Why I look Chinese.

This is the second photograph I have had taken recently where I look distinctly oriental.

And I dont rike it.

The reason is down to old age - as with most things - nothing to do with the wine.  As I am in my 60s I get an eye test every year, which is perhaps just as well as about 6 months after getting new glasses I can no longer see.  Road signs, whether its a ship - or a whale -out at sea.  So although the glasses still work for things near to me, like the level in the wine bottle, I may as well not have glasses for anything else so they tend to be halfway down my nose.  
Hence the oriental image.

  My new optician (should have/would have gone back to Specsavers had I been able to get an appointment before August) looked at me in disbelief when I announced I was driving round without glasses.  But on examining me had to agree that for some reason my long sight had improved.  So another £300.

Fortunately my hearing is, well not 100%, but I so enjoy a good blast of opera.  My car radio is now permanently tuned into Classic FM.  But this grumpy old woman gets totally p****d off with getting into the car, hearing a piece finish and then getting an annoying advert, so I treated myself to -

Down the shedudio, player full blast, and my painting mojo is well and truly back!

Common Terns.

 Baby rabbit washing itself.  Not finished.

 Lapwings to be finished.

 A Black Headed Gull which will have its reflection beneath ....

A herd of nosy coos.  

Good thing nothing on this weekend.

Ha so.

The Bucket List.

Seems to be the order of the day these days.  Having a bucket list.  Although I have not actually sat down and done one as I have no intention of shufflin off this mortal coil just yet, it did occur to me that had I done so I would, very recently, been able to cross some off.

My first sight of a real live hare, and not one of the DP's photos.

 Ok.  This is one of the DP's photographs.  It was so far away by the time I had screeched to a halt and screamed "Is that a hare?"  He got his camera out, I wound the window down, well I pressed the button that does it, and he then focussed, it was so far away he has had to 'enhance it' so it looks like one of my paintings now!

But today......  today was MAGIC.

The DP and I had an art groups meeting in the morning so had gone for lunch to the Lighthouse Museum where he got a text from a bird watching friend to say he had seen Killer Whales at Rattray Head.  Then at St Combs.  So they were heading our way.....

I drove everyone mad leaping up to peer out of the cafe windows.  The DP left me to it.  Most of the customers in the cafe were also considering leaving this mad old woman to it when I saw them.

 

 Sadly my camera is crap.  So I have permission to borrow ones taken by our bird watching friend, Tim Marshall and his wife Joy for their amazing captures.

(I doubt I could have taken a picture with the best camera in the world as I was SOOOOOOO excited. )

For information. On the first photograph, at the bottom right of, you can see two seals.  We have an abundance of seals in the North East of Scotland and that's what Orcas eat.  They also eat fish.  Where I first saw them there were lots of fish as the Gannets were many and diving into the sea to catch them right where the whales first surfaced. 

Perhaps I should now be considering a Bucket List after all.  Any suggestions?

Mixed Bag.

More a catch up.  I may have been quiet on the blog front but have been busy elsewhere.

Back on the physiotherapy with a new group.

Though there are not this many of us and we still only have one exercise bike.

Back to Art Group.

My confidence has had quite a knock from the illness and subsequent break in creativity but it is coming back.  

The three art groups I am involved with which meet at Dalrymple Hall have been planning and organising a joint exhibition with Fraserburgh Photographic Society.

 

My job is to do the advertising including social media.  You can see' Fraserburgh Art Summer Exhibition' on face book. 

As Museum trustee I have been wading through appraisals, job interviews, disciplinaries, and doing battle with our local college on Modern Apprentice schemes.  Too confidential to blog about, although there have been some very amusing interchanges.

And having my eyes tested.

 

 See me peering over the glasses.  That is because I can no longer see anything through the glasses.  When I phoned the opticians we have gone to for over twenty years to tell them this they said I was not due an appointment and the earliest was July anyway.  And couldnt give a sod about me driving, not being able to read road signs, or even see there was a road sign, so I decided to shop more local.  

And indeed my vision has drastically altered.  My long sight has improved.....But I am old.  It was explained to me in a manner I could understand, though dont expect me to repeat it, I understood at the time of telling, ok?  I think its to do with a cataract I have lurking.

Now during this eye examination I had drops put in. So was not to drive.  I had been warned and the DP took me in and then went to a meeting.  I then had a choice of phoning for a taxi or walking up to the Lighthouse.  Wearing sunglasses as my pupils were the size of dinner plates.

So where to do any warm up exercises before the marathon trek?  

I need a bench to hang on to do some of the stretches but  I could give this gentleman a heart attack.

So I set off.  Despite 3 stops where I did my breathing exercises (hung on to a wall and made noises and groaned) I made it!

Though the day after, today, my legs feel like a mixed bag - of aching muscles. 
 

Selling houses.

Advice from Penny at pennyshenhouse.blogspot.co.uk 
to stay calm.  Well, I am at the moment.  APART FROM when you try to view our particulars they do not come up....so how a prospective purchaser finds us aaargh. Plus its the bank holiday weekend so I am unable to rectify.

We had another viewing today.


 

Quite a  difference from our current home.  Village life as opposed to

 
But round the corner is this.

 
Rosehearty is on the Moray Coast.  Left a bit from Fraserburgh.  Fishing village.  It has a proper butcher, a shop, a hairdresser, a post office, a library, a school, two pubs.  (Whooooo I could take up darts again.)

The Dawn Patroller is cramming as much in as possible here.

Our bird count consists of the above plus  blue tit, great tit, coal tit, chaffinch, robin, blackbird, goldfinch,  dunnock, crow, starling, jackdaw, greenfinch, rook, et al.

However at Rosehearty there are 

Sea Otters.  


Right - back to selling houses.   The house we viewed today, as we were leaving I turned and saw this

Ye Gods, tis one of mine.  Thats how you sell a house.  Have a painting on display done by the potential purchaser.  Now how weird is that!.
 

Here we go again..

More house viewing.  The one we viewed last week was fine.  Lovely sea view from a decking balcony.  We watched Dolphins playing.  Sadly there was no where to park a car, it was on a t junction, ok not the M6, but we have a car each and there really was nowhere to park within (my) spitting distance.

And, despite one of our reasons for moving is to have a smaller garden, which it had, the next one we viewed,  it was the garden I fell in love with.  But that too had its downsides.  

I am sure everyone has been there and one decided one is a fool to leave the lovely house one has!  Then the brain kicks in and kicks out the heart.  So back to it today.  Three more, all still no - one too big, one too small, and one that just didnt tick any boxes.  One more on Saturday that both of us have thoroughly examined from the outside, including the WALLED GARDEN.  Always wanted one of those.  So, here we go again.

Now our house is on the market, though we await the signs.  Which is something of a necessity.  I have begun to freegle stuff and no-one can find us.  (Yes, that was one reason for moving, neither would an ambulance.)

Charming whitewashed cottage nestling in beautifully maintained and mature gardens. Seldom does the opportunity arise to purchase a property of such immediate appeal situated in a peaceful country location.

The interior photographs are equally amazing.  What you can do with a wide angle lens.

 

 
Though I have to say our bedroom looks a bit weird.

(Everything is under the bed, including the cats.)

Here we go again.................

Friends.

What a day weather wise!  As I was performing my morning ablutions there were loud bangs and rumblings.  Concerned about central heating and plumbing, the house ones not mine, I staggered through to the kitchen.  I then saw out of the window flashes of lightning and the rumblings and bangs were explained.  This on a day that was grey and very misty.  So, rather strange to be in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Some time ago I had agreed to have a stall to raise money for Pitsligo Castle.

 
Rosehearty (Scottish Gaelic: Ros Abhartaich) is a settlement on the Moray Firth coast, four miles west of the town Fraserburgh, in the historical county of Aberdeenshire in Scotland.
The burgh has a population of approximately 1,300 with about 25 per cent of pensionable age. There is one shop, a butcher, a hairdresser and three hotels in the village.
The settlement which is now Rosehearty was founded by a group of shipwrecked Danes in the 14th century^{[citation needed]}. In 1424 the Fraser family built Pitsligo Castle a few hundred yards inland; the castle was enlarged by the Forbes family in 1570. The remains of the Castle are visible from Rosehearty.
Rosehearty didn't officially exist until it was granted a charter in the 1680s by King Charles II.

Wikepedia.

 Pitsligo Castle as you can see is a ruin.  But one still worth halting the ruin.

So The Friends of Pitsligo Castle was formed and it was they who were on a fund raising two days which was to be just up the road in Peathill Church.

Peathill is now decomissioned as a place of worship but apart from that it is still a kirk.  Pews, pulpit and the unique Pitsligo Pew.

I assume that is where the Laird sat.

Lots of history round this and the Kirk which I may tell you about one day.  But for today I was there to sell pictures.  11 til 4.

My stall.  

 
  Interior of the church.

A pleasant surprise was that the other stall holders were my friends.

 
The other surprise was there was no heating, no refreshments and NO LOOS.

At one point I went out, into the car, heater on full blast and found the public loo in Rosehearty.

Sadly by 1.30 I could take no more  I was frozen solid.  But I am back tomorrow...... with friends.


 

It's getting serious.

This afternoon we had an appointment with the chap who was to take photographs of the house for its House for Sale schedule.  The DP made the appointment.  

(I would have made it for next week to give me a chance/time to do the major declutter.) 

 So I was up at 5.30a.m. to do my bit. 
( I had my Art Group yesterday morning and am still collapsing in an afternoon.)

At 10 I had to be at a board meeting at the Lighthouse Museum.  Hence my early start.        I did quite a bit, including the bathroom cleaned.

 I gave the DP a list of what was to do, as I shot off.  He was not happy to remove things aka House Doctoring and said, "They are buying a dream."  

Well, yes, but not ours.

The Kitchen with window sill almost denuded of mass of orchids, only three flowering at the moment.

Dining room, still looking like a Doctor Who scene - but they are 'buying a dream'. (Psychedelic Nightmare.)

Sitting room.  The above photographs are from the DP.  The Photographer, who had a much larger lens than the DP, went into each room and CLOSED THE DOOR BEHIND HIM ?  Also moved stuff around, which I had said to do should he wish.  He moved the chair in the sitting room where I always wanted it!  But the DP doesnt.  (Its his chair.)

Tomorrow morning we have our first viewing of our list of potential future homes.  The second is Monday.  The owner of the one on Monday works 'off shore' as many do round here. (Oil industry.)  So our viewing is by the handyman of the solicitor. I am sure he will know all about the house.......At least he can turn the key.

Serious stuff going on around us is birth.  Fortunately I am past all that.

Feathers and furry beasts increasing all around us.

Serious stuff but very pleasing.

Now let us go back a bit.  Remember I was up at 5.30a.m. to do my bit.  Well one of my bits is the bathroom I use.  The DP has the shower room upstairs.  So I cleaned the bathroom to within and inch of its life.  It gleamed.

On my return from the board meeting the photographer followed me in so I did not visit the bathroom.  When he had gone I did visit the bathroom.  Immediately I saw the bath.

"Why would the photographer stand in the bath?"  I asked the DP.

"Oh, that would be me.  I was polishing the shiny bits."

Definitely getting serious here.