General Chat

Such a shame that the council there has no pride in their city and would want it looking good. :-(

George :-)

Been like it for years, same as Union Street, was a thriving
shopping area, now lots of the shops closed, trade killed by
new shopping Malls.
At least we have plenty beaches, forests and country side.

Emma :-)

Well my best pal is from Inverness and sings Ma Heeland Granny's Hame or summat but only when she has several Vodka shots and a bottle of red. I also knew a man called Jock Dixon and a butcher from Glasgow called John Cameron married my aunty. So...there!! Can I join please. I can sing like a birrrrrrd! :-D :-D :-D

ps....I also have a ginger tache. :-D

We used to get Plain Bread here (North East England) but for some reason the Supermarket (Morrisons)stopped importing it. Now family from Edinburgh bring it down for me together with well fired rolls, haggis neeps and tatties and Tunnocks plain caramel wafers and Tunnocks caramel logs.

LOL@ BC :-D :-D

As long as its ginger come awa :-D :-D

Robert you forgot tunnocks tea cakes :-)

Emma :-)

No GG,

Not keen on teacakes of any Nationality!!!

My daughter can't get enough of them.
I don't mind caramel logs but the coconut
gets everywhere.

Emma :-)

Oh you'll like Tunnock's Tea cakes, Robert! They're biscuits but called teacakes to get round the Vat element, same as McVities did with Jaffa cakes.. Biscuits are Vat rated, cakes are zero rated.

Well, this has been a busy wee thread! Lots of blethering going on.
Lol at BC - come awa' in, sit down and have a wee refreshment! Everyone's welcome in Alba.
I'm in Inverness just now actually, and off to Skye tomorrow for a couple of days. I actually live just 3 miles from where the Scottish Open is being played just now, so if you look at the TV coverage you will see the same views that I see!

All cities are the same, no matter what country they're in. Councillors up here are all talk and no action, just the same as politicians of all kinds, I suppose.
I know what you mean about Union Street, though, and exactly the same is happening here. All the money is going to the outskirts and then they wonder why shops close!

Anyway, didn't intend to get the soapbox out! I love rowies as well, but not the supermarket ones!

Evening all, Tunnocks Tea cakes oh loves um .i enjoy a piece of dundee cake love something fruity , Rowan Glenn cheese ,,Ayrshire bacon .Ayrshire potatoes .they sell fresh picked from the fields on lay ..bys . the views along the Ayrshire coast are stunning Ailsa craig ,holy island .isle of arran .largs, people need to holiday up here .not a lot of traffic .you can go for miles & not see another vehicle .when you have driven to manchester to work .in the past .believe me living here in this area is bliss Night Barbra , :-D

I guess I'm a wee bit younger than most of us Scots here.... I do love Tunnock's tea cakes, Aberdeen Butteries ( Rowies?), the occasional square sausage, Ayrshire bacon and potatoes ect,,,, although I hate Irn Bru ( too many ruined carpets!)
but right now....
I'm loving T in The Park!!


OK then... I admit that I am possibly a bit too old to actually GO to Balado, but I enjoy watching it on TV! :-D :-D :-D

Life is odd?
10-15yrs ago, I was accompanying my kids to concerts at the S.E.C.C that I had absolutely no interest in...Blue, Busted, Boyzone ect
Now they have grown up, they are also into "our music" and want to come with me and OH to see our stuff
They are coming with us to see...Billy Joel and Fleetwood Mac.

We get midgies here (they don't bite, they pee on us!).

I've tried loads of stuff, insect repellent etc etc, but the only thing that works is the Av*n bath oil, with Dett*l! I keep it handy... a spray bottle, the bath oil & a good dollop of dettol. Keeps the mozzies off too.



:-D

I'm the last one to stirr up trouble on a lovely thread like this but I'll let you into a secret anyway. Remain calm & don't tell anyone else.

I prefer the tone of the uilleann pipes to the bagpipes. There - I've said it, begorrah!

On the down side, you will never witness a march-past or parade of anyone playing the uilleann pipes.

I have lots of memories of Anstruther, from eating fish (caught locally) and chips at the harbour, to enjoying a pint or two in some of the local pubs such as, The Ship Tavern, The Smugglers Inn, The Masonic Arms, The Dreel Tavern, The Salutation Bar, by the time you got from one end of Shore Street to the other end, you were well sozzled ;-)

King James VI summed up the villages round the coast of Fife when he referred to the Kingdom of Fife as a beggar's mantle fringed with gold :-)

My big sister lives in Fife and it is a lovely area.

I started doing family history about 5years ago, and very early on, I made contact with a distant relative in Australia as we were researching the same family line.
Her ancestor moved to OZ in 1841 whilst mine was the older sister who remained in Scotland.
My new found rellie had always wanted to visit Scotland,and I told her that if she ever came over, she could stay with us.
2 years ago, she and her OH did exactly that!
They came and stayed at ours for 2weeks of their 3week trip
We had a great time, and both of them, my OH and I travelled around Scotland together.

We took them to Mull where they visited the grave of Lachlan McQuarrie ( Governor of NSW from 1810 to 1822)... impressed!
They were also very impressed with Croy Brae in Ayrshire ( The Electic Brae)

They even liked haggis, both the meat and vegitarian varieties.
They had tunnocks teacakes and tablet too!
They don't drink ( LDS), so never had the chance to sample our whisky

They have promised to return and we have promised to visit them at their home in Brisbane.

Everyone seems to like Tunnocks Tea Cakes -except me- so I will search the North East of England tomorrow to find some.

I will let you know the result.

Thanks Lady S for that tip we were out for family meal last night and got bitten by the Eng. midgies here in H/g esp a g/son so off now to buy Av** oil and Dettol...wonder what it smells like?

Dermot How could you Uilleann verses Pipes ...Oh dear me what a sacrilege I've come over all funny hearing that :-( Shame On You :-0

Glasgow Lass I too have met a lot of distant relations from all over the world and a lot have come to stay for a few days then gone off to Scotland to follow our families trail How they love coming over some come every 18 months and are due again soon. I feel so lucky to be in contact with relations due to the internet....Wonderful

I am not a fan of the usual mallow filled teacakes but... Tunnocks filling is soft, sweet, and creamy.

Talking about Tunnocks teacakes ....
I work in the local libraries and we hold loads of activities on a weekly basis.
One day a week, we have a Knit and Natter group ( glorified coffee morning) .
One group had a kitting pattern book called " Knit Your Own Scotland"
There were patterns for all sorts of things. including a Highland cow, Billy Connolly, Bonnie Prince Charlie, scotch pies, sheep, a scottie dog, Nessie and ... Tunnocks Teacakes!

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=knit+your+own+scotland&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=6kfkq0IFZRIo-M&tbnid=iO5JjIpP0TebGM:&ved=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailyrecord.co.uk%2Flifestyle%2Ffashion-beauty%2Fcostume-designers-knit-scottish-icons-1429925&ei=hbbiUfLTFeOH0AWftIGYDQ&bvm=bv.48705608,d.d2k&psig=AFQjCNG1s9MH8bbPZfjgqhFtTVgjwWbKFg&ust=1373898757735037


The items were not easy to knit, but the group worked really hard and the finished items looked fantastic!
There was no mistaking Billy Connolly
The knitted doll looked EXACTLY like him and the scotch pies and Tunnocks teacakes were fabulous.
We then had another event and.... sold it all off in a charity auction, with other libraries also making telephone bids. It was great fun
Around £200 raised for the local hospice

I know Mull quite well, when I worked on the Island of Iona on my days off I would often go hill walking around Bunessan and climbed Ben More a few times, at the end of the day, as there were no pubs on Iona in those days - I am not sure if that situation has changed, it was always a welcome treat to pop into The Argyll Arms in Bunessan for a quick pint and a chaser before heading back to Iona, also had quite a few great weekends in Oban :-)

Oh's sister has a beautiful, big house in Bunessan!...

We took our Ozzy rellies to Iona and also on a boat trip to Staffa ( Fingal's Cave)

That was really good!

When I worked on Iona one of my colleagues had a small sailing yacht and we went to Staffa a few times when the weather was good, very enjoyable compared to some of my experiences on the ferry from Fionnphort to Iona.

In those days the ferry was nothing more than a large rowing boat with an engine and in the winter months crossings could be a bit wild. I remember once it took over an hour to get from Fionnphort to Iona, and all we had to protect us was a tarpaulin - in the summer Iona is one of God's jewels but in the winter you thought the devil was in charge.