Greetings from the "Motherland". As you may or may not know my work travels have taken me to Edinburgh, Scotland! The picture to the left is what I see when I look out the window of my hotel. It is of course the magestic Edinburgh Castle. I've toured the castle two times now, and walked the shops of the royal mile that leads up to it, of course making frequent stops along the way.

The picture on the right is the view of

Edinburgh from the top of the castle,

looking out towards the North Sea.

The weather here has been beautiful. I of course forgot my "brollie", but it's only rained a few times since I've been here. Mostly it's been cool with the highs being in the 60's. I'm also living a bit on the edge. I have tried haggis and quite enjoyed it! Although true Scottish folk can eat it with any meal, I prefer mine in the evening, with some tatties. (It just doesn't do it for me in the morning!) I have also tried the black pudding, which I'm not crazy about.

Here is a traditional Scottish meal:

The haggis is at the bottom left corner, with some pickeled kippers above that, some assorted shelfish salad at the top, and a selection of salmon and trout at the bottom. Quite a tasty meal. And just to prove I ate the haggis...

I"ve also been to a whisky tasting. I have never enjoyed the taste of scottish whisky, but I'm a believer of that old saying "When in Rome"! So after work one night our food and beverage manager of the hotel we are at did a whisky tasting for myself and five of my co-workers. I'm not sure he converted any of us, but at least we know the basics. And belive it or not, I could actually at times taste the "flavors" I was supposed to taste.....

Uncle Dub here's a picture for you, so you

can let me know if one of these is a favorite of yours... Although we were told that these were only sold in Scotland.

Now on the left here, we have a tartan weaver at a working tartan mill. Sorry but they didn't have any Campbell tartans going at the time of my visit. (this is a picture taken from a landing looking down on the weaver).

My final picture here is taken from the Princes Street Garden looking up towards the Royal Mile. Princes Street Garden is kind of a small version of Central Park.

August 3 is the beginning of the Military Tattoo Festival. It is supposed to be an event like no other. I've started my hunt for a ticket to the sold out event, but I think my efforts may be fruitless. The people of Edinburgh take their Festivals very seriously, as the Blues & Jazz Festival began this weekend and will be going on for at least a week if not longer.

My hotel is right in the city center so there is some great people watching, and I swear we speak the same language, but when they get to talking fast I just get lost in the accent!

I hope to get some more pics to share with my Scottish Clan, but I hope you enjoy these!

Love from Scotland...Becky Fields

"Up North" with the Browns

Every summer, Dad and Janet rent a cabin for a week, on a lake in northern Wisconsin. They've been doing it for probably more than 30 years now. We'd go waterskiing, fishing, hiking, exploring, hang out by the campfire, dangle our feet in the water off the end of the dock... As we each grew up and moved out on our own, the dyanmic changed. But over the years, various kids and their families have been able to join them. Tim and I have never made it; in fact, I was probably still in college the last time I went.

This year, I'm going! Tim will hold down the fort here, keeping TMZ.com and our kitchen contractors (http://sceneshop.com/kitchencam/) in line -- oh, and the cats, too. But I'm heading out Friday evening for a week of hanging out with Dad and Janet and whatever siblings et. al. can make it, swatting mosquitos, eating whatever fish Dad manages to catch, reading, staring up at the sky... Heaven.

Linda