Sunday, January 25, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY...

TO ROBERT BURNS!!
he is Scotlands acclaimed national poet,
known famous for many of his works in poetry and stories...
such as
The Selkirk Grace:
"Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it:
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit."
and also The Address to the Haggis,
and many, many more!!
Here are some photos from our trip to scotland this past summer..
we went to ALLOWAY, which is Robbie Burns' birthplace.
this is the Burns Cottage,
where he was born and lived with his family.
When we were here in august, the staff were busy re-thatching the roof
in preparation for January 2009,
well, actually
TODAY,
as this day marks the celebration of his
250th birthday anniversay!!!
It was really quite remarkable and so well preserved!

...the next four photos were taken in the garden of the Burns Cottage...




...and as i often did...i strolled alone further down into the Burns National Heritage Park to see the
Burns Monument built in his honour...
climbed up the many, many spiral stairs to get up and dangerously close to shoot some photos up and under the rooftop!
heehee...

...and for those of you who like a good intrigue...
check out this link
as you will find TONS of interesting information about Scotlands beloved
Robert Burns,
including the written works of his poems and stories...
especially the most intriguing of them all....
THE TAM O'SHANTER EXPERIENCE!!!
-basically Robbie Burns telling of his friend Tam's
experience after overinduldging in the Drink!
...he claims to have seen witches and ghosts and the devil himself having a party in the
Alloway Auld Kirk ( old church- which still remains...i have pictures! )
anyway, Tam apparently yells out to the witches and they begin to chase him!
He fearfully tries to escape the witches on means of horseback on his hopeful rescuer,
Meg, his mare!
( figures....a drunken man needing help from the girls...hahaha )
anyway, they run to the famous Brig O'Doon ( bridge over the river Doon )
knowing that evil spirits cannot cross past the middle of running water....
of course, he does escape the witches clutches, but she grabs hold of the mares tail in her last attempt to catch Tam and pulls the tail right off!
If you are interested in reading the acutal words of the Tam O'Shanter Experience by
robert burns, you will find the story on the link above!!
have fun!
...and here's the famous Brig O'Doon in Alloway...very cool to walk on it's 'history'!!!!

so....
every year, Lynn, courtney's dance teacher, holds an annual Burns Supper.
it is always a formal, sit-down traditional Scottish Dinner of roast beef, yorkshire pudding, mashed turnip, mashed potatoes, steamed green peas, dinner rolls, salad....
and of course...HAGGIS! ( if you dare! )
here's our pretty girl all dressed up and ready to go!
...the evening is started off with the 'parade of guests' being marched in to our tables by a piper...

...next, the HAGGIS is piped and paraded in...( like it's the olympic torch!LOL )
and in true Scottish accent, a Scotsman recites the
"Address to the Haggis"
by Robert Burns
to the guests, followed by a toast to the piper!
(yuck )
...and here's your traditional Scottish dinner...
complete with a dollop of haggis ( at the bottom of the plate )
Mike has no problem taking the offerings of the unwanted haggis at our table, never fails!
...and of course, what would a Scottish celebration be without some Highland dancing by the girls? ( courtney's in the green tartan )
...alex and kailey...



..courtney and kelsey...


WHEW....
AND...yesterday i was a guest vendor at an all day crop for a local
Wellness Team at Concordia Village!
( ironically the same building that my grandparents now live in...so I got a few happy visits from them throughout the day! )
Anyway...it was a fun, fun day with the girls, and I even managed to do this layout for tyler...
his first tae kwon do layout for his book!
( and LA, i STILL couldn't figure out how to crop my pics for my blog...hahaha )


...and here's a couple more i did this week for tyler too...



...i painted the stars and then i outlined them with black fabric paint...
fun stuff, just needs drying time if you give it a go!


...wow, this is a really long and fun post...
i send you an E-HUG if you stayed with me to the end!!
hope you're all having a fabulous weekend!!!
:O)
























5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, I am actually the first comment!
You were busy Kim! Very impressive post today. I love your lay-outs as well. How did you find the time???
Happy Robbie Burns day to ya, and many more.
Lori N.

Anonymous said...

Wow, those layouts are awesome Kim! Love them!
Can't wait for class this Friday, see ya there!
T

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed your lovely write up about Robbie Burns - I didn't remember much of it. Thanks. Also, I love all of your pics and layouts. Have a good day Love Mom

Anonymous said...

funny those gardens look exactaly like my gardens at my place.

Please tell Tara I won't be at class tonite, apparently you have made more friends, humf, so Hi Tara.
Loved all the layouts of your little lad.
Brat

Kim said...

Tara says:
"hi tracy...i miss you"

...notes from my class tonight ( right now )

i MUST see your garden in the spring then...

:O)