Sanquhar: Part One

Months ago I read an article about the oldest post office in the world being in Scotland - in a little town called Sanquhar, not that far away from Glasgow. Well, having always been exceedingly fond of mail, and with visions of "Larkrise to Candleford" in my head, I thought it would be a jolly place to visit. So, on the 6th of September, Rachel & I did just that! 

Before I go any further, I must point out that Sanquhar is *not* pronounced "San-kwhar" as I mistakenly supposed, but is pronounced more like "San-curr". Just so you know! 

I sent off ten postcards and one letter from this infamous post office!

We passed through James Boswell's hometown!

Ooh! The post office!

A certificate!

The post office.

An old inn.

The plaque on the old inn.

Walking to Milngavie

You may remember that Rachel and I attempted to walk to Milngavie, but only made it as far as Bearsden. Well, this particular day (5 September), instead of relying on faulty online maps and instructions, we took the Glasgow A-Z guide, and made it all the way to Milngavie! (about 5 and a half miles) We walked along the Kelvin almost the entire way. It was so lovely!

Josephine had loaned me her ukulele, and I took it along and sang a few songs after we had lunch. It was a beautiful day, and a beautiful walk. We took the train back, as we didn't want too much of a good thing! 

Autumn is coming!

Rachel: "Do you want a picture by the tree?"
Mairi: "Yes, please!"

Heron! (I think!)

There was the huge tree/tree branch that had fallen over. It was lovely!

Our path! Ooh! Look at that!

Beside the Kelvin

Singing beside the river.

A lovely old sign in Milngavie.

Maybe the best FHE ever!

So...the Hicks hinted that I might want my camera ready when Josephine showed everyone the darling sheep cupcakes she had made (oddly enough, we had about ten investigators that night - about four Japanese folks, and, of course, some Chinese). Well - Josephine made an announcement with the cupcakes - that she was getting baptised!!! And she wanted to be part of the flock! (thus the sheep cupcakes!) We were all so thrilled and happy!!!

Josephine had also brought her ukulele with her, and we all - well, Josephine & myself - played and sang, which seemed appropriate. What a perfect night to celebrate with happy song!

Josephine telling us the good news!

The sheep cupcakes!

Dovile & Josephine

Enjoying some tunes!

I love our silly faces!

Josephine singing "I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain"

Dovile enjoying Josephine's lovely version of the song.

This is how it should be *every* week!!!

Glasgow Stake 50th Anniversary Ceilidh!

This whole year at church, we've been gearing up for the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Glasgow Stake. The day I came home (26 August) they had a special fireside, with talks about the history of the church in Glasgow, and the formation of the stake, etc. On the 31, they had a special ceilidh celebration. 

The gym transformed! (well, as much as  an LDS church gym *can* be transformed!)

Balloons!

With Dovile & Rachel.

Meeting Emma Thompson!

Probably most of you have seen these pictures on Facebook, but I am putting them up here with more (hopefully exciting!) details. 

We had the opportunity of meeting Emma Thompson because she'd been commissioned by F. Warne Co. to write a new Peter Rabbit book for the 110th anniversary of the publication of Peter Rabbit. So, she was at a bookstore signing copies. 

I was so afraid we'd miss out if we went too late (there was a 200 limit to the queue), so Rachel and I showed up very early indeed - about 11am! We bought the requisite books, and were told that there wasn't a queue yet, so we could come back later. Well, we were in the city centre (near St Enoch centre) and didn't really want to go home again. We ran a few errands, ate lunch, and went back to the bookstore to wait. For hours. 

I think at about 2:15, if my memory serves me correctly, people started to gather, so we went and stood with them. 

At least there were bookshelves next to us, and we could look around and talk and such as we waited. 

The new character from the Peter Rabbit book came out to meet us!

One of the hilarious books I found while waiting.

Fancy photographers waiting to snap a picture of Emma Thompson.

Oh my goodness! She was *so* nice! I told her I'd wanted to say something clever to her, as she was amazing and talented, but couldn't think of anything. She said, "What a lovely thing to say!" And was very lovely herself.

Rachel & Emma Thompson

Signing books

FHE Swing Dancing!

I still have a lot of catching up to do, but hopefully that will be easier now that I've finished all my field school posts! 

The Monday after I returned (28 Aug.) I was in charge of the activity at FHE. We did swing dancing - again. I've done this before at FHE, but it was a good while back (February?), and I think we have a lot of different people. I am not a good teacher, and my knowledge of swing dancing is sadly limited, but we had a fabulous time. I also taught them the fox trot! What larks!

The Hicks - the only couple who could properly dance!

Kris & Dovile - I love that they're both stripey!

Josephine and a Chinese fellow who came with the Elders. 

Odds & Ends & Good-bye

I'm actually wrapping up as concerns my field school! I must just say that we had a barbecue the night that we backfilled at Castle Craig, and it was thrilling - mostly because they served us WILD BOAR meat!!! Can you believe it?! I felt so grand and medieval (and you can bet 'The Boar's Head Carol' was running through my mind). They had burgers and sausages, and the meat was flavourful and delicious - and not at all like pork (which is good, as I'm not that keen on pork). Really a fabulous experience. 

Most of the rest of my pictures are from the boarding-school where we stayed - signs up in the accommodation, which, since it was called the Simpson House, used Simpson's themed signs. 

The last picture is one of the most intriguing - a memorial to a witch burned in Dunning in the 1600s. Maggie Wall is shrouded with mystery, and no one really knows why this was erected. 

That's me finished with the field school! Enjoy!

I passed this every day in the hallway.

The door to my room.

How would you like THIS school schedule?

The monument to Maggie Wall.