Fun and Games with Visitors

We went to the train station on Monday night to pick up the next batch of visitors - my sister Linda, her partner Mark and her daughter Adele. We had a minor panic attack when they weren't on the train they had specified, but an extremely helpful ScotRail employee assured us they probably just missed a connection and would be in a few minutes later, which they were.

The house was crowded for one night, as Fiona's mom was still with us as well, but it was nice to have a house full of family. Casey was especially excited.

We said goodbye to Ethna early Tuesday morning. We had a great time with her in Dublin and back in Scotland. She's a wonderfully caring and generous lady and we'll miss having her around. She had a smooth trip back to the US - good considering she had three stops.

We've been taking it pretty easy with Linda, Adele and Mark. I've had to work all this week, but I've made it home for lunch each day. Fiona has been taking them to see some sights - out to Braemar to see the heather in bloom, shopping and to the beach. Evenings have been spent playing Wii, enjoying some long dinners and reading. We're planning a trip out to Inverness and area tomorrow that should be quite fun.

Along with the fun and excitement of having family around, we've had some bad news recently as well. We've been told by our landlord that he won't be extending our lease past October. We've grown to like our place and recognize how unique it is in terms of decor, size, affordability and location. It's going to be hard to move in October.

It's been an interesting few days in the cricket world as well, with the final test match of the Ashes series underway. England had a decent first innings, but people were still feeling pretty gloomy as Australia came to bat. In an unexpected but not unwelcome turn of events, the English bowlers found their groove and managed to bowl out the Aussies before the start of the evening session. Last we looked they had a 199 run lead with none out in their second innings. Weather permitting it looks like the Ashes will be returning to England.