Scotland to France on the Eurostar -- Part Un

The kids and I got to our new home in France about six days ago -- barely. We Took a train from Edinburgh to London where we changed to the Eurostar -- the high speed train that goes under the channel. On the regular ScotRail train out of Edinburgh, it stops at the station and you get on. You know, it's a train. Stop. Get on. You stow your luggage and sit down. Stop. Get off. On the Eurostar you go through airport-like security -- metal detectors and luggage x-rays. Then they give your bags back to you and you drag them onto the train yourself, just like normal. Since you get the bags back, ALL luggage is the same as a carry on.

At security, I started getting nervous when

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Errand Day in Leith

I really love where we live. I love living in a neighborhood! Just now Bob and I ran out to do errands and bring home lunch for everybody. Here's our errand list:

• The Marie Curie Cancer Care charity shop (that's a tongue twister), to give away some clothes that the kids have outgrown. 
• The Post Office to mail postcards. From Paris. Sorry everybody!
• Just Sew, to have them sew new buttons onto my black coat. It's old old old, and in the past two months all the buttons have fallen off but one. I've

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Our Latest Move Includes Indoor Weather Patterns

Our New Digs!Last week at our cottage in Perth, we woke up to the sound of ducks laughing. This week we've been waking to the sound of seagulls and the morning busses going by. We're loving it!

We've moved to Edinburgh for two months and we're living in a 4th floor walk-up in the port area called Leith. It's a 10 minute walk from the Forth of Firth, and a 10 minute bus ride to Princess Street -- the heart of the city.

We're loving living in the city again. Our neighborhood is "being gentrified" as they say

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Merry Christmas from Scotland... and Southern California

Our friend Iris came to visit for Christmas and we couldn't be happier -- especially since she came with gifts from SoCal. We haven't had Herdez or Cholula for months! Tonight we'll be making Christmas Nachos with Scottish cheddar... Of course we took her to the Gluhwein hut at the Edinburgh Christmas Festival and then we hung the Wellie liners on the radiator with care. Here's a little montage of our Christmas with Iris. We hope you are having a wonderful day, full of Christmas Cheer!

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BYOB to Demijohn

If you were to judge us based on our words and actions and, dammit, even the photographic evidence on our blog lately, you might think we're on the Boozy World Tour 2009. And, so as not to disappoint, I found another really unique and interesting alcohol-y place to visit today. A while ago I saw the website for an Edinburgh store called Demijohn, and so yesterday when Brenna said, "Hey let's go to Edinburgh tomorrow" I said, "Yeah sure, I hear there's a nice little

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