Culture in the North East of Scotland.

Fraserburgh is home to the Scottish Lighthouse Museum. Every year there is a knitting event. Last year the knitters clothed the fishermens nets drying poles. This year it was knitted fish.

These are all knitted fish.

Sent in or delivered by their makers. Some from across the pond. Some from Australia, Canada.

Also octopus, conger eels, crabs, lobster, jelly fish, and the odd mermaid.

This one was knitted in wire and contains pebbles from the beach.

I also discovered there is a knit and natter group meets at the Museum Coffee shop on a weekly basis, so guess where I am going next Tuesday morning.

One of the main worries for the museum and the local tourist industry is that the museum will be closed over Winter this year due to the cut backs. A real backward step. For everyone.

We had a voucher for a lunch buy one get one free at Maitlands, the Department Store in Fraserburgh. So thats where we went next. It also had some art work being displayed, which I do not have a photo of. But I have one of me instead!

The art work was made from real sheeps wool made into pictures. I really did not like this medium. Although one of the pictures was of a ram. That was good, but Marilyn Monroe made up of sheared sheep did nothing for me.

Our next stop was Pitullie, north of Fraserburgh. Eastlight Photography. This was in the home of Paul and Lisa Woodburn. So not only did we get to see Pauls photography. But also Lisas lovely signs for the loo and the kitchen etc. and some poppy pictures on varnished stones from the beach. And this fantastic cottage with wood panelled walls and a wood burning stove. All in the old fishing village. Which in itself was a delight.

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Then it was on to Isobel's. Isobel Gregory had her studio in her daughter's holiday cottage just across the road from the photography studio. But with the advantage of the amazing sea view.

Isobel is amazing. Paintings, jewellry, [ictures made from carrier bags, one was a lighthouse labelled, ASDA, Lidl, Tesco.... we came away with a guttersnipe, a cormorant made from a recycled gutter on a piece of driftwood. Real cormorants can be seen out of the window.

Moving on further up the coast we paused briefly to take a photo of this seal at Rosehearty.

Then on to Rural Frames Workshop/Gallery. This was in a farmyard that closely resembled a Giles cartoon of a farmyard. Knee deep in mud and tractors everywhere. Christina had some wonderful pictures where the media was pastels and I got really fired up. She also had a lovely cocker spaniel called Jarvis (Jarvis Cocker).

Here's Mike outside her studio.

Christina also does framing and showed us this huge machine - a bit like the paper guillotine many of us have in our offices, but this cut glass, very scary.

So we returned home. Absolutely zonked with all the culture. The art, the variety of it all.

I shot down the shed and found the pastels and did some awful pictures of Sith cat and Minerva cat. Made a note to take photographs of them so they dont keep moving when you are just about to make life of an eye..... or twitch an ear just as you have it drawn pointed forwards.,....Mike has been recruited to a photographic club. Goodness me.

And we still have another full day planned for tomorrow. Off to Gardenstown, the village that apparently boasts more millionaires than anywhere in the North East, also some strange religious groups and schisms, so see you tomorrow for more culture in the North East of Scotland.