Beautiful sunshine, strikingly blue sky, blossoming trees. My present Scottish scenery. There had been no rain for four days in a row. Oh, how I appreciate it! Each sunny day is a gift.
This last week housekeeping had been also added to my "worklist". I found it difficult only on a so-called strip day - which means those days when the groups of guests leave. It is always Friday and Monday. On these days all beds must be done anew and a thorough cleaning should be done in all rooms.
It is much less stressful however than serving breakfast for example. Especially because our chef is not a morning person (and that's the rather diplomatic way of saying it), being in a bad mood almost every morning. Swearing or kicking against the stove are his worst habits. At other times, during the day, he is nice, joking around with a naughty look in his eyes. He looks, laughs, and at these occassions, acts like a real pixie. No wonder, we are in Scotland...
I'm slowly starting to discover my surroundings. I had my Saturday off with a wonderful weather, so I chose one of the walking paths that leads to Knockfarrell, an ancient Pictish hillfort. The path leads most of the time uphill, it's a very good exercise... So I walked on green hills, among thorny bushes with yellow flowers (they seem to grow everywhere here). They charmed me with their aroma as sweet as honey.
I saw two brown rabbits on the way as well as grazing sheep. The grass I walked on was like a green velvet carpet. On top of the hill at Knocfarrell the wind blew very strong - and not the warm south wind, no. Strong and cool. I sheltered myself at the trunk of a huge pine tree, and tried to listen to his whispers about his relationship with the wind. Wind represents freedom, I heard him suggest, as I tried to hide myself within his covering. It clears away dust, too. And when you have your roots firmly grounded, it cannot harm you.
So I learned something, again. And decided to come back to "my" tree whenever I can...

My second week...

It has been much lighter. We had only 25 guests in the hotel which made things easier and quicker. Even for me! I'm doing my best to improve my "dining room skills". By now I know by heart the breakfast menu: full Scottish (which includes fried bread, egg, bacon, sausage, tomato, beans - wonder how people can eat all that?), scrambled, poached or boiled egg. Yet, I'm still tensed that I might confuse something. What, of course, had happened last week, but this week I've managed to follow the thread. :-)

I had two free days this week! I went to Inverness, which is the capital of the Highlands. It takes 50 minutes to get there by bus. The river Ness flows through the city, and Loch Ness is not so far away. There are organized tours on boat to see the Loch (and Nessie, naturally).

I'm intrigued by the fact that there is a statue of a unicorn on the main square!

I found welcoming Inverness' atmosphere. The inner city has a pedestrian zone with lots of different shops. I wandered into a bookstore, and could not resist temptation. They have a special offer - you get 3 books for the price of 2. A positive challenge it was to choose three different books. In English.

Finally I met two cats in Inverness. I've been so much expecting to see cats everywhere, but not even one I found until Friday. Both of them came to me as I stopped to greet them, as if they knew, but had not seen me for long time.

I went to look at the museum, too, which has an exhibition about Scotland's history and geography. This is how I came across a chart which listed the Gaelic (the old Celtic language of Scotland) alphabet. I never knew that each letter represents a tree! A few examples: A is Ailm in Gaelic (Elm in English), B is Beithe in Gaelic (Birch in English), C - Coll (Hazel), D - Dair (Oak), M - Muin (Vine), S - Suil (Willow)...

I tried today capuccino, made in Scotland. I hoped it would resemble more "real" coffee, but no, underneath the milk foam I found the same light, quite watery, brown liquid.

I finished reading a book which I borrowed from the Library nearby. It is a fascinating novel! Title: Labyrinth. Author: Kate Mosse. It is set in South France, and although the main characters live in two different times (13th and 21st centuries), they are still connected by ancestry. History (crusade, heretics, Cathars), Grail, ancient rituals, secrets, adventure, etc.

Try it out!

Strathpeffer, Ross-shire, Scottish Highlands.
I'm in a small Victorian village with a beautiful scenery and old fashioned houses. Our hotel - where I work - is truly one of them. An old wooden staircase leads up to the floors - which behaves quite strangely, you might even get lost behind one of the hidden corners... I'm not able to provide pictures, sorry, since the hotel doesn't even have a website.
However, the village is very well equipped. It has an internet cafe (I'm sitting right in the middle of it), a small shop (with a post office inside), a drugstore, a spa shop, a souvenier and antique shop, a medical center, a museum, and even cafes and public bars.
There are nice walking paths around, I'm planning to explore them soon.
The first five working days are behind me. Mostly I've been serving guests in the dining room, taking their orders, washing dishes. I have stiff back and arm muscles from carrying the plates...:-) The first two weeks I'll do basically only this, so that I can learn everything in this "area". The guests here are usually middle aged and elderly people from all over the country (with different accents!). They come by buses, no, coaches, that's what they say here.
The weather - so locals say - is quite good for the season. Sometimes it is raining, but the big clouds are running after one another very fast. We've got sunshine for two days now!
There are many seagulls in this area (very good, they are my favourite birds), their cries can almost always be heard.
The closest town where I can do bigger shoppings is called Dingwall. It has a high street with numerous shops. There is also a Tesco and a public library. I've registered myself yesterday, and have borrowed two books already to read. One of them is a Portuguese language book!!!
So far so good. I'm quite tired since everything and everyone is new to me. We'll see how the following days will turn out...

"Do you feel strong, full of life and enthusiasm? I hope you do, because this week nothing can stop you. The sky's the limit. You now have the assistance to set goals and achieve them with the certainty that you'll be able to achieve anything you set your mind to. A refreshing wind of enthusiasm and happiness is blowing into town. The next seven days are all about getting up and moving to a new and higher level of you..."
I've just read this message at my weekly "Kabbalah tune-up". It made my day. Tomorrow at this time I'll be already in Scotland, Strathpeffer. I think this is the right timing to start something new. In whatever I read, the message is leaving the old pattern and starting the new.
I feel a little depressed though to leave my beloved room at home, where I was weaving my dreams the last three months... But life is about moving on to the next stage, and that with curiosity and courage.