Walking
Our trip to Scotland is coming up in about 5 weeks, and preparations continue!
Our Historic Scotland membership materials arrived yesterday. As members, admission to many of the places we want to visit will be free -- and we've already booked entry times for the most popular sites. I bought memberships for Rusty & myself, and also for Lady Kate! (I couldn't help myself when that title was presented in the dropdown menu options!) I have coordinates for her 10x10 plot -- it's not too far off our main route, and I really hope we'll have time to visit.
I added over 5 miles to my North Coast 500 virtual walk yesterday and am approaching Scrabster, where we'll catch the ferry to Orkney! We booked all the ferries and finalized accommodation last weekend. I might be a little short of closing the loop before we depart, but I'm okay with that. I think it would be cool to log a few miles in actual Scotland! (Also, doesn't Glengolly sound like a fun place to visit? I might have to poke* around.)
Three-point-two of yesterday's miles came from a morning hike along the Niagara Escarpment on the Red Bird Trail at nearby High Cliff State Park. We wanted to go early in order to beat the heat/humidity, and I'm sure glad we did! I was trying out new hiking shoes and poles, and I'm happy to say that they both passed! I got used to the poles without any problem and with few adjustments (turns out my left pole needs to be a little shorter than the right). We'll be doing a lot of driving in Scotland, but there will be plenty of opportunity for some hikes, too.
We found a few interesting fungi specimens on our hike yesterday. This photo reminds me of a rugged, mountainous landscape in miniature.
After a shower and a nap, I helped Maddy make a couple of cross-stitch pieces into pillows! I just happened to have the correct size/shape pillow forms, and the backing is material leftover from making cushions for Ducky.
I measured, cut & sewed, and Maddy did the stuffing & final stitching. They are gifts for a couple, and though the stitched designs are quite different, I love that they'll coordinate. I'm under strict orders not to post the fronts until they've been delivered to recipients later this week!
*Have you ever used Pegman in Google Maps to have a look around? If you click on Pegman (bottom right) you can drag him to an area that you want to explore. You're looking to drop him on a blue line, or a blue 0r orange dot -- places where the Google car has been, or where people have shared photos. When you're finished, click "back" at the top left.