Next we set out for lunch at No. 28 Charlotte Square in New Town.  The Georgian-period house has a gallery in the Drawing Room, a gift shop, and a cafe/bistro.  We settled in for some Earl Grey tea and Salmon sandwiches.

We luckily had missed the rain by this time (it rained off and on all day), as we headed out for some shopping around New Town. We went into Harvey Nichols for some coffee at their “Forth Floor Restaurant” overlooking the city – so posh!

Next we went to see a film (there was a serious shortage on good films to choose from, but Iron Man 2 wasn’t so bad) and by the end we were starving for birthday dinner:

The Dogs on Hanover Street is really 3 restaurants:  Underdogs (a plush couch-filled lounge for drinks and mingling), Amore Dogs (their Italian-themed restaurant), and The Dogs (the original restaurant featuring Scottish and British themed fare).  We dined at The Dogs – Trent had the most delicious steak and I had the pork belly – don’t knock it till you’ve tried it… amazing.

To earn room for dessert we walked back to Harvey Nichols to their Chocolate Lounge that features a moving (that’s right, moving) Chocolate belt.  A conveyor belt with delicious chocolate treats endlessly danced in front of us as we drooled over the menu.

Chocolate Martinis and Chocolate Fondue… yummmmm.  Full to bursting we barely made it home.  I’m still digesting…  Thanks for all the kind birthday wishes.  I had a truly fabulous birthday.

…very happy Kristen.

]]> http://dailyscotch.wordpress.com/2010/05/28/an-amazing-birthday/feed/ 6 KristenMakes Doug's Over Easy Breakfast Forth Floor Restaurant terrace http://dailyscotch.wordpress.com/2010/05/02/edinburgh-zoo-a-birthday-outing/ http://dailyscotch.wordpress.com/2010/05/02/edinburgh-zoo-a-birthday-outing/#comments Sun, 02 May 2010 09:09:53 +0000 KristenMakes http://dailyscotch.wordpress.com/?p=268 Continue reading →]]> Well last week was Trent’s birthday – wow, we’re really getting old!  To celebrate, we intended to try out the Scottish Seabird Centre, where I really wanted to see a puffin scratching his head with his foot (as pictured on their webpage), but alas, the weather was rough as we set out towards the train station.  With rain pouring down and nearly everything closed so early on a Sunday, we ducked into a Costa coffee shop, cozied into a corner window with a spectacular view of the castle to dry off and reassess the plan.  As we sipped and munched, the rain lessened a bit and we decided to try out the Edinburgh Zoo instead, so that we’d at least be near home if the rain started up again.  Best idea ever!  The zoo was amazing!

Upon arrival, the weather had cleared and we walked right into a talk about the sealions.  The zoo guides were training them to catch by throwing fish for them to catch in their mouths or to swim off and fetch.  They always look intimidating on Attenborough’s Blue Planet but in person they were impressive!

We entered into a Madagascar section and found ourselves walking amongst lemurs, no glass or fence to separate us. The lemurs were not shy and came right out as if we weren’t even there. Some bum-scratching on a post and then sniffing the post resulted.

As we left that section and wandered along, we ran upon Barry, the gentleman who gave the talk on sealions. He pointed out the animals we had caught him conversing with and we found ourselves engrossed in a private and impromptu talk on all sorts of animals in the zoo, how they came into the zoo, and how the zoo works to help restore endangered numbers. We walked with him to the Chimpanzee section, Budongo Trail, and he explained a few of the chimps and the tyrannical hierarchy that develops in the enclosure. He gave great details on each chimp and was careful not to make eye contact with them as they knew who he was and eye contact is a sign of disrespect.

We came across Barry quite frequently on our day and each meeting (whether an impromptu conversation or a scheduled talk in a microphone) displayed his vast knowledge and immense care for the creatures at the zoo. We were lucky to come across one of the scheduled talks on the Gelada Baboons during a feeding.

The zoo guides (including Barry) knew all the ages of the babies, as well as their habits. We could have watched them play and eat for the whole day, but there were more animals to spot.

In the pictures above you see a tiger (lounging after a huge meal, watching us spectators intently); a beautiful view of the city, as the zoo is built onto a steep incline; white-lipped deer; and Lion!

Next on the schedule was the Penguin Parade! Every day they let some of the penguins out to proudly walk a tiny circuit so as to give the crowd the thrill of and up-close look and these fascinating creatures. Once we were safely sorted behind a yellow line, our old friend Barry announced that they were opening the gate! They were off!

It was amazing to see! Parents had to stop their children from chasing after the penguins once they passed and you could tell everyone (including adults) were affected with a mysterious child-like giddiness. Afterwards we walked around the huge penguin enclosure to observe them in their zoo habitat.

“Oh, hello friendly penguins!” I think some of them wanted to observe us too.

Next we wandered around to see what more there was to see…

Some more monkeys!


This wee animal was called Kirk’s Dik-Dik

“I’m telling you, the stork brought you! Pay no attention to what’s going on over here.”

A beautiful house in the middle of the zoo, great for weddings and fancy parties!

A very curious baby Squirrel Monkey!

After we’d made a few circuits around the zoo, our weary legs carried us home.  The Edinburgh Zoo was a great way to spend Trent’s birthday.

Given this gorgeous weather, we embarked with our usual Sunday off starting with a delicious breakfast from our new favorite cafe, Foodies.

Afterwards we walked back to Holyrood Park to check out the Ecofusion Festival.  It was full of events and activities for kids and adults – rock climbing wall, crepe stand, puppet show, etc.    At the falconry pad, I got to hold a sleepy 4-month old owl, and Trent a raven named Jake who was 11 years old.

Next we wandered by a table where we were asked if we wanted to make seed bombs! A seed bomb is a ball of mud (soil & water, not just any dirt of course) and seeds and you can just chuck it anywhere and a mini-garden can sprout! The idea sprouted (pun intended) apparently from yucky inner city areas and the idea to make them prettier. Trent made a nasturtium/marigold seed bomb, and mine was out of a wildflower mix. I thought the idea was brilliant, simple, and loads of fun – great for kids!

We also passed by a huge array of seeds and spices – I’m not sure if they were for taking some home, or just for educational purposes but the display was nice.

After the Festival, we wandered back towards Arthur’s Seat, with no agenda but to follow whichever path Trent fancies (which is the best way to travel!).

We wore ourselves out on the rocks and hills, and found ourselves sitting amongst picnickers and loungers by a lake, before we trudged home for a well-deserved rest.  Hope everyone else’s spring is just as lovely!

(Closing the post with a picture of some floating eggy substance.)

]]> http://dailyscotch.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/spring-in-the-park/feed/ 3 KristenMakes IMG_0778 IMG_0781 IMG_0792 IMG_0797 IMG_0800 IMG_0799 IMG_0802 IMG_0804 IMG_0805 IMG_0809 IMG_0828 IMG_0811 IMG_0835 http://dailyscotch.wordpress.com/2010/04/06/new-lanark-day-trip/ http://dailyscotch.wordpress.com/2010/04/06/new-lanark-day-trip/#comments Tue, 06 Apr 2010 08:10:59 +0000 KristenMakes http://dailyscotch.wordpress.com/?p=254 Continue reading →]]>
We finally got to hit New Lanark yesterday!  It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.  New Lanark is a cotton mill town along the River Clyde.  It was begun in the late 1700′s and then taken over by philanthropist Robert Owen, who turned the tiny mill town into a Utopian social experiment.  There was a nursery and school, and even night classes for adults who wanted continuing education.  There were better working and living conditions than could be found in most other places.  Play was encouraged for children, medical care was provided freely, and the town’s general store featured quality goods, low prices, and people’s purchases were tallied so that the more they shopped there, the more credit they earned for future purchases.  Many people came to visit the mill and its success and conditions were astonishing.  The mill was eventually sold on as Robert Owen took his sons on to new ventures (including another utopian experiment in New Harmony, Indiana), and the mill officially closed in the 1960′s.    Beginning in the 1980′s and working till 2005, the New Lanark Conservation Trust restored the town into an educational tourist attraction.  You can learn about water power, the cotton mill, Robert Owen and his ideas, see the mill in the process of developing wool into yarn, and most importantly for me, buy that yarn at very cheap prices!  Going to New Lanark was great for me for that reason, obviously, but great for Trent too for the historical factor.  But of course (as always with us), getting there was part of the adventure.

We took the train from Edinburgh’s Waverley station, changed trains at Bellshill, and arrived in Lanark, the larger town just over a mile from New Lanark.  We’ve learned that the River Clyde travels some 40 miles from Glasgow to just beyond New Lanark, and that the Clyde Walkway is a celebrated walk along that river, so our goal was to find a way from Lanark to the Clyde Walkway to take that path to New Lanark.  Thanks to T’s navigational skills and Google maps on the iPhone, that proved a piece of cake to him.

Here is a hooded Trenty as we are walking through a neighborhood in Lanark.

Now through a park, and then aha!  found the path down to the walkway.

I look like a penguin walking down the broad steps to the river.

The path was quiet and amazing!

A water fall and a bridge!

Up ahead, we came upon the mill, right on the river.

…and finally, to the woooool.

With Trent’s encouragement, I stocked up on enough wool to knit a sweater for him, and a scarf for each of us. Because they are running the machines constantly they produce so much wool, and as a governmentally funded charity, they sell it so cheaply!

Satisfied and tired, we made our way back along the river to Lanark and took the train home. And of course, what train ride in Scotland would be complete without sheep!

Happy Easter to our friends and family. We miss you very much, but dark chocolate bunnies and Star Wars mugs will help ease the pain.

Trent has been doing really great with his work but really there’s never much to update on that since it’s always reading and more reading. I’ve got quite a few changes on my side however. After about 1 1/2 years with Schoenhut, we’ve decided to move along. I’ve really enjoyed working for them; its a great company and I am anxious to see their growth over the next few years. I’m sad to leave, but happy to be beginning other things… Such as! I am now the sewist for Eero & Riley’s exclusive Baby Riley fleece blankets! Eero & Riley is the home and gifts store owned by our amazing landlord, Suzanne. I’m excited to be taking on this fun task, and the blankets are oh so adorable!

Things are still going great at K1 Yarns.  I’ve been teaching sewing, and will also be starting on the beginners knitting courses as well.  If you’ve been keeping up with my personal knitting blog, KristenMakes, you’ve seen that I’ve been really busy with my own knitting patterns (all of which are available at my Etsy Shop) and some fun sewing as well!

That’s about it for our personal updates, but I’d figure I’ll also share some pictures of our recent outing.  Walking is a big deal here in Scotland and there are countless walking paths all throughout.  For us, walking is a bit necessary so as to maintain our weight against all the delicious Scottish food we’ve been eating (fish and chips, bangers and mash, bacon rolls, cottage pie, steak pie, macaroni and cheese, and of course, the haggis, neeps & tatties!).  I’ve been cutting back on taking the bus now that the weather has warmed, and just by walking to work I’ve put in about 8-10 miles a week.  We haven’t had the opportunity to get outside of the city to travel any of the great paths yet, but in the meantime we did walk about 5 of the 12 miles of the Water of Leith Walkway this week.

We started our walk by heading first to Claremont Park where the paths are dotted with purple, yellow, and white flowers – all of which are frequented by big fuzzy bees.

Along the walk I came across this precious piece of advice. FYI, ladies:

Here are some pictures just after where the Walkway begins, up by the Leith Docks. It’s a beautiful and quiet area.

The plaque below shows the path of the walkway (from Balerno to Leith) and all the mills dotted along it.

And this is me walking the mini Leith Walkway.

Along the path we saw some really pretty apartment complexes as well as industrial parks.  We passed runners, bicyclists, and many happy dogs! We also saw neat pathways and bridges like this one:

Thanks, Leith Walkway; maybe someday we’ll be up for all 12 miles of you!

Holyrood Park is snow-covered and frozen (had an unusual amount of snow this year!), but the ducks and swans don’t seem to mind, and folks still come out to feed them!

We passed by the Resolution Wall. We proceeded on to Princes Street which had been cleared of all traffic to make room for several (we counted 3 but there could have been more) stages for concerts and performances. There were plenty of rides up for adults and kids including, an American-themed ride. Not sure what was American about the ride other than the iconic American images painted across it (American Football, American flag, etc.). We warmed up with a delicious chai and cappucino from Wellington Coffee in New Town.

After that we went home and ate some delicious nibbles and drank champaigne, while watching the celebration on our tv. No ball to drop though, that was odd! We could see some of the fireworks from our window too!

New Years Day we ventured out as well. We went to see the Fire display on the Royal Mile but on our way there we went through some closes and alleys and ventured up to the castle. Here is the view we saw:

We didn’t know much about the fire displays other than they were wrought iron installations but we have yet to discover their significance for Hogmanay.


As we watched the crane lift the huge fire chandelier into the air, I realized how calm and somber the crowd was. Maybe it had something to do with the reason behind the fire display (is it an homage to something?), or maybe it was the relaxing live music playing, or perhaps just the calming effect of fire was having its way with the crowd. But it was a nice quiet moment. We left so that we could see the last site on our list of Hogmanay events, Big Man Walking. This was Scotland’s giant puppet coming to life and walking from Holyrood Park to the Royal Mile. It was cold, so we braved as much as we could, and it was fascinating.

So, my feet probably looking as blue as the blue man, we headed home after that and warmed up with hot cocoa!

Happy New Year’s everyone. I had a great 2009. I can’t wait to see what 2010 will bring!

We went out to Princes Street for some last minute shopping and winter fun (more Christmas Fair and German food!), and the castle looked amazing!

Yesterday (Christmas Eve) I worked at the shop where I knitted, drank tea, and watched the snow and shoppers. I came home and Trent had the place all ready for Christmas festivities. The night proceeded with the following goodies:

…mulled wine, popcorn balls, and mince pies.

Today, we had a wonderful Christmas.  Yes, it was our first Christmas on our own with no family (whom we miss very much!), but it was quite nice and relaxing with no major plans.  We woke up and proceeded immediately to our stockings, had a quick break for breakfast and coffee, then on to presents!

TEO got from Santa a pack of playing cards based on an actual set from the 1600′s with the maps of the counties of England and Wales on them, along with a framed (replica) map of Edinburgh from the 1820′s. We love it because you can see where on the map we live, along with where I work and where TEO goes to school. We also had a package from the moms back home: Popcorn, Emergen-C (can’t find it here!), and PJ pants! Thanks, moms!

After presents, (and a lovely chat with my mom and brothers via Skype) Trent proceeded to cook our Christmas feast.

We had yummy filet, roast veg, wine, rolls with herbed butter, and roast potatoes …and of course, Christmas crackers!

We also got to chat with Trent’s parents and my dad, and had some more mulled wine and a Yule log for dessert!  I am now about to partake in some more popcorn balls and candy from my stocking while I sit on the couch next to Trent and watch Elf while I knit.  And I still get 2 more days off work!

Merry Christmas to everyone.  We miss you all, and hope your holidays are as wonderful and relaxing as ours have been.

They have been living with my mom while their rabies quarantine period was going on.  Our plan was to come back in January when they were cleared to come to the UK and we would bring them back with us, and thus reunite our family. Unfortunately, T & I have learned that the cost to bring our little ones over here now that their quarantine period is over is far more than we anticipated.  As a result, their semipermanent home with my mother will become indefinitely permanent, until we move back to the states.  My mom has been having fun with them and fostered quite a loving relationship with our Alyosha (aka, Pusha, or Pushabear) in particular.  She has been so wonderful as to agree to keep them while we over here, as part of her family now.  We are very blessed to have such a generous mother, without her we don’t know what we would have done.   

Also she has been taking wonderful pictures of them to update us to their antics – sleeping in the sink, lounging under the Christmas tree, chasing lizards about the house, stealing the other cats’ favorite sleeping spots, and splashing about in the kiddie pool (the water bowl).  If you would like to see more of the pictures of our kitties in their new home, you can find them here.  When I find myself feeling the kitty angst particularly strongly, I tune in to see what Maru (web-famous kitty) is up to, and he eases my kitty woes!

We miss our kitties very much and can’t wait to see them for our brief visit in January.

So we had a wonderful wee-Thanksgiving.  I had to work that evening so we had a Thanksgiving lunch.  Trent made a delicious dinner of roasted veg medley, stuffing, mash, and turkey – all we could find on short notice for turkey was pre-sliced turkey breast – but it was all yummy still!

For dessert we had coffee and some delicious (albeit store-bought) eclairs. I couldn’t find pumpkin pie at the bakery but the eclairs were great.

Of course, upon arriving to the shop after our meal, my boss Katharine, presented me with a superb treat: her homemade pumpkin pie!  And I’m pretty certain it had real, not canned, pumpkinny goodness! I took it home and entreated Trent to make some cinnamon whipped cream. A few days later I was able to enjoy all these things together for a restful break:

—–

Also, the Edinburgh Christmas Fair is going on now too in Princes Street Garden. We’d walked through it casually a few times, but today T & I had the chance to actually go, eat, and enjoy the day.

  

Pictured above are me in my new snood (pattern being written now) with some warm blackberry wine, TEO with his frankfurter, and German Potato noodles. The fair has a German-themed Christmas market so of course the food was delicious!

We purchased some tiny ornaments from the fair, and went home for some Christmas decoration & merriment. Results (tiny they may be, but tiny too, is our flat!):

And, yes that is a fake tree, for shame! It was the best option for this tiny home, and I don’t regret it! And yes, the angel tree topper is far too big for this wee tree.  But we had a wonderful time decorating and our now relaxing and enjoying the fruits of our labor.  Having said that, I’m going to join TEO on the couch for some well-deserved knitting, while he plays XBOX.