Ode to Scotland

Here are some different and fun things in our daily lives...

We do have a dryer, but it doesn't always work, and definitely not efficiently. So, I have had to resort to hanging the laundry all over the flat! There's something quaint about crunchy clothes and towels!

Okay- this kettle has got to be the coolest thing ever! Tea drinking- or having a cuppa- is part of every day. I attribute that to the fact that no one runs their heater unless they have to (to save $), so a warm beverage is essential for survival. I was skeptical, but I have become very fond of hot tea! I even drink the plain ol' generic kind (they call the basic kind builder's brew here :)) and am very much loving it! So, anyway, this kettle takes ice cold water from the tap and heats it to a boil in like 2 minutes!!!!! My friend, Kate, shared her idea to heat water for pasta, cooking, etc., in the kettle first and then transfer it to the oven- genius! I especially love using it for making broth- they don't can chicken or beef broth here, so you use OXO, their version of bouillon cubes. (Side note- Rebekah LOVES unwrapping the cubes for me- she is very meticulous in her work and appreciates having a job, I think!) I also showed you my canisters I love in the background- just a reminder- biscuits are cookies- they have digestive biscuits here which are their version of graham crackers. I thought I loved graham crackers, but milk-chocolate-covered digestive biscuits bring it to a whole new level of indulgence!

You may remember I had some nursing issues, so we started using formula. When we moved here, we needed to change brands to be able to find it locally. I thought you might like to see the packaging. It's called Baby Milk here (not formula) and is about 8 pounds for a larger can than in the States. Even with the exchange rate not in our favor, the formula is about the same cost. I am thinking that is because not that many moms here use it.

We also were using corn syrup for Luke's constipation. Most of his bowel issues have cleared up- praise the Lord- but we use golden syrup here when necessary and one teaspoonful will clear him out in a couple hours. You should have seen me asking for corn syrup in Scottish grocery stores...

If a baby is gassy, he is "windy." (Thanks, to Joy Short, for exposing me to this when you had us for a yummy dinner!)

If a baby is fussy, he is "unsettled." Only once have I had to go back to the creche (nursery) for Luke at church. The lady who held up his number told me he was "unsettled." Expecting a small upset, I was shocked to hear him screaming bloody murder all the way down the hall. Somehow their euphemisms here don't quite get the point across all the time! :)

Some fun things we keep in the pantry. 1 L bottles of pop- on the left is fizzy orange- Josh and Rebekah love it. "Lemonade" is Sprite. The Lightly Salted Tortilla Chips are like 30 cents because the bag is tiny! The popcorn box was a new find I was excited about! On the bottom is "streaky bacon"- "bacon" is what we would call ham. The little container is "soured cream" and the small tin is yeast. I just thought you might enjoy seeing some of the packaging. I can not explain how relieving it is to kind of know what things are, what we can get, what we'll need to get back in the States, etc. It was hard starting off, knowing nothing!

Having a Honda Accord means we have a "big" car here! This amuses me greatly! Many cars are like this one. It has been interesting learning to drive here. It's not that bad, but I still hate roundabouts- if you get off on the 1st or 2nd exit, you stay in the outside lane. If you get off at the 3rd or more exit, you stay in the inside lane. However, you can exit from the inside lane b/c cars in the outter lane should only be there if they're exiting, too. All of this is communicated with blinkers and seems easy enough until you're not sure which exit you'll be taking. That's when you do a few loops in the inside lane. :) Drivers give you about a half second to respond to a signal change and then you get honked at. However, they are extremely coreous about letting in cars and slowing down so other cars can make turns even when it's not their right of way.

Josh did hunt down a very good Chinese "take-away" place the other day that was decently affordable. It was really fun to eat "out" again! We actually do have a date set up for next week- we are hoping to eat and then walk around, exploring. Josh and I have learned that it is just a slower pace around here, which is nice most of the time! The stores close down at 5pm!! So, Thursdays are late-night shopping because they're open til 8! Crazy! So, interestingly, Josh told me that Scots have a great knowledge of movie culture- it gets so dark here so early (5pm right now) and nothing's open, so lots of movie-watchin'!

Every time people find out we're American, they want to talk about the election. The world really is watching. Josh has had some interesting conversations. One guy in education here saw America as wholly conservative and was almost offended that Americans talked about socialism as a "bad thing." It is interesting living somewhere else and seeing how they view us. While on the topic of socialized things, we have been intrigued by some of the things we've encountered at the medical centers. There is a poster campaign about no tolerance for physical or verbal abuse to nursing staff and a picture of a guy hitting a poor nurse. We asked about it and in the ER, I guess, it's pretty common for the locals to abuse the staff. What?!

For some great Scottish sayings go to my sweet friend, Rachel's, blog by clicking on her name.