Pin for the RNA Tartan

When I first got my Royal Naval Association kilt in honour of my Uncle McMurdo (Murdy) I wanted to get a Scottish Agate Anchor Pin. The problem has been that everyone I've seen on eBay has gone over hundreds of dollars completely out of my budget. Recently I decided to look on a different vintage site and found one suitable at a reasonable price. My only problem now was that the seller would only ship to the United States. I was lucky in that another member of xmarks graciously agreed to ship it to Canada for me. Now that I have the pin in place I will take a trip up to Uncle Murdy's final resting place. Thanks to Kilted Cole for all his help, it means the world to me. Without further ado from me, here is the photo.

It's been a while

I thought I should post an update, as I was looking through the blog and did not realize just how long it has been dormant. My last post was about Tartan Tuesday, we are now coming up to our 3rd Anniversary. This photo was from the first anniversary.

Another big thing is that I designed a tartan for Wildcat Haven, called the Scottish Wildcat Tartan. It has been very well received and we are looking for interest in a fourth run of the tartan, 15% of the proceeds of the sale of the tartan goes to Wildcat Haven to help them with the important work they are doing to try to help the wildcat survive. When we started this project there were estimates of between 30 and 300 Scottish Wildcats left in the wild.

Here is the tartan design and me in my Scottish Wildcat Tartan Kilt Suit.

Tartan Tuesdays at the Caledonian Pub

Tartan Tuesdays, are the first Tuesday of every month at the Caledonian Pub in Toronto. Last month we had 17 people show up for the fun. Please consider strapping on your kilt and joining us the July edition will be on the 8th due to the Canada Day holiday.

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http://www.thecaledonian.ca/

Performing Tam O'Shanter

A couple of Fridays ago I went to an open mike night and performed Tam O`Shanter, to a non Scottish audience. Any other I have performed this piece in public it has been at a Burns night. It was an interesting experience, and the crowd seemed to be suitably impressed that I could remember such a behemoth of a piece. A week later someone came up to me and complimented me, so it must have stuck in the minds of a few.

20 year AA medallion

I just wanted to share with you all the fact that Saturday January 26th was my 20 year AA medallion. It was a wonderful evening full of old and new friends. I will not soon forget it. I could not have done this without the help of both those who came before me and the newcomers, so it was great to have so many people there, I brought 3 cakes and it was all gone by the end of the night. The photo was taken by a friend who sobered up the same day as me, I am wearing orange glasses as they help filter out light from florescent bulbs that aggravate migraines.

Paupers Pub Sunday October 28

It was a soggy wet day today in Toronto perfect for kilt wearing, I had set up to go out to Paupers Pub at Bloor and Bathurst to meet up with a gent who I had seen down there a few months ago. Last time he was wearing a kilt and that was why I started talking to him in the first place. He asked if I was McMurdo and I said I was. Apparently he had seen my photos on this as well as other forums. Anyway it was a wonderful day with a new friend we talked about everything under the sun. Andrew is a great guy and I hope to meet up with him again soon. I got one photo of us. I do need a haircut but might blame it on the rain.

Toronto Tweed Ride

Yesterday was the Toronto Tweed Ride I participated this year, it was a wonderful time raising money for Bikes without Borders. There were competitions for best tea cup, most feminine accessory, dandiest chap etc. I was voted dandiest chap. It really was a wonderful day, there was a Penny Farthing and even a Velocipede. We stopped for a photo op at Old City Hall, there was a Bride and Groom who got their photo with the Penny Farthing. Here are some photos: