New kitchen

Danny completely gutted our old kitchen and installed a new one.  From start to finish took 6 weeks of working almost every day, all day.  As this kitchen is north-facing and gets little light, we chose white cupboards and bright tiles.  This house is 83 years old so walls and floor are not even and this created extra work.  I painted the walls, woodwork and doors, and oiled the beech countertops.  Otherwise, Danny did it all.  Well done, doll!!

We have an integrated dishwasher and undercounter fridge (British-style), but a (relatively) full-size fridge/freezer in the laundry room.

Pics before, during, and after:
Kitchen pics

Passionate frogs and a new kitchen

No, the two are not related!

Our kitchen which was gutted is now nearly finished.  Final pics will be posted here but in the meantime pics of the progress are here:
Old kitchen and new one in progress

Springtime has finally arrived as proclaimed loudly by the frogs in our pond.

Making home sweet home even sweeter

Since coming home we've been extremely busy.  The day after arriving home from Michigan the installers for our new windows came.  19 new windows were installed over 4 days.  The pic is the front living room bay windows.  (they aren't curved!)



Danny has gutted the kitchen and we are getting new cupboards and all new appliances.  This house is 82 years old so no surprise when large chunks of plaster came out of the walls when some of the wall tiles were removed.  The first pic is before anything was done.  Next in the midst of a mess.  Finally more mess but I've painted the walls very blue.  Final pictures in the next few weeks, I hope.

Home Sweet Home

Time to settle down for a while.  Travelling and visiting family is enjoyable but knackering (and fattening). 

As for our side trip to Washington DC and Gettysburg.....

I recommend the following accommodations:
Arlington, VA - just across the Potomac from Washington DC.  A fairly short walk to the metro (subway) and just a few minutes to the Smithsonian station.  Good rate (at least in January), clean and comfortable.
Virginian Suites Arlington

Gettysburg, PA - bed and breakfast in the centre of town and very close to the Battlefield and new visitor centre.  The oldest home in Gettysburg, charming, each room different (colonial, victorian, etc), fabulous breakfasts and baked goods.  Not cheap but well worth it.
Brafferton Inn

We are in the process of remodeling and redecorating our home which will take two or three months.  New windows are currently being installed, then the kitchen will be gutted and everything replaced.  On to redecorating...carpet, walls, etc.  So nothing exciting to anyone else for a while, but I will bombard readers with before and after pics.

Future travel plans:
Isle of Colonsay in April, our student and friend Doreen from Uganda will visit us for the month of June.  July and August still being planned.

USA holiday

Danny and I have been enjoying visiting my family in Michigan, and touring Washington DC.  Plan on two days in Gettysburg, PA as well after we are finished in DC.
This is the first trip to DC for both of us.  On the way into Arlington we're sure we saw the presidential motorcade as there were many police cars and black SUV's.  So far we've visited Arlington National Cemetery, the National Archives, and the Smithsonian Museum of American History.  Plan on the Smithsonian Museum of American Indian History and the Air and Space Museum.  Will also walk past the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and other highlights. 

Impressive, very impressive.

Australia

Danny and I are spending a month in Australia.  Details of the trip and photos so far are here:

Oz blog

Oz photo albums

Thus far we've visted Melbourne, Great Ocean Road, Sydney, Blue Mountains and will spend 6 days and 5 nights in Tasmania. 

Travels

We are going to Australia day after tomorrow to visit Danny's relatives and to sightsee. Our itinerary includes Melbourne, Sydney, Tasmania, Great Ocean Road and other areas.

I will do a travelogue and upload lots of pics.

We're a bit chilly and missing the sunshine but happy to be home. It's nice to be retired as we can do things on the spur of the moment. We can't get totally settled into the house right now since we'll be travelling and when we return we'll be doing remodeling and redecorating.

In just over 2 weeks we'll be going to Australia for a month. A few days after we return home we'll go to the US for xmas.

Photos: the paddlesteamer Waverly going past our house. Benmore Botanic Gardens near our home

Settling back in

We have been home since Saturday the 9th and are so happy to be here. Been extremely busy getting the house organised and digging out warm clothes and all the household goodies which have been sitting in our loft for 2 years. I am gobsmacked by the amount of stuff we have.


Someone wondered how long it would be until Uganda seemed like just a dream. It's already beginning to feel that way but we still feel very close to all the people we came to regard as dear friends. The house is filled with souvenirs I bought in Uganda and gifts that were given to us as we prepared to leave. When we are organized I'll pick out some photos to print and put up in our photo gallery in the hallway.


Our environment in Uganda and the one here in Scotland couldn't be more different. There's a million miles between these places.

Some of the most obvious differences.....

• the conveniences--the washer and dryer, the hot running water, the shops filled with so many choices-too many choices, drinking cool, clean water out of the tap
• fast internet!
• foods I missed
• good roads
• sleeping w/o a mosquito net, no mosquitoes!
• being able to take a bath or shower in the evening w/o worrying about getting attacked by mozzies
• the awesome scenery, the water everywhere
• not worrying about food poisoning
• a house that feels huge
• cool weather, completely different clothing, having the central heating on
• higher prices for everything
• autumn - leaves changing colour
• using a debit and credit card again
• 24 hour electricity
• completely different accents
• much less simple lifestyle
• realizing just how much 'stuff' we have....does anybody really need dozens of shirts, dozens of socks, and so many shoes??
• great bread
• waste and extravagance everywhere

HOME!

On 2 Oct 2009 we left Uganda and flew home, stopping overnight in Dubai. We arrived at Glasgow Airport exhausted and were met by Danny's daughter, her husband, and two of Danny's uncles - Hugh and Dan.

Instead of going straight home we are spending our first week home in Inverness with Danny's daughter and her husband, Kathleen and Riaan.

The gorgeous scenery, the stone houses, the great roads are the first things I appreciated. Also enjoyed my first dinner of haddock and chips, then a breakfast of bacon and egg on a fresh roll.

Thus far we've visited Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle (photo), Fort Augustus, Strathpeffer for the most delicious hot chocolate in the world, and Glenmorangie distillery. Before we go home on Saturday we plan to visit Nairn, a seaside village, Culloden, and Cawdor Castle.