April 15

Well we have acclimated, finally! Well speaking for myself....I went to bed at 1:00 a.m. and I found out the next morning that Darian, Mike and Dekker went chasing sheep and swimming in the North Sea after I went to bed! WTF, like I didn’t want to go?! Actually, I am very glad because I saw how much sheep shit is on Darian’s shoes - I made a better decision. So, up at a respectable 8:30 and had coffee, crib and breakfast. 

Then on to Dunnottar. In Darian’s words, “That castle demands respect” probably the best description I’ve ever heard of that castle. It never gets old - actually it is 900 years old but I never get tired of seeing it. And the kids were dutiable impressed. You have to see it to believe it. 

Then we went for lunch and I swear to God, we had to fight off a seagull for our food. I. Shit. You. Not. This fucker would swoop down at you while you were eating and nothing but a taser would slow that fucker down. He did this call and all his friends would join him and create a united front to storm our table. Military strategy and  tactics to conduct warfare to acquire French fries. Even the waitresses would scan the roof when the ran out to deliver meals. It was terrifying. Having said all that, that fucking seagull saw the size of me and knew not to try any shit with me - my dessert would have been sautéed seagull with a scoop of ice cream. 

So we went to Pam and Mike’s for a visit with everyone. I cannot begin to tell everyone how amazing it is to walk back into this family after 30 years and, honestly not miss a beat. It is a tribute to the bond that Mike/Pam/ Sher/Roy/Mary/Rod shared that this truly is our Scottish family. What incredible people. Their children and grandchildren are aces. Ryan shook Dekkie’s hands and said, “The last time we met you had hair.” And Dekkie didn’t miss a beat when he replied, “Ya mate, last time we met you were 6 stone”. It was fucking hilarious. It was a family reunion in every sense of the word. Nics made us supper reservations and then we went for a visit with her and Tony and their family in their lovely home. Scottish hospitality at its best. Tony is hilarious and he was such a gentleman, he spoke slow so we could understand him. Well, not Darian. He could have written it down and she wouldn’t have understood.