Valor Knows No Age

One of the fun things about traveling is meeting new people. On our cruise around the British Isles, we shared our dining experience each night with a pair of nonagenarians--George and Joe.

They've been best friends since high school. They were the best man at each other's weddings and must have tied the knots tightly. Joe and his wife celebrated 60 years of marriage. George and his sweetheart were together for 65. They are both widowers now, but it takes a special kind of lover to romance the same woman that long.

Now that their wives are gone, they still travel together, taking at least one cruise a year. Both are classical music buffs so we regularly ran into them at the frequent string quartet concerts.

They also both served their country with distinction during World War II. George was a pilot in the South Pacific. Joe fought in Europe and was a POW in Germany for a time.

After this terrible experience, it was a surprise to learn that he married a German girl. Joe and his wife met in the US after the war while she was an exchange student in college. Both their families said it would never last. Even now, he was hard-pressed to talk about her without his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

That kind of long-term commitment moves me. It speaks to the longing we all have for someone--just one--to accept all that we are and love us unreservedly. It's the epitome of romance. It also shows that former enemies can become the dearest of all through the transforming power of love.

Thank you, George & Joe for making our cruise experience richer.

And thank you to all our veterans and active service members and their families. I appreciate you and your sacrifice so very much.

Haggis, Neeps & Tatties

When it comes to food, I'm the adventurous sort. Granted, I won't eat a bug. Not on purpose, at any rate. Escargot may be proof positive that anything becomes palatable if you slather it with enough garlic and butter, but I still can't go quite far enough to try a bug. But barring insects, I am willing to taste almost anything.

At least once.

That's why when we were in Scotland, I couldn't let the opportunity pass without trying the region's signature dish--"haggis."

What's haggis? I hear you asking.

Locals would tell you haggis is a savory pudding.

Now, in American English "pudding" conjures up images of Jello, sweet and soft. However, in the UK, it means something else entirely. In the case of haggis, it means a mixture of sheep's heart, liver & lungs along with onion, oatmeal, spices, and suet stuffed into a sheep's stomach and boiled for three hours.

Ew, right?

Not everyone is of that opinion. In his Address to a Haggis, beloved Scottish poet Robert Burns praises the dish in this unique fashion:

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin'-race! Aboon them a' ye tak yer place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye wordy o' a grace As lang's my airm.

Who am I to argue with Mr. Burns?

So I pushed what haggis is and how it's made from my mind and put a bite of it in my mouth. And... it was delicious!

The flavor was nutty and mild and was perfect with the traditional side dishes--neeps (turnips) and tatties (potatoes).

The DH and I polished off the meal with a Clootie Dumpling, which turned out to be a rich, moist carrot-cake-like dessert. Very fragrant!

So glad I got a taste of Scotland.

If you'd like one, but you're watching your weight, you might want to try this Scottish novella Plaid to the Bone! No calories included.

Adam Cameron, laird of Bonniebroch, didn’t expect his bride to turn up at his castle so soon after their arranged marriage was settled. But the daughter of his former enemy is comely beyond the common, so he’s counting his blessings.

Unfortunately, Adam doesn’t know the lovely Cait Grant has sworn to kill her new husband with a blood oath that will set a terrible curse in motion if she fails. But Cait never counted on falling in love with the man her father had taught her to hate.

Kindle | Nook

Looking for Nessie

Today, we took an extended tour from Inverness that included a stop at the Culloden, a cruise on Loch Ness & a tour of the ruins of Urquhart Castle. I'm going to let my pics replace a thousand words...

This stone house stands a silent witness to the Battle of Culloden (April 16, 1746) the disastrous final defeat of the Scottish Jacobites who wanted to place Bonnie Prince Charlie (a Catholic) back on the throne by the Duke of Cumberland's forces (who owed allegiance to the Protestant English king). The structure may have served as a field hospital for wounded English soldiers. Fallen Scots were given no quarter.

The place left me with a sense of windswept sadness that religion and politics could end so many lives. And even sadder that those two forces are still used to motivate violence today.

Here's the DH on our Loch Ness cruise. Aren't I a lucky girl?

The loch itself is a long (read: 23 miles!) surprisingly narrow body of water snugged between rounded peaks on both sides. The water is deep--over 700 feet--and has so much run off from the peat in the surrounding hillsides that the loch is perpetually murky.

We didn't see Nessie, but even with little wind, the water seemed to be constantly churning as if some large creature writhed beneath the surface.

On the shore of Loch Ness lies the ruin of Urquhart Castle.

I loved wandering these ruins, imaging what it must have been like in its glory days. It took so many people to keep a castle running smoothly--all the artisans and craftsmen, carpenters and stone masons, cooks, butchers, candlemakers, armorers, priests for the chapel and courtiers for the great hall.

Since I have new Scottish story due to Kensington soon, I'll use this experience to imagine the castle in my book Once Upon a Plaid.

The view from one of the upper chambers...

We weren't the only ones to break out our umbrellas. It wouldn't be Scotland if the weather didn't turn "soft" from time to time.

The vibrant yellow in the distance is blooming rape seed--the plant used to make canola oil. A beautiful splash of color, isn't it?