Eilidh wrote this blog. Lorna doesn't want to be given credit

I like food.  It is yummy and well yummy.  Today we ate a lot of food.  Let me tell you about the food that we ate today.

For breakfast we ate chocolate cake.  It was yummy and so very chocolatety.  It was moist too but not in a weird way.

In the car Eilidh Ceilidh and Auntie Sue ate Haribo star mix.  They were on the way to the supermarket to buy lots of ingredients for the night ahead.

At the supermarket, there was lots of food.  Eilidh Ceilidh, Lorna and Auntie Sue did not buy all the food because if they ate it all it would make them so very stuffed.  They did have to buy secret ingredients for Sarah as she was ill and in bed at home. 

Because it had been a whole half an hour since the Haribo and a whole number of minutes or so until lunch, Eilidh Ceilidh decided to eat a dark chocolate minty bar to keep her going on the long journey home.

For lunch we had cheesy pickly toasties.  They smelled a little bit like salmon but did not taste like salmon.  They tasted like cheese and pickle toasties.  The reason that they smelled funny was because they were made in the George Foman Grill which was last used to cook salmon - we thinks...

Then came the exciting bit.  Lorna, Auntie Sue, Eilidh Ceilidh and Sarah had all been chared with responsibility for a dinner course.  That was why they went to the supermarket. 

Lorna was first.  She had to make the first bit which I don't think that I can spell the name of so I shall just call it the first bit.  It was very yummy.  A salmon and chive pate with bread and oatcakes. 

After that was the strange concoction from Auntie Sue.  Spinich, bacon, stilton, pear and awesome dresseing with Auntie Sue special Sherry.  Eilidh Ceilidh thought that it was very, very yummy.  Lorna didn't really understand it. 

For mains it was Eilidh Ceilidh's turn.  She made pineapple moosh which she served in a pineapple.  She also made garlically and chilli-lili prawns to go with it.  Lorna ate all of hers even though there was pineapple in it.  This made Eilidh Ceilidh rather happy.

Sarah made dessert.  She melted choclate and served it with banana's, toffee fudge sauce, ice cream and scoooshy cream.  Oh and the best bit... hundered and thousands.  Everyone now has a bit of a sugar high but all is well as today is a very happy food day, intersected with numerous custard creams!      

Welcome to 2010

Is that 20, 10 or 2000 and 10? Who knows. But anyway.

So, first off. Happy New Year to you all! I hope that Christmas was full of joy, laughter and love, and that New Year celebrations were fun and emcouraging for the year ahead.

I was in Iona over Christmas and had an amazing time. Amazing. As a group we came to the conclusion that even if the guests didn't 100% have a great week, we, as staff, certainly did. There appeared to be some grumblings from the guests about the week, for various reasons, but I hope that they still were thankful for the week that was and took good things away from it.

After a wee bit of a slow journey back, stopping in Dunblane to drop of some of Gen's stuff at her new house, we made it back to Edinburgh. 'We' being a group of amazingly awesome people that I've met throughout the year on Iona... a group of people that have made this year so special for me.

I thank each and every person I have met this year for just being them and for appearing in my life, whether for a short while or for a long while. 2009 wouldn't have been the same without each and every one of them.

Here's to a 2010 full of love, laughter, joy, challenges, adventures, low points, high points, God filled moments, many new friends, many old friends, and a whole new start for a whole new year.

Iona for Christmas

So all of you lovely people, I'm off again to Iona, this time for 10 days over Christmas. I'm uberly excited as I get to pick dear Auntie Rosie up from the airport and then enjoy a nice, possibly snow covered journey, to Oban. Yay!! I'll try update this when I'm there still :)

16th December 2009 - What An Amazing Day

OH MY WORD - the concert was better than I could have dreamed!

We were hanging around for ages waiting for it to start and nothing was happening, until Kris Drever came on the stage and said that Heidi Talbot had hurt her leg and had to go to A&E and John McCusker had gone with her. So Kris Drever and Boo Hewerdine (only THE coolest guy ever) came on and played some stuff which was really cool coz it wasn't their usual set :) They played for quite a bit, and then Kris, Boo, Roddy Woomble and John came on and said that Heidi was ok and back from the hospital but in pain so she was sitting down for a while with her 'friend'... it just so happened that her friend who rushed to the hopsital to see her was EDDI READER! So the gig carried on and they did an AMAZING set together, Heidi hobbled on stage with her crutches (and her new baby bump!) and joined in and it carried on really well :) They are such amazing musicians and click so well together on stage. And then Eddi Reader appeared and sat in the audience... she got called up to join in on stage (still in her jacket, hat and scarf!) and made the night ever better.


Oh, but did I mention the bit after the gig, the bit when I spoke to Boo Hewerdine (my musical hero just now!!) and got his autograph on his new cd...?! Oh, and did I mention the bit when I then spoke to some lovely woman about how she sent my mum a card, how she wants me to raise a glass for her at christmas, how she loves that her music has been passed down to us from my mum and how nice it would be to live on Iona...?! Oh yeah, that was EDDI READER!!! Oh, wait, I also got her autograph, and a hug!!! She rocks!

So, overall, a great night. And you know what made it better? Friends...amazing friends.

Journey Planning?

I was having a wee look at the Iona Community website, as I do occasionally, and noticed that the newest post was a Journery Planner saying:

'Planning your trip to Iona by Public Transport? This useful tool from Traveline Scotland might help.'

However, this tool may not be quite as useful as you may think. I know for a fact, and because I have done so before, that you can happily (depending on how much chocolate you have with you, and how much mist there is to spoil the stunning views) travel from Edinburgh, leaving at 7.15 am and arrive on Iona at 2.25pm. This so called 'planner' is not so useful after all, seeing as it does not realise this time of travelling. Hence the reason, I'm sure, many guests think they can only arrive on the 6.10pm ferry to Iona, which makes dinner at 6pm a right pain to for the staff, making many of them late, or even have to miss, staff choir every Saturday night. I now blame Journeys Planners around the world for ruining my Saturdays night on Iona by making them rushed. Technology fail from Traveline Scotland I think.

Rant over.

What is Christmas to you?

As we are now well in to Advent, I am in my annual stage of 'what is Christmas to you?' thinking.

Is Christmas about shopping, over indulenge, lights, presents, money spending, overeating, partying, commercialism...?

Is Christmas about Jesus being born, sharing, the nativity, loving, Advent, giving, celebrating God's presence, being guided, friendship, family...?

Is Christmas about something entirely different...?

Singing in the car...

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey, you never know dear, DEER, how much I love you..."
That's what road trips are all about... perfect timing for giggles... real deer in a field as singing the word 'dear'... so simple, yet so amusing...
Happy days with awesome friends :)

Quotes...

So, today I was thinking about quotes and picking up new quotes...
There are many I could share with you, but for now I shall share one I found in a song by Nickel Creek today...
"Sometimes I pray for a slap in the face, then I beg to be spared 'cause I'm a coward... Oh, me of little faith."

Comparisons - Interesting? Useful?

NIV - The New Jerusalem


1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

5He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

6He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

THE MESSAGE - Everything New


1I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea. 2I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband. 3-5I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God. He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone." The Enthroned continued, "Look! I'm making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate."

6-8Then he said, "It's happened. I'm A to Z. I'm the Beginning, I'm the Conclusion. From Water-of-Life Well I give freely to the thirsty. Conquerors inherit all this. I'll be God to them, they'll be sons and daughters to me. But for the rest—the feckless and faithless, degenerates and murderers, sex peddlers and sorcerers, idolaters and all liars—for them it's Lake Fire and Brimstone. Second death!"

The Way People Are (June '09)

Is it just me, or are people fascinating? To watch, to listen to, to communicate with, to live with, to learn of.


When sitting in a cafe, do you ever play 'people' games? Guess the profession? Guess where they are from? Guess the car they drive? Guess how many kids they have? I love to play these games; to observe people and ponder on what they are like, what type of person they are, and how much you can tell about them just from the way they look, walk, talk, act. Fascinating.

There are people I unerstand. There are people I don't understand. And today has been a day of not understanding. Hands down your tracksuit trousers (especially in public); what is the need? High heels that you clearly can't walk in; why wear them? Going out for lunch with a few friends and hardly talking to each other; do you really want to be there? Swearing at people you don't know as they pass you by in their cars; why be so rude? I don't get people.

I guess that's why my friends are my friends; they are the people I understand.