Exploring, Humiliation, and Phone Photos

Last week’s spell of perfect weather made for a perfect weekend, but sadly by Monday afternoon the clouds had rolled in and we haven’t seen much of the sun since. We still felt blessed to spend the long weekend exploring Aberdeenshire. Here are some more pictures of our hike to Slain’s Castle.

On the drive home, I had to stop and take this picture for my dad.

Even though the spelling of my name is all wrong, it reminded me that I'm still a daddy's girl at heart. Now I just need to find "Jonathan's Lane" and I'll have a perfect set.

On Saturday we focused more on our bonnie city and stumbled upon Duthie Park and it’s tropical winter gardens.

Can't escape the desert, even in Scotland.

The sign saying "Please do not touch the Venus fly traps" made it really hard to keep our hands off.

We loved perusing the arid and tropical green houses, but it was also entertaining to see hoards of locals sunbathing in the park. No one here has swimming pools, so on this particularly sunny weekend, the public spaces were full of sun worshippers. Now, Scots are not known for their olive skin tones so I saw several lobster colored ‘sun tans’ while at the park. I guess a 3^rd degree sun burn is a small price to pay for some good ole vitamin D.

Luckily, I have a private back garden in which to lay out in, and luckily somewhere along the way a Native American mixed in with my Irish bloodline so, no sunburn for me. Of course, while I was privately laying out in my bikini in my private backyard, Bailey started barking like mad at a very tall man peering over the fence. Now in Houston, this would have sent me into fight or flight mode, but in Aberdeen this is not too strange. I asked if I could assist him and he informed me that he was here to mow the grass. We were both more than slightly embarrassed.

Jon thinks I have an agenda to flash every man that our landlord sends over to the house. The second day that we lived here, our landlord sent a painter over to repair some damages. I was not informed that the painter was coming to the house and he was under the impression that no one had moved in yet. So he used a key to just let himself right on in while I was showering…in a glass shower…with the bathroom door open…of course. Again, both of us were slightly embarrassed. Okay, mortified is probably a better word. Especially since he spent the next two days painting our house.

Now that I have scarred you for life with those mental images, here are some more pleasant pictures to take your mind off of my humiliation.

Bailey and Sam got their fair share of Vitamin D as well, but after a while, it got so hot that Bailey had to seek a spot in the shade.

The rain came in on Thursday which made for a pretty muddy jog for Bailey and I. Here’s a picture of the dog park that I take her to after our usual 6 mile loop.

This weather is more typical of Aberdeen.

Trust me, she still has energy to chase birds for another 15 minutes before she’s ready to go home. If you can see that white polka dot looking thing in the left hand corner of this picture, you’ll spot her in mid-chase.

There is a certain seabird who loves teasing her every time we come here.  I swear it’s always the same bird too. He’ll swoop in and caw at her, luring her into a game of tag around the perimeter of the park. It’s fine by me and much easier than hiring a dog walker.

Now, Bailey is a pretty smart dog and has figured out that muddy runs in the rain = bathtime afterward. As soon as we got home, she hid in her kennel refusing to come out for her bath.

That is, until I started rubbing Sam’s belly right in front of her kennel and that was just too much for her jealous heart to take. She conceded defeat and sulked into the bathroom for what she considers equivalent to a torture chamber (but still favorable to watching Samson get a belly rub).

Last night, out of nowhere, the sky turned blue and the sun came out, so I rushed Samson out the door for a long walk…at 8:30 at night. I’ve only been here 3 weeks and I’ve already learned that you don’t waste a moment of sunlight.

I took Sam down to Walker Dam and to a little brook which I’ve already deemed my favorite spot in all of Aberdeen.

It’s just so picturesque and a peaceful place for me to rest my legs and let the dogs romp in the stream. Absolute heaven. Of course that was until Samson decided to burrow himself into the bank and cover himself with mud. And since yesterday was also the day that I gave him his Frontline flea meds, I'm not supposed to give him a bath for another 24 hours. Whoops. I guess he won’t be allowed in the bed.

Whoops…

On our walk, I spotted this flier which is a testament to how dog friendly Aberdeen is.

We have been looking for a church. One that holds special services for animal blessings might be a good fit for us.

Well that's all for today. The sun is out for the moment so I really must be going. Have a great weekend!