Shotguns and Glocks

Perthshire, Scotland: It's a quiet Saturday, just post-rain. The ducks are having a gathering at the pond, and Owen and Ella are outside making a map of an imaginary land they created. The distant sounds of a shotgun ring though the still, damp air. Some lucky lady will be plucking a pheasant for tonight's dinner!

Canoga Park, California: It's a quiet Saturday, just post-rain, so I expect I'll be rear-ended on the 101. The CPAx13 gang is having a gathering in Lanark Park, and Owen and Ella are outside... Oh shit, "Brenna get the kids in the house!" The distant sound of a Glock 9MM rings through the air. Looks like Joker and L'il Puppet won't be home for dinner tonight.

Revolutionary Road

I'm finally reading Revolutionary Road, by Richard Yates. The same Revolutionary Road that was made into a movie, staring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, this year. I was told over and over again not to go see it as we were getting ready to leave Los Angeles. The story centers around a couple with two kids who decide to chuck it all and move to Paris. As Bob and I, and our two kids, were in the middle of chucking it all to

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Scottish Roadkill

We were driving down a back road the other day, towards dusk (so - almost 4:00), and we saw a car stopped in the road, and a little old man tottering along the side. His trunk was open, and we thought maybe his tire needed changing. We turned around to see if we could help.  As we pulled up behind him he was closing the trunk, and making his way to the drivers side again. Bob got out and asked if he needed anything.

"No - it's the pheasant" he said pleasantly.

Bob didn't quite get it, "So you're OK then."

"Yup, that'll be breakfast tomorrow." 

So that's the way it works! I can't wait till I hit one with my car!

Video Blog: Christmas Time is Here!

The "Perth Christmas Tree Lights Switch On," was technically before the official Redpath Holiday Season Kickoff begins, and therefore not acceptable to attend, but we went anyway. Brenna is nothing if not freewheeling!

The day was  a little cold, the evening a little rainy, and the whole event a lot of fun. There was entertainment up and down High Street, including Sideshow Stevie and

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Video Blog: Back to the Crannog Center: Experimental Archaeology

We had such a blast at the Crannog Center for Samhain (Halloween) that we vowed to go back so we could actually see the crannog in the daylight. What's a crannog?

Crannogs are a type of ancient loch-dwelling found throughout Scotland and Ireland. Most are circular structures that seem to have been built as individual homes to accommodate extended families. Other types of loch settlements are also found in Scandinavian countries and throughout Europe.

We made it to the Center on the last day they were open until next spring. They were celebrating the day with a Wild Harvest Food Festival, featuring only period Celtic foods. We ate pumpkin soup, lamb stew, barley with rosemary, and bread baked in a wood fired mud oven. Owen was excited that he found a small rock in his

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