Greetings! A lovely day today. I wore my new Castle Stuart Shirt and Castle Stuart pullover. Very comfy.

We were running a tad late as we pulled into the Nairn Golf Club to play with Bill McEwen and his friend Allister. It was last when we played together in 2006 when granddaughter, Branduin, was with us and walked the course with us all.

Again today, Bill set up the game as a Ryder Cup. Them (the Europeans) against us (the USA).

For those of you who don't know, Nairn Golf Club hosted the 1999 Walker Cup. Dick and I attended that tournament along with Art Dunkley. Today we learned that Nairn Golf Club has been chosen to host the Curtis Cup in 2012! Lovely!

Nairn is considered by some as regular golf until you get to #12! THEN WATCH OUT. Here is where the course takes on it's demonic dimensions.

Bill walking along the sea on one of the front nine holes, maybe #5 or 6.
Still along the sea on #7

Then you turn back to the clubhouse for a 4 par and up the hill to the Icehouse another 4 par for the 9th hole. My score here is 44 and we are 2 up!!


I believe this is Gate #11 with a farmer silhouetted against the sky.

Finally Table #12 and I still am only 2 over par and we are now 4 UP!!!


Then comes #13...Crown up the hill. Very difficult. I got a 9 and we loose the hole; 14 a double; 15 a Bogey; #16 4-par get an 8 and we are now 2 up with 2 to play.
(I am now starting to find bunkers and burns). #17 a par 4 named the Burn which I went into with my 30 yds chip shot to the green. We are now 1 up with 1 to play.

#18 I completely mess up with entry into two huge bunkers. Dick is on in 4 for 3 and Allister is on in 3. Both putt twice with up keeping the 1 up! We won again with the exact same outcome as in 2006! Great fun.

Drinks together after golf. Wonderful gentlemen and great fun today.

Staying in at the Castlefields for some leftover goodies.

On Tuesday, we drove out to Castle Stuart to meet Mark and Dede Parsinen for lunch. It has been ages since we have seen them. We caught up on much of their news. Mark continues to spend about 6 months out of the year at Castle Stuart. They still have the hotel to build and another golf course on the property. He gave us a CD that explains the "journey" in developing the golf course.

About 2pm we left and drove into Inverness. Reminisced about our times in 2006 with Branduin here in Inverness with us. After finally finding a car park, we walked across the River Ness in search of the Abertarff House which is suppose to be the association that preserves the Gaelic language and culture. We found the house next to Hootananny's but it is closed to public. Hootannany's was playing Scottish Music that night but it didn't begin until 9:30 and so we decided to skip it.


I stopped at the Kiltmakers store. They had this lovely design of the scottish thistle which I thought would make a lovely quilt. Also they had some information of the McPhail's for Linda Redman....McPhails are of the Cameron Clan.
The Oak is the symbol for the Cameron Clan.


We stopped for a 1/2 pint and a rest



Then we went back across the river to explore the museum.
They had this tartan on the floor so you could try your hand at putting on the Scottish Cape.

Came back to the flat and I cooked spaghetti and meatballs. Easy.

Wednesday we got up to play golf at Castle Stuart. We received a phone call from Bill MacEwen and because of the bad weather he was not going to play golf.

I thought we had a picture of Dick and I playing the 8th hole in the pouring rain, but apparently the caddie did not get the picture as the battery was again dead.

Castle Stuart is wonderful. Because the conditions were so difficult the scoring and the vistas were not all that they would normally be. I shot a 50 on the front with several 3 putts and a 46 on the back with a couple of pars.

It was great to play the course. We have another time set for Saturday, but the weatherperson tonight said that it would be rain on the weekend. So we shall see.

Cheers. Here we are in Inverness!

We had a lovely drive from St. Andrews to Perth area along A913 where we had turned off at Cupar. There was, we must admit, some sadness in leaving St. Andrews. Because we really do not know if we will be back again. St. Andrews is such a special place.

But life goes on and so did we...traveling the road to Inverness. Our first stop (well sort of) was in Pitlochry. Such a charming city and so full of the highland culture. We turned off in hopes that the Old Armory Restaurant would be open for lunch. It was not. So we drove onto House of Bruar. Finding parking was nasty, but finally up near the Sales Warehouse, we found a spot. Then down the steps through the men's clothing area. OMG. They have wonderful gun bags in fine tweeds and leather as well as carry "fanny packs" for your shotgun shells!!!

We had a over-the-top lunch. After walking through the cafeteria style and viewing everything....(I was only going to have something lite)... we decided to share the Fish Plate. IT CONTAINED 9 FISH DISHES OF ALL TYPES> Sorry I didn't photo. Plus you topped it off with capers and olives and lemon. It came with a small salad. I so wanted a desert today but after sharing that lunch no-way!!

Up to the Sales area we had a find! It it a great piece of luggage in a tweed and leather which is just right to hold all of the crap we have purchased for friends and drinkers. Hopefully it will work as our only carry-on with the airline police!!

Okay now we are way behind schedule. But I told Dick we have to stop at Dalwhinnie Distillery to see if we could get the big purchase that Jenn wanted. Plus, I love their 15 yr. So we did it. Into the Distillery shop, bought the sampler for Jenn from the Islay and also got another 15 yr Dalwhinnie which we love.

Not too much time and then to Inverness. Could not locate the office for the rental and so just drove to Castlefields.

We called the management company and he said, no problem I will be there in two minutes. Our flat is on the second floor where you see the balcony.
Norman was terrific. He explained things and then left us. The problem of course is that we are on the second floor and so that means the portage your luggage. I kept reminding Dick "IT'S NOT THE WHEELBARROW IN THE FREEZING RAIN AT CROVIE". Into the flat, they have supplied us with bread, cereals choices, orange juice, milke, jam/jelly selections and some cookies. Scotland has such a great hospitality.

These are the pics of the flat and views.

living room our bedroom

Views out front are incredible...of the Great Glen, The Firth of Moray Bridge, lights of the city at night. To the back we look at the golf course where a seagull was playing.

This place is perfect. It so cozy and warm with wonderful views out all of the windows. Everything is very very modern. Like it took me forever to figure out how to boil the water for the corn-on-the-cob. Well we had done the programming correctly, but you had to sit the pot on the stove before it would heat. Scotland is amazing.

Just before we ran off to the grocery store to get some things for dinner, I was feeling very overheated in this flat. I found a temperature control that over rides the radiators and it seemed to be set too high. I started to fiddle with the controls and then finally called the management company. Norman came directly up to us. I told him it felt way way too warm in the flat. He reset everything ( I was aiming at 20 but he said I might get cold with that..silly man). He said to do the turning controls on the radiators to change what I want for the room and leave the major thermostat at 21. Okay. And tonight we are toasty warm but not baking. It was also good because he explained the "hot handle" for the shower.

We are good to go. Except it looks like HUGE RAIN ON THE DAY WE PLAY GOLF!

Next adventure to follow.

Hi Ya. We worked on getting our stuff together in the morning. Trying to decide what to pack and what to toss...the stuff you pick up as you travel. Had lunch at the Eden/Strathtyrum Clubhouse. Dick had soup and I had a panini. We played the Eden Course. They were having the UK Public Course Championship Finals. Numerous players on both the Eden and the Strathtyrum. The starteradvised us that play would be slow...which it was....4 HOURS!! Yes, my friends in California.....4 Hours is slow play for 18 holes in Scotland.

I actually played quite well today. Shot a 96. Dick hit the ball much better than on Friday. We both got into some trouble with a couple of bunkers. But it was fun to play together and while a little on the cool side and a little wind...not unpleasant.

Back to the Dunkley's flat at 10 Pilmour, I managed to find some students nearby who wanted to have the leftover food I had in the pantry and freezer. Hooray. I hate to throw away food. The one student, Julianna, is american and loved getting the frozen french fries, frozen green beans, as well as rice, penne pasta, lime juice and salsa.

At 6:30 we walked over to the Dunkley's 14 The Links home and rang the bell for Tuny. We went to the Dunvegan where we all three had salmon. YUM. The Dunvegan is so closeby and has such nice food. It is a treat. Remember the name when you next visit St. Andrews. It was great to be in Tuny's company. She is so much fun.

Walking home from her home, we looked over the gazebo and the martyr's monument and saw the almost full moon just above the seashore. What a magical place St. Andrews is. Will we ever be back again??

One More Day for St. Andrews

Today again was quite chilly and windy. The weather is changing towards winter. Dick did some errands at the R&A Clubhouse. He got his report on the closure for the Autumn Annual Meeting as follows:

Mixed Foursomes 2010 Report

**********

In Friday's Mixed Foursomes played at The Duke's Course, the winners of the competition were Mr and Mrs Stephen Proctor (10 and 20), who returned a score of 33 stableford points. They were declared the winners of the competition, after count-back against Mr Peter Kelley and Mrs S M H Kelley (7 and 21), and Prince and Princess Braganca (16 and 15) from Brazil. The Runners-up after count-back, were the Kelleys.

The other Mixed Foursomes competition on The Old Course was won by Mr and Mrs Denis Lenagan (5 and 26) from Australia, with 42 points. This was the Lenagan's fourth triumph in the Mixed Foursomes! They won on the Torrance Course in 2006, and this year completed a hat-trick of wins, following victories on the Devlin Course in 2008 and The Old Course in 2009. The Runners-up were Dr T B Hazlehurst and Camilla Hazlehurst (7 and 27) from America with 38 points and the better last 9 holes in count-back against Mr and Mrs R H A Clark (Scr and 10).

Friday saw the curtain come down on the end of another Autumn Meeting, hopefully leaving all who played in the various competitions, or who simply visited the Club at some point, with happy memories of new acquaintances made and old friendships renewed. For the Staff throughout the Clubhouse, Forgan House and Waldon House it is always a busy three weeks, but the kindness and appreciation shown by the Members makes us all feel immensely proud to work for this Great Club.
**************

The Staff does such a wonderful job. We tried for a last tee-time tomorrow on the Castle Course, but all 3 of the buggies had been reserved and it would be too much for Dick to walk. So tomorrow we will play at Eden Course again.

When we played Castle back in August our camera battery was dead. Dick wanted some pictures of Castle Course so we drove out to take some today


The 18th green is shared with the 9th green and is an infinity design. Really a fun golf course. Sorry we won't have the chance to play it again.
great views of the old town.

the building in the background is the clubhouse for The St. Andrews Bay Club at the Fairmont Hotel. Up the road about another mile. We thought we might get views of the upper area of the Castle Course (but it was not to be).



This is one of the courses at the Fairmont Hotel, St. Andrews Bay.

We have heard bad reviews of this course. Dick said he counted 217 holes including St. Andrews to Crail!! That's alot of golfing.
This is the 17th hole which use to be a huge iron fortress to protect the east and west from invasions.

Back into St. Andrews to run some errands. OF COURSE....NAY PARKING SPOTS ON A SATURDAY!!! Driving around looking for one made me crazy. Finally back to our flat on the main road and park on the sidewalk.

From the flat we walk into the village and do some errands. Dick has been extremely cold in the last few days. We went to Reiths....what a great store. bought him a turtleneck. Then on into the village further to go to The Centurian where I was given a "sawazilan" coin which looks like a pound but is NOT. They graciously took it back and gave me a BP coin.

Got to see some cute FRIENDS FOREVER while their mommy and daddy had coffee outside.

I wanted to be at the place where Patrick Hamilton was first martyred in St. Andrews. It was at St. Salvator's he was burnt at the stake after many tries for being a heretic. What a great saint Patrick Hamilton was.

Throughout St. Andrews the martyers initials are in the cobblestones. This one is Patrick's


While standing there, a student came by with another new enrollee and pointed out this stone above the gateway in St. Salvador, look up 5 rows. This is said to be the face of Patrick Hamilton. All students are instructed never never step on the cobblestone intials of this man!! He was burnt several times as the fire kept being blown out...what christian can stand to this task of faith!

St. Salvator


Last stop was to get some "minced beef" aka ground chuck. But the students in Tesco were lined up throughout and halfway down the aisles. I said no way. Let's just go over to North St. to the butcher and get our beef for the chili which I planned to cook tonight. The butcher is just across the street from where Dick got his hair cut. Can you see WHY!!!

Ya got it! And only 3 bp as I recall.

Cheers.

Well, you cannot win at golf all of the time. That is a given in the laws of mankind. However, must you finish LAST after just having won. We shall see.

We teed off this morning for our 9:30 time on the Old Course with Jane and David Bird from Grand Cayman and Ann ? and Barry Kinnes both Scots. It was horrible down on the first tee.



When we first got down to the R&A Clubhouse we were already so cold from the wind. Dick had me go back to the flat to get rain pants, just to give us the additional warmth.

Dick played horribly. I was not better. I think Dick only made two shots that were airborn and good. Perhaps it was that he had on so many clothes and that he never was able to warm up. Whatever...it was just awful and we (at last check in the clubhouse) were dead last (WELL except for a NR). Our total stableford points were 15.

We got to the clubhouse after a 5 on the 4-par 18th hole. Our compatriots went to the cars to store clubs, etc. and Dick checked that we needed for him to be in coat and tie. So we left to change in the flat. By the time we got back to the clubhouse, our partners in play were already at lunch and we would have to wait for a table for two. Forget it. It was already 2:30.

So we just went to the Long Room and had a drink. On the end table were two bottles of scotch. The single malt Speyside and the single malt Islay. Emma Bennetts (sp) had a hole in one on the 11th hole. She is an 8-handicap and captain of the University at Aberdeen. It was her first hole in one. We congratulated her.

While we had some of the whiskeys, Dick and I chatted about last night's annual dinner. He had such a good time. He was seated at table "U" and so just in the second row and a good seat to hear and see all of the activities. He shared with me that the waiters come out with the first course to be served following all of the captains in their red suits who are seated at the head table. Dick said that the waiters are all dressed in white shirts, coats and ties and black pants. He said they "march step" behind the captains and when the captains sit at their table...all our served simultaneously. He said that the staff serves each table that way. Classy.


This morning I got to see his Brazil Nut Trophy. It is presented in this lovely box. The inside of the silkbox it says "By appointment to Her Majesty The Queen, Jewellers G. Collins & Sons, Ltd. Incorporating H. Collins (Crown Jewellery) Royal Turnbridge Wells.

This is the trophy. It is a "quasch"...sort of pronounced in celtic as "quack". It is the traditional drinking cup that each scottish household would have to share the drink with guests. Inside the middle is engraved the logo of the R&A, atop "The Brazil Nut" and below "2010".

When we had been in Pittlochry I had expressed an interest in purchasing a quasch, but like who needs more stuff at our age. BUT NOW...we have one. I don't know however if I will allow anyone to drink out of it!


Dick with his trophy!

Well you can't win every day and you cannot expect the conditions to be always good. But we met some wonderful people today and have survived the cold conditions. So "Cheers to Us. Who's like Us! Dang few, and they's a daid" as the Scots would say

Today was the last day of Medal Play and the new Captain's duty to fire the cannon and hit the first ball which is retrieved by one of the lucky caddies out to receive the gift when returning the first ball back to the Captain. All this occurs at 8:00am with the Towns People dressed in their finery readily welcome the new Captain. The new Captain is Air Chief Marshall Sir Patrick Hine, a retired member of the RAF's No 111 Squadron's Black Arrows formation aerobatic team.
Therfore, this mornings happenings included a fly-by.

Dick & I chose not to get up and witness all this. But we could certainly here the jet flyby and the cannon fired. Felt like an invasion!

Shortly after 9am the skies opened up with a downpour. Oh those poor people playing in their last round of medal competition.

Back on August 6th, this was the picture out the living room window.

This is the view of the tree today.
Fall is arriving, the Halloween costumes are up in the windows of town.


Dick left the flat about 6:45 to go to the clubhouse and await catching his bus for the Autumn Annual Meeting. He looked great in his tux.

I came down with him in my long black coat. A nice member said he would take our picture together.

Will have to clean this up later to make it lighter.

Kissed Dick goodbye and told him to have fun. Then I walked up to the top of the village for dinner at Dolls Cafe. Got there a little to early for my table. Dolls is right next door to our church, The Holy Trinity Church. Had a nice dinner but not as good as it had been reviewed to be.

Walked home when it was not too dark and it was just beginning to rain. (I did not bring an umbrellas). Got home about 8:45 and it is now pouring rain as I write this.

Goodnight. Pictures hopefully tomorrow of Dick with his first winners CUP from Scotland.

Greetings. Today we awoke to some drizzle and rain. We moved downstairs to the master bedroom, partially, as Ros (Art's CPA for his business) returned to the states. Then we sort of stored the other stuff into a suitcase and backpack so as not to interfere with the house cleaning service.

Then we were off to play The Dukes Course. In all our times here, we never did play it.

This is me in my nice new rain bonnet.



The Course does provide great vistas (well on a clear day).

After the turn, the 13th hole I believe, it stopped raining for awhile and we were able to get this shot of St. Andrews below.
We had a lovely time together. Dick beat me AGAIN...this time by 8 shots.

Good for Dick for getting his game together so nicely. Wish I could do the same before we played in the Mixed Matches on Friday or he may wish he had another partner.

We went into the Dukes Restaurant for a late lunch, sharing Kobe Sliders.


The skies cleared somewhat and Dick went outside the restaurant to take these pictures from the balcony.

Fun day, but I am exhausted.