The Blairquhan Castle🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

If I could capture the “feel” of this castle in words, I would. I’m neither talented enough, nor do I think I can convey the warmth and elegance of the interior. For such an enormous setting, those who refurbished this exceptional landmark provided a welcoming, warm, relaxing yet regal and elegant experience for those of us privileged enough to visit and stay for a few days. I can’t begin to tell you how delighted I was to explore the library! Those books you see below? Many were first editions!

Here are just a few captures of the Blairquhan Castle: (If you have the interest, I encourage you to click on the blue link to see professional photos which are far superior to mine below!)   

 

A Wedding. In a Castle. In Scotland🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿.

Well, it was everything you could imagine a fairy tale wedding would include: stunning countryside, a Scottish castle that exceeded our already-high expectations, very moving vows and a bride that her Mama would have been proud of. If you didn’t read the introduction to this destination wedding/vacation with an important person missing, you can HERE.

Yes, the bride decided to marry in a castle in Scotland. Just saying that the last several months was surreal! Thirty-four loved ones attended and there will be a much larger party locally in a couple of weeks to continue the celebration.

The Blairquhan Castle in Maybole, Ayrshire was extraordinary. While Scotland alone boasted over 2,000 castles, many of those which are even visible in 2019 are in ruins or inhabitable. There are however, several that are still spectacular tourist sites and we did visit Edinburgh Castle as well.

But, back to the wedding…everything from the jet-lag being a very real thing (!) to the travel, to a wedding that most brides can only dream of, the event was one that we will talk about for years to come.

We flew into Glasgow, Scotland. Along with celebrating the wedding and staying in a TRULY amazing castle (I will post castle-specific photos soon), we also toured Edinburgh and a bit around some smaller Scottish towns.

After a four days in Scotland, my daughters and I – along with 15 other wedding guests – flew to Ireland where we stayed another five days. I’ll be posting photos of both countries this week and next.

As I’m sure many of you reading can understand, jumping back into the routine after a trip like that was exhaustion like I’ve not known. I also got a flu just before we left, and it promptly reared its ugly head every day that I tried to plow through and stay up too long!

Well, this is certainly one of my more rambling posts and I apologize for that. Work awaits but I’ve missed this blogging community and look forward to catching up this week on what I’ve missed on your sites!

Happy Monday!

 

Vacation!

True friends are few and hard to find. My precious one of 20 years lost her cancer battle and went to be with Jesus three years ago. Her daughter has grown to be my bonus 4th child.

There was deep, profound loss and heartbreak that we all endured but God has restored us in many ways. Last year, my friend’s daughter fell in love with a fun-loving young man. Her “destination wedding” is in Europe. I have never been there before, but we sent our oldest daughter (22yrs. old now) for a 10-day school trip when she was 17. Both of my daughters are in the wedding and we’ll stay for a week after to visit two countries. It’s been such joy preparing alongside the bride, but I’ve certainly shed some tears thinking about my friend.

On a lighter note, the girls gowns are carefully packed, ready for an international flight and I’ll be back online in a couple of weeks!

Happy August to all!

Attention Brides-to-Be and those: “Serious about my Boyfriend”

Apparently, Christmas is among the most popular times for marriage proposals. I heard about a few of them over the holidays. Then, Valentine’s Day is just up ahead. That got me thinking…

The following statements contain things that a few mid-life women I know wish they had asked themselves and their potential spouse when they were dating or engaged… Sometimes, things that you don’t think about at all now might become issues in your future.

In between make out sessions, ask him strange questions like:  “What should we do about childcare when we’re both building our careers?”

“How and where will we spend the major holidays each year? With your family? Mine?”

“Do you believe in God?”

After you tell your friends, “Oh my gosh, he is soooo hot!”, call and ask him, “Will you still date me after we’ve been married ten years? Twenty?”

“Do you want to relocate to another state? Another country? How often are you willing to move for a career?”

“Do you support abortion? Do you think it’s okay to drive while buzzed?”

If you haven’t yet, ask yourself these questions:

How important is it for you to live near your parent(s) and/or sibling(s)?

Does he fully support your work? Will he after you have children?

Does your groom-to-be or serious-boyfriend have faith? Do you? Can you do this life without it?

“You accept the love you believe you deserve.”
If your “love” isn’t treating you as well as he should be, why keep dating him? Why do you think he’s the “best you can do”?

Have you fallen “in love” or “in lust”?

During any of your dates, has he watched the TV at the restaurant more than look at you? No, not “all guys do that”…

Be sure about your life mate. Be choosy. You deserve the best.

(Photo credit: Tiffany & Co.)