Highland Spring and Summer

You barely knew it was springtime or summer, as far as the weather is concerned. Yes, the temperatures have been milder and we haven't seen snow lately....but yet....so much drizzle and grey almost all the time. We have had serious talks about getting those lamps that imitate sunlight. Some of our friends have them and say they really help the doldrums you get with so much grey and wet weather. However, the dafodils have bloomed and faded, and it's warm enough to see the purple flowers on the heather poking through. They do brighten up the surroundings! Earlier in the spring we had the snowdrops blooming all over. They are a smalll white wild flower that is rampant around the highlands early March.

Robert, Jonathan Tink and Murdo on the way to shovel
horse manure for the garden! What great guys!

Because the calendar says it's spring, it's time to get the garden ready. Murdo MacDonald will be 90 years old this year, and is still active and eager to help this Texas lady perfect the art of vegetable gardening! I have been writing everything down this year...as my memory is quite sketchy on occasion. I was given a wonderful "Dodos Book of Gardening" that has lots of empty pages and places for notes on your garden. My friend, Marianna, had Murdo write down what I needed to do each month in the garden and then presented the book to me for Christmas. So, the seeds were sown, the electric propagator ran in the garage to keep the plants warm. That was crucial, as it has been so cool here this spring. The horse manure was shoveled into bags and later spread generously over the vegetable plots. We expanded the garden to almost twice the size it was last year. Now it's the middle of June and all we need is some good warm weather!  Hopefully I'll have some good pictures later on of produce harvest time!


It's been quite awhile since I last blogged, so here is a synopsis of some of the activities we've been involved in so far this year.
 

Rosemary MacDonald, Ann Allen, and Linda

We had "North Skye Mission" in March. The Church of Scotland and Free Church congregations get together for a series of meetings with some very good preaching! Martin Allen (he's a retired minister who overseas the Crieff conference for ministers each year) preached for the 4 services and was very inspirational. Also, his lovely wife, Ann, spoke on the Saturday morning to a large group of ladies in our Kensaleyre church. She talked about her 25+ years as a minister's wife. We all appreciated her openness about some of the struggles in ministry. 

World Evangelism Crusade missionaries came and spoke at the different churches here in the Northern part of Skye. We were privileged to host a young couple who are missionaries to the Congo. They were energetic and very committed to bringing the gospel message to a people in a very dangerous and hostile place. What an inspiration they were!  

Steve & Catherine McGoldrick-on left- missionaries to Congo

We enjoyed watching the wedding of the royal couple, Kate and William, at Murdo and Mairi MacDonald's house. Mairi provided an elegant "brunch" with china and quite a delightful assortment of sweets and savories! We felt like we were part of the Royal festivities, and it was fun experiencing it on this side of the "pond".

We continue to have the opportunity to meet with some youth in our parish on
Friday nights, most recently we have been doing "Christianity Explored" with them. We have really been blessed to have the Tinks help us with the youth. There are 5-6 who are faithful to come and we are most grateful for the opportunity to reach out to them with the gospel.
In May we had a great time with Linda's sister, Paula, and her husband, Steve, and their longtime friend, Evette. We spent a week in the Dumfries Galloway region of Scotland and then went on to Edinburgh, Leith, Pitlochry and on to Skye for one week. Unfortunately, the weather was less than ideal...(shall we say gale force winds for several days on Skye?) So, if anyone says May is usually a good time to visit Scotland,weather wise...take it with a grain of salt! It could be, but it also could be terrible! In spite of the weather, we saw alot, and had many laughs!

Caerlaverock Castle near Dumfries

Edinburgh Castle guides

Robert at a Medieval exhibit in Dollar learning how to use a sword!

(There's alot more to say about our time with Paula,Steve and Evette...but you can imagine what went on with this group of grown up hippies! Wild things! Ha!)

In June, Linda went home to Texas for a short visit. Our daughter, Sarah and her husband Josh came to Texas from Norfolk and the family hosted a baby shower out at Linda's parent's home. It was a great time to celebrate the coming blessing of a new little one...our 4th grandson! He will arrive sometime in September.
We would appreciate your prayers for Church of Scotland ministers and congregations at this time. At the General Assembly in May this year, there was a vote for the acceptance of homosexual ministers currently ordained within the Church of Scotland. Many congregations and ministers are against this move and are considering a response. We feel there will be many who will leave the Church of Scotland within the next couple of years. Our own parish, as well as Robert and I are opposed to the Church of Scotland's decision and are considering what response we should make. Please pray for wisdom and direction for us as well as all those who adhere to the authority of God's Word.
We have a Holiday club scheduled for July 12-16th again this year. We appreciate your prayer for that outreach as well. Thank you all for your prayers and support these past couple of years.