Sparks

Sparks is hosted by Annie at McGuffy's Reader (visit to see everyone else's sparks) and her words are the best to use to explain:

"I believe we are meant to be lights in this world. If we allow our light to shine, we can see where we are going. It is then that we can begin to truly see each other clearly. Together, we can light up the entire world!"

The aim is to post a positive quote, thought, poem, or verse. Today we're remembering that it's important to live in the moment and not rush into the future.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

Exploring Glenfiddich Whisky Distillery

Today we finally, after two years of living in the Highlands, went and did a tour of a whisky distillery. We'd been to Glenfiddich distillery before, just to wander around the grounds and have coffee and cake in their cafe so that was the distillery we chose.

The tour took roughly an hour and a half and was very interesting. The statue shows the founder William Grant with his wife.

William Grant built the first buildings of the distillery in 1887 with his sons and daughters and the original building is where the cafe now lives.

We got to see all the different stages of the distilling process and the buildings are very warm and there is a very strong smell in the air, varying depending which part of the process is going on.

These barrels are huge, and some are recycled as houses at Findhorn Eco Village (Previous Blog Post).

This is just the top bit of the barrel, you will see the rest shortly.

A bubbling cauldron of whisky in the making.

This is when we went downstairs and you can see the rest of one of the barrels with our very informative tour guide beside it.

These are the stills that complete the process of making whisky before it is put into casks.

Whisky selfie - we weren't allowed to take photos once we were down amongst the stills.

At the end of the tour there was a whisky tasting of three different aged whiskys. Ken doesn't drink so we got a mini bottle to replace his tasting, and despite really hating the taste I thought I would give it a go and see if my taste buds had changed since the last time I tried it. My first memory of trying whisky was when I was a nurse in Tasmania, and an elderly gentleman who was in hospital for Christmas wanted to share a drink with me - thankfully I got to pour, so mine was mainly water, rather than whisky. How times have changed, as I don't think that would be allowed these days. Even though it tasted awful, I'm glad I did it as it made him smile.

The whiskys were 10, 12, and 15 year old malts.

Guess what - I still really hate the taste of Scotland's national drink.

This is a picture of William Grant, his wife and some of their children.

The stag is the emblem of Glenfiddich and the word in Gaelic means valley of the deer.

Each year the distillery hosts Artists in Residence and some of the art they create is dotted around the site, whilst others are hidden away in private rooms.

This is the great fireplace in the cafe - we had to go in and have a drink and a piece of cake to get the awful taste of the whisky out of my mouth.

I loved these door handles going into the shop - very intricate and tactile.

The shop sells all sorts of things apart from whisky, and they also have a section where you can bottle your own.

A tiny little Bramble Jelly sitting in front off the stag antlers made out of waste wood by one of the past artists in residence.

Family selfie - it only took a few attempts to get us all almost looking in the right direction.

We hope you've enjoyed this visit to a whisky distillery, and until next time, I'll leave you with this really interesting fact - there are over 20 million casks of whisky maturing across Scotland.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

Friday's Friendly Ramblings

It's the end of another week and time for some fill ins that are set by Annie at McGuffy's Reader and Ellen at 15andmeowing.com - why don't you come and join us. The words in purple are the prompts that are provided and then the rest is me.

1. My favorite president is Nelson Mandela because despite his 27 years in prison he was a beacon for peace and reconciliation in South Africa. During his years in prison Mandela completed his law degree and I'm sure this helped him in being able to debate the rights of all South Africans and be effective in his role as President of South Africa.

2. This weekend, I have plans to get my hair cut and my pink streaks refreshed - you can see a bit of the pink in the below picture. We'll see what else we end up discovering in our travels. 

3. I love how my beloved carries Bramble Jelly from the car to the house if it is wet so that she doesn't get dirty wet feet. It's very cute with her wriggling away under his arm.

4. I believe that we can all have an impact on the world around us, we just have to decide whether or not that impact will be good, or bad. Reducing our use of plastic, eating local food, eating less meat, turning the lights off more, recycling as much as possible, and so many more little things that can help look after this planet we live on. Earth Day 2018 is April 22nd and this years focus is very much on reducing plastic use and cleaning up the plastic waste that is polluting our world.

Until next time, we hope that you have a wonderful weekend wherever you are in the world.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

P.S: Our new little man, Lord Rocky Horror has settled in really well and has finally stopped inhaling his food for fear of someone else eating it. He's the cutest and friendliest little cat and we're so glad he's become part of our family.

Top Ten Thursday - February Scavenger Hunt

This week for Top Ten we're doing another photo scavenger hunt (Check out the January one) and I have to admit that my beloved had to help me get these done and his picture for #3 is inspired. Here's the list that Tamara at Part-time Working Hockey Mom has set us for February:

1. Buddha 
2. Salt & Pepper
3. Calm
4. Phone Booth
5. Harbor
6. Stop
7. Devotion
8. Vitamins
9. Cart
10. Friendship

And here are my pictures for the above......

1. This Buddha was given to me by a colleague where I worked about 18 years ago. He's survived fairly well in our home and has only lost a finger after being knocked off his shelf by a curious feline.

2. At the weekend we went to Brodie Castle for a coffee and they had these lovely copper and wooden Salt & Pepper shakers. They're quite modern looking but they still suit the old fashioned kitchen we were sitting in.

3. For Calm my beloved took this photo as he thinks that if the calm meditations don't work for me then there is always Prosecco and chocolate.

4. This Phone Booth was for the AA which is the car rescue company, though due to mobile phones all of the roadside rescue points were decommissioned in 2002. Some, like this one, still remain as a symbol of days gone by.

5. Over Christmas and New Year Nairn Harbour had been emptied out for repairs, which was very strange, but all is back to normal now with the yachts back in their rightful place.

6. Stop - I was going to try and find something funny but have gone with a simple sign instead. If I'd had my phone with me yesterday at work when I went to buy my lunch time latte I would have had a perfectly ironic picture. There was a patient smoking right in front of the stop smoking sign.

7. This bench is a great example of Devotion. There are three of these benches in the highlands that are to remember a much loved minister, and on every bench there are carved socks of different colours as Reverend Ranald Gauld would wear odd socks. The community raised the funds to make sure there was a lasting memorial that celebrated the reverend's quirks.

8. This picture isn't technically vitamins but it's what we've got in our cupboard - supplements for various aches and pains.

9. I couldn't find a cart anywhere but my beloved found this one when he was out walking with Bramble Jelly, so saved the day.

10. Friendship - these three horses at Brodie Castle reminded me of teenagers hanging out together when they just stand around casually chatting about nothing. 

How do you think we did? Before you go, make sure you hop over to Tamara's Blog to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and take time to enjoy the world around you.

Pamela & Ken

xxxxxxxxxxxx

A Balanced Hodgepodge

Middle of the week so it's time for the hodgepodge with the questions set by Joyce at the blog From This Side of the Pond. This is a great prompt based blog hop with differently themed questions every week.

1. Where do you go when you need some inspiration?

I love browsing through Pinterest, sometimes with an actual purpose in mind, but often just to see what's out there in the virtual world of ideas.

2. What's under your bed?

Sometimes there is a cat under the bed, but only when she doesn't want to leave the room when we want her to. There is bound to be dust under there, and my beloved has a box of things under there that don't fit in his bedside table.

3. Thursday, February 22nd is National Chili Day, National Margarita Day, and National Cook a Sweet Potato Day. Of the three which would you most like to celebrate? Is that likely?

Of the three options I would celebrate the Sweet Potato as I love them and they're such a versatile vegetable and so much tastier than their plain relatives.

4. What are you 'snowed under' with right now?

I'm not really snowed under with anything at the moment, though I am starting to feel the pressure build for doing the A to Z blogging challenge this year. I think I've finally decided on my theme, so now I just have to start writing my posts.

5. Tell us three to five things that make you feel balanced?

Am I allowed to say my beloved, my beloved, my beloved? No, okay I'll be good and say different things. My beloved is definitely the number one thing that helps me feel balanced, as he is the other half of my soul.

Cuddling one of our furbies is a great way to bring balance back and sometimes reading or watching tv can be a reminder that the world isn't as out of sync as it may seem.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

We are in the process of trying to integrate our new furby Lord Rocky Horror (cat) into our menagerie - it's a little bit stressful. Rocky has already put Bramble (Cocker Spaniel) in her place, which was quite funny as Bramble is so much bigger than our new little man. 

Bramble keeping a safe distance from Rocky

Princess Cookie Cat is another story altogether. She has got a constant growling hissing thing going on, to the point that she ends up coughing and growling at times. So far she has only lashed out a Rocky once, but we're making sure that we're always around when they're in the same room. They're living in different parts of the house when we're in bed or out of the house, as I worry what would happen without us here to adjudicate.

Rocky exploring his new home

What helps you to feel balanced? Before you go, make sure you pop over to Joyce's blog to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Until next time we hope that all is good in your little part of the world.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

Sparks

Sparks is hosted by Annie at McGuffy's Reader (visit to see everyone else's sparks) and her words are the best to use to explain:

"I believe we are meant to be lights in this world. If we allow our light to shine, we can see where we are going. It is then that we can begin to truly see each other clearly. Together, we can light up the entire world!"

The aim is to post a positive quote, thought, poem, or verse. Today's contribution is because sometimes life can feel like a bit of a race and every now and then we need to stop, and just breathe.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

Fridays Friendly Fill Ins

It's the end of another week and time for some fill ins that are set by Annie at McGuffy's Reader and Joyce at 15andmeowing.com - why don't you come and join us. The words in purple are the prompts that are provided and then the rest is me. Lets raise a glass of something fizzy for the new year.

1. My Chinese zodiac animal is the Rooster, and more specifically I am an earth rooster. A famous earth rooster is Jennifer Lopez and we're meant to be 'lovely, generous, and trustworthy. My beloved is a Monkey which sounds about right.

Today being Chinese New Year we're entering the year of the dog and leaving my year, the rooster behind.

2. My zodiac sign is Capricorn which is an earth sign and I have been told several times in my life that I epitomize the personality of this sign. A Capricorn's traits are; responsible, disciplined, practical, and grounded, with them also expecting the worst and being a tad unforgiving

3. Income tax season is not something I have to worry about.

4. In hindsight, there are probably lots of things that when I look back I wonder if I should have made different decisions or chosen a different path, but at the time I made the best decision with the information I had. Besides, Lady Destiny had it all planned already.

Do you know what your Chinese Zodiac sign is? We wish you all a fabulous new year with all good things.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx

P.S: Introducing our new furby, the very handsome Rocky. He joined our family yesterday and we suspect he's called Rocky because he's a bit of a fighter, having already given Bramble Jelly a whack that caused Bramble to bark and get upset, which has never happened with Princess Cookie Cat.

Top Ten Thursday - St Petersburg

Today for our top ten Tamara at Part-time Working Hockey Mom has asked us to take an imaginary city trip! We picked a location we've been wanting to visit, googled the h*** out of the internet and put together the top ten things we want to see, do, experience, eat, etc. at that place! 

So many places that I would love to visit that it was hard to decide which one to do. I could've chosen Prague, Florence, Ulan Bator, Salzburg, and the list goes on, but instead I've chosen St Petersburg in Russia.

Pixabay.com

Here's my top ten (there are many more things I'd like to do, but these are a start).

1. Drink Vodka in it's home country.

2. Visit Smolenskoe Cemetery - there are several great sounding graveyards in the city, but this is one of the older ones.

3. Wander through the Hermitage Museum which is situated in the Winter Palace.

4. Marvel at the grandeur of the Grand Palace.

5. Reflect on the beauty of the Church of the Saviour on the Spilled Blood - the name alone is a reason to visit it. This is the church in the picture above with the iconic Russian domes.

6. Pose with the statue Monument to the Photographer.

7. Eat caviar on traditional Russian blinis (pancakes).

8. Soak in the creative vibes at the Street Art Museum.

9. Pay respects to the assassinated Czar Nicholas II in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.

10. Be dazzled by the artistic beauty at the Faberge Museum.

Where would you like to visit that you've never been? So many places in this huge world of ours and it's nice to dream about visiting one day.

It's now late so I'll say Dasvidaniya (goodbye) and wish you all a wonderful day wherever you are.

Pamela & Ken

xxxxxxxxxxxx