't exploit them. Sometimes they'll do work for little or nothing to help out someone in the community. It's a sliding fee scale and they get to call the shots.

Overall, the Zimmerman have fairly strict rules that they play and work by - and they are very serious about being Zimmernan. I guess you'd have to be to do this for 3 years and a day. They're wonderful guys.

For now, it's off to bed and up early to walk to Ullapool.

Julia

Flat bread

Today we made flat bread, a huge heaping platter of it, right before lunch. It was gone when we came back up for dinner. I also made cookies yesterday and they were gone after a few hours. Zoya (the dog) is pregnant, and they are expecting puppies in about two weeks. She has also been escaping more often, but only goes as far as the farm next door. There is also a cat named Box of Frogs, but he is just called Box. Box is a lot like our cat Shakespere, most of the time lazy, sometimes very hyper, and sometimes very cuddly.

Sydney

Unique bath

OK, I'm going to tell you about the bath. Why? Because I really need one. I'll be honest, I don't stink or anything but I haven't had a shower or a bath in over a week, living in the forest, and I'm just not used to that. My hat has become a permanent part of my attire as my hair desperately needs washing.

So, here's what they have. There is an old claw-foot tub that's just on the other side of the outdoor kitchen. The water comes in, like all the water, fresh off the hillside and freezing cold. You fill the tub with water then build a fire underneath it to heat the water. It's a nice setup. The longer you sit in the tub the warmer you get, but you can always run more cold water in. There's a large board that you sit on, in the water, to keep you from making full contact with the hot bottom of the tub. The downside of this setup is that it's all out in the open air and it gets cold here at night. (Bathtime is after dinner when the work is done.) There's just a little drape to give you a little privacy but I can imagine it's quite chilly.



I'll let you know how it works.

Julia

Pictures of camp!

Fiernin, the bigger horse




Shadow, the filly




And Smoky Bear, Shadow's baby. He's a six month old welsh pony, miniature horse mix and he's adorable!




Horses in the forest



View from the horse pasture

Odd jobs

Just a few odd jobs today. The Zimmerman were clearing a section of the forest to make part of the camp and to allow some sun to come into the main area. The sun was out all day but were are in shadow at camp due to the forest. There are spruce, ash and a few trees I don't recognize. There's also a lot of rhododendron in the forest that are so thick you can't walk through them. We use a lot of it for firewood but it takes a hot fire to get the bigger pieces to burn. We build a lot of fires: cooking, doing dishes, washing ourselves up, heat at night, tea in the day.
Here's a picture of the rhododendron that they cleared for our camper spot. It's really thick and about 15 feet tall!



Odd jobs - that seems to be what we'll do while we're here. Sydney got to spend some time with the horses and is honing her bareback skills. The horses know a few Gaelic commands and she's trying to learn them. I'll try to get a picture posted so you can who she's spending her time with :-)

Julia

A Day in Ullapool

We had a beautiful day in Ullapool on Saturday. A 3 mile walk in - two through the highlands and one mile through the outskirts of town. We had a snack of hot chocolate and chocolate cake and took a walk around to see all the shops. A quick trip into the internet cafe to charge the devices and send the blogs and emails, then off to have fish and chips before heading home. We wanted to start back by 4:30 as we knew it gets dark early. It's a BEAUTIFUL walk and was even better as the sun was getting low in the sky. As we got back, I headed to the camper for a little reading and Sydney sat at the fire in the center of camp to be with the horses and draw a bit. It's almost completely dark now, with just a sliver of moon, and she just informed me that she and Stormy are taking the horses up to the hill to see the view.

Overall, a very good day!

Julia

Score on Holden!

Hi Holden! I saw this Alpha Romeo and had to snap a picture and score on you. We've seen a lot of different little cars here but I'm not able to capture all of them. I did see a black Nissan 370Z roadster on the walk into town today and it looked like a nice little car!
Here's the Alpha Romeo...

Love,
Mom

Pictures

Sydney on the old road to Ullapool.



Ullapool.

Ullapool

In Ullapool today for our first day off. We walked the old road which starts out as gravel and then turns to a wide grass path over the hill and through Corey Farm. It's a beautiful, muddy, three mile walk. The sun was out for most of the day which is amazing since it hasn't been out much all week. We got here and there were people with binoculars on the sidewalk looking for a group of dolphins that had entered the area. We weren't able to see them but saw a couple of boats head out to take a look.

I'll post some pictures in the next blog.

Julia

Porridge Pancakes

I love porridge pancakes. They are made with leftover porridge, eggs, flour, butter, some water, and some baking powder, cooked in a skillet over the fire. They are especially good with lots of butter and raspberry jam. We had them for breakfast the first day, and they were so good. We will have them again tomorrow morning as well.

The ponys here are very nice, there is Fiernin, who looks like a small draft horse and has a gold coat with a black mane and tail and a black dorsal stripe. Shadow, who is a dapple grey shetland pony. And Smoky Bear, who is a black shetland and miniature mix, who is smaller than our newfoundland dog Bailey was and almost as furry. Storm and I ride them a lot, Storm rides Shadow and I ride Fiernin. We ride without saddles or bridles, just bareback with a halter. We take them up a trail called the zig-zag which goes up through the forest and over a couple of streams. And up another trail to the lookout, which goes along the old road to Ullapool, to a spot close to the top of the hill that you can see the big bit of the river where it runs into the ocean.

Storm and I are also going to make sure that we have dessert every day. Because if we don't make something we usualy won't have dessert. Sometimes the adults will make something like chocolate cake, or welsh cookies, but they don't do it every day. For lunch today we had baked beans, toast, mussels (with pearls, I found seven), and fried dulce, which is a type of seaweed coated in egg and rolled in crushed oats, and is actually very good.

So far my pants (which used to be dark green) are the color of the mud here, And my jacket is starting to look that way. Also since my boots were very wet after running around the forest, mom put them on the wood burning stove to dry and we didn't realise how hot the stove was getting, sudenly we smelled something burning and found out my boots had started to melt. We got them off and they're not to bad, after we get some money we are going to see if Till (the Zimmerman cobbler) can fix them.

Also can you guys tell me when the first snow is? I saw the juncos before I left. Juncos usually come two weeks before the first snow so I am expecting it around the 28th. We will blog more next time we go to Ullapool or when Em's internet is back up.

Sydney

Location:Lekmelm Forest

In camp

So, a little about the camp.

First, I'll say that there is wireless here - when the internet and phone line are working, and when the sun is out to charge the solar panels. That is the only source of electricity. Right now it's the rainy season in Scotland so the sun is out very little and we have no power. Don't expect any blogs from camp. We'll post when we make trips to Ullapool which is just a three mile walk through the hills.

My first two days, while all the people were here, I was assigned kitchen duty with Heather, a girl from Wales. Yes. Me. Kitchen duty. It's OK - you can laugh. I did too. We did OK. First we made tomato soup (fire roasting the tomates to peel them, herbs and onions from the garden, and one BIG pot). Made double batch of Welsh cakes and a ginger cake thing called a Parkin. Then we were asked to make pasta with cheese sauce for dinner... for 18 people! We got the REALLY BIG pot out for the pasta and made sauce by hand and by feel as we had no recipe. Luckily we guessed right and had enough sauce for the pasta and enough pasta for everyone. They loved it. I secretly hoped they wouldn't so I could get off kitchen duty :-). All this is done with an outdoor, open-air kitchen - cooking over the fire. No appliances. No fridge. There is a tiny gas stove that works a little but it doesn't heat up much so it's not very usable.

Did a little cooking today but got a few other tasks. The Zimmerman took down a few trees for a new building structure and I helped strip the bark. Working with my hands suited me much better and I got a little exercise doing it. Getting to know everyone a little more and thoroughly enjoying that!

Here's what I can say about Sydney's time in camp...
Yesterday. Breakfast. Sydney and Stormy headed out with the horses to go get apples about 10:00 AM. They arrive at 3:00 with no apples and no ponies. Head back out in the afternoon and come back covered in mud, but smiling. After dinner they play on rope swings until it's too dark to see them. More mud.
Today. Head out with the horses again to see if they can find those apples. Come back with the horses, but no apples. Lunch. Heads out with Stormy to fix the chicken fence as we have hens in the outdoor kitchen. They come back quickly to get hot chocolate and then go fishing. (Chickens continue to escape.) Head back out to grab the horses and gallop over the highlands before dinner. (Insert small amount of jealousy from me at this point.). Happy for her! Wanting to go with her! Arrives very happy, just in time for dinner.

So, it's just two days in. Sydney will take over the next blog.

Julia

Here

Typing now so I can post this when internet gets turned back on.

It was interesting getting here. I didn't understand the bus schedule and the school vacation combination so the bus I'd picked wasn't running. Finally asked a hotel for internet access and found a cell number and texted her that we'd take the last bus. Didn't know if she got it.

She did get it once she'd gotten to Ullapool. I found out her internet was down as her phone line was out this week. It's supposed to be back today (Friday) so I'll try to post tonight.

Very interesting here. She has a full camp. Just after Em picked us up from the station she turned the corner and saw two guys in unique outfits. She immediately stopped and asked if they were looking for work. They were, so they hopped in with us. (This makes a full camp of about 13 WWOOFers and Em and her 11 year old son, Stormy.)

The guys she picked up were called "Zimmerman" or "Journeyman". They are part of an apprentice program out of Germany where you learn your trade from a tradesman then you go out into the world to practice your craft. The clothes are traditional and each piece of clothing has a signifigance, from the hat to the buttons on their shirts and vest. They start out on their journey with 5 pounds ($8) and are required to be on it for three years and a day. One of they guys, Till, is a cobbler and has been on his journey for 4.5 years. The other, Jon, is a carpenter/joiner and has been on for just over a year. They only carry a few tools on their belt and a sleeping bag and tarp to keep the rain off. Very interesting guys.

We also have a French couple (guy and girl) that seem to keep to themselves a lot, two young ladies, one from from Wales and one from the Lithuania and a group of youth and their counselors that are here for part of their program. The group leaves today so we'll be down to 6 woofers and the two Zimmerman.

And that doesn't even tell you about the place! I'll see if I can post this and will write more later. Let's just say that Sydney left the forst morning with Stormy and the three ponies (including a cute, little 6 month old Welsh pony/ miniature horse) to pick apples and they came back around 3:00 with no ponies (they dropped thm off in another pasture) and no apples. A day of adventure in the woods with neighbors.

Julia

Location:Leckmelm Forest

Ugh

Well, the bus I picked doesn't run while school is in vacation. And they're on vacation this week :-(
Spent an hour trying to get a hold of my host, Em. Just got a text through and hope she gets it.
We'll get there tonight... Somehow.

Julia

Inverness Castle

We went to see Inverness castle today. It is made of red sandstone and is right across the river from our hotel. It is very cool, but you can't go inside as they use it as the town hall. We have seen lots of birds in Inverness, but suprisingly few pigeons. Mostly we see seagulls and hooded crows. We also saw a bird that look kind of like a red winged blackbird, but without the stripes on its wings. And we saw a little songbird that was very cool but we don't know what it was. We are leaving for Ullapool in an hour, but we're getting to the bus station a little early to make sure we know wich bus we are supossed to take. I am very exited to see Ullapool.

Sydney

Loch Ness Tour

So, we're already planning our return to Inverness on Nov 1 and we must make a tour of Loch Ness. We found a horseback riding tour of the Scottish Highlands with views of Loch Ness - it sounds amazing!
http://www.borlum.co.uk/index.html
But we're torn because we want a local, historic tour as well so this might win out: http://www.visitlochness.com/things-to-do/jacobite-5-star-coach-and-boat-cruises-from-inverness.php

Thoughts?

Our room

Here are a few pictures.
The Winston Guest House where we're staying...



The key...
Yes, we're actually using a skeleton key for our room!

Location:Inverness, Scotland

We're here!!

We made it! We're tired but getting a second wind once we got out of the airport. Everyone is very friendly! Sydney picked out our room for the night and, I must say, it's awesome! We're right on the River Ness in the heart of the little city. It's a big, old, stone house that's been turned into a bed & breakfast. I'll take a picture when we head out to lunch.

Julia

Location:Inverness, Scotland

Charlotte Airport

Connection to London. Sydney wants to see some comments! She says she's VERY excited for all of this - except that I told her about airplane food and that didn't sound too appealing. She's trying to convince her brain that it will fall asleep when she wants it too.
We'll catch up with you when we land!

Julia

Location:Charlotte NC

Minneapolis Airport

At the airport and exchanged a little US money for British Pounds. Hanging out at the gate until we board. Just one little glitch as I never posted to this blog from my iPad. You'd think it would work but the electronics did not align completely. Found this nice little BlogPress app to help me out so I can actually post for the next three weeks. Let's see if it works...

Julia

Location:Minneapolis, MN

WWOOFing

So, Sydney and I are mostly packed up and we're headed out to Scotland tomorrow. I thought I'd explain WWOOFING a little bit for those of you that haven't heard about.  You can check it out here:  http://www.wwoof.org.uk/

We'll be working on an organic farm in the middle of the Leckmelm forest in Scotland.  The work is in exchange for room and board.  We'll work 5 days a week and get the weekends off to play.  The place we're staying is a small community of farms that work together and we'll be staying with one of the residents.  We'll be completely off grid with some renewable energy for power.  Hopefully this will be consistent so we can blog from the forest!  Our shelter will most likely be a yurt and we'll cook in an outdoor kitchen.  Laundry is done by hand and if we want hot water we'll need to fetch it by hand from the hillside and gather wood for the fire to heat it.  I was told this is not for the faint-hearted!

We'll keep up to date the best we can and Sydney may jump in to blog as well.  We'll be back home November 4th.  This is how we'll keep you all up to date so please understand if I don't attend to my email much while I'm gone.

More soon...

Julia

Getting Ready!

Getting ready for the Scotland trip.  Sydney and I have a few things to get before we go.  Sydney discovered that Loch Ness is just 7 miles from where we land in Inverness so she's intent on getting there.  She's studying up on the Loch Ness Monster in hopes that we get a sighting!  More soon...

Wow, has it been 5 years since the Asia trip?  I can't believe the blog is still alive.  (Though nothing goes away these days...  remember that!)  I'll start the conversation again with our Scotland trip in October.  Stay tuned!!!
Julia