Goodbye Rennaldburn

Goodbye Sock Cat.

We will miss you.

Sadly, I don't think he will miss us very much.

As you can see, he's got other things to occupy his mind.

In other news, I have discovered that I can convert RAW files to jpegs with a free software that my netbook can handle, so I can now upload the occasional photo from my camera as well, if it's worth the time and effort (as it was for these wonderful memories of Sock Cat).

We're now in London, though we are in a sense still quite near where we've just left, as Ita's mom, Anita, has been so wonderfully kind and generous as to let us stay on her pull out couch in London while we search for an apartment. So that's be terrific, and Anita is very nice and great to talk with.

Apartment shopping has been quite scary and stressful, but we still need to process it I think-plus internet is hard to come by now- so we'll save that for another time.

WWOOFing on Rennaldburn Farm

Tonight is our last night of WWOOFing at Rennaldburn Farm, and I have to say we're both going to miss it. Through our time here, we've made some great friends, had a lot of fun, and learned a lot about roofing.

Rennaldburn Farm is located in Eskdalemuir (basically middle of nowhere, which we like). There are plenty of fields to roam, with sheep galore (which we also like). Here are some of the cool things about Rennaldburn...the house:

We actually don't sleep in the house – instead, we've been cozy in a little loft over the barn. Probably a lot of you are like “What? Sleeping in the barn??” but we actually really like it, especially when it rains and you can hear it pouring down on the roof, which is quite often here. Anyway, here's where we sleep (a bit messy, sorry):

And here's where the chickens and ducks sleep:


The river, which is really low right now so it's more like a creek at the moment:



Awesome two story treehouse:



The hammock that I very much enjoyed:



So that's pretty much the tour of where we've been staying. The house is actually partly where the family lives, and partly a holiday cottage. So if you're ever in the area, it's an excellent place to stay! But yeah, a few people have requested a view into our daily lives. We've actually been working for the most part during the day to day events, but I managed to take a few pictures of what we've been up to. Mainly, we've been working on the roof, putting up slates so that they won't be left out in the cold for the winter. Here's a pictures of Marco, an Italian who's also WWOOFing here (an awesome guy, too) and Seth (who is a really cool guy, too):

Seth has mainly been on the roof, but I have also taken on several other little jobs, since I'm kind of just an assistant on the roof (really not strong enough to put the slates in, so I just hand the strong men the things they need and do little tasks). So I also painted some in the kitchen and upstairs part, as well as a few tiles. I sadly don't have any pictures of my masterpieces, but you can just imagine how wonderful they look, if you know my art skills (haha). One day it was raining, so we couldn't really work on the roof, so Seth and I cleared out this valley beneath the house that was covered in these huge fallen limbs and felled trees. They wanted to use the limbs for firewood and just generally wanted to clear up that area. So we hauled all of the big limbs out of the valley, and then they asked us to just burn the small brush that was left over. Seth did a great job creating a fire...I did a great job of cheering him on and trying to help (I hope):





Last week, we also had an opportunity to travel to Samye Ling, a Tibetan Buddhist temple near Rennaldburn. It's actually pretty famous—it was the first of its kind in the West, and David Bowie even spent some time studying there. It was an interesting experience – they were having some kind of party where there was free cake and lots of people selling fruits and vegetables, and plenty of bagpipes (of course, even at a Tibetan Buddhist temple, they have to maintain the Scottish heritage). Here's a few pics of Samye Ling:

Sunday we took a little break, read the Bible, had some worship time singing and guitaring, and then we headed for a walk down to see some ancient stone circles that were not far from the house. So here they are, and just for old time's sake, there are some pictures of fields and hills as well:






And also a cool tree that we found on our walk:


Needless to say, this has been an interesting trip. We've both learned a lot, both about the people we're staying with as well as about roofing. It's been a great journey, even though we have been in one place. Tomorrow we head off to London to trip and find an apartment to rent for the year. Since school is starting up soon, all the apartments are beginning to disappear. Earlier today, I was getting really distressed because I was calling place after place to see if it was still available and not getting anything. We have been offered student housing, but it's really too expensive for our budget, so we don't want to take it unless we absolutely have to. The problem with that is the deadline for student housing is very soon, but I was not exactly sure when. After having my huge stress moment, Seth and I prayed that God would lead us to the right place to live, and that He would be in control of our lives. A little while later, I came back to check my email and found that I had an update on when the deadline would be to decide on the student housing. The deadline is not until August 26th, which is the day after we look at all the apartments we have managed to find that are still available. So God is providing that for us, even though we don't really deserve it. Really, we should completely trust in Him, and not need any place to stay, and know that He will provide and take care of us, but it's like He put the deadline at that point just to comfort us, to make us feel better. It's just so mind blowing how we can be so untrusting and lukewarm, and yet God just continues to pour our love until it overflows onto us. Anyway, that was just something I wanted to share.

The last, and most important part of this post, are the feline friends we have made at Rennaldburn. Ita and Chris (the people we are staying with) have two cats, and one of them had just had kittens a week or two before we arrived. So there are five sweet little kittens running around Rennaldburn at the moment, and they are so adorable. Seth and I have a favorite – we've named him Sock Cat because he loves socks and he has little white paws. Here he is:





We're going to miss Ita, Chris, Sock Cat, and everyone else here at Rennaldburn and we will always remember their friendship and hospitality. Who knows – maybe we can return some day! But tomorrow we head towards London, so please keep us in your prayers as we try to find an apartment and make our way around the big city!

Sock Cat just tried to play guitar with his teeth. Just wanted to give everyone that update :)

The Tchai Ovna

As I'm writing this, I'm snuggled by the window, viewing the fields of green pasture dappled with white blobs of sheep that surround Rennaldburn Farm. Right now, Seth and I are WWOOFing (World Wide Opportunities in Organic Farming), and I'll share more about that experience with you in a moment; however, first, Glasgow...

Our last big city in our week of wandering was Glasgow, where we were to stay one night before taking the train to Rennaldburn Farm. When we arrived in Glasgow, it was very cold, and the train station just had an open air seating area, so we were shaking with our huge packs, a little bewildered about what to do or where to go. We knew that we wanted to see the city, but didn't have a clue as to which way to go INTO the city. Furthermore, we were couchsurfing again that night, so we had to get in contact with the guy we were staying with, and find out how to get to his place.

We did get in touch with the couchsurfing, Martin, who happened to live very close. We decided to view the city a little before going to his place, so we followed signs towards the city centre, where we encountered maps. Glasgow is a huge, industrial city. Edinburgh seemed more tourist friendly, while Glasgow was more of an intense work and college city, so finding things to view was a little less obvious than in other cities.



We decided to go to the Modern Art Gallery, since Glasgow is supposed to be known for its art scene, and it was one of the only places within walking distance (like I said, the city is huge)! Obviously, I could not take any pictures inside the gallery, but here's an outside view:


The gallery was interesting, but Seth and I wondered if some of the exhibits held any merits at all. Some things just seemed like a waste of time and space, not really make any kind of statement, and not having any sort of interesting part to them. Maybe that WAS the point, but as far as we can tell, we aren't really Modern art type people (haha). So after our trip (which was interesting, to say the least), to the Modern Art Gallery, we explored the University of Strathclyde, which had a cool sculpture garden:


And just for the fun of it, a shot of Seth trudging along with his huge backpack:


After the university, we found Glasgow Cathedral, which was very beautiful, even though some renovations were being done:




From there, we went to the Provand's Lordship which was the oldest house in Glasgow. The house dates back to the 1400s, and was a place of housing for clergy who worked in the Cathedral. I took a few pictures of the gardens behind the house:




After that, it was almost five o'clock, so all the tourist-y type things were closing for the night, so we decided to head over to meet Martin. I wish I had a picture of this guy, because he was definitely very awesome. How can I describe Martin to you? Hospitable, interesting, funny, friendly, welcoming. He plays saxophone in a jazz band, while also running a tea room in Glasgow. The tea room is called Tchia Ovna, and if you're ever in Glasgow, it's well worth the experience. I'll talk more about that in a moment, though. Martin was very busy planning his next gig when we arrived, so he helped us to the room we were staying in and left us to settle in. After a few minutes of rest, Seth and I were ready to get dinner, so we went to ask Martin and his fellow bandmate, Roy, where would be a good place. They mentioned several, but Martin's main objective was, of course, to get us to go to his tea room. He gave us directions, and we said we'd give it a try (since neither of us had ever been to a tea room before). So we headed out to find some dinner, and ended up at a great pub on the main strip in the city that was very cheap and also very delicious. It began to rain pretty heavily, so we ended up just hanging out in the pub for about another hour. On the way to the pub, I got this great shot of the city of Glasgow:


And I also saw this interesting little place:


After the pub, we did make it to Martin's tea room – Tchai Ovna – and ordered a pot of tea which we could barely finish because there was so much! There was live music, which was actually very good, and the place was packed out. We were really glad that we made it to his tea room, because it was a very relaxed and fun environment. After the tea room, we headed back to Martin's place. He was home, and much less stressed out this time, so we spent the rest of the evening with him, staying up pretty late into the night just chatting and getting to know one another. He made us another pot of tea, which is actually steeped from the petals of the hibiscus flower, and it was actually very good! Anyway, to say the least, we had a great time with Martin, and hope to see him again some day.

The next morning, we headed straight from Martin's to the train station. Of course, we had a moment to grab some early lunch when we saw a very cheap deal on the way there. It included a drink, so I had a taste of the famous Scottish soda, called Irn Bru, shown below:

Irn BRU!

Anyway, after a train ride, we were in Lockerbie, where we were to be picked up by the WWOOFing people. We wandered around the town, ending up at the grocery store where they were supposed to meet us. A little red car pulls up with two guys inside, who we know now very well as Chris and Marco. Chris and Ita are the couple for whom we are working, while Marco is a fellow WWOOFer from Italy who is about our age. Chris and Marco took us up to Dumfries, where we viewed the town, and then went to see a movie called When You're Strange, a documentary about The Doors (really, a documentary about Jim Morrison), and it was really interesting, with Johnny Depp narrating. We made it back to Rennaldbuld Farm pretty late, but Ita was nice enough to show us to where we were sleeping, which is in a loft over the barn outside. There is plenty of padding and blankets, and it's quite warm up there, so we are very comfortable. I really enjoy it, especially the afternoon naps I've gotten used to taking up there! Anyway, here's a few pictures of around the farm:








So mainly, we do whatever they ask us to do in the way of labor. Marco and Seth have been fixing the roof, while I have painted the upstairs hallway and decorated some tiles for the kitchen. I'm also in charge of the “tidying up”, which means dishes, vacuuming, all that kind of stuff. We're very much enjoying it here – Ita and Chris are wonderful people, and Marco is a great friend as well. I'm sure there will be more to write about our experiences on Rennaldburn Farm, so look forward to those in the next post!

EDIT: This just in:

One big reason to be glad you still live in America.

(-Seth)

Gimperz the Imposter

So the past few days we've been couchsurfing-2 days in Oban and then a day in Glasgow. We got up early and took a bus to Oban, and walked around and explored the town a little. It's a nice little coastal town with a big fishing industry, and is the gateway to a lot of the western isles with all the ferries coming there (sadly we didn't have time go up through the isles. Hopefully some day.)

We got some lunch at a take away chip shop, and found a nice bench by a monument to sit down and eat.

Upon closer inspection though, that monument was way cooler than it first seemed.

There was also this seagull totally creeping on us the whole time we were eating. At first we though he had a hurt leg, because he kept holding it up and standing on just the other. This is pretty common for birds in the UK in our experience, though I'm not really sure why. We saw quite a few birds with only one foot the last time we were here, including a pigeon, a raven, and a swan, all of which we affectionately named “Gimperz.” But then we totally saw him walking on it, so he was such a fake. He must have learned that he could get sympathy scraps by pretending he was injured like that-smart bird. But he was very persistent and patient, and sat there the whole time we ate. And again, he was clever, so we rewarded him with a few leftover chips even though we saw through his rouse.

Then we went down to the pier, and bought a little bag of mini fried doughnuts with sugar and cinnamon from one of the street vendors. We sat there and enjoyed the view, and did quite a bit of people watching. We heard this little boy whining to his parents, and for a while we couldn't figure out what he was saying. Then finally, we figured out he was saying “ Lemon! Lemon! Lemon!” Over and over. That boy was determined that he wanted a lemon more than anything else in life. Then finally, his mom gave in and handed him a slice. He tried it, scrunched up his face, and then what followed was simply awesome, and even more awesome that Chelsea was able to get an incredible photo of it. Absolutely perfect timing.

Bam. That kid is above the law. Such a rebel. He asks for a lemon, and when he gets it, just throws it on the ground. And with such style—look at that left hand, held up like a gun as if he'd just shot that lemon out of the sky. The kid's got guts. I like him.

Anyway, moving on. Here's a shot of Oban, and some monument/tower thing that looks sort of like a colosseum or something. It's actually one of the only things I actually remember seeing on one of the countless travel shows my parents recorded for me to watch, so it was cool to finally see one of those things from TV in person.

And here's some shots of the harbor.

Then we figured it was about time to head up to our home for the next two nights, an old WWII lookout tower that has now been converted into a home by a local, who was kind enough to host us through couchsurfing. It was only about 2 miles outside of town, so rather than get a taxi, we figured we could just walk it. Most of the way was along the water anyway, so it was very pretty. We also saw the war monument along the way.

We also got to see a castle along the way, but we passed on climbing up to see it since we were carrying our heavy packs. We knew we'd get a chance to come back and see it again the next day anyway.

There's also a cool island, Maiden Isle, that sits out just across the water from our destination.

By the time we made it all the way up there, we were pretty knackered (points for British slang!).

So we finally made it up there, and like I said it was an old WWII watch tower looking out over the water from the top of a high hill, so obviously, the view was incredible.

--

The guy hosting us was...well let's just say he has his own way of living. He uses recycled vegetable oil for fuel in his van, and he's also rigged up a system with an air pump from a fish tank to blow vegetable oil from another tank into a stove to burn, which he uses to heat the tower as well as to cook with. So that was pretty cool. Apparently the pipes for the tower are still ancient though, which means you can't flush toilet paper-so it had to go in a bag, until the fire was going again and then that all got burned. So that's what I mean by having his own way of living. Personally, replacing those pipes would be priority #1. Anyway, he was really nice, and we had some nice conversation before we made him dinner (we're still new to the couchsurfing thing, so we're not really sure how it all works. But he made it clear from his emails that he expected dinner in exchange for staying the night. Which I'm not sure that's how it's supposed to work...our other two hosts haven't asked us for this...but still, it's way cheaper than a hostel, so we obliged). So after dinner he put on a movie for us—Downfall, which was a German film about the last days of Hitler. It was really good, and if you don't mind reading subtitles all the way through, I highly recommend it.

So we got to sleep in the top of the tower, which was awesome. The bed was raised up level with the windows, so you can see everything right from the bed.

So the next day, we walked back down into town (without our packs, so it was much easier). So we stopped at the beach on the way down, which was pretty cool with some interesting tide pools, but not really fit to swim in sadly.

We also went up to the castle this time as well—Dunollie Castle. It was pretty awesome, but they had all these signs up saying that it was private property, and that if you chose to tour the castle you did so at your own risk, and to be aware of falling stones from the castle. So we were too afraid to go inside...it was scary in there. And the view was just fine from outside.

We stayed again in the tower that night, and got to meet a fellow couchsurfer also staying in the tower that night (our host said he's had up to 20 surfers staying at once...but it's really a tiny building, and the four of us were quite crowed, though plenty comfortable.) He was a French guy trying to cycle up the west coast of Scotland, but he had packed way way way too much luggage and was struggling with the weight. But we watched a French slapstick comedy that night called Traffic, directed by Jacques Tati, which was pretty hilarious. There were no subtitles, but it really didn't matter since the dialogue was pretty equally in English, German, and French, so unless you were trilingual it really didn't make sense anyway. As our host put it, there's a little bit of dialogue, but none of it matters anyway, so it's all good. So that was pretty much it for Oban. We went to Glasgow next after that for a day, where we couchsurfed again to much success, and now we're WWOOFing (World Wide Organization of Organic Famers) at Rennaldburn Farm near Lockerbie of bomber fame. But this post is really long as it is, and we have pretty reliable internet access here, so we'll wait and have another post on another day for Glasgow, and maybe summarize our WWOOFing experience in a post once we've left here.