3KCBWDAY7 The Perfect Day

This is it! Our last day. Thank you Eskimimi for making this so much fun. This was my first time participating, and I can't wait for next year.

For the last day, I decided to go with the wildcard instead of the suggested topic. The topic was fine; I like knitting and crochet, even though I totally suck at crochet. My edges are wavy in crochet because my ability to count seems to leave me. But I will get better, and until then I'll make symmetrically edged knitted objects.

Besides, I daydream about my perfect day of knitting all the time, so I might as well put it in writing.

My day starts as I get off the airplane in Edinburgh, Scotland. I've had plenty of sleep because of course I flew in first class, so my comfy seat reclined after I drank all of my champagne. I jump in a taxi and head down to the train station, where I sit, again, in first class and buy sweets from the trolly. I'm taking the train up into the Highlands to my cottage. I'm taking a train instead of driving because I want to knit on the train.

At the station, I rent a car to get to my cottage that is off a single lane, curvy road. The estate agent has it ready for me, with a stocked fridge, a sponge cake, a teapot ready for hot water, and a bottle of scotch for later in the day. There's also a fire roaring in the fireplace.

Next to the fireplace is an overstuffed chair with a basket of wound yarn. I had already placed an order for some Alice Starmore yarn, so it's ready for me to start knitting the St. Ciaran wrap.

I throw the suitcase in the bedroom upstairs, then make a pot of tea before I settle in to start knitting. I turn my iPod on to listen to knitting podcasts. I stop long enough to make another pot of tea and call the hubby to check on the dogs, then back to knitting.

I put another log on the fire, take a sip of tea, eat some cake, knit, rinse and repeat.

Because I've come from so far away, I've decided that a day isn't long enough, so I'm staying a week. I meet up with the local knitting group, I meet new friends, and I buy groceries at the local shops. I might do some sightseeing, but then again, I might not. I won't finish the wrap in that time, but I'll get a lot done, and once I get home and work on it and later wear it, I'll remember my perfect knitting vacation.

Just Thinking Out Loud

It’s back-to-school shopping time! I know it’s scary to hear, but I loooove back-to-school shopping. The pens! The notebooks! The folders! The organizational tools! I’m just salivating. I want to be buried in an office supply store, then I’m going to come back and haunt it so I can write with all the pens in all the journals.

The only drawback to back-to-school shopping is that you have to fight the crowds of kids and stressed out moms. I heard a mom losing it because “you have to have a yellow spiral notebook. It has to be yellow!” Sometimes those school lists are a little silly. In San Antonio, a friend of mine would get so frustrated because of the school’s detailed list of exactly what type, brand, color, size, everything that the child should bring to school. They have to all be the same because we don’t won’t anyone to feel inferior because they couldn’t afford the Pirates of the Caribbean folder. Plus, heaven forbid anyone should show any sense of individuality.

Apparently there’s a lot more to school supply peer pressure than I realized.

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I watched Beowulf and Grendel this weekend, too. I didn’t rent it because of some great need for literature and epic poetry. I got it because Gerard Butler and Tony Curran are in it.

And yes, they look great and did a great job. Well, they did as well as they could with what they’d been given. And the scenery is amazing, and I’m sure it was a very difficult movie to make, but it doesn’t matter a flip if it’s boring. And if I want to look at amazing scenery, I can do that on Globe Trekker. SPOILER: I’m going to talk about what happens, so if you haven’t seen it and don’t want to know, then you might want to skip this next part.

It’s not that I found the movie boring, which I did, or that I couldn’t understand half the things they said, which I couldn’t, or that I’m one who thinks that movie adaptations have to be loyal to the text, which I don’t. It’s that this Beowulf is a kind post-modern deconstruction that just drives me batty. It’s been years and years and years since I’ve read Beowulf, but this movie seems to have a pretty contemporary view, while keeping the blood and gore of the violent time.

Grendel isn’t a monster and descendant of Cain who kills and wreaks havoc on the Danes, but rather a misunderstood orphan who saw his father killed, so he kills only those who have hurt him. We still have to kill him, but isn’t it sad that we have to do that?

Hell, Beowulf doesn’t even kill Grendel. He kills himself by cutting his own arm off, rather than Beowulf ripping if off like the mighty man and strong hero he is.

And I don’t remember a witch who had Grendel’s son. And I thought Hrothgar was supposed to be a great king and Beowulf’s mentor and teacher, not some guilty wimp who knows why they are being attacked but won’t confess it to anyone. And I really don’t remember Grendel being referred to as “a fucking troll.”
But, that’s just me. That’s why they don’t ask me to make movies.

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Speaking of Tony Curran, he's going to be Pentheus to Alan Cumming's Dionysus in Euripide's The Bacchae for the National Theatre of Scotland. They're opening in Edinburgh on 11 August, running through the 18th, then onto Glasgow and London. I would love to see it!

On second thought, maybe I wouldn't. I blush easily and this is a play that should result in a lot of blushing. It's so . . . well, it's . . . um . . . it's Greek. There's vengeance and blood and gore and debauchery and sexual repression and orgies and cross-dressing and ripping of limbs, and well, you just don't want to piss off a god. If I went, I would only distract the actors because I would be that red glow in the dark.

I would guess they'll be amazing in this. I can't imagine a better Dionysus than Alan Cumming.

Oh well. Maybe they'll tape it and put it on PBS? Yeah, I don't think so either.

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Ace of Cakes is back for a new season! I love this show. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a reality-based show on the Food Network featuring Duff, ultra cool cake maker and his talented friends at Charm City Cakes. They make the most amazing cakes. I don’t know how good they taste, but who cares. One of the multi-talented people on that show is Geof. He’s my favorite. He reminds me so much of my good friend in Louisiana, but he writes poetry instead of makes cakes. I always miss him after I watch this show. Here’s one of the amazing cakes they’ve made—the Sutton Hoo cake. Cool, huh?

















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I had a doctor’s appointment the other day—just a yearly check-up. The doc asked if I have any concerns, and I said yes, I’m having a hard time controlling my anger. I keep losing my temper and then I sulk. I don’t even like to be around me! She just looked at the file and I braced myself for it: “Well, you are in your 40s now.”

Well Hell’s Bells! I know that. So, it’s hormones, huh? How does she know? Maybe it’s a brain tumor. Maybe I’m borderline psychotic/manic depressive. Maybe I’ve developed multiple personalities and I have the “evil Kell” and the “sulky, wimpy Kell.” Maybe it’s not me at all! Maybe it really is everybody else! Maybe I really should be pissed off! *pant pant pant*

I think I need some chocolate. Young’s Double Chocolate Stout should do nicely.



I think I'll do that "blog rating" now. I bet I'm up to an R with this post!

Home Again, Home Again

Warrior Lass has been replaced by Worn-out Lass.

Yes, we're back. No, I didn't want to come back. Yes, they dragged me back, kicking and screaming. No, I didn't blow out my liver. Yes, I had a wonderful time.

There will be more to come, but right now I'm decompressing. There's tons of laundry to do and lots of sleep to catch up on. We got in Tuesday night, 3 days later than we had planned. And I almost succeeded in not showing how happy I was about that.

Thanks for all the comments on the last post, especially the good thoughts about dealing with MS. I did really well during the trip. I had one afternoon that I had to bow out to take a nap, but then again, everyone else did that too, or at least wanted to.

The only bummer during the trip was that I didn't get a chance to meet any fellow bloggers. That was my fault because I let myself be dragged into all the group activities instead of peeling off on my own, and I'm sorry about that. But I will be coming back. If we can get tickets for as cheap as we did this trip, we'll be back more often. There was an American bartender at the Scotch Whisky Society, and I thought, "Hmmmmmm. Maybe I should go to bartender school? Could I get a job and move to Scotland that way? Hmmmmmmm."

Anyway, here are a couple of pics of the trip to hold you over until I can organize my thoughts enough to start talking about it. Al took all the photos.

Arriving on Islay from the ferry



There are more sheep than people on Islay



Bruichladdich bottles



Bunnahabhain stills



Edinburgh seen from the Princess Gardens.

Countdown

Jay's going to hate this post, so I should go ahead and apologize to him. Sorry.

We're leaving for Scotland in one week, on 7 March, which is also Jay's birthday. Not very nice of me, huh? But for what it's worth, I didn't pick the dates. And it's going to rain on us the whole time we're on Islay. And we'll find something cool to bring home to him. And next time, he's going, too.

So, that said, we leave for Scotland in one week! We arrive in Edinburgh on the next day (8 March), meet our guide Willie, and load up onto the bus. Then someone will yell, "And their off!" and we'll head toward Tarbert to stay for one night. Along the way, I think we're going to stop at a distillery or two (and so it begins) and Loch Lomond. The guys who organize this tour every 3 years think that the best way to counter jet lag is to get on the new schedule and be busy. Personally, I'd like a little 30-minute nap. Oh well.

The next day, we'll take a ferry over to the Isle of Islay (pronounced eye-la). This is one of the many Meccas for Al, for this is where the peaty whiskies are--Bowmore, Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Bruichladdich, Caol Ila, Bunnahabhain.

The next day is scheduled for "distillery tours/shopping/golf." I don't think golf will be happening since showers are predicted for the time we are there, and I'm hoping for a little shopping tucked in between all the tours. But I have a sneaky suspicion that "shopping" means shopping at the distillery gift shop.

We're also heading over to the Isle of Jura for a distillery tour. I guess this whisky has gotten better since the first time Al tried it. I seem to remember him and his friends dubbing it the Isle of Urine. But then again, that was the end of a long night of their own whisky tasting party.

We'll spend one more day in Islay to tour a few for distilleries, then we'll head up to Grantown-on-Spey. One the way up there, we'll make some stops at historic places. I don't know what, but I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post about them.

Grantown-on-Spey is in the Highlands, south of Inverness and is a good base for touring the distilleries in the Speyside area. Our hotel is off the village square, so I'm hoping that if I have to take a day off from distillery tours, I can just walk around the town.

For the next 3 days (13-15) we'll be touring distilleries and a cooperage. Also, on one of those days we're going to tour the place where they make the copper stills for the distilleries. Apparently this is a huge deal because they have never done a tour. No cameras and no recording devices allowed. Cool!

On the 16th we'll head back to Edinburgh. This means we'll only have an afternoon in Edinburgh, which is not nearly enough time in this amazing city. There is a dinner and tasting at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society that night, but our flight leaves at 8:00 the next morning, so I don't think it's going to be a late night. Actually, I'm thinking of ditching them and going to the Oxford Bar to pay homage to Inspector Rebus (Ian Rankin's detective who frequents The Ox).

So, that's the plan. 3 nights in Islay and 4 nights in Grantown-on-Spey means that we can actually unpack and settle in a little. But it will be pretty fast and furious during the day, and luckily, everyone seems pretty laid back so they should be a fun group to hang with. But if any bloggers wanna try to get together, maybe we can work that out, too! I think I'll put my yahoo email address on my profile in case we can set something up.

They're going to have to drag me home kicking and screaming, I'm afraid. I may be leaving as Kell, but I'm returning as Warrior Lass! Hmmm. Maybe I should make a t-shirt.