Well I am happy to report that on Friday, August 7th we should finally have internet at home!!!! We have truly been thru the ringer trying to get internet connected at home, so I will be very grateful when I am able to get online from home. Once our internet is connected we will also have a phone that runs thru the internet and we will be able to receive and make phone calls to the US at no charge. Love modern technology . . . once I get it!

Anyhow, things have settled down for Ian and me some as we are getting into a good routine and making Aberdeen feel like home. We are still trying to do different things each weekend and enjoy the summer here. Over the last weekend we visited another Highland Games festival, but this time in a town called Aboyne. The festival was larger than the last one that we attended and had more events. It was a great time for us to see more of the Scottish culture but we did get a taste of the Scottish weather while we were there as well. Unfortunately it was chilly, windy, and rainy for the first couple of hours. As much as I have accepted the weather conditions here, I am still not entirely happy to be standing outside while it is raining and windy. However, it cleared up by the end of the day and I was much happier to be there!

The weather was fabulous on Sunday so we decided it was a good day for a hike. We did a little research and found that there was a good “hill” which provided some hiking trails about 30 minutes drive from our home. The Bennachie Hill sits 518 meters or 1,700 feet up and provides great views from the top. I use the term hill, because that is what it is called here; I would call it a small mountain. Having seen what they consider a mountain, I would agree, Bennachie is smaller. It does, however, provide for a very challenging hike. I wish that we would have had our pups with us because they would have loved the hike. I have never seen a forest and hill quite like this. As we climbed we could see the forestry change in levels. Towards the bottom, there were enormous evergreen trees and as we climbed further up the hill, the landscape changed to more low height shrubbery. The temperature also changed throughout the hike. It was very pleasant under the cover of the trees at the bottom, the middle was hot as there was not any shade, and the top was cold because we were at such a high elevation and the wind could almost blow us off the peak. But the views were stunning!!! We could see Aberdeen from the top and all the way to coast a good 25 to 30 miles away! As we were climbing to the top I was sure to let Ian know that it better be a good view or he was going to keep hearing about it all the way down! It was totally worth the hike, lucky for Ian right???

Here is a view from early to mid point of the hike.

Getting closer to the top.

A picture of one of the many dogs that made the hike to the top.

Finally us at the top!

As I mentioned in my last posting, I have been looking for opportunities to occupy my days while Ian is at work. I am having a tough time finding volunteer work with animals which is what I really want to do. I am really missing my dogs so I figured some distraction with other animals would relieve some of my heartache. I am in the process of signing up to be a pet foster for elderly and disabled people when they need assistance. Basically the organization provides temporary homes and care for pets when people are in the hospital and cannot care for their pets. We will see if it works out for me . . .
I am also looking into taking an introduction to guitar class at the local college. Ian and I are planning to sign up for a Traditional Scottish Cooking class at the college as well. We figured it would be a fun thing for us to do together and a good way to meet people. Lastly, I am looking for a job. I have no idea what I want to do, so I think it will be a while before any job really appeals to me. But I am considering it just slightly now (Dad, I know you are happy to read that!).

Well, look for more postings to come soon, with the internet being connected in my house it will be easier to do. Miss you all!