The Unprecedented Exploits of A Canadian Whovian in Scotland: All the Blogposts

Right so....hmm...

As I am sure you are all aware, I did not go back to Canada for Christmas, instead I went to Glasgow with my dear friend Claire. It was a bit odd to do so simply because it had been planned since last April (at least) and then suddenly it was actually happening! So that was a bit weird, being away from family but I had an excellent time nonetheless and bought far too much (and got a lot, which I wasn't expecting) and ended up having to buy a new case. Went out for Christmas lunch/dinner for the first time which was fun, and then in the evening we went to Claire's mum's sister's house for games and Secret Santa.

For New Years, Claire, Bradie (who had just got back from South Africa), and I headed up north to Nethybridge for their annual Houseparty. They hosted another Ceilidh on New Years Eve and it was lovely and stupendous to pray and dance the New Year in! Decided not to ask anyone to dance this time, and ended up dancing all the same! Not as much as I would have liked, but still enough.

It was a lovely, relaxing week in which I did nothing at all, which was wonderful. However, I did get a rather bad cold which was annoying and took about two weeks to get over (if not a bit more).

Found a random posh house on one of the walks I took behind the Center. I will try put pictures up later.

We were all back at Barcaple by the 6th of January and life fell back into routine. And by routine, I mean the routine for when we don't have guests in...more on that later.

On the 23rd of January Molly and I headed down south to the lovely metropolis of London. We arrived at about 9:30 the morning of the 24th (having taken the night bus from Glasgow). The number of pictures I have of this stunning city is zero. Sorry. (but not really that sorry, if you really want pictures google it and then try and photoshop my face in...that's the best I can give you...).

I don't really like doing super touristy things and since Molly and Rachel (who joined us the evening of the 24th) had both already been and done the toursity things, most of our time was spent walking around the West End and Westminster. One of the main reasons I had wanted to go to London was to see Tom Hiddleston in Coriolanus (a Shakespearean tragedy), but unfortunately, after queuing like proper British people for about 2 hours or so they were sold out of day tickets. So that was lamesauce. However, we did still go to the theatre, and instead we went to see Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap" which was excellently done.

As some of you may know, our dear catering manager, Sheila, retired in December, and so it falls to Katie and myself to take over her role. This means all the ordering, menu planning, budgeting etc, is what we get to do along side of our normal shifts. So that's all lovely and stressful. (well..okay, it's not that bad, but it is pretty rubbish...). On the 30th we had a retirement dinner for Campbell (Sheila's husband and our former head of maintenance) and Sheila, and with much meticulous planning and stressing everything went extremely smoothly and the food was absolutely delicious (and I say it myself...). Just to make you salivate a bit, this is what was on the menu: Canapes (Oatcakes and Pate, Bruschetta, Olives), Roast Beef, Roast Pork, Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Baby Potatoes, Potatoes Au Gratin, Carrots and Celery, Parsnips, Broccoli and Cauliflower Cheese, Stuffing, Yorkshire Puddings, and Gravy. For Pudding there was Chessecake and Berries, Fruit Salad, a Chocolate Tart, and a Chocolate Trifle. You're welcome. You may now wipe the drool off your chin. Thank you. Moving on.

Well, well, well, how time does fly. In only a few short paragraphs we have basically covered December and January. Let's give ourselves a pat on the back! Yes, you too! Go on, do it, and tell me the about all the strange looks you get!

Right, one last thing and then a few pictures to soften all the text and to make this feel a bit more worthwhile.

I have realized over time that ~~many of you~~, okay, all of you have almost no idea of what I actually do with my life here other than dressing up in my dinosaur onesie and going on random walks. So here's the rundown on my shifts (but not house shifts because I haven't worked a house shift since probably June. . .)
Queue drum roll...no? okay...nevermind then...

K1 (aka the best shift): 7am-2:45pm

Drag myself out of bed with many groans and sighs at approximately 6:45
Make cup of tea/coffee and drink it till it's actually 7 and I am required to start working, turn the dishwasher on in an attempt to make me feel like I've actually done something...
Make Breakfast while someone else brings up the cups and things from the dining room from when the group had supper the night before, and also goes and sets up for breakfast
Potentially start making sandwiches for the group
Serve Breakfast
Morning meeting
Clear up dining room
Eat breakfast
Start on dishes or do sandwiches
11:00am breaktime. yay for toast and tea!
Clear up break and maybe make some soup or somethin' for lunch
12:00pm start setting up lunch for staff and for guests
12:30-1:00 lunch time! nom nom leftovers...or cocoa pops...depending on whether I actually decided to have a big breakfast at 9
Clear up lunch dishes and the dining room
Refill the fillings for sandwiches or start on some dinner stuff or random baking
2:45 skip for joy when you leave and taunt everyone who remains at work...lol, not really...okay well maybe sometimes. ..

K2 (aka the one that feels more like a normal job) 8:45am-5pm

Roll out of bed at 8:20ish (this can range from 8:20 all the way till 8:40...)
8:45 morning meeting time
Start on the dishes that the K1s have brought up (if there were K1s...if not then do the dishes from the night before)
Whip up some sandwiches/fillings
Do some menu-y plannin' things, maybe some ordering things
Fake complain at K1s when they come in "late"
Bake something? Make soup?
11:00 Break time, baby!
Maybe whip up something fancy with the leftovers
Help set out lunch
12:30-1:30 the beautiful hour lunch
Maybe do some lunch dishes, maybe get started on dinner
Previous point cont.
3:00pm break time!
Continue with dinner things
4:00 potentially go set up for dinner...probably not...
5:00 hah! leaving time! (unless things are super hectic and then ya might go over...)

K4 (aka that no one really likes but everyone sort of deals with) 12pm-7:30pm

Get up at some point before 12 (for some this may be 9:30, others possibly 10, and others still approximately 11:50) feeling happy and at peace with the world until you remember that you're on k4...then you can proceed to sigh and be disgruntled
If up on time, wander down to 11:00 break and bother people (and be asked if you're off or on a k4 several times...)
11:20 put your uniform on and go loiter in the kitchen till you actually have to work...usually just randomly starting work early..
12:00 officially start work by setting out lunch
12:30 ring the bell for the guests and help them sort out their ~~lives~~ lunches
From whenever you're done doing lunch till half an hour later you get lunch
Dishes or dinner
3:00pm yay breaktime
4:00 potentially set up for dinner or continue making dinner
5:00 make sure everything is either in the oven/on the stove for staff or going to be in/on there very shortly
5:30 make sure staff dinner is out by now...potentially eat...probably not...
6:00 serve dinner (be a crazy person with your "before dinner chats", serve, bring all the dishes up), or stay up and clear up from staff dinner (hoover and mop)
6:30 serve pudding (probably...maybe later...maybe earlier)
6:30-7:30 clean up...usually we're done about 7:15 or so not actually 7:30 but you know..bigger groups and all
When you're finished, heave a big sigh of relief and turn Hobart (the dishwasher) off

K1/K3 (aka the worst shift...)7am-10:45am, 4pm-7:30pm

Drag self out of bed with many groans and sighs at approximately 6:45
Make cup of tea/coffee and drink it till it's actually 7 and I am required to start working, turn the dishwasher on in an attempt to make me feel like I've actually done something...
Make Breakfast while someone else brings up the cups and things from the dining room from when the group had supper the night before, and also goes and sets up for breakfast (usually Ksplits will do the set up not the breakfast making...but, then, I'm not really on this shift anymore...)
Potentially start making sandwiches for the group
Serve Breakfast (maybe)
Morning meeting
Clear up dining room
Eat breakfast
Start on dishes or do sandwiches
10:45am go forth and make what you can with your life with the few short hours you have at hand
4:00pm Set up for dinner
5:00 make sure everything is either in the oven/on the stove for staff or going to be in/on there very shortly (not really your prerogative but ya know...copy and paste...it's the K4 Cook's job but K3's could technically do it too)
5:30 make sure staff dinner is out by now...potentially eat...probably not... (K3s usually eat dinner, again it's the K4 Cook who usually opts to stay in the kitchen, occasionally with a plate of food on the side to nibble at)
6:00 serve dinner (be a crazy person with your "before dinner chats", serve, bring all the dishes up), or stay up and clear up from staff dinner (hoover and mop)
6:30 serve pudding (probably...maybe later...maybe earlier)
6:30-7:30 clean up...usually we're done about 7:15 or so not actually 7:30 but you know..bigger groups and all
When you're finished, heave a big sigh of relief and turn Hobart (the dishwasher) off

So that's about it. It doesn't necessarily look/sound like we do a lot, but we do. There are lots of other little things to be done that haven't been mentioned, since every day is different, but that is the basics of each shift. You're welcome. I doubt you read all of that. Shame on you. After all the hard work I put into that....some people, eh?

The shifts may change a little depending on the day. For example, if you're on a K1 on a Sunday, the group's usually gone about lunch time and so you need to make sure that dinner is ready for staff for 5. This may mean preparing it in the morning and letting them heat it up themselves, or going back in at 4 o'clock or so to throw things in the oven (or 4:30 in my case today when the jacket potatoes really should have been in at 4:15, if not 4:00. . . In my defense I was blogging...mostly..). Or, on the other hand, if you're a K2 on a day with no groups in then you need to have dinner ready by 5 for staff.

So yes....that was quite a lot of information for one blogpost. Now for some calming pictures for you to stare at.