I’ve been neglecting my blog. And my blogging friends. But I have very good excuses (who doesn’t?) Anyway just to show this blog is still alive and kicking (slightly) I thought I’d throw up a photograph from Scotland I took this summer.
This is Greenan Castle in Ayrshire, originally a 12th Century earthwork and timber fortress. The stone tower was built around the 15th Century.
We really do take for granted all the old castles/keeps and architecture around us when we live in the UK. It’s only now that I live in the USA I can appreciate how lucky we are to have all this history around us.
5 years ago today we moved to the USA. Some of our friends thought we were mad, (some probably still do) some thought we wouldn’t stick it out and be right back, and most of them called us ‘brave’ for trying out life here in America. Certainly it’s a lot different from our life back in Scotland but I wouldn’t change a minute of the rollercoaster ride that has been our life for the last 5 years.
We’ve had wonderful highs – kids have both graduated from High School now and are in college – one Senior and one Freshman this fall (autumn). I’ve started my own business – which NEVER would have happened if we’d stayed in Scotland and we’ve managed to tick off a fair amount of places in the USA we’ve visited.
We’ve had some incredible lows too – the death of my dad in 2012 and the death of my mother-in-law in March this year, not to mention both my pets I brought with me from Scotland. Yes, pets are important family members too in our house. But I also have a brand new baby nephew (in Scotland) and a new puppy here so life does go on.
And I now have a whole new set of friends here in the USA as well as managing to keep the friends I had back in Scotland. It takes effort to keep in touch with faraway friends, but it’s totally worth it when you go home and get to catch up with people who have know you for a long time.
Would I recommend it to anyone else. Yes. 100% go for it. If we didn’t make the move when it became available to us we’d always have been sitting thinking ‘what if’….
“When you go, will you send back, a letter from America? Take a look at the railtrack, from Miami to Canada.”
2 weeks in Scotland and you post a pic of a sheep!!!
Well, it’s a pretty cool sheep… and castles and scenery are over-rated sometimes. Actually, I have tons of pics of castles and scenery (and more sheep and Heilan’ coo’s) but I’ll post them another time.
This is just a quick blog to say sorry for the absence, but I’ve been awa hame. A kind of bittersweet holiday if I’m honest – we lost my mother-in-law in March unexpectedly so being in the family home without her was very sad, but I got to meet my new baby nephew for the first time so that was lovely. Plus of course all the fantastic food and catching up with old friends.
Alba1047 