Spoken like a true Scot.

I grew up with my parents saying that expression to me (perhaps a lot of us did] but not in German. Scot47 please correct me if I am wrong here “Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.”

yes, a very common expression where I grew up in the NE of England, but I certainly would not have guessed that from the German quotation.

After being away from this site for several months I thought I would give an update.

We have now been back in Scotland for 15 months. After a few hiccups in the first 6 months we are doing so well. I love being back here and treasure every day.

1. Family - I go down frequently to Somerset to visit my Mum in her nursing home. I’ve become very familiar with the Edinburgh to Bristol flight. I see my cousin almost every week. She also lives in Edinburgh. Tomorrow we’re going to the Modern Art Gallery.

2. Travel - we love being close to mainland Europe. We’re about to go on our 4th cruise this year - 1 in the Baltic and 3 in the Mediterranean. Also love touring in Scotland and recently we were up in Gairloch, Inverness, and Nairn (where my Dad grew up)

3. Home - we love our home with magnificent views over the Firth of Forth. We take advantage of our bus passes and have frequent visits into the center of Edinburgh. I’ve joined Historic Scotland, National Museums of Scotland, and the National Gallery of Scotland.

4. Loads of walking. My DH has lost 20 pounds since our return with all his walking. Definitely a success with his 2 new knees. I love walking and discovering the city.

5. Neighbors - there are 6 families in our little development with both young and retired so a good mix. Some good friendships are developing.

6. Food - love it. I put on some weight when we first came back which I have now lost. It really wasn’t a good idea to be eating 4 crunchies in a day.

I am content, happy, and thrilled to be back.

Best wishes to all of you.

What a great post, so pleased to hear that things are going so well.

durham_lad - many thanks

I forgot to mention how I’m really enjoying my time in our back garden. As a child I used to plant nasturtiums, marigolds, mesembryanthemums, and sunflowers. I’ve been growing all of them again and also added lupins, freesias, fuschias, carnations, lots of wild flowers and lots of vegetables and herbs. I never had too much success in Arizona beyond cacti so this has been a real thrill. Our parsnips are thriving and will be enjoyed over the winter months. I let some radishes and fennel go to seed and now have seeds for next year. I did nothing with the freesias after they had flowered and have been rewarded with little pods that contain seeds. I never knew you could grow freesias from seed as well as bulbs. My DH has bought 200 bulbs to plant in the front and back so we’ll have “A host, of golden daffodils” next spring.