Not too much going on

After returning from our trip, we're still decompressing and getting back to normal life. This weekend, we didn't commit to anything, we just took it easy and stayed home. As such, I don't have much to report that is blog-worthy, so I'll keep this short.

I've just finished the videos for Scotland and Iceland, and I will have those posted in the coming week. I'm glad to have them done. MS MovieMaker is a great program for the price (free), but it is depserately slow on my laptop, buggy (it occasionally hangs and has to be restarted), and somewhat limited in capabilities. But it's free, which makes up for a lot. That said, I spent the whole weekend finishing the movies, and they took much more of my time than I really would have liked.

Apart from that, we did make a significant purchase. We decided to swap out our 13 year old washer and dryer set (which still work perfectly, but use so much water) with new LG front-load models.

The water prices in our town keep going up and up and up, and the old washer we have uses about 30 gallons per cycle. Compare that against the LG washer, which claims a 7 gallon per cycle figure! Considering Becky does about 20 cycles every week, that's about 460 gallons per week! These units should pay for themselves in a year or two at that rate. Add to that the fact that the new washers also claim to clean better than the old ones.

We got a pretty good deal on them too. The units aren't cheap... about $2500 for the pair. But Home Depot had several specials. First, 10% off, so that's $250 off. Not bad. Then, with the purchase over a thousand, we got a $200 giftcard (which I will definitely use sometime in the future). Plus, we got a rebate on the $55 installation charge, so it's installed for free essentially. Not bad. We were going to buy them anyway, so it's great that we got about 500 bucks back in the deal. Just makes amortizing the cost of the washers a little quicker.

LG models WM2688HWM and DLE8377WM

Scotland and Iceland -- Architectural Tour

In my conclusion to the Scotland and Iceland series, here's a final (And there was much rejoicing!) set of photos highlighting the unique and interesting architecture (both new and old) found in the two countries.

Scotland

Unknown Blair Castle between Glasgow and Aviemore. Train bridge at the Hermitage. Kirk in Forres. The beautiful downtown of Forres. The Nelson monument tower in Forres.

Victorian house in Aviemore. Cairngorm Hotel in Aviemore. Kirk used in Monarch of the Glen series on BBC. The very ancient Castle Roy. Castle Urquhart.

Inverness Castle. Kirk in Inverness. Ancient (replica) hut at Culloden. Pictish stone circles near Culloden. Kirk in Elgin.

Glen Moray Distillery. Whisky storage house through a glass cask full of spirit. Castle Eilean Donan. Manor house and castle ruins on Skye. Castle Armadale of the Donald Clan on Skye. Modern day home of Clan Donald chief on Skye.

Unknown Aldourie Castle on Loch Ness (neat picture taken through binoculars). Bridge near the Clunnie Inn. Town square in Glasgow. Wallace monument in Stirling. Stirling Castle.

Train station sky-light in Edinburgh. Edinburgh Castle. Greyfriar's Kirk. Buildings on the Royal Mile. Holyrood Palace.

Parliament Building in Edinburgh. Edinburgh Castle.

Iceland

Hotel Centrum in Reykjavík. Building in Reykjavík. Big Lutheran church in Reykjavík.

Scotland and Iceland -- Epicurian Tour

Probably my favorite thing about traveling is the food. I love to eat, and I love to try new dishes and local fare. Here is a sampling of the food we had on this wonderful tour.

Scotland

My first pint (of Tennents). Strawberry sundaes and banana splits in Forres. Bread pudding. The perfectly pulled pint, thanks to Eleanor. Ed and the mighty plate of haggis and eggs!

A beautiful fresh salad. Mutton stew. What breakfast in Scotland should be! (Can you tell it's a postcard?) Breakfast meats, black pudding, and sausages (uncooked). Wild mushroom soup and whole wheat bread.

Coffee and tea at the Mountain Cafe. Fine single malt Scotch whisky at Glen Moray. A mighty tower of haggis with neaps and tatties. Scottish beef with red cabbage. Speyside trout with prawns and lemon butter sauce.

Lamb burger with green beans, carrots, and potatoes. Lentil soup. Potato leek soup. Belhaven 80 shilling beer.

Iceland

Icelandic cod with soy glaze (our first brush with Asian-inspired fusion cuisine so common in Iceland). A wonderful hot chocolate. Salted cod with almond crust and Thai satay sauce. Eddie's enormous (but short-lived arctic char).

Icelandic breakfast of cold-cuts, cheese, prunes, kiwi, wheat toast, cottage cheese and pickled herring. Icelandic trout (more Asian-inspired fusion cuisine). Kangaroo (really, it was quite a bit too salty). Salted cod with a Thai chili sauce (Asian in a little top-hat, no less).

Footnote: We really got tired of Asian-inspired fusion cuisine. If you go to Iceland, either eat the bar-food and put up with the ciagrette smoke, or bring your wallet and chop-sticks.