Lonmay.

Lonmay is a very spread out place. Our friends live in Lonmay Village. This is a couple of miles away from where we live.

Dotted about are farms and cottages all with the address - Lonmay. There is Strathellie, and Cairnellie, all Lonmay.

Then there is a group of properties. Lonmay Old Manse.

This is a high quality b&b run by more friends of ours.

Close by is Cairness House. We can see this frontage from our sitting room window.

Lonmay Churchyard. This is near the Old Manse.

The old schoolhouse, now a private home.

And one of the churches, also now a private home.

We met the owners of this a few years back and were told the top floor now houses a swimming pool!

These buildings and the churchyard are grouped fairly randomly just down the road from our house. But, apart from the spread out farms roond and aboot no ordinary houses to send children to the school or penitents to the churches. Yet again another field of research for me. Why were those buildings put where they are? Without rhyme nor reason. But there has to be.

Also close by this group of houses, churches, three of them, cemeteries, two, is the village hall. Strangely no picture on Google.

We are heading there tonight for a quiz to raise funds for said village hall.

I do hope I learn something other than how not to answer quiz questions.

I have my booze ready in my bag. So doubtful we will be winners.

Did it!

Finally got my blog list where I wanted it, and hopefully the overlaying HEN HOUSE removed (overlaying geddit) why you Penny?! All now in the right place. And its only taken me three days.......

Mops, mice and other critturs.

One has to get down to it sometime. So why not make it fun. Its probably the most amount of exercise I ever get.

The Dawn Patroller goes off to shop Thursday mornings. So I know that when I am finished, for about 5 minutes, the house is clean. The cats either leave the house or cling on to a spot they hope I am not aiming for.

Whilst emptying a bag of door handles, that was laid on the floor near the new doors awaiting the joiner, a mouse leapt out of the bag. I checked the receipt from B&Q, no mention of a mouse.

It shot under the wine cooler. I could have just said cupboard, but we have a wine cooler, okay. So I opened the patio doors, closed the dining room door, after throwing a cat in.

Dont know whether that worked or not. So I have now returned the bag, later I will bait it with chocolate then in the morning see if the mouse has stuffed itself with chocolate and is snoozing in the bag. At which point I shall throw the bag out of the patio doors. Seemple.
Sheep normally run away from anything on two legs. And four. But seeing the Dawn Patroller walking through the gloom before dawn, with his arm bands flashing red lights, well you just have to settle your curiosity dont you. Then get the DP making a bigger flash right in your face.

The above two pictures show Turnstones, not turning stones.

And a Great Black Backed Gull. As it isnt a turnstone it is totally ignoring the rather large stone to its right.

Still managed an hour in the studio/shed/drinking den in the afternoon. My fat robin isnt fat enough and his eye is a bit odd, but he does now have snow on his branches. Well, not his branches, the ones he is sitting on.

Mopping floors always sends me a bit silly. Good job I dont do it often.

Flying high.

Pink footed geese off to feed.

Bit more of an autumnal nip in the air today.

Art class this morning. We were supposed to be continuing our snow scenes. I was all ready with a photograph of a fat robin sitting on a twig as I had given up on my 'just a branch with snow on it'. But I then asked a question about using masking stuff which had been referred to. To show white in water colour painting there are various ways of so doing. The paper you paint on is white so if you mask it then paint over then remove masking stuff you get white. Comprend?

I was then given a painting lesson which lasted the rest of the two hour session and will stay in my brain for a long time.

Louise has been painting for thirty odd years, probably more, and she still has this amazing enthusiasm and 'oh this is fun attitude' just amazing.

Here is some of her work.

You can see more on www.louisemhewitt.co.uk

Today she painted a tree. The sky. The ground. With snow on it. I really should have taken a photo.

I will be flying high if I can get any where near this!

Just a postscript. I pay just £5 a week as a contribution towards the coffee and biscuits.

Before it got dark I started my fat robin. Tomorrow he gets snowed on.

Women's Stuff.

I would just love the courage to wear a hat. One of our knitting nancies always wears a hat, that she made herself, and they are awesome.

Anyroads, this morning the Knitting Nancies met for coffee. No school as it was an in service day.

A wide range of topics was covered. We totally deffed in the government, manufacturers of furniture, the trains, cost of getting kids through uni, the fact that the British Heart Foundation are 'not allowed to sell knitting needles', but Shelter are. Presumably knitting needles are considered to be bad if you have a heart condition, but not if you are homeless. ?

In the afternoon I faced one of the things which could well bring on a heart condition, buying clothes.
I am happy if I can zoom in , grab something and pay for it. But then you go in the shop, theres nothing in your size and the colour you are not sure about. So you select a garment which might be a bit big, might be a bit small, might scream at your face complexion... To the changing room, a Special Hell. Then comes the stripping off of what you came in with. The curtain never closes properly, and its hot. By this time your face is bright red and would not go with anything.

And the reason for all this?

For the first time in my life I have been invited to go on a hen night - in a stretch limo of all things.

What on earth do you do? For an hour.

A friend advised that you hang out of the windows and scream at the local males. I do that on every trip to town. Especially those in a white van.

After an hour of, presumably, driving around Peterhead, yawn, we are then returned to the Waterside Hotel for a meal. Now last time I went to the Waterside every female had to open her handbag to prove she wasn't bringing in her own booze. Such is the clientele in Peterhead. But this stretch limo "Hasnt got a licence" and we have been instructed to bring our own booze. So that means I have to sink a whole bottle of wine, in an hour, before the meal.

More ladylike stuff. Flowers in November.

Foxglove, no way.
Gorse.
Giant Hog Weed. Totally out of season.

Crocosmia.

Now I need help. I am trying to get the blogs I view on my blog. They are on my profile. But I want them down the side. Like I see on other peoples blogs. After much trial I now have a blog appearing on the top, only one, seems quite haphazard. Suggestions please as to what I should try next.

No way am I asking a man, this is woman's stuff!

So I'm having a bad hair day -

fits your problem?

I keep telling the Dawn Patroller that it is no good returning with pictures of fungi. I bought him a book. I expect him to be bringing home breakfast.

Look closely. Okay you will just have to take my word for it. This is a short eared owl.

And they are big....

Dew drops.
Magnified. Sorry, 'zoomed' . Correct photographic term.

And from a photograph the artist tries to enhance. It got quite a bit fatter and totally out of proportion water coloured in the snow. The pen and ink - well - a deformed kangaroo?

I'm getting there.

As did the installers of the patio door. After quite a few weeks we finally are finished. Well there is still a skip on the drive. But we did persuade them to fill it with our demolished coal bunker.

So, not such a bad hair day.

What is it with the weather?

Last week at the art class we were painting a snow scene, intended to be a Christmas Card.,

I don't think so! It isnt finished yet, and probably never will be as it is c***

This time last year. This is from our previous home a few miles away from where we are now.

We were snowed in.

The sea today. Calm, the sun shone, there was no wind - I almost considered taking my vest off.

And this is yesterday.


But no snow.

This morning I threw open all the windows, it was so hot! 12th November ? How weird is that!

When I went down to the shed/summerhouse/art studio/drinking den I couldnt see out of the windows as they were all steamed up.

We have roses in bloom. Petunias. Geraniums. Pansies. The grass needs cutting. I am sure I saw a bird with nesting material in its beak.

I have just sorted through all the Christmas Decorations (and filled three bin bags with golds and reds for the Charity Shop.)

Whilst the sun beat down and the birds sang.

Whereas I normally do such tasks with 'In the Deep Midwinter' on the cd player. Or similar. Weird. Or what?