Blog Archives - A Cottage by the Sea

Luncheon on the Royal Yacht Britannia~

5/30/2013

It is no simple matter to blog and travel, especially in a city filled with history, gardens and architecture like Old and New Town Edinburgh. The best I can do is offer a slide show, but as they say, ‘a picture’s worth a thousand words.’

Here are some random shots taken during my visit to the Royal Yacht Britannia, Queen Elizabeth’s happy home away from home during forty years of her reign. I hadn’t been interested in touring the ship until I rather fell in love with the Queen Elizabeth after reading the biography, Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, by Sally Bendell Smith. I certainly developed compassion for this tough but kind and compassionate dedicated woman who definitely needed to get away. But visiting the ship—oh such opulence to keep royalty and all its pomp and ceremony going!—Well, I can see there are many sides to the royalty coin. Monarchists and non-monarchist both have a million valuable points.

That being said, I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed a luncheon of fish soup, salmon sandwiches and red wine at the Royal Deck Tea Room.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

5/30/2013

I took a tour of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh yesterday morning. Magnificent!!

The following is from their website, which I highly recommend, especially to my gardening friends. http://www.rbge.org.uk

“The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) was founded in the 17th century as a physic garden. Now it extends over four Gardens boasting a rich living collection of plants, and is a world-renowned centre for plant science and education.
"exploring and explaining the world of plants for a better future"
“That's our mission. Without plants, there would be no life on earth. RBGE has been growing and studying plants for over 330 years, and so is perfectly placed to help document and conserve the world's diversity of plantlife.”

From the Scott Monument

5/29/2013

'Very grateful' that I was able to walk the 287 steps to the top of the Scott Monument yesterday.

"Very grateful that I could climb the 287 steps to enjoy this magnificent view of Edinburgh.

Stroll around the neighborhood~

5/24/2013

Yesterday

Black bear in town~

5/23/2013

Yesterday's sighting in town.

The police left a message on our machine that a black bear has been spotted on King Phillip’s Road, just around the corner from our house. Their two instructions were simple: don’t let your pets out, and don’t try to befriend the bear. Well, we have no pets, so that is easy. As far as befriending, I decided that I have enough friends at the stage in my life, so no problem there.

I walked along King Phillips yesterday, totally forgetting about the entire warning. After I post this, I’m going out again. Maybe I’ll be lucky (?) enough to get a sighting and take a picture. On the other hand, if I never blog again, you can assume that I forgot to heed the second police warning.

Prayer Shawls~

5/21/2013

Whenever we go somewhere in the car I always throw my knitting in the backseat. Maybe this trip I’ll work on that prayer shawl that I started five years ago. Sometimes I knit a row or two, but usually nothing-- the bag just sits there. Last weekend, however, I started knitting, not a row or two, but an inch or two…or three. Now I’m into it; and as I knit I think and pray about the friend who will receive my handiwork when the final stitch is cast off.

Prayer shawl ministries, started in 1999 by Janet Bristow and Victoria Cole-Galo in Connecticut, have taken on lives of their own all over the world. Groups range from extremely religious to ‘lightly’ spiritual, from organized ministries to individuals working on their own. Prayer shawls are given to individuals, and to those in hospitals, hospices, the armed service, homeless shelters, and more. It’s a one-of-a-kind, awesome ministry, governed by compassion. Check it out. http://www.shawlministry.com/

On a personal note, in just these past few days knitting has slowed me down; I seem to sit longer and calmer in the silence, solitude and simplicity. With needles and yarn in my hands, I’m less distracted, less apt to jump up to do something. And for someone active and ‘hyper’ like me, that is an enormous gift of the spirit.

Mallard ducks doing what they do~

5/20/2013

All kinds of birds around here in Pennsylvania; many, many cardinals. Then there are the mallard ducks, all the way from the Boston Public Garden. Late afternoon they put on a show; two males chasing one female back and forth across the yard. And then, voila, there were two, one male one female, walking about like nothing exciting had happened all day. It looked mighty simple to us, simplicity out of ignorance on our part.

Noise pollution~

5/17/2013

Well, I heard from two people, my husband and his sister. So much for the mystery of who my unique visitors are.

Seems that silence, or rather lack thereof, is my main focus these days,. Conclusion: it’s very difficult to come by!! Case in point. Yesterday on our way to Pennsylvania we stopped at a restroom on the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut; all good. Electric hand dryers; all good. The sound of the dryer, however, was deafening. Um, nothing wrong with my hearing. Paper pollution, no; noise pollution, yes. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Sitting in the mystery~

5/14/2013

I’m often amazed when I notice that it has been more than a few days since I last posted on this blog. Since I live and breathe my quest for silence, solitude and simplicity, perhaps my mental commitment to post every other day becomes a reality for me. Maybe the very topic of this blog is excuse enough for me to believe that I post more regularly than I do. And there is the readers point of view: those of you who check in on a somewhat regular basis can read the silences between blogs; your visit is made in solitude; the daily quote is simply enough to keep the blog going.

That brings me to the mystery of who you readers are. Some of you are friends of mine, checking in to see what I’m up to and where I am on a given day. I suspect that a few find me while looking to rent a cottage by the sea. But I marvel at mystery of who the rest of you are, since I have never advertised in any way, nor have I paid to get detailed information. Yesterday the site had 329 ‘unique visitors’. I sometimes ask, "Who are you? ".

I love the mystery of it all. I love that this blog has a life of it’s own, that it is not about a personality but about the longing for silence, solitude and simplicity. I don’t need to know more but it you care to email me or leave a comment, I’m also just tad curious. ([email protected])

Reaching out~

5/11/2013

We’ve all heard the suggestion that if you’re feeling down or depressed ‘just go out and do something for someone else’. Good advice that I’m sure most of us have taken at one time or another with some form of success. Helping another is standard over-the-counter tonic for getting out of the doldrums.

The other day a friend told me about another use of the helping tonic. It goes like this: If you feel that you are too busy, ‘just go out and do something for someone else’. Sounds counterproductive, doesn’t it? Too busy, do more!!! My friend tried it and was uplifted by the experience, which opened new worlds and new friendships for her. She is still busy, but no busier than before. The hours in the day remained constant, but her spirits are high.

What is the basic ingredient of this tonic that we’re talking about here? A change of pace, for sure; but one that includes reaching out to others. Even those of us who are in love with solitude know how essential this is for our well-being. A friendly chat with a passing stranger on my walk yesterday was all I needed. As for being too busy, well, I am purposely eliminating as much busyness as possible from my life. But the reaching out is always there.