The Grain Tour - in passing

We are all still touring on the Jamie and Claire Tour May 2010, aka "The Grain Tour", so this blog will be brief.  Here's a few sentences from our Outlandish Spirts to give a flavour of what is to come; some words to get you wondering what we're up to.

"we walked up a hill and were met by a large standing stone, complete with a cleft."

"...every cloud that passed overhead gave new shades of green and brown..."

"...two orthopedic issues, one bronchitis, and one blister..."

"I myself have envisioned the world created by Diana many times but to have this experience on our first day that we did was awe inspiring and breathtaking all in one."

"Decorated with a mixture of antique furniture, portraits and tapestries"

Pic: Getting to know one another.

Jamie & Claire Bluebell Tour Surprise Comes Real For Lass

Our first two Outlandish Spirits have landed in Edinburgh for the Jamie & Claire May 2010 Tour featuring Bluebells if the wee folk are kind!  Brenda and Jennifer have spent their first night in the B&B.  Jennifer didn't know that she was coming to Scotland, though I'm sure she figured it out by the time they got on the plane:)  Here's their first contact:
Hi Sam, We are in Edinburgh.  We have checked into the B&B...all is well.  We had our first meal and our first pint in a pub named Footlight...nice place.  Beers are stronger here than home! :)   Ms. Burns [our B&B lady] is awesome.  See you on Sunday morning.  Look forward to seeing you. Brenda

P.S. Jenn was very surprised when I broke the news to her about the trip.  She is still in shock...!

These two life time friends are very lucky to have each other!  Well done Brenda for making this surprise happen!  I understand that Jenn's mom and even her boss were in on the secret and helping to plan the surprise.

So, we're looking forward to the rest of the group arriving.  We're all very excited.  We have an almost even mix of guys and gals coming from the north and the south of the states.  We'll let you know how the trip is going over the next week with photos and experiences!  Mar sin leibh en drasta, Sam & Scot    Note:  Photo is of a baby reindeer in bluebells.

 

Emulating Claire To The (Curly) Enth Degree

As we run up to the May tour, I thought I'd share a wee email exchange that has been going around my tour guests (we're all very friendly pre-tour here).  You'll recall Ina last year bringing along a USA voltage hairdryer and wondering why it made her hair fuzzy.  After that I included electrical devices in the "NOT" to bring list.

QUESTION FROM CURLY TOP:  You mentioned that we should not bring hair dryers or straighteners because they would be confiscated until the end of the trip.  I must admit a small gasp of horror escaped my mouth at that point!  I completely understand the issue with appliances causing damage to the circuits.  I do, however, have very curly hair and while I usually love any opportunity to be compared to Claire, in this instance I'd rather not!  I have checked at amazon.uk and found that I could order a straightener/flat iron that would already be in european voltage.  I could have it shipped to my house here, or to your house so you could verify it's compatibility.  I wanted to check with you before ordering anything, to make sure it was ok.  (this was sent in good humor)

ANSWER FROM SAM:  I am bringing a brand new ( 3 months old and used once a week at most) Hair Straightener (which also curls) which anyone can use.  If you absolutely have to have your own, you may ship it to my address - no problem - OR - just buy one when you get here - believe me they're EVERYWHERE in Edinburgh Shops! 

VOLTAGE:  If you order one line - we are on U.K. OR BRITISH VOLTAGE.  Europe plugs will not fit into our sockets!

NOTE:  Remember, Hair Dryers are in every room accommodation - don't bring one.

Sorry to cause any fleeting moments of stress - our hair is important to us!  I think I would have done the same thing - gasped, that is.  Though I think we should all chose the same day on the trip and have a 'bad hair day' together.... I bet the style catches in Scotland....snicker :).

Cheers and thanks for that bit of humor in your follow up - I laugh because my hair turns into the 'post-wind storm' look when I wash it, so I can relate!  Though mine is more like Claire putting the wrong voltage in the socket rather than curly!

Sam

Comment from another Outlandish Spirit:

Ah the joy of a good “bad hair day” among friends will be a truly special picture for the blog.  My hair is bone straight so I believe a majority of my pictures will revert to my pony tail days. Thanks again Sam for letting us know.  My friend who is coming with me that has no idea where we are going…I already told her I would pack the hair dryer and such…so luckily I don’t even have to bridge the subject with her.

Scotland Winter Storm - Or Why We Lost Electricity For 2 Days

So what's the big deal about losing power in a winter storm.  Well, if you live out in the country and your nearest village is 2.5 miles away and the snow plows come up your road last, then you learn to go back to basics.

Left - our garden in May.  Notice the stone wall at the back.  Right - during the storm the wall is hidden - you can just make out the hedged across the road.

Below - Scot collecting snow to melt on the wood stove.  That's right, because

we get our water supply from nature -

not pipes, it goes through a filter which is powered by electricity.

Cooking on the wood stove, dinner by candlelight, no internet, no outside news and lots of reading before the sun went down!

Is it the Colorado Rockies?  Nope, it's our wee corner of Perthshire and me taking a walk.

Surprise!

Question: What's better than coming to Scotland?
Answer: Having it as a complete surprise! One of our Outlandish Spirit's is bringing their travel partner on one of our Jamie & Claire Tours this year as a surprise.... how great is that! I imagine that stepping off the plane will be like waking from a good dream, only to find that reality is even better! It will be like coming through the stones unexpectedly but without all that stone screeching noise! I'm absolutely thrilled, so I can't even begin to imagine how the surprised recipient will feel. Scot will be there of course to bring us all back in time through the portal of ancient tales.
From Edinburgh up to the Highlands an adventure to be had by each of our traveling groups with good camaraderie. The May tour date will close soon to new add-ons and the June/July adventure is revving up with some space left. Don't be left sitting at home as an Armchair Traveler! If you can't come along, get out into your own wee bit o' heaven and enjoy your local scenery. Whatever you do, enjoy the coming spring!

Highland Castles, Ghosts and Spirits

What have Highland Castles, Ghosts and Spirits got in common? Well, everything. Though the Spirits in this case will be our 'Outlandish Spirits' who will be Ghost hunting while staying in a Castle on our Jamie & Claire Tour in May. Or, perhaps the Ghost will be watching for them. This remains to be seen. We've got almost a full compliment and with just TWO BED CHAMBERS REMAINING at the Castle as of this writing, this special tour should be a crowd pleaser, or possibly a hair raiser?
This is no ordinary Ghost or castle, this is a 5 Star experience that promises to wine and dine and wrap each guest in a blanket of coziness that they may not want to come out of. Do you remember when you were a kid and you went to Disney? You felt it was so enchanting that you begged your parents to bring you back the next day. Well, prepare to be a kid again!

BE THANKFUL & SPREAD THE CHEER!

Hi Everyone! I've jumped on the bandwagon to cut my (negative) impact on this fantastically beautiful planet! So I'm asking each of you to do the same, since it is the season to BE THANKFUL & SPREAD THE CHEER. I will try to be creative and I will try to make it as easy as possible for each of you. So here is my first idea for you. Click on the 3/50 Project: www.the350project.net
(not to be confused with 350.org - which is great too!)
The premise of the 3/50 Project is this:
A. PURCHASE LOCALLY AT INDEPENDENTLY OWNED RETAIL SHOPS.
B. SPEND $50. A MONTH AMONG INDEPENDENTLY OWNED SHOPS.
Since it's the gift giving season, what better time to do this?
HAVE YOU PURCHASED YOUR GIFTS, DECORATIONS, TURKEY, ROAST, MATZA, OR SPECIAL RICE AND ALL THE FIXINGS LOCALLY AT AN INDEPENDENT RETAILER?

As the 3/50 site says:
3: What three INDEPENDENTLY OWNED BUSINESSES would you miss if they disappeared? Stop in. Say Hello. Pick up something that brings a smile (and is hopefully useful). Your purchases are what keeps these businesses around. And if you think about it, they're really very pleasant atmospheres to shop in!
50: If half the employed population spent $50 a month in locally independent businesses, it would generate $42.6 billion in revenue.
Note: For every $100. spent in locally owned independent stores (not chains and franchises), $68. returns to the community through taxes, payrolls and other expenditures. If you spend that in a national chain, $43. stays locally and if you spend it on line, ZERO stays locally.

BENEFITS TO THE PLANET: How does this help our beautiful planet?
1. Many stores are closer than malls - LESS FUEL.
2. Have you seen the lights that are on inside a huge shopping center? - LESS UNNECESSARY LIGHTING - LESS NUCLEAR, COLE, HYDRO POWER NEEDED.
3. Independent shop keepers/retailers usually live in the community where they have their shops. NO LONG FREEWAY DRIVES IF THEY HAVE TO WORK FOR SOMEONE ELSE IN A HUGE CHAIN - LESS FUEL AGAIN.

BENEFITS TO PEOPLE: Keep this in mind - if you've saved lots of money on an item, that means someone out there who put in their time to help create the item is losing out! This is especially true in big supermarkets and other state-wide and national chains! When you see a 2-for-1 at the supermarket, it is the producer of the product that has to foot the cost - not the big store who is 'insisting' on it or cutting the producer's contract......hmmph! This means someone who works for the producer is making minimum wage at best in this country or .50 cents an hour internationally, if they're lucky.
Happy Holidays from Sam and Scot