Feb 21-23 '08

Well, there is not a lot to report, but that is just because we have arrived at Gowanbank.

This means that we are in our home away from home now, just relaxing in a gorgeous big house between Darvel & Newmilns, drinking tea and playing guitar and singing by the fire, eating way more than two people should ever eat, and enjoying the friendship of the Smith family here:

Willie & Isabel opened their home as a B&B last year, but they rented a room to Randy when he was a student in Glasgow three years ago. They even gave us Room #11, which is his/our old room, and Isabel always spoils Randy with two desserts!

 

KellyAnne is the youngest of their four kids and she's the only one still around the house a lot, helping out in all kinds of ways:

Chris & wife Elaine live in the town of Newmilns & are expecting their second child at any moment. We are trying to convince Elaine to introduce the child to us before she leaves, but she just won't go into labor. Callum is taking a new engineering job in Glasgow starting Monday, and marrying his supermodel fiancee Zara on an island this summer, and Lorraine graduated in November with a music degree and may sing w/ me tomorrow on a song or two. She & boyfriend Al have offered to drive us in for soundcheck. Al is continuing his indie label Moo Juice Records and starting some new music industry side businesses.

(I know you probably don't know these people but this is also serving as my travel journal and they are very special people to us. If you ever stay at Gowanbank, you will understand).

I haven't even taken many pictures, but you can see the house here:

http://www.gowanbankhouse.com

Today, we slipped into Glasgow for a few hours and had lunch at the Universal, a restaurant tucked down an alleyway behind Sauciehall Street, where Melanie and I had gone on our trip of November 2006. 

On the way back to Darvel, we nearly missed our second bus because the driver didn't have change for our ₤20 bill and offered no solutions--just a gruff face and a big fat no. Randy had to dash into a store to buy a newspaper and change the bill before she would let us on!*

So...that's it for now. We're off to Darvel Gospel Hall tomorrow. For those of you offering up prayers tomorrow, think of us at our concert. We are rusty and a little nervous about playing for and (probably moreso) talking to a new audience--and especially singing our song "Finnieston" in a neighborhood not too far away from all the local references in the song! In 2004, we had a hard time connecting with Scottish audiences so I'm just hoping this time, it goes over better.

This is a fundraiser for International Justice Mission, and we also brought some cds to sell to help with our expenses. We are excited about raising money for the cause, and we'd be thrilled to lighten our load and replace those cds w/ some extra pounds to spend in Edinburgh Monday too...we haven't paid for the room there yet and we want to see the castle and the underground tour. Ok, I am starting to sound like an infomercial. But wait, there's more. No, there's not. Goodnight.

*Most bus drivers in the UK have been very good to us and the public transportation system here is truly fantastic in general. This lady is definitely the exception.