A Woollie Week - or 2!

I've not actually been anywhere, just not been blogging......

The house renovations are moving slowly....I have a bed and a mattress, chest of drawers and a bookcase - some friends and I took a trip to Ikea in Edinburgh last weekend. They too have just moved house and needed some supplies. In one day we journey to and from Ikea and built a wardrobe, 4 chest of drawers and 5 bookshelves. I managed to build 26 drawers last Sunday - sore hands followed! But both homes are now looking a little more homely.

I started painting yesterday, the wooden shelves in my alcove in the living room are now glistening shiny white.....and it's only the start of it.....many walls to be painted. The plumber also came yesterday to remove the radiator in the kitchen and that means that the kitchen fitting can start soon. I will take some update photos shortly.

I finished another blankie this week. This one has an allotment theme although I am not sure the owner of the allotment would be too happy about the rabbits eating all their veg!

Whilst moving house I found my first ever softie! I made him when I was about 7 or 8 - two circles of fake fur (from the lining of a waistcoat from Clothkits) and some yellow felt....he's survived a long time (most of my childhood toys were male for some reason!)

I never did post about some of the goodies I brought back from my trip to Orkney in April. First is my sheepskin rug - a beautiful dark, long haired North Ronaldsay sheep. These sheep are famous because the are often to be found along the beach at low tide eating the freshest fronds of seaweed. The sheepskin doesn't come from North Ronaldsay but from a herd of sheep on the Isle of Auskerry - a remote island in the Orkney archipelago, home to 5 people and a herd of sheep - you can learn about their lives here.... The sheep are uniquely marked in colours from cream and gold to chocolate and from silver through granite to slate and black, helping to camouflage them amongst the rocky outcrops on the island.

As you may know, I can hardly resist the purchase of a ball of wool or two and a visit to Tait & Style in Kirkwall was a must......they make the most amazing wool textiles - toys, cushions and scarfs and you can buy their slubbed wool in an amazing range of colours....

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I think I'll be making horses manes and tails with some of this wool!

Brrrr....

For some slightly insane reason, whilst the sun was shining this weekend, I decided that it would be a good idea for some friends and I to have a picnic....somewhere we could dangle our toes in the water, feeling a bubbling stream running over bare feet....however time was pressing and the closest water is the sea and so we ended up at Broughty Ferry beach which is only about a 10 minute drive from home.....and after the 10 minute walk from the sand dunes to the water's edge (the tide was way out) I didn't just paddle - I took a swim.

19 degrees (66) outside and I decide to take a swim. It's the first time in about 15 years that I've swum in the sea in Scotland and surprisingly it didn't take me ages to submerge - and we swam for about 15 minutes in the cold cold water..... I think once I'd gone numb it didn't feel nearly so bad ;o)

The picnic afterwards was great - it wasn't just any picnic, it was a Marks & Spencer's picnic (probably only raising a smile from the Brits amongst us).

We didn't stay too long as the pesky sea haar rolled in off the sea and engulfed us.....time to retreat to a garden 50m inland where the haar didn't reach!

My latest blankie arrived with it's new owner a few weeks back and her mum posted about it....I am so glad it arrived safely and that they liked it!

Woollie Weekend

Last weekend was full of friends visiting from the south......Saturday was spent in the small village of Elie in the East Neuk of Fife with friends from university....walking on the beach and eating lunch at The Ship Inn - always recommended. Then late afternoon my friend Karen arrived from London for a few days of relaxation and touring in Scotland.

It was the Pittenweem Arts Festival this week - the annual event in the small village of Pittenweem in the East Neuk of Fife that sees the whole village turned into an art gallery - homes, halls and garages being used to display an array of art; invited artists using the small harbour as a stunning backdrop for their work and a series of events throughout the week attracting the crowds. It's definitely one of the highlights of the summer.

The metal sculpture by Kaneyuki Shimoosako on the harbour wall was made perfect by the stunning location....

Karen and I headed over to Pittenweem for the Saturday night torchlight procession through the village and the fireworks over the harbour. It was a mild, dry evening and the village was revelling in the party atmosphere.

Sunday we headed to another small village on the south coast of Fife, Culross, a beautifully preserved medieval village, with a palace owned by the National Trust for Scotland.

Monday it was off to St Andrews for some cupcakes from Bibi's Bakery before heading back to Pittenweem to wander round the village and look at art......Bibi's is a new cafe and bakery (and you can even take classes in cupcake making) in St Andrews selling an array of multi-coloured confection.....yum!

As you can see, someone couldn't wait!!

All in all a good weekend and if anyone is in Scotland next year from the 6th to 14th of August I'd highly recommend a visit to Pittenweem.

Progress

It's been a while since I posted. I could say that I have been busy redecorating my new flat, unpacking etc.etc. but that would be untrue! I've been "camping out" in my new flat whilst the rewiring gets done - not a lot of point in unpacking, painting etc when the floorboards are up and the walls being drilled.

But the electrician is making progress. He has struggled with inch think Victorian floorboards.....he says he hasn't seen such well laid floorboards in a long time....but now I have new plug sockets and cables leading to the fuse box in all rooms except the kitchen.....the kitchen has to wait on the fireplace being removed and the radiator shifted....but tonight progress was made on the fireplace - 4 friends, a sledge hammer and some large plastic buckets and the fireplace is gone.....

Before:

During:

After:

And yes I am still wearing my work clothes - got to look good during all this!

The paper stuffed up the chimney shows it was boarded up in 1971 - almost 30 years ago (update: obviously I can't count - nearly 40 years!!!)