In A Vase On Monday - From the Wild

Hello Everyone,

It's Monday again and I'm back with my offering for Cathy's In A Vase On Monday over on her blog, Rambling in the Garden.

This week it's another pretty bunch of wildflowers gathered on one of my tootles round the neighbourhood. There's red clover (Trifolium pratense), bigleaf periwinkle (Vinca Major), aquilegia, cow parsley (Anthricus sylvestris) and Hawthorn blossom (Crataegus mongyna). 

The little brown vase is a charity shop find. I've tried to make out the name of the pottery but so far none of my attempts to read it has helped. It's a mystery.

The froth of hawthorn blossom is a joy to see at this time of the year. Not that my mother, grannie and nana would approve of me bringing it inside the house. All three generations of women were incredibly superstitious! They considered it was certain to bring bad luck if it is brought into the house. It was believed to invite illness and death. 

Happily, I'm not a believer!

There's no association with the flowers and the wooden bobbins that I can think off. They just happened to be on the mantlepiece where I posed the vase for today's photos. They are a souvenir from a visit to New Lanark Mills - a very picturesque 18th century village popular with tourists to the area. 

As usual, I'll finish by saying that to see many more lovely arrangements, just click on the link to Cathy's blog, Rambling in the Garden.

Take care, everyone,

Elizabeth

This Week's Smiles - Week 373

Hello Everyone,

It's been forever since I shared a smiley post. Blame life - it got in the way! I've started going for walks again. Just short walks as I'm still feeling weak from my recent fight with horrid side affects from antibiotics. Me and antibiotics just don't agree. Anyway, today I went out early for a wee walk around the neighbourhood. and the blue, blue sky over Ardrossan had me smiling from ear to ear. 

As did the sight of these Welsh Poppies growing in someone's front garden. They're such a cheerful sight. 

When is a park not a park? When it's called the Holm Plantation. The plantation is very near the street where I live and it is lovely. There's a burn (stream) running through it and in early spring it's a mass of daffodils. Sadly, they've all gone over now. 

What it looked like in March. 

Discovered this blue plaque as I passed Ardrossan Academy. Edith MacArthur was a noted Scottish actress born here in Ardrossan in 1926. She had a long and varied acting career, appearing on stage, in film and in many very popular TV series. She is also credited with discovering David Tennant, he of Dr Who fame, when he was only ten years old!

And finally:

Silver, sitting on the compendium of games on the piano stool. I think I was being challenged to a game of draughts with her! There never was a piano but there was the keyboard - long gone but not forgotten.  I played the piano, Alan the keyboard, and very good he was too. 

That's it for today. A very quick and photo heavy post but hopefully you enjoyed the insight they give into what it's like living here in beautiful Ardrossan by the Sea. 

Take care, everyone,

Elizabeth

Visiting Alfie - Rainbow Challenge No.2

Hello Everyone,

I'm back with the second layout for the Facebook challenge mentioned in yesterday's post. The colour to use for this layout was blue which I found more difficult than expected. I have lots of material in shades of aqua, turquoise and teal but very little in what I call real blue. So I scraped the bottom of the barrel for this one. 

I love the photo, dated 2019, of Alan feeding carrots to Alfie the donkey. One of last taken before he caught Covid and became to ill to drive. Alfie was living alone at the Ballantrae garden centre by then, his last companion had sadly died, so we visited him as often as we could back then. 

The challenge includes a sketch. I always find sketches inspirational even if I don't stick rigidly to them. This one included a heart shape which did prove a problem. I still haven't unpacked my large die-cutting machine - it's in the shed in one of the last boxes somewhere and, in all honesty, I'm in no hurry to tackle the unpacking just yet. There's too much stuff and nowhere to put it so it can stay in the shed for now.

Fortunately, already unpacked is this set of templates. It's ancient! It's what we scrappers used before dies and die-cutting machines became available. Yes, I've been scrapping that long. Twenty-eight years or so. The advances I've seen in papercrafting in that time is, well, amazing! The largest heart shape wasn't really big enough but I made it do. 

The papers used are from Heidi Swapp's 'Set Sail' collection except the floral one which is from Hobbycraft's 'British Garden' paper pad. Embellishment items for clusters from various sources, some old (e.g. 2017), some new. 

That's me done wittering tonight. I'm getting the 'time for bed' look from the resident furry nag. After all she has a 4am start in the morning!

Take care, everyone,

Elizabeth 

More Catching Up

 Hello Again Everyone,

No fainting, please! I'm excelling myself by blogging two days on the trot! 

The following are more photos taken during my walk down to the seafront yesterday. This time they are of the memorial to HMS Dasher. 

It's dedicated to the 379 men that perished when HMS Dasher, an Archer Class Aircraft Carrier, sank in the Firth of Clyde on 27th March 1943. 

It is also dedicated to the survivors who never forgot. There's a lot more information on Wikipedia for those interested.

I forgot to mention yesterday that it was (inter)National Scrapbooking Day. A day to celebrate this happy hobby of mine. Not that I have joined in with the many celebratory challenges. I'm taking my time getting back into a routine after so many months of no scrapping at all. However, I'm rediscovering the fun of playing with pretty patterned paper. It's my therapy!

Here's the last pages made.

One of the few double-page layouts I've made. Ever! I'm just not a double-page scrapper. 

I have quite a collection of photos of post office boxes, most of which I put on Instagram but rarely make a scrap page with them, but I think these four are quite special. Yarn bombing is guaranteed to cheer up any PO box.

And here's the last page made for this weekend.

This is my middle sister, Margaret, showing off her new hair colour. She may have MS, may be increasingly disabled, may be living in a care home, may have just turned 70, but she still loves life and  cares for her appearance. So when the hairdresser visits her in the home, Margaret is always up for something new. Pink hair! Why not?

And finally:

 

Silver's preferred mode of entry and exit now that the temperatures are rising. So much quicker than waiting for the in-house servant, i.e. me, to open the door whenever required.

Take care, everyone,

Elizabeth

Friday's Smiles

Hello Smilers

I hope your week has been a happy one bringing with it lots of reasons to smile. Today I have a couple of photos taken this morning because they have a funny story, involving me, attached to them.

Nothing particularly funny about these two figures sitting on what is known locally as Rabbie's Ring ... probably in reference to our noble bard, Robert Burns though I don't see the connection myself. Anyway, what makes these two shots funny is not the subjects but what was happening behind me whilst I was clicking away. I sensed that someone was standing behind me all the time I was taking the first photo and when I moved to take the one of the dog the person behind followed me. When I turned round to see what was going on I found myself face-to-face with a big security guard. I jokingly asked him if he was following me, not for one minute thinking he was, but he admitted that was exactly what he was doing. What I had not realised is that directly in shot was a large well-known jewellery shop. The guard was checking to see that I wasn't taking photos of what was in the shop window, etc., - in other words 'casing the joint'. I think he soon worked out that there was no danger of me breaking into the shop, especially after I explained that I was a scrapbooker!  I suppose you can't be too careful these days.We had a good chuckle together about it as he escorted me to the exit ... I think he believed me, or did he!

There's never a dull day. How he could imagine a 70 year old great-grandmother, carrying a bag filled with yarn at that, would be interested in a jewellery shop beats me. I told him that it was too much a boring subject for my lens.

Here's a couple of funnies to finish with.

Having just bought yet more yarn I thought these were appropriate.

If you're looking for more smiles then do pop over to Annie's A Stitch In Time to read about what has made her and others smile this week.

Wishing you all a very happy weekend.

Friday Smiles - Week 189

Hello Everyone,

Warning ... more photographs this week!

I hope you have had a lovely week and that, like me, you'll be sharing some smiley moments with Annie at A Stitch In Time. We've had a busy time out and about which means we have a few more lovely memories to add to the many we already have.

Sunday we went down to the secondhand book shop at Culzean Country Park, both to drop a few read books off and to look for a couple of books for my sister, Margaret. She reads a lot. After that we took a wee saunter round the grounds.

While Alan was gazing out to see, I discovered these busy little hoverflies/wasps (I'm not too sure which) enjoying the flowers on the ivy.

Ivy flowers look quite nondescript, no pretty colours, just green, but the insects adore them.

Monday we went to the quilt exhibition at Rozelle and I've already posted a few photos here so I'll control myself and not share anymore. Suffice to say the quilts were well worth the visit.

Moving swiftly on to Tuesday we took a trip to the big city, Glasgow. Instead of driving up we put our free bus pass to good use and let the bus driver take the strain! I was heading to John Lewis haberdashery department to buy sewing thread but we stopped for lunch in the restaurant there too before going out onto Glasgow's main shopping area, Sauchiehall Street.

This was a surprise. An old police box, Dr Who must have missed this one, being used as a retail outlet selling essential oils!

Sauchiehall Street is long so by the time we reached to top we were ready for another cuppa. this time in Waterstones Book Store coffee shop which is where I spotted these fabulous posters depicting some favourite classics.

Here's Alan showing me how pleased he is to be shopping with me :)

On the way back to the bus station I spotted this poster which brought back memories of childhood trips to Burntisland which is on the east coast of Scotland, near enough to Edinburgh, my home town, for a day trip. Ah, happy days :)

Just in case you are wondering about the rest of the week .... Wednesday we had visitors and yesterday was super busy for me as I spent the morning at a quilting class and the afternoon at the weekly craft club I attend. Yes, it's been a very busy week but it has resulted in a lot to smile about.

And finally,

My little, but growing, pile of crocheted hexagons. I'm using up all the oddments of yarn I had tucked away to make a blanket big enough to fit a double bed. Don't they look almost delicious enough to eat?






Apologies to Kate and Robyn for not visiting them during the week - I ran out of week! Hoping to do much better this week - there's no plans for trips out this coming week. Yet!

Take care all and have a lovely weekend.

Friday Smiles - Falkirk, The Kelpies and The Wheel

Hi Everyone,

Warning! A photo heavy post follows.

I hope you having a lovely Friday and that there's been a lot to smile about in the week. Last week, on my post for Annie's Friday Smiles, I mentioned that we were off to Falkirk to celebrate my husband's birthday. Needless to say, we had a fabulous time, found plenty to smile about, and the weather was kind too. I took a ton of photos so I thought I'd show some, in the form of montages otherwise you'd be here all day.

Falkirk is a town that sits in the very heart of Scotland, midway between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The town has some very attractive buildings, this is just a few. Click on the montage to see it enlarged.

Falkirk Trinity Church, also known as The Faw Kirk, with it's ancient graveyard, is sited in the centre of the town. It contains important historical memorials from the time of William Wallace, the Battle of Falkirk (1298) and a later second Battle in 1746. The carvings are in the wall surrounding the churchyard.

All around the town on pavements and walls are engraved quotations, including part of William Wallace's famous cry for Freedom.

The magnificent Kelpies, designed by sculptor Andy Scott, are situated in the The Helix - a recreational park with visitor attractions that include a lagoon, wetlands, splash play area, trails and other outdoor events. The Kelpies, standing 30 metres high, are the world's largest equine sculptures. The name, The Kelpies, reflects the mythological water horses that are part of Scottish folklore. It is said that these water kelpies are shape-shifting creatures that occupy our lochs and rivers, much of their bodies being underwater and that they posses the strength and endurance of 10 horses.

Each Kelpie has a name, Duke and Baron, and a descriptive 'Head Down' and 'Head Up'.

They each have a quotation of their own too. Falkirk folk clearly love their quotations.

The Saturday we were there coincided with a National Addiction Recovery Walk, organised by the Scottish Recovery Consortium. Those that attended were each given a red rose which was ceremonially thrown into the Forth & Clyde canal that is located just behind The Kelpies.

After the Kelpies we went on to visit the Falkirk Wheel - another amazing feat of engineering. The Wheel is the world's only rotating boat lift. It's breathtaking. For even better photos do click the link, it is worth it!

And it seems we can't get away from the Kelpies, not that we would want to, because there's another set of 1:10 scale maquettes on display at the base of the Wheel.

And finally, we had a bit of a giggle when Alan decided he had to take his cap off while one of the security men obliged by taking our photo.

Apologies for the length of this post but there really is a lot to see in Falkirk. We didn't manage the half of it so will have to return, perhaps next year, to visit the places we missed this time.

Hope you enjoyed my Friday Smiles and if you would like to see more do pop over to A Stitch In Time so see more reasons to smile at Annie's.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Friday Smiles - Week 187

Morning Everyone,

It's my beloved husband's birthday today and that is plenty of reason for me to smile. We are off on an overnight stay to Falkirk to visit the Kelpies. The photo above is of himself and the prototype Kelpies that were on display in Kirkcudbright recently. The real Kelpies are very much bigger and I believe, but will discover for real very soon, you can go inside one, if not both, of them.

They are fabulous!

It's, of necessity, a very brief post for Annie's Friday Smile this week but I hope you all have a lot to smile about and have a wonderful weekend. We sure plan to enjoy ourselves.

Happy Friday,