Milk - Edinburgh, Scotland

Here we have milk, one of the most common household essentials in any Scottish home. We drink s *lot* of milk in our house (I looooooove cereal!) and so there are usually two cartons in the fridge at any one time. On the left we have a 4 pint carton of skimmed milk with a missing poster on the side. If you look (not so) closely you'll see how out of date it is. I need to shop lol. The red milk came from Iceland, a frozen foods store, not the country. On the right we have a 4 pint carton of semi-skimmed which is freshly made in Scotland - see the St. Andrew's cross flag? It was bought in Marks and Spencer, a more expensive food store and is luckily still in date.

You're in Jen!

Plug Socket - Edinburgh, Scotland

This outlet, or plug socket as we call it here, is located in my living room. As you can see we have the traditional three-prong connection and unlike most countries we have an on/off switch. As far as I'm aware when it's off no power gets through. I'm always a little spooked with US/Canadian/European outlets in case I get electrocuted. *eeeek*

Cheesey Pasta - Edinburgh, Scotland

I thought I'd post a fun picture. Kraft Cheesey Pasta. Basically this is one of the fastest dinners you can possibly make - it's macaroni with a cheese sauce. The reason I took this photo while my hubby ordered a create-your-own pizza in Asda WalMart was because I liked the display and I know you can get a Canadian version of this. Usually a product has like a little section of a shelf but there were hundred of these boxes out on display! Mind you, at only £1 it's a bargain! Did I buy any? No. Did I see anyone buy any while I was stood taking the photos? No. Does the massively huge £1 and millions of red boxes make people buy Cheesey Pasta? No. *lol*

You're it Jen!

Rubbish (aka. Garbage) - Edinburgh, Scotland

*** This is the first of many posts from Edinburgh as I moved house. Still commute the 50 miles to work on the other side of the country so I spend just as much time in Glasgow. Most of my posts will come from Edinburgh now but occassionally from Glasgow. Mostly things are the same in the East and West but there are still a million differences. ***

This is my garbage, or as we Scots call it, rubbish. We had to wait a while to get these containers as our new house was newly built and the council weren't forward-sighted enough to supply them. Anyway, here we finally have a photo. Jen, and indeed all our readers out there, I can't apologise enough for the delay. Moving house was crazy and although I've had this photo for a while I'm notoriously bad at updating. Luckily I now have a stash of photos so hopefully there should be no further delays.

In this photo we have a selection of recycling and rubbish containers:

- blue box (with shower cap style cover) for cans, tins, glass jars and bottles;

- blue bag for paper;

- red box (with shower cap style cover) for cardboard;

- charity bag for clothes, textiles, sheets etc;

- green wheelie bin for rubbish.

There are currently no collections for plastic recycling so we just take them to our local public site - 2 minutes down the street.

Most houses also have a big brown wheelie bin for garden waste (grass cuttings, weeds etc) but we're still waiting on ours. When we lived in Glasgow we were in the East Renfrewshire district and they were piloting compost bins which looked like a mini green wheelie bin. If we had to have that as well as all of these there's be no room in the garage or driveway for our car!!

Btw you'll notice how insanely clean these all are... at this point they were totally unused lol.

City Guide Books - Glasgow, Scotland

Here we have a selection of guide books depicting the city of Glasgow ranging from cookery to photography to things to see and do. You're in Jen!

E-Postcards - Glasgow, Scotland

Here it is - a postcard from Glasgow. :) Our official tourism site didn't have any (that I could find) so I opted for this one instead. It shows the SECC Armadillo and the River Clyde. It was built in 1995 as the Clyde Auditorium but has been affectionately knows as the Armadillo ever since for obvious reasons. Most recently is housed the Eurovision Dance Contest in September 2008, which up until I searched on Wikipedia, I didn't know. *lol*

Billboard - Glasgow, Scotland

Right, here we have a billboard advertising some product or another. Usually these are found along motorways and main roads in the city. In this case this was was in the station where I photographed the trains from my previous post. This isn't your usual static board - this one is made up of long strips on triangular boards (must be a right pain to change!) and since I was looking for a board specifically Scottish, my luck was in when I spotted this one.

The first advert is for Scottish Hydro Electric, one of Scotland's main electricity providers. We go through Scottish Power, but clearly their advertising works because I noticed them and I'm not a customer.

The second advert is for Clydesdale Bank which is very Scottish. If a Scottish person has a pile of Clydesdale Bank notes to spend in England (boo!) they look at you like you're handing them a foreign currency. It's legal tender, they're just not cultured enough. =P

You're it Jen!

Trains - Glasgow, Scotland

The brightly coloured train at the front of the photo is a Virgin train which I've never been on. Usually they provide comfort for long-distance rail journeys (mostly to London) and seeing as I use a plane for them... I've never been on one. The grubbier cream and maroon coloured train to the back of the photo is a First ScotRail train which I take twice a day: once to go to work and once to come home. As you can see, they don't have an upstairs (which, as a Scottish tourist on a GO Train, I found amazing!!) so they're always crammed full of commuters like myself.

Electricity Pylon - Glasgow, Scotland

Ok so I think this is officially the least glam picture I've posted lol. The good old electricity pylon. I know they're a neccessity but they have to be the ugliest, most imposing structures around, especially sandwiched between houses like this. They generate a buzzing sound which, when I walk past, I'm very aware of so unless the residents of the neighbouring houses have become immune to it, I guess they must be driven crazy! I wonder if they get cheaper power..... You're it Jen!

Playground - Glasgow, Scotland

Here we have a playground in Neilston, just up from my house. As you can see it's deserted because of the weather (check out the clouds) but the teenagers love it at night lol. The grafitti shows that. Sorry it took me so long to get this posted. I actually pass this every other day but it's usually too dark to get out and get a photo taken. My new challenge - go out of my way to get photos for this super happy super fab blog! =D

The Metro - Glasgow, Scotland

This little free paper gets me through my journey every morning. I think loads of cities around the globe have their own version of the Metro, but this is mine. Blue metal stands can be seen dotted around every train station in the country and most bus stations too. Very popular with the early morning commuter - I personally love the Nemi cartoon and the reading my horoscope. =) If you're not fast... you miss out! Look, the warning's even on the stand! *lol* You're it Jen!

Autumn Leaves - Glasgow, Scotland

We have a bit of a mucked up Autumn / Winter season here as well. Some trees are in Autumn and others are very much in Winter. Then of course there are some which are still in Spring and Summer *lol* which is just wrong altogether! As you can see form the top photo, some leaves are in the process of turning. I love Autumn. =D

Signs and Signals - Glasgow, Scotland

I wasn't sure what the tag was for when I took this. At first it was traffic lights... then it was a bollard... then it was signage... so here it is, all of the above! *lol* We have traffic lights, an directional area sign, new housing development, new shopping centre, a traffic bollard and some advertisements. Plus, I like the colour combo. You're it Jen!

Souvenirs - Glasgow, Scotland

Traditional Scottish souvenirs. =) No, not from Poundland (our equivalent of the Dollar Store) 'cos I couldnt find any there, but from James Pringle Weavers. Typically, tourists to Scotland take back caseloads of shortbread, chocolate shaped like scottie dogs and the loch ness monster, whisky, tea towels, oat cakes, fudge, Edinburgh rock... we like our food lol.

Statue - Glasgow, Scotland

In front of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall stands this statue of Donald Dewar, the first First Minister of Scotland. After the creation of the Scottish Parliment in 1999, he was the first person to hold the post. This statue, located at the top of Buchanan Street, was unveiled in May 2002 by then Prime Minister Tony Blair. You probably can't make it out from the photo, but in keeping with his famous unkempt appearance, it shows Dewar wearing a slightly crushed jacket.
A little piece of trivia: the statue was later taken down and re-erected on a 6 foot high plinth to protect it - not from malicious vandalism but a Glaswegian cultural trend of putting orange traffic cones on the statues head! Ironically this is considered a gesture of respect by many in the city as most of the cities statues have found themselves wearing the familiar orange cones!

Construction - Glasgow, Scotland

Ok ok ok ok ok... apologies for the delay. :'(
I'm back! We don't have a construction saying here, but there is a noticeable increase in the amount of construction taking place in March every year. Why, I hear you ask? Well, it's the end of the financial year and there is a sudden need to spend any unspent budget. *lol* It's true!
The colour of choice here is usually red, white and blue. The first sign of construction (or road works as we call it here) is the red triangle with the man digging (or as my Mum always says - putting up his umbrella!)

***Update***

A wee update for all you International Tag readers out there...

Petrol in my little corner of Scotland has now reached a staggering 115.9 pence per litre!!! OMG!!! That's an increase of 21p (or 22%) since I posted this image! Jen, that makes it now 2.30 dollars in your currency. :P

Traditional Drink - Glasgow, Scotland

Aside from whisky, the one drink that Scotland is the proud to be the creator of is Irn Bru! Be sure to check out their website!
The formula for Irn-Bru is a closely guarded trade sceret, known only by two of Barr's board members, with a written copy held in a Swiss bank-vault!! How cool is that?!?! Do you think Coca-Cola can boast that? *lol*
It was first produced in 1901, the diet variety was introduced in 1980 and in 2006 an energy drink was born... a true icon of Scottish popular culture.
You're it Jen!

Police Car - Glasgow, Scotland

Here is your typical Scottish police car. You can't miss these when they screech pass you on a busy city street! Typically these cars will have the blue and yellow geometrics emblazened on the wide and the Strathclyde Police logo on the bonnet (the front of the car). This one also has the Crimestoppers number which members of the public are encouraged to call if they suspect foul play and a new moto which reads "Working Together - Building Safer Communities." I'm always amazed at just how clean these vehicles are!!

Cat - Glasgow, Scotland

A Scottish cat. This particular bundle of fluff is Jazz, our little monster. The reason he's looking so sad is because he knew we were packing to go away to Amsterdam for a few days and leaving him behind.
I'm sure Canadian cats look the same as Scottish cats, although I'll bet they have a diffenet miaow! *lol*
You're it Jen! :)