Snow!

I've had another busy few weeks. Sadly now I have to become a hermit until our exam, but first I will recount my last few weeks!

A few weekends ago, Andrew and I went to a rugby match - Scotland vs. New Zealand. If you don't know, the New Zealand team, the All-Blacks, is one of the best in the world, and before every match they do the Haka, which is a sort of pre-game ritual in the style of New Zealand natives. While it was very difficult to hear from way up in the stands, we could see them well enough, and could see them on the screens. It was very neat!

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Murrayfield Stadium

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During that week, we had the day off classes on Wednesday, so we went to Agriscot, which is sort of a convention for farm people. It was quite interesting to see all of the different farm businesses and we got lots of free stuff from the pharmaceutical companies and got some information on drugs and feeds and things for farm animals.

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Then last weekend I had a small birthday get together with my friends, at an awesome restaurant on George St. called Hawke & Hunter, which was amazing. The food was delicious, but even better the drinks were absolutely fabulous. I didn't take many pictures, but trust me, it was a really nice place. I had a 'Deep Purple' cocktail, which had lilac syrup in it (delicious!), and a Pear & Honey bitters, which, as it sounds, had pear and honey in it. It was so good (which was fortunate, given that they were £7 a pop!)! They had so many creative drinks on the menu, that I really need to go back there to try them all.

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The Deep Purple!

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After dinner we went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt 1, which was, as expected, amazing. Some weird bits and a bit of artistic license taken here and there, but on the whole it was awesome. I look forward to the 2nd part!

My dad and Anna Marie came to visit the next morning, and it was really great to see them in Edinburgh. We went out to dinner on my birthday with Anik and Andrew and his family, at a restaurant called Wedgewood. It was very nice.

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Andrew provided the balloon, obviously. :P

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I got to explore the city with my dad, which was nice. I finally made it to the castle (only took 2 1/2 years!).

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Beautiful Edinburgh Castle!

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View of Edinburgh from the castle

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Thursday was of course, Thanksgiving, and so Wednesday afternoon I set about making preparations for Thursday's dinner. We made Pumpkin Pie, Pecan pie, Sweet Potato Casserole, Roasted Potatoes, Green Beans, Stuffing, Turkey, Cranberry Sauce, and Cornbread. It was absolutely delicious!

Thursday after a full day of classes (thanks Edinburgh uni, the Americans appreciated that), we arrived at Andrew's parents house to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. It was so great to have everyone together for Thanksgiving, and even better because it was the first Thanksgiving I'd organised myself, although Anik helped immensely with cooking and everything.

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Cranberry Apple Pecan Stuffing!

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The lovely table!

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Buffet style deliciousness!

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The following Friday I went to the Christmas market with my dad and Anna Marie, then met Andrew for dinner at a little pub on Rose St. It was really nice, and a good end to the week.

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Christmas market/fair in the Princes St. Gardens

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View of the Castle from Princes St.

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Saturday morning we got up bright and early to drop my dad and Anna Marie off at the airport, and then stuck around for a cup of coffee with Andrew's parents at the Gyle shopping centre, and then we headed up to St. Andrews for Thanksgiving with Beth, one of Andrew's friends from uni.

First we explored St. Andrews, and I took some pictures of the pretty sunset. Then we headed back to Beth's for her dinner, which was, as always, delicious.

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A light dusting of snow on the old course

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West Sands at St. Andrews

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It was good I took pictures that afternoon, because the next morning we woke up to about 6 inches of snow!

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Andrew and I are dorks :P

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Anyway, so after the crazy busy week and weekend, we prepared for the busy week ahead, and then on Monday morning I woke up to even more snow! As we couldn't dig out the car, Anik and I decided to take a snow day. Classes ended up being canceled anyway, so that's good as it mean we wont miss the lectures.

We took a bit of time this morning to frolic in the snow. :)

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Snow at 8am!

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Kitten explores the snow!

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Kitten did not like the snow as much as we'd hoped, so we took her back in right after this.

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A very short slide :P

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Pretty winter pinecones

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Snow angels!

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Snowy Penicuik!

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We found a duck pond that we didn't know existed!

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Quack!

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Is this really the UK in November?!

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We enjoyed playing in the snow and exploring the paths of Penicuik, but as it was very cold, we headed back inside to enjoy the warmth. Now we're just chilling out and studying. Also, I'd like to point out, that it is still snowing heavily outside! The snow already on the ground has melted a bit cause it's getting warmer, but it is still coming down. It's great! I wonder whether we'll have lectures tomorrow?

Anyway, now back to studying :)