The Midlife Reframe

Category: Graduation

  • Scotland Adventure Part 3: OUTLANDER!

    Lallybroch (Midhope Castle)

    I am an Outlander fan.

    Since we were in Scotland, I could not pass up a tour to some of the Outlander locations!!

    TeenThing and I hauled butt out of bed early one morning and got to the Royal Mile to take The Outlander Palaces, & Jacobites Experience Tour with Timberbush Tours.

    This was a nice small group tour with like minded Outlander fans.  It made for a really great day!

    We started our tour with the drive to Midhope Castle.  This property has ties to Hopetoun House, which you will see later in this post.

    Midhope was the setting for Lallybroch.  It is very run down, which is unfortunate as it is hauntingly beautiful walking up the dirt road.  We took a few pictures here (and yay for fun travel mates who take pics for you!).

    Waiting for Jamie 😉
    At the entrance. Let us in Jenny!

    The small area where we parked was also used in filming as the spot where Claire first met Captain Randall, right before she was taken away by the Scots.

    After we all scampered around in the woods, it was time to get in the bus and head to Blackness Castle, the setting for Fort William.

    Blackness Castle – The “Ship That Never Sailed”

     

    The scene of Captain Randall’s flogging of Jamie.

     

    Inside – Amazing.

     

    Walking around the Castle.

     

    No fun was had at this location.

    After a snack grab, it was time to head to Linlithgow Palace, the setting for Wentworth Prison!

    Linlithgow Palace was also the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots.  It is a gorgeous castle.  We checked out the spots used for the prison scenes and then took a guided tour.

    Yep, that is prison like.

     

    The Kirk. There was a funeral being held that day, so we were unable to go inside.

    You can see where the roof and floors were.
    TeenThing gets the photo cred here.

    The wine cellar was built with grave stones. This one was accidentally left facing out. Ooops!

     

    The Loch.

     

    Mary Queen of Scots

    I could have stayed here for hours.  The castle is amazing.

    Our next stop, Callendar House.  The location was used as the Duke of Sandringham’s kitchen in Season Two.  It has also hosted Bonnie Prince Charlie and Mary Queen of Scots.

    This was a really neat stop. This room was our only area to tour. We had a great time in here though!

     

    Gorgeous from the outside!

    We had a few minutes here to enjoy the grounds.  It was super pretty here.

    Our next stop – Culross.  Used many times in Outlander.  The Mercat Cross area was used as Cranesmuir, while the Palace had many rooms used in the series as well.  The garden in back was used as Claire’s herb garden at Leoch.  (Side Note:  TeenThing was THRILLED to learn that Culross was also used as a location while filming Captain America, lol.)

    A lot of the houses were painted grey or white during filming. This is such a cute little village.

    A dram in Geillis’ parlour anyone?

     

    Claire’s Herb Garden

    Culross Palace

    We had lunch in Culross and ate at a super cute spot called Biscuit Cafe.  We had awesome sandwiches and some hot bevvies 🙂

    Loved this little spot!
    Yum!
    This sandwich – the bombdotcom.

    After lunch we hopped on the bus to head to Hopetoun House.  This location was used as the home of the Duke of Sandringham. Two rooms upstairs were used as Claire’s rooms in France, and they also used a small area to the side to film where Claire and Mary were attacked.

    But first……standing stones!!!

    No touchy, lol.

    Hopetoun House is AMAZING.  It is Scotland’s largest home.  It was host to a wedding while we were there.  The staff here are wonderful.

    This is the back of Hopetoun, where they filmed Jamie’s arrival to see the Duke. The duel was also filmed in the back yard as well.

     

    The “back yard”.

     

    Claire’s room in France.

    Where Claire sat with the Duke asking for Jamie’s pardon.

    I walked forever to get this shot, lol.

     

    Part of the side of the estate where other filming was done (attack on Claire and Mary)

    No serious selfies here.

     

    You can see the “Three Bridges” from here.

    We had lots of time here to look around and take everything in.  The house is absolutely beautiful.  The perfect spot to end our Outlander experience.

    After all this excitement, we piled into the bus and head back into Edinburgh to the Royal Mile.  We grabbed food, went back to our humble abode and crashed.

    This post alone could have been multiple mini posts.  I didn’t even put in a third of the photos, lol.  It was a great day and the 9.5 hours flew by!

    Even though TeenThing hasn’t watched Outlander, she loved every location we visited (with Culross becoming her number one favourite, because Captain America, lol).

    Unfortunately, I never did run into Jamie Fraser.

    Or did I??  😉

    It was as close as I could get, lol.

    Come back next weekend.  The Water of Leith and the Art Gallery are up next!

    @crazymamaruns

  • It’s My “Anniversary”!!! Sort of……

     

    So here we are.

    June.

    My mental illness and I have our official 6th year anniversary together.

    I choose to remember my descent down the rabbit hole for many reasons.  One being:  I have learned so much.  Knowing (finally) what/why/how my brain works has been monumental in so many ways.

    I know when I shut down, and why (even though I may not be able to control when this happens).

    I know my limits.

    I know when to say no.

    I value my life more now than I did 6 years ago.

    It took me a while to feel “comfortable” saying “I have Depression/Anxiety”.  You need to be in that space to put it out there.  I have no problem sharing my experiences.   Some people are not okay with sharing their experience, and that is their choice.  I respect everyone’s choice, because everyone experiences this illness differently.  I also know that listening to others with mental illness is more important than saying “Well you should…..”.  Because that does not help.  At all.  Shut down.

    Every person experiences this illness differently.  Copes with it differently.  Thinks (or overthinks) about it differently.

    The thing is, those of us that suffer, we are all in it together and knowing that we can share our feelings, even if it just with each other is in itself a great comfort.

    This year, my “anniversary” will be different than in years past.

    My daughter (TeenThing) graduates this month.  Another shift in my time/space continuum.  Our dynamic will change again.  I have been mulling this over in my  head, probably more than I should, and even though  I am celebrating this, at the same time it’s extremely bittersweet. I remember her first day of school vividly.

    I have hopefully raised her right, lol 😉  She’s strong and stubborn like her Mama, so I think she’ll be okay.  She will be taking a year off to work before she solidifies her plans for the future.

    I am very glad I started planning the Grad Trip to Scotland with her in Grade 11.  It is giving us something to look forward to after all the chaos of this year 🙂

    So, “Happy Anniversary” to Me!

    I look forward to learning more about myself as things change over the next year or so.

    One thing that won’t change:  Running 😉

    @crazymamaruns

     

  • Our "Last Year of School"

    Class of 2017

    It seems like just yesterday I was getting TeenThing ready for Primary.

    This year, she is graduating from High School.  On September 8th, she starts Grade 12.

    Vacation Dessert = Happy TeenThing
    We’ve been through a lot throughout her school career.  Intense conversations with teachers, moving from one part of the city to another, toxic friends, her mom’s trip down the rabbit hole, etc.
    With “the odds” stacked against me as a single parent, I must say that all in all, I’ve kicked some parenting ass.  I mean, if you look at all the old “stats” out there, my kid should be a hot mess.

    But she’s not.  Why?  Because I was involved in her life.  I asked questions.  I left her to be who she wanted to be.  I didn’t force her down a path she was not comfortable traveling on.
    Did I guide her where I could?  Yes.
    Were there yelling and tears?  Yes.

    Did I sacrifice a lot?  Yes.

    Was it worth it?  You’re goddamn right it was.  I passed up quite a bit over the years, but to have her turn out the way she is, right now, it’s the greatest reward as a parent.  Even more so because I did it on my own, with a fantastic support system.

    I wouldn’t change a thing really.

    Now to navigate our way through this last year with Graduation photos, parent meetings, Prom, Graduation ceremonies, Graduation Trip planning, and trying not to go bankrupt in the process, lol.
    (Side Note:  Back to running this week.  Slow but sluggish progress to get my kilometres back.  Happy to be able to get back out there!)
    Happy Back to School Everyone!