Scotland, ho!

posted by Debi

I was in London this past week for work and finally got my chance to make one of my dreams come true!!  To see an opera at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden!!  The site was originally a theatre in 1732 and Handel was one of the first musical directors of the company.  In fact, Handel premiered most of his operas and oratoris in Covent Garden including his first opera 'Il Pastor Fido' and 'Ariodante' (1735).  Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the theatre in 1808.

It was rebuilt and reopened in 1809 with a performance of Macbeth.  Seems they have had bad luck with fires because on 5 March 1856, the theatre was again destroyed by fire. The third (and current theatre) opened on 15 May 1858 with a performance of Meyerbeer's 'Les Huguenots'.

This is what the opera house looks like today:


So you can see my huge excitement at having the opportunity to visit this mecca of opera.  I saw Tchaikovsky's 'Cherevichki' or 'The Tsarina's Slippers.  Tchaikovsky himself said this was his favorite opera he produced, though it's rarely played outside Russia. The opera had an almost entirely Russian cast. Based on a Christmas tale by Gogol that mixes realistic village comedy with fairytale fantasy.  You can read the plot of the opera here.

I love the Muppets:



The end is especially funny since I do so many teleconferences at work!

posted by Debi

We had our first real frost this last week. That means that the remaining Summer and Autumn vegetables from our garden are just about done. I picked the remaining runner beans, an artichoke and three pumpkins today (though the pumpkins aren't fully orange yet--but I am assuming they are still ok to eat?).


We had pretty good results given that this was our first garden. Ever. And the fact that we now live so far north. We had tomatoes (though we had to ripen ALL of them indoors after the plants died), lettuce and salad greens, onions, shallots, green onions, kale, herbs, potatoes, red chard, peas, carrots, beets, radishes, strawberries, pumpkins and a zucchini. I've got loads of plans for next year. Including what and more importantly when to plant things.

Matters have been complicated ever so slightly by the fact that we now have a beautiful fence behind our garden (instead of looking straight into our neighbors backyard). However, this means that some of the afternoon sun is blocked so I have to think more about where I plant things so that they get as much sun as possible (if the weather cooperates).

Fun Stuff!

by Debi

It's been awhile since we've updated the blog. I just wanted to say how much we love visitors! So far we've had five visits from friends outside of Scotland: Bonnie and Tom last year, Mandi and Daniel from Germany this spring, Jenny from New York and Jenny Mundy-Castle from Santa Fe this summer, and our friend Meghan from New York. It's so great to reconnect with friends and spend quality time together. Not to mention, seeing the place we live with new eyes--we love it!

Here are a few highlights from the visits:

Having our first visitors, Bonnie & Tom, when we were still living in our wee studio on campus:
Going to Glasgow and St. Andrews with them...
Climbing the Lomond Hill for the first time with Mandi and Daniel:


Watching the waves at the Scores in St. Andrews with Jenny (not to mention our wonderful evenings cooking and drinking wine together!):



Hiking in Falkland with our Santa Fe friends and little Salome (what a doll!):


A 1950's murder mystery party for halloween (another highlight was eating cheese and fresh bread on the River Tay after a long day's hike in Birnam and Dunkeld with Meghan):



What great times!! So, come and visit us :-)

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