Author: Valerie

Cell Phones

I read a blurb in a magazine letting me know the first iPhone released in the US was in 2007. And I started thinking of all the ways cell phones have changed our lives.

It was 2014 when I got my first “flip” phone (Samsung), which was long after my husband was issued his first mobile phone for work sometime in the late 90’s. According to the internet, Motorola was the first company to develop a handheld mobile phone which was released in 1973 (50 years ago) weighing 4.4 pounds! The first commercially available phones were introduced 10 years later (1983). Today, most people can’t leave home without their phone.

My flip phone was identical, except for the color…

I was excited to get my first phone. It was red. And at the time I had a red leather coat, and red leather gloves, and a red leather purse – I was all decked out. I no longer color coordinate my phone. HA! We got our first iPhones in 2018, and that is the kind of phone we use now, and like.

An early smartphone Gary was issued at work.

Cells phones have improved a lot (and gotten bigger!). In addition to the actual function of calling and talking to people, a lot of us use our phones as our camera, and what would we do without our GPS to guide our way to so many places?

And it’s nice to consult Siri. Siri has a lot of answers, and it’s convenient that we can ask her anything, anytime. 

Texts are also fun…and maybe a preferred way to communicate these days. Who knew? I often dictate my texts, and if I forget to proof-read them, they can be an interesting read with the way the technology translates my words. 

I’m thankful for the mute button, so as not to be interrupted when it’s an inconvenient time. 

I think the down side is…everyone is looking at their phones all the time…airports, restaurants, stores, every…single… place…and some feel the need to immediately respond to a text or call. 

Gary’s iPhone, identical to mine.

I met my friend for breakfast the other day and she had forgotten her cell phone at home. She didn’t need it of course, but she was uncomfortable without it. I get it. I’ve been there. When we stopped to pick up a few things at a large box store, we were separated from each other and it was interesting to walk the aisles to find her, both of us missing her cell phone.

I remember when my son left his cell phone, his only phone, in our house, years ago. He left for his apartment in the cities (or so I thought), so I called him to let him know he forgot his phone at our house. I burst out laughing when I heard his cell phone ringing on our kitchen counter! (He just had run an errand and came right back.) 

I know my phone can do so much more if I would only take time to figure it out.  It’s amazing to think about how much our phones have become a vital part of our lives…for the good and not so good.

Here are colorful hollyhocks to add some color to this post! 😉

Second Summer

The term Second Summer is now being used instead of Indian Summer, which was the terminology I grew up with. Although the name Second Summer is preferred by the Native Americans, it doesn’t change the fact that is a great event to experience during autumn in Minnesota. According to Wikipedia, “A(n) Indian Summer Second Summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere.”

Sakatah Singing Hills Trail, November 12, 2023.

We had a beautiful, Second Summer Day over the weekend and decided to take our bikes out (which we thought were tucked away for the season) for another ride.

We went to Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail. It was delightful. We added an extra layer and felt warm enough as we cruised down the paved trail. It felt good to be out in the fresh air, soaking up some illusive sunshine. We’ve had many cloudy days lately. 

Sakatah Lake. The 39 mile trail goes along several lakes.

The leaves are all off the trees and the scenery on the trail looks a bit different than during the summertime. You can see more of the lakes as you ride by, and you can see into the woods and the forest floor. There were several other folks on the trail this day.

After our ride we took a quick detour to an out-of-the-way boutique filled with Christmas crafts and decorations. It’s called, A Touch of Class. We walked around the stable-turned-boutique and got some fresh ideas for the upcoming Christmas season. I always wait until after Thanksgiving to start decorating for Christmas, but it was a fun place to peruse, and get in the mood to decorate for the holidays.

4:56pm, November 12, 2023 (sunset was 4:48 pm)

As we drove home, the sky had a pretty glow as it was near sunset, which of course is very early these days, in Minnesota. 

There is supposed to be a couple more Second Summer days in the coming week…maybe we’ll get out on the bike one more time?

Fun Run

I planned to attend the annual Fun Run at our grandchildren’s elementary school in North Carolina. I was the solo caretaker of our two grandchildren for a couple of days during our recent visit. Gary, and our two sons, were on a scheduled hiking trip, and our daughter-in-law was out of town.

One side of the football field where the fun run was to take place.

After I dropped the kids off at school, I was stopped at a traffic light waiting for it to turn green. Rush hour traffic was whizzing by. When the light turned green, instead of turning right or left like all the others, I drove straight ahead into the McDowell Nature Preserve, a lovely 1,100-acre sanctuary, along Lake Wylie.

I drove along the winding road through a canopy of trees that were starting to show their beautiful fall colors. I left behind all those people scurrying to and fro, and I was the only one on this park road.

Falls colors in the misty, morning light.

I stopped at the lake and enjoyed the morning mist hovering over the water, as I sipped coffee to pass the time until the fun run would begin. It was peaceful. After a half an hour I retraced my tracks and and crossed the busy street again. Traffic had slowed down by then. 

A house on the other side of the lake becoming visible in the misty morning.

The Fun Run was getting underway and the kids were excited. I was happy to be there to cheer them on. I thought to myself, if only we could harness this energy… multitudes of 2 and 3rd graders on a football field shouting and running and having a good time…that’s a lot of energy!

As I entered the field, I made a quick stop at a table set up to create posters to help cheer on your student.

While cheering from the sidelines, I was greeted by, and talked with, a family from our son’s neighborhood, who recognized me. A few minutes later I saw another “bus stop” mom (I like to walk with the kids to the bus stop in the mornings). As the kids were filing out of the field one of the students from their bus stop recognized me as Zoey’s grandma and said “Hi”. It was pleasant surprise to be warmly welcomed by more than one person, at this event, when I was not expecting to see anyone I knew. A fun run, indeed.

Later in the day…bold, fall blue skies.

We enjoyed our quick visit with our grandchildren. It was hard to say good-bye; especially this time, since we were heading to a forecasted 30 degree temperatures in Minnesota, and leaving a forecasted 80 degree temperatures in Charlotte!

Dairy Farming

Last week we were in Pennsylvania. Gary, my husband, is from Lancaster County and we flew there to attend a family reunion. He’s is from the scenic part of the state, Amish Country in southeastern Pennsylvania. There are rolling hills dotted with small farms, with cattle and corn and hay fields.

This original painting of the farm where Gary grew up hangs in our hallway. I had it painted for him, as a surprise, about 1980 or so, by one of the ministers at the church he attended with his parents.

Gary grew up on a dairy farm, helping his family milk cows the traditional way, by attaching a milking machine individually to each cow. They milked about 45 cows, twice a day. 

The family farm was sold in 1986 to a young family who continues to milk cows. However, the herd has grown and the operation has changed. The new owners tore down the original barn in the 1990’s and built a state-of-the-art milking parlor in which ten cows were milked at one time, in modern facilities with computer-controlled machines that tracked what each cow produced. 

The welcome sign and a layout of the farming facility Gary visited in PA.

Like everything, farming continues to change. This year when we were in Pennsylvania, Gary went to an open house for a 2023 state-of-the-art milking parlor and I asked him to describe it here:

Rohrer Dairy Farms near Mountville, PA began as a small farm with 20 cows in 1956. Fast forward to 2023 and the second and third generation Rohrer Dairy Farm families now have a 60 cow rotary milking parlor to milk their 1,780 cows. This highly automated system is attended by only three employees. The cows enter from holding lanes unto a slot on the carousel as the carousel continuously rotates. Each slot has a milking machine and a control module with a digital screen. 

The first worker preps the cows (washes the udder) and the second worker attaches the milkers. The milking machine automatically disconnects when the milking is complete. When the cow reaches the exit point, a water spray at her head encourages her to back off the carousel. Unless there is a hiccup, the carousel does not stop. It rotates very slowly and each cow’s ride on the carousel is about ten minutes. 

It is an amazing sight. There is an upper level gallery with office, conference room, meeting room and viewing area where one can watch the whole operation behind large windows.

They milk three times a day and each milking takes 5 ½ hours, thus there is more milking parlor time available to expand the herd.

This is a partial view of the Rohrer Dairy farm.

In addition to the 1,780 milking cows, they have about 1,500 heifers and calves. The large cow barns have automated feed systems, slotted floors with manure pits underneath, and a fire sprinkler system. 

Both of Gary’s sisters are dairy farmers. We did visit both farms, and here I am feeding a calf at one of them.

It is hard to comprehend. The small family farm is indeed rapidly disappearing, but I believe they both can co-exist. I am hopeful because my sister’s son and his wife, both of whom are college graduates, are taking over their parent’s dairy farm. They milk less than 100 cows in a traditional milking barn. Good for them!

Medley of Flora and Fauna

During our time in Scotland we were on the lookout for the Highland Cattle, affectionately called Hairy Coos. After a few days we were excited to spot several of them in a field.

A Hairy Coo

They are unique creatures, with shaggy coats and long horns, and they originated in the Scottish Highlands. They are friendly and cute. One of them ate grass from my hand.

Such a friendly face!
Harry Coos are very popular on goods in the Scottish Highlands…from tins and magnets to coasters and towels and shopping bags…they are fun!

Of course we saw sheep…they seemed to be everywhere! Thousands of them…but I didn’t grow tired of seeing them…

They usually were in settings that were pastoral and calming.

Sheep sharing the path along Hadrian’s wall.

And I always like to see horses in a field…

Horses enjoying the sunshine…

And cattle…

Silhouettes of cattle in a field along Hadrian’s Wall.

We missed the peak season for the bright purple heather on the hillsides. I saw photos of heather in their prime season and it looked stunning…just like when we see the fall color peak in Minnesota.

Heather grows all over the hills and rocks.

But we did see a lot of heather past peak, and it was still pretty. The picturesque Scottish Highlands are a perfect backdrop for the muted colors of the heather.

More than the average colorful hydrangea’s in many places…blues and pinks and deep purples.

Deep purple and pink hydrangeas

Flower pots and window boxes are a bright spot when the weather is overcast and dreary, which they say is a lot of the time.

Colorful hanging flower baskets.
A flower box with a crown on top.

Rosebay willowherb was another wildflower that was in bloom.

Rosebay Willowherb in the forefront, along Loch Ness.

We also saw many rainbows during our time in Scotland. This full rainbow was taken on our last day, before we boarded our flight home.

Scotland bids us farewell with a beautiful rainbow.

Brochs, Castles and Abbeys

There is a lot of history in Great Britain. Hadrian’s wall dates back to AD122! That’s old. But the oldest formations we saw, and touched, dated back to 200-400BC!

Dun Telve Broch

We drove over a very narrow mountain pass one morning to see brochs. The drive was harrowing, but it was scenic.

Scenic drive.

Our destination was two brochs. A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure found in Scotland. The origin of brochs is still subject to ongoing research. There seems to be questions as to if they were living quarters and/or were used primarily for defensive or offensive purposes. 

400-200BC structures.

As we touched one of the stones, we thought about the stranger to us, who had touched that same stone over 2200 years ago.

We also marveled at the architecture of Scottish castles.

Edinburgh Castle.
Wide “streets’ and other buildings within Edinburgh Castle.

The first castle we toured was the Edinburgh Castle, which had a little city within its walls with living quarters, roads, a prison, and so much more, including a small chapel, St. Margaret’s, noted as the oldest building in Edinburgh (AD1130). 

St. Margaret’s Chapel, is the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh. It is within the castle walls.

The second castle we saw was the Eilean Donan Castle, built in the 13th century. This castle has been fully restored and is used for special events. It is very visible, right off the road situated at the confluence of three sea lochs (lakes); Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh. We enjoyed photographing the iconic castle, but did not go inside.

In addition to many large castles throughout Scottland, there are many smaller castles too. 

A photo of a postcard of the Barcaldine Castle (in the sunshine).

My favorite was The Barcaldine, or Black Castle, built between 1591 and 1609… set on the shores of Loch Creran. It belonged to the Campbell family until 2009 when David Whitehead bought it and turned it into a luxury B&B. We stayed in the castle for two enchanting nights.

The entrance to the Barcaldine Castle. Down steps to the office (and dungeon), or up the spiral steps to the great room and guest rooms.

The woodwork in the great room was gorgeous. I looked up the definition of great room and found; “The concept of a great room hearkens back to the romanticized ideal of great halls and great chambers in medieval castles and mansions, which contained one large central room where everything happened.”

Part of the great room in the Barcaldine Castle.

And this was true of the Barcaldine Castle’s great room. We ate our breakfasts there in the mornings, and sat by the enormous wood-burning fireplace in the evenings.

The huge wood-burning fireplace in the Barcaldine Castle.

The walls were thick, and it had hidden passageways through secret doors in some wall panels. There was a dungeon, and ghost stories too. 

The turret on the left was part of our room…

The turrets in our rooms were special. I loved stepping down two steps into the round space, sitting at the writing desk, peeking out the small windows, and writing in my journal.

I’m sitting in the turret off our room on the top floor in the castle.

We took a couple of ferries to get to the small Isle of Iona (three miles long, one mile wide) and saw an old Abbey. St. Columba came over from Ireland, in the AD500’s, to bring Christianity to Scotland and built a Celtic church and established a monastic community.  

One of several ancient Celtic crosses on the Isle of Iona.

The original St. Columba buildings are no longer standing but there is an active, beautiful abbey today that was rebuilt in the 1800’s. 

Cardhu Country House

Also worth mentioning is the Cardhu Country House. It was built in 1868. A lovely country B&B where we stayed near Aberlour. It was charming and well-appointed, and another great experience with Scottish hospitality. 

Scottish Highlands

After completing our planned hike along Hadrian’s Wall, we left northern England and took a train to Scotland to start our driving adventure there…driving on the wrong…I mean opposite…side of the road. Gary and Dave took turns driving.

A picture of the very narrow roads…

The guys said it is much easier to drive in the countryside than in the city, although the very narrow roads in the country could be nerve-wracking. The busy streets and round-abouts in the cities were challenging.

Edinburgh Castle.

We spent the first day in one of two major cities in Scotland: Edinburgh. We toured Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Botanical Gardens, Water of Leith walkway, and ate dinner in The Old Bell Inn, a pub in Edinburgh. 

St. Margaret’s Chapel. This holy place is the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh. Built in about AD1130, it is within the castle walls.
Beautiful flowers at The Old Bell Inn.

The remainder of our days we toured and explored the Scottish Highlands. They are stunning.

Loch Ness.

We drove through Cairngorm’s National Park, and alongside Loch Ness, looking for Nessie –we’re pretty sure we spotted her.

We saw Nessie…(upper right)

We stopped to walk along the North Sea, and went to the Culloden Battlefield. We hiked a “hill climb” up the Devil’s Staircase on the West Highland Way trail system in the stunning Glencoe Valley.

At the top of the Devil’s Staircase hill climb.
Glencoe Valley in the highlands.
Scottish Highlands

We toured the Isles of Skye, Mull and Iona, saw very old brochs, castles and abbey’s (a different post coming), and rode over the Glenfinnan Viaduct on a steam train.

The Jacobite Steam Train, aka Hogwart’s Express.

In Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, the second movie in the Harry Potter movie series, there is a famous scene that involves the Jacobite steam engine train, aka Hogwart’s Express, going over the picturesque viaduct at Glenfinnan. 

Gary took this photo of our train going over the Glenfinnan Viaduct….the scene in a Harry Potter movie.

The Glenfinnan Viaduct is a twenty-one-arched concrete bridge built in the 1890’s. (A viaduct, by definition, is a type of long bridge, usually supported by a series of arches.) 

Ready to ride the Hogwart’s Express.

Sue and I enjoyed riding on the Jacobite steam train, while the guys drove to the small town of Mallaig, a northwestern coastal town on the North Sea, and met us there. On their way to Mallaig, they parked the car and walked through a field, along with many others, to take a photo of our train passing over the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct. It was a memorable ride.

Kilt Rock.

We spent our last night in the other major city in Scotland; Glasgow where we would fly out the next morning.

The Citizen, a restaurant in Glasgow.

In Glasgow, we saw a bit of the city, in the rain, on our walk to our “last evening celebration dinner” in a lovely restaurant called “The Citizen” where we revisited all aspects of our time together. And it was time to say good-bye.

Out standing on the side of a country road…

The Innkeepers

(I’m still saddened by the news about the vandalism that felled Sycamore Gap’s 300-year-old iconic tree…but it’s time to take up the old British adage, “keep calm and carry on“.)

After traveling 24 hours on two planes, a bus, and a train, we finally reached our destination to Carlisle, England. The last leg of this long day was walking several blocks, pulling our suitcases, to the place where we had reservations for our first night in England.

The train station in Glasgow, Scotland. (We flew into Glasgow, Scotland and took a train to England for our hiking expedition.)

We were delighted to come upon our charming B&B, situated on a corner with vibrant and overflowing window boxes, and a welcoming front door. We could finally relax.

We were happy to finally arrive at Warwick Lodge B&B.

The innkeeper, Caron, showed us to our lovely rooms, decorated with antiques and all the luxuries to make our overnight stay comfortable. As I looked around the room I innocently, but seriously, asked her to tell me about the old confessional in our room. She looked at me quizzically and then burst out laughing – a genuine laugh!  It was not a confessional, but a large armoire (a wardrobe…our thoughts turned to Narnia). And then we all had a good belly laugh. Unfortunately (and I can’t believe it), I did not take a picture of this armoire that looked very much like a confessional!

Beautiful, overflowing, vibrant flower pots and baskets at the Warwick Lodge B&B, Carlisle England.

I doubt she’ll forget us, and I’ll bet she will giggle every time she shows her future guests this room with the confessional!

A passing hiker (from Minnesota!) took a photo of the four of us on Hadrian’s Path.

Then there was Les…a colorful character…the innkeeper at the Old Repeater Station. He may forget us, but we will not forget him.

The Old Repeater Station B&B. A repeater station was involved with telecommunications of some sort.

It was late afternoon on our third day of hiking when we turned off the trail for the last mile of our day’s journey to an inn standing alone in the English countryside. When we arrived, we walked through the front door and called out hello. We were met with a hardy greeting by Les, the innkeeper, who was sipping scotch with a friend – and he continued sipping scotch into the evening. 

Through the gate to the front door of the inn.

Les was gregarious, playful, humorous, and a bit tipsy. We affectionately called him…the drunken innkeeper.  He made our stay interesting and did provide everything we needed. We knew we were going to be settled in this inn for the remainder of the evening, since there was nowhere else to go! We had pre-ordered dinner and Les dutifully cooked our dinners in his kitchen, by himself, and my salmon was delicious. There was another couple from England staying at the inn with us, and we all enjoyed each other’s company that evening.

Les was up early the next morning to make us our breakfasts that we had ordered the night before. After we checked out, he showed us a shortcut back to the Hadrian’s Wall path and bid us farewell. We enjoyed our stay at the Old Repeater Station.

These two innkeepers…Caron and Les… kept coming up in our conversations for the rest of our time in Scotland. What fun!