Eerie Figure Haunts Scottish Castle

I was very blessed to have won a trip to Scotland last year. It was an amazing opportunity to see the land where some of my father's people had come from. One day I hope to win a trip to Ireland where the ancestor's on my mother's side come from.

While we were there we saw the infamous Loch Ness as well as some famous castles. That's one reason this news story caught my attention.

Tourist Christopher Aitchison caught the eerie image in a photograph taken by in May 2008 at Tantallon Castle, which sits on a rocky outcrop along the Scottish coast, east of Edinburgh. The "person" appears to be wearing an old-style greenish ruff around the neck.

Tantallon Castle was built in the 1350s by a nobleman and soon became the stronghold of the Douglas dynasty. For 300 years, the Douglas earls of Angus held sway at the castle as one of the most powerful families in Scotland, according to Historic Scotland, which looks after historic sites for the Scottish government.

The castle also was the scene of violence, enduring three great sieges: in 1491, 1528 and 1651. The last, by Oliver Cromwell's army, resulted in such destruction that the fortress was abandoned.

It remains the "last truly great castle" built in Scotland, with enormously thick and high stone walls enclosing large courtyards, and high stone towers.

Michael called today. He said a car bomb woke him at 5 in the morning. He also said that someone tried to hit his vehcile the other day with an IED.

He did tell me that he plans to ask his girlfriend to marry him when he goes on a cruise with her. Mike's Dad is looking for a ring for him to give his girlfriend.

Well here are the blog contests I entered today:

Prize: Windex Outdoor All-In-One Starter Kit.

Prize: Any pair of non designer prescription eyeglasses with single vision lenses from EyeBuyDirect.com (ARV up to $49.95).

Prizes (2): Copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms: 101 Stories Celebrating the Power of Choice for Stay at Home and Work from Home Moms by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Wendy Walker.

Prizes (3): Yoplait Yo-Plus gift bag.

Prizes (3): Yoplait Kids Get Active prize pack.

Gray Friday

Darryl was supposed to have an online consultation this morning with those employment people. They of course didn't call. He was excited about a job he saw down in St. Mary's Georgia but I'm not going to get myself all worked up.

I'm glad Darryl had my car taken in. I knew something was wrong with the brakes and they said there was some sort of leak. It's getting fixed right now. It will take about $250 to fix that and look at the transmission. I hope my car is fixed by Friday.

As far as thriftymaven goes I received another comment but again it's some company attaching themselves to my post, basically spam. How frustrating.


Here are the blog sweeps I entered today:

Prize: Songbird gift box with three 8oz bags of Fair Trade Organic coffee, Fair Trade milk chocolate bar and Fair Trade copper and brass coffee scoop from Grounds for Change (ARV $32).

Prize: Hoover FloorMate SpinScrub Hard Floor Cleaner

First Prize: One pound box of toffee in choice of milk, dark or white from English Toffee Anytime.
Second Prize: One-half pound box of toffee in choice of milk, dark or white from English Toffee Anytime.
Third Prizes (5): Triple Taste-The-Toffee sampler from English Toffee Anytime.

Prize: Choice of shoes from Jack and Lily.

Prizes (3): Wild Thing by Meljean Brook, Maggie Shayne, Marjorie Liu, and Alyssa Day.

Prize: SmartShopper electronic device that helps you make your grocery list.

Prize: Bangerang Bake Shop cupcake in a jar.

Prize: Cupcake Kids Club alarm clock.

Prize: Salt bar gift pack.

Prize: Choice of baby shoes from Jack and Lily.

Prize: $50 gas card, Welcome to Your World, Baby by Brooke Shields, Volkswagen t-shirt, Volkswagen tin and a couple of mom essentials

Prize: Athlete engineered skincare. Sunscreen, Anti-chaf, lip protector and Anti-Revive Gel

Prizes (2): Rock N Rule or Grateful Mom t-shirt.

Prizes (2): Undeniable CD.

Prize: Copy of The Amazing Flight of Darius Frobisher by Bill Harley.

Prize: Two bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose sauce

Prize: Pair of Rio pants from Fit Couture

Prizes (2): Better Life natural cleaning products starter kit with glass cleaner, gentle scrubber, all-purpose cleaner and floor cleaner

Prize: SmartShopper automated grocery list organizer

Prizes (2): Eco-me Body Sugar Scrub Elements, baby hoodies, Diaper Pail Deodorizer Elements, Baby Room Spray Elements and bags.

Prize: Eight Groovy Girls RSVP dolls and five Groovy Girls RSVP pets

Prize: Winner's choice of The Little Travellers Japan, Bali, or The British Isles DVD

Prize: Skull Pops diaper bag with matching changing pad and Girly Skull bib from Sourpuss Clothing

Prizes (3): Envirosax bag.

Prize: Choice of eight cobalt blue cosmopolitan glasses from Libbey or four hand-crafted cobalt blue glass pedestal dessert cups in the Trellis pattern from LE Smith Glass Co.

Prize: Red Sweetheart apron from Carolyn's Kitchen.

Prize: Box of 30 customized Fruit Roll-Ups

Prize: Bratz Kidz video game for Nintendo DS

Prizes (3): Ghost Town DVD.