This morning I got an e-mail I'd been waiting for, and it brought me considerable relief.

This last February, we went up to Phoenix to spend a day at the Highland Games there, aiming to find a kilt-maker. We've had Scottish ancestry all our lives, so why were we looking for a kilt-maker now? Well, it's a long story, but that's what blogs are for, right? (Humor me.)

Most of my life I've been hearing ancestral stories from my mother's brother, and a couple of years ago, after seeing a few issues from his archives, I decided to join the family clan and subscribe to its newsletter (The Argent Castle). And it was in an issue of that, sometime last year, that I read about the Gathering of the Clans, scheduled for Edinburgh in July of 2009.

"Oh, I am soooo there," was what I said to my husband, who had no idea what I was talking about. But when I showed him the article -- and later some of the info from the website -- he agreed that this would be a worthy once-in-a-lifetime trip. So we got our tickets for the Parade of the Clans (down the Royal Mile from Holyrood Palace to Edinburgh Castle) and the following display of piping and dancing and fireworks.

And what would you wear to such an event but your clan tartan? That's why we went to Phoenix looking for a kiltmaker.

Found one, too, as I have no doubt reported here already. We've ordered our gear from the Celtic Craft Centre, which has a shop in Edinburgh -- you know that's pronounced "eddin-burra," right? -- and another in Palm Springs. It was initially suggested that Husband-man's kilt, Prince Charlie jacket, sporran, socks, etc. and my kilted skirt and waistcoat would be delivered in mid-July. So when it didn't come, I e-mailed.

I waited a week, and e-mailed again. I was thinking about sending a third inquiry when I heard from them this morning. Mind you, I wasn't thinking I'd been ripped off. I checked these people out, and they're legit -- friends of ours have done business with them in the past, and have been entirely satisfied. It's just that I'm really, really looking forward to seeing Husband-man in the full get-up, and to trying on my skirt. And the instant nature of e-mail has encouraged my natural impatience.

Anyway, here's what they said:
"The gents outfit is almost complete, we are just waiting on the jacket coming through. The cloth for the ladies skirt and vest has been out of stock and we were waiting for the mill reweaving it. I'm told that the mill now have the cloth and will be dispatching it this week. As soon as we have the cloth it will be sent up tot he workrooms and start immediately. We are hoping to have your order complete and delivered to yourselves by the end of August."

And that's fine. We've been working on planning our trip -- the Gathering is the 24-26 July, 2009, so we'll be getting over there on maybe the 22nd, so we'll have a day to recover from the flight before we start having all that fun. When we get the rest of the itinerary sorted out, I'll let you know -- we are in touch with a travel agent there, whose name we got from the family clan's website.

And in case you're wondering, the family clan to which I refer is MacCallum/Malcolm. I'll start a gallery -- we have a photo of the tartan, and one of Husband-man sporting his Glengarry (that's the hat) and another of him trying on an approximate outfit. (He really is built for a kilt, as they say. :-D

I'll keep ye posted, lads and lassies! Till then, all blessings!

Ashleen





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