Preparing for school (Earlsferry), Scotland - 18th August 2009
By: eilidhlive
Tomorrow's the day that school here in Scotland returns. Eilidh is a little nervous about it all after being on holiday for so long. I'm excited to go and visit her school after helping her get all the bits and bobs organised tonight for it. As Eilidh is hosting 3 TVs she doesn't think that she will take us all to school at once, so tomorrow she will take Rocky Squirrel before it's my turn on Thursday.
We all helped look out Eilidh's school uniform - that's right mum, pupils have to wear a uniform here. It consists of black/grey trousers or skirt, white/black shirt, a tie (usually red and black striped, but Eilidh has a special all red one for winning a competition) and a black blazer with red piping. I'm not sure if I like it yet!
We also had to help with packing her school bag, there were lots of folders to get in. Even though Eilidh only does 5 subjects - maths, English, French, history and human biology.
I've been trying to cheer her up all evening because I don't think she wants to go back to school much - oh well!
I think I got a smile out of her - that's what we TVs do though, spread happiness.
Update you soon mum!
Ronnie x
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Posted Aug 18, 2009, 8:52 pm
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Earlsferry, Scotland - 19th August 2009
By: eilidhlive
Today was exciting - a new TV came to join us here in Earlsferry. He's called MrCoolHH and he's red - it's a cool colour and so bright compared to us 3 TVs Eilidh is used to hosting. Here's me and the gang now. We sure are becoming quite a squad - Eilidh reckons she will have to take 2 trips everywhere, or get a special bag to keep us in when we go out places. It's a hard life being a TV host...apparently.
Anyway this evening we helped make dinner. First we had to get the potato's and peel them.
Then they had to be mashed up and seasoned.
And some other things happened too - but we were only in charge of potato's so I can't tell you what - but it was ready. Now this does not look very appetising (Eilidh wants to add at this point that she hates how there is American spellings on this site and everything she types in English as opposed to American-English gets underlined in red...wasn't this site set up by a couple of Brits? Hmm!) - but it's haggis. Haggis is a traditional dish served in Scotland - it's usually accompanied with 'neeps and tatties' or mashed turnip and mashed potato to the non-Scots. However no one likes turnip in Eilidh's house, so we didn't have it.
So more information about haggis -
"Haggis is a dish containing sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours.
Haggis somewhat resembles stuffed intestines (pig intestines otherwise known as chitterlings), sausages and savoury puddings of which it is among the largest types. As the 2001 English edition of the Larousse Gastronomique puts it, "Although its description is not immediately appealing, haggis has an excellent nutty texture and delicious savoury flavour".
Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a casing rather than an actual stomach. There are also meat-free recipes for vegetarians.
The haggis is a traditional Scottish dish memorialised as the national dish of Scotland by Robert Burns' poem Address to a Haggis in 1787. Haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties" (Scots: swede, yellow turnip or rutabaga and potatoes, boiled and mashed separately) and a "dram" (i.e. a glass of Scotch whisky), especially as the main course of a Burns supper. However it is also often eaten with other accompaniments, or served with a whisky-based sauce."
Tomorrow I'm going to school - so update you tomorrow night I guess!
Ronnie x
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Posted Aug 19, 2009, 8:57 pm
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Earlsferry, Scotland - 22nd August 2009
By: eilidhlive
A new TV came to stay with us today, it's always exciting when newbies come as they have so many stories to tell.Here we all are in a group photo. From left to right here we are MrCoolHH, Chance, Ronnie, Meleca, Rocky & Jennifer.
However Jennifer is leaving us soon, so that's a pity.
Looks like tomorrow is going to be good, tomorrow (if Eilidh can work out how to take us all - not easy transporting 5/6 toys) we are going to Edinburgh, the capitol city of Scotland!
So until later bye!
Ronnie x
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Posted Aug 22, 2009, 7:58 am
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Earlsferry, Scotland - 6th September 2009
By: eilidhlive
My host Eilidh has been super busy here in Scotland recently. School has been rather manic with coursework and the weather here has been constant rain - flooded last week, so we TVs have had a dull indoor time.
However I am now off on my adventures to Canada taking along a few Scottish goodies!
Goodbye rainy Scotland!
Ronnie x
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Posted Sep 6, 2009, 10:24 pm
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Calgary, Canada - 14th September 2009
By: smaug
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Posted Sep 16, 2009, 2:53 am Last edited Sep 16, 2009, 2:54 am by smaug
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Kicking Horse Pass, Canada - 17th September 2009
By: smaug
Hi Mum,
Today smaug had to do some field work within Banff National Park and we TVs were allowed to go with him, my first visit to the mountains . The weather was quite bad, it was raining most of the time , but we still managed to take some pictures, here I am on the road between Lake Louise and Kicking Horse Pass, as you can see it was very wet
When we reached the pass the weather improved slightly. By the way, there is not really any horse kicking anyone at the pass , apparently a member of one of the first exploration expeditions that came here was kicked by his horse while in this area and hence the name .
The pass sits on the Continental Divide. That means that rain falling just east of it flows towards Hudson Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, while rain falling on West side ends up in the Pacific Ocean . Actually near the pass there is a small creek called Divide Creek that forks at the pass and its waters flow part towards east and part west. Here I am standing more or less on the divide:
We didn’t really leave Alberta, but were welcomed back anyway, how kind
On the way back the weather improved even more and we found a nice spot for a picture in the Bow Valley, look how big is that forest, I can’t wait to explore it .
Bye
Ronnie
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Posted Sep 19, 2009, 5:49 am
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Mount Allan, Canada - 26th September 2009
By: smaug
Hi Mum!
today was a lovely sunny day so smaug decided to have a final (for the season) high mountain hike. Our destination was Mount Allan in the Kananaskis Provincial Park. We spent the first part of the day climbing up a thick forest (where we tried to take some photos without getting anything presentable in an update ). When we eventually came out of the trees we were on a steep ridge overlooking Kananaskis Valley. From the ridge you could see the valley heading north (look what a big forest and I was right in the middle of it, I completed one of my missions )…
…and south…
…this big mountain called Mt Kidd...
….and the top of the ridge, called Olympic Summit. Just next to it is the Nakiska ski area (that you can't see in the picture) where all the alpine ski races where held during the 1988 Winter Olympics, hence the name…or at least I guess so .
Once we reached Olympic Summit we were not even half way to our destination . We had to follow a long and very, very windy ridge (so windy that the rucksack was shaking enouh to worry us inside it ). From the ridge we got some lovely views over Kananaskis Valley and the surrounding mountains .
….and we could also see our destination, Mount Allan. Here you can see Mount Allan on the right in the shadow and the much higher Mount Lougheed on the left.
Halfway through the ridge we came across these funny pinnacles formed by rock that has resisted erosion better than the rest of the mountain .
Eventually we reached the top at 2819m and the view, of course, was great : we could see the Bow River Valley in the north-west…
…Kananaskis Valley in the south-east…
…endless mountains in the north…
…and Mount Lougheed just in front of us
On the way back smaug decided to enjoy a bit the sun by laying in the grass. So we took the chance to come out of the rucksack, have a bit of fun by ourselves and so we went climbing . First we organized the team: smaug (before falling asleep) suggested to have the two best climbers leading and closing the team. Snuttig went first ( black bears are natural born climbers) while I followed him Lysander and Sully Monster behind me. Nathalie and sammino, being flying TVs, were going to support us by indicating us the best routes and holds from the air.
Phew! Climbing is hard work !! I am not sure that elks (or moose as I am called on this side of the Atlantic) are made for climbing…but sammino was always close by making me feel a bit more comfortable .
Here I was trying to reach Snuttig up an angled fissure…with sammino and Nathalie keeping a watchful eye on us all the way.
How tiring!! But how great to reach the top and sit all together watching the landscape ! I am probably the first climbing elk ever .
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Posted Sep 29, 2009, 4:03 am Last edited Sep 29, 2009, 4:25 am by smaug
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Calgary, Canada - 3rd October 2009
By: smaug
Hi Mum!
Today we said goodbye to Snuttig. He is travelling to California...wow ! He actually chose a very good time to move to the south as here, in the night, it started snowing .
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Posted Oct 4, 2009, 10:54 pm
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