This could bore you.....

Lighthouses.  As you may well know they fascinate me.  Still have not got to the bottom of exactly why.  I was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, quite a way from the sea.  In fact holidays as a child, to get to the sea, took some considerable time, in a car that looked like this.

 No, we were not rich.  My Dad had a garage.  Repairing cars.  He probably borrowed one in for repair to give it a test run.

I remember holidays to Butlins.  Hunstanton, Norfolk, and Withernsea.

My first sighting of a lighthouse.  In the middle of the town of Withernsea.  Didnt take much notice of it.  I think I thought it was just an over the top street light.  In fact I still do not understand what it does/did there, must google it.

I lived in Cornwall in the late 60s and came across a real lighthouse.  Lizard Point.

Every time I visited it was foggy.  The sound of the foghorn was quite magical.  But I was then more interested in if it had a tea room.

(All the above images I took from google, so apologies for not naming individual photographers. Tres difficile to obtain. For me anyway.)

So here we are, many years later, and I discover lighthouses big time.  

I am interested.  I learn about them.  The people who worked them, their families.  I find out how they were built, and by whom.  

Kinnaird Head, Fraserburgh is now a big part of my life.

Built for the Fraser family, this fine 16th century castle was altered in 1787 to take the first lighthouse built by the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses.
Historic Scotland.

Since taking up art in 2011 I have on occasions attempted to depict 'my lighthouse'.  Perspective not being one of my talents I gave up. Lighthouses do have a slight slant I believe but not quite as much as I drew.  But then, recently, decided I was going to DO it.  

Challenged to do some pen and ink which would then feature on cards to raise funds to keep the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses going.  I had another go.

 Through the Keepers Cottage window.

 These bouys had a light/beacon.  There are quite a few of these around the Museum grounds.

  
Through the Keepers garden door.

 One of the few occasions the Lighthouse is lit.  This was the Queens Silver Jubilee. ( There is a more modern boring looking effort that is nearer the shore that works all the time.)


Different views of.  Done.  All the photographs were taken by the Dawn Patroller.  I then did the pen and ink/ colour wash painting.

I sat on my laurels so to speak.  THEN I received another challenge.

Next year the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses celebrates being 20 years old.  Within the Museum are so many lenses, lights, screws, dinner services, pictures, artefacts etc. etc. from all the now unmanned and electrified lighthouses..... 

As the Stevenson Family were involved in building, designing, engineering - Jill, 20 paintings of Stevenson Lighthouses.

I might just go off Lighthouses big time.

Ooooh.  Rattray Head , Boddam, just down the road............... 

Told you I could bore you.


 

A Taste of Grampian.

Today I drove to the other side of Inverurie to the Thainstone Centre.

For the Taste of Grampian Food Festival.  Also to give my new toy a practice run.  For some time I have been unable to go to such events as I cannot walk very far, but now......!

Now thanks/no thanks to Aberdeenshire Council's non medically qualified staff who filled in a tick chart I have been refused a disabled parking sticker.  So I had to go with the huge queues of traffic on and on and on and parked at the furthermost point from where it was all happening.  Not only that but I had a near vertical hill to go down.  I did find the brakes worked on the toy.....But then realised I would have to go back up the b***** hill to find the car, to return home.

 In the week Thainstone is basically a Cattle Market.  At the weekend it has a good swill down and turns into - a theatre.  Wow.  

So those blue seats are filled by people like me.  Watching a cooking competition.  Which is why I was there.  Our chef at the Lighthouse Museum, Kipras Preidys was a finalist for the "Aspiring Chef of the Year."

There were four finalists.  Kip on the right, and his heat competitor on the left.

 

Lady Claire Macdonald watching.  She did a lot of watching our chef Kip and was very supportive speaking to him at the end, as he didnt win.

The two other judges are tutors at the North East College.  I will say no more, other than it strikes me that's a bit unfair, as the winners - first and second - were pupils at the said college, as is Kip, but he entered as the chef at the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses Restaurant.  But then I am biased.

Now I had to climb the hill and find my car.  I did consider dialling 101 or 999.  But I was rescued.  

Escorted to a car, driven up to the car park, almost in the sky, I then had the very embarrassing search for my car, which took a while..... then I could go home.   Sheesh.  

Its really a bummer being disabled.  Even though my disability isn't visible.  Think about it.

But our chef sourced all his ingredients from Grampian.  The Butchers, the Fish, and the veg from Fraserburgh and  from the Lighthouse Keepers Cottage Garden and the wild garlic via the DP from across the road from us!  

A real Taste of Grampian.

 
 

Lighthouse Keepers Cottage, part 2.

The Northern Lighthouse Board not only had to provide their keepers with cottages in which to house their families, but also land on which to graze a cow and grow their own food.

The (empty) greenhouse is , of course, a fairly modern addition.   These photographs show the 'garden' area as it is today.

  Some of the garden is under cultivation.  Thanks to the local Banff and Buchan College, based in Fraserburgh, which sends along a team of young adults with special needs to cultivate it.  They appear every Friday in term time along with their tutors and plant seeds, weed, and cultivate.

During the school holidays, well, back to nature.

Some things survive.  The rhubarb crop is amazing.  And I am sure that they all get a great deal of satisfaction from watching seeds germinate, flowers appearing.  But I have a sneaking suspicion that they get far more enjoyment from going berserk in the Museum shop and buying far too much rock than is good for them, and spending a lot of time sitting on our cannons outside having a fag.  And, sadly, we do not have a cow.

So second plan for me is to, whilst working alongside the local college, to involve volunteers, either retired folk in sheltered housing  who miss their garden and still have the knowledge, bit of energy, delight in gardening to join in with the young adults.  Or anyone else I can drag in!

Who knows, we might then get a cow!  No, even I am not that daft.

Produce from the garden would supply the restaurant at the Lighthouse Museum, we are already using the rhubarb.  Aaaah Rhubarb Crumble with our wonderful chef's artistic twists.  To die for.

So, there you go.

Now in between all the planning and plotting for the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses to make it more user friendly and such a wonderful place to visit!!!!  I did manage something I have never done before.

Art 'En Plein Air'.  This is just a posh way of saying, "Get outside, draw, paint, but get outside.!"

The Art groups I belong to have all been booted out of Dalrymple Hall this week as it is the Junior Arts Summer Show.  They take over the whole building.  For a week. Their Summer Show is based on the Ugly Duckling......

So our Wednesday Art Group went to St Combs.  Plonked ourselves on the beach, or in my case on a grit store box, quite comfortable actually.  And painted, drew, sat and just looked.  It was overcast, but it was warm and no wind, which is heaven up here. After two hours we moved to the Community run cafe and had lunch.

Then today - well it was like being in the Med.  Our Thursday Art Group started with lunch, much more civilised.  And then moved on to Rosehearty Harbour.

I sat on the floor here and drew some of the boats, pen and ink.

Did a lovely study of the lobster pots.

Watched the other lot, across the harbour, with deck chairs, paints, water, creating a finished picture. I really must get more organised for this 'En Plain Air' activity.

And then just looked at the amazing view.  Life in the North East of Scotland, you cannot beat it.  When it isnt windy, raining, misty.  Just wonderful.  

Ey up, I havent finished.  Last night whilst lighting the wood burner I hear a dull thud.  On looking out of the window I saw that the front garden wall was now laying on the lawn.

And a Land Rover with a trailer pulling away.  I shot out. Apparently the bloke in the landrover had stopped to have a chat to the farmer examining his Neeps (Swedes/big turnips) in the field opposite and wanting to chat face to face had reversed his landrover so to do, his trailer then did a sharp left wheely and demolished our wall, "I forgot I had the bloody trailer on!"

Anyroads, demolisher and friend are currently rebuilding wall.  While the DP  and I mutter about should have demolished the lot and then we could have a nice picket fence, as really the wall is an abomination......made of breeze blocks and some sort of ghastly 'dressing' which wouldnt be allowed on any self respecting DIY tele programme.  

Ah to be in a Lighthouse Keepers Cottage. With a lovely white wall, or a harbour wall, such artistry.....