Fraserburgh Arts Society Annual Exhibition.

This weekend, Friday to Sunday.

My two hour stint was making tea and coffee for visitors.

Who were most appreciative and some works were purchased.


Mine remain ....without a red dot.

But who knows about tomorrow?!  I have another two hour session in the afternoon.


(Bottom left, Oyster Catcher, top right pair of lady pheasants, and below them Common Tern.)

Acrylic Master Class.

Was today.  I think I should take up sculpture.  

One of the tasks set to me was to stare at a red pepper for 30 seconds, then close my eyes, then open them and stare at a white piece of paper and then describe the colours I could see.  Do try it, as it actually works.  Instead of seeing a darker shadow of said pepper, I could see purple, pink, orange, green and blue.  It didnt half make a difference when I painted that below.  No - you are not going to see my finished result, because a) it isnt finished and b) its still crap.

Watching a real artist paint was just awesome.  Two strawberries (yawn - boring)  suddenly come to life on a piece of paper.  I thanked the Lord for her allowing me to still be learning in my 60s.

Also today my three water colour paintings were put into an exhibition.  Still don't know if any or all have been accepted.

Common Tern was one.

The Pheasants, titled, "Handbags at Dawn" was number two.

Number three was the Oyster Catcher in ' a bit of a breeze'.

Meanwhile...........

Whilst I was heavily involved in trying to master acrylic paints  (now dont be silly),  the DP was away to Peterheed and photographed 'real life' in a fishing village/edge of town where they dont just hang up their troosers for drying but they do hang up the fishing nets to dry.    Now I am not really sure why you should need to hang up fishing nets to dry, after all, next bit is to fling them into the sea, but, fear not, I shall find out why.


Possibly another Master Class ?

Zonked. Totally zonked.

Ah,  the baby chairs are empty.  Just to wash now and put one away and return the other to my friend, who kindly loaned us it plus a travel cot and the bi-i-g fire guard.

"My car!!!!" says my eldest grandson when he arrives, is ready to be stored away.

Along with the box of toys and the playmat in its bag, all lovingly made by this grandma from a charity shop buy of quilt cover and pillow case.  You see I am good at some things!

The spread eagled object, in case anyone is worrying , is a fox glove puppet.

Washing machine not stopped yet.  Here is bedding, towels, duvets, pillows, piling up ready to be packed away.

We had one daughter and partner in the summer hoose, and one daughter in a tent!

Dining room, still a disaster area.  Although I did find lots of cans of beer stashed away in the fridge on the right.  Cannot stand cold beer.  Hence they are out now.

A bereft bike.

And a cold fire.

This morning I had to leave it all as was.  Hot footed it to the Cafe Connect for my six mates hanging their pictures, photography, water colours, acrylics, pastels,stained glass,  et al.  I had done all the publicity so they had the press coming to take pics of them, all the labels of their works of art, and their biographies (no wonder my house is still a tip!)

Tomorrow I am entering three of my paintings into an Art and Craft Exhibition at the Dalrymple Hall in Fraserburgh, so had to zoom home to do labels for mine own works.

And!!!! to do the art work for the poster and the press releases for our volunteers next project, Disc Cover Art at the Lighthouse Museum.  Zonked?  I don't know whether I am on this earth or Fullers.

But the sun came out - at last, which then got me thinking about all the plants I have to plant, pot on, weed.  The house to clean.  ........

It is very restful to watch the 'wildflower meadow'  waft around in the breeze (force 4).




But then, you will all be pleased to know I found a bottle of red wine.  Which is one of the best I think I have ever had.  It is called Chocolate Box, Cabernet Sauvignon, 15%! An Anniversary present from yet another outlaw, tho have to say I am glad with having four daughters, none of them have actually made it legal, I really can't afford the weddings.
 I will definitely be zonked tomorrow and I have a work shop to attend on acrylics.........  So when do I clean the house, plant, weed, wash, dry, well I am zonked, totally zonked.  But what the heck, cheers!

The Family Came - then went - phew!

Granddaughter driving up from Lincoln.  With Mum and Dad.

To say hello to Grandma.

 And say hello to cousins.


And an Uncle who plays brilliantly.

We all had a bed time story.

Then grand parents, mums and dads and uncles and aunties did what they do best.

Eat, drink and be merry.

And were warm and cosy while the rain rained and the wind blew.

It is June isnt it?  That is when the family said they would come......and then they went.

Fire and Water.

One frenzied week!

Merrily tootling around in the new car I had rather a heated exchange with Alan from directchoice insurance.  Who blithely informed me that they had 'cancelled my insurance as per my instructions.'  My instructions, quite clear in black and white on my email said, change of car and gave full details.  I was put on hold......It then took Alan from directchoice insurance three days to make me legal again.

You know I never used to use the F word, (well I might have done whence in labour) and my kids were severely punished for so doing, but these days, people just do not do their F****** job properly.

My second rant.  A week last Monday I paid in a cheque over the post office counter.  This normally takes 48 hours to show up on my bank details.  No show.  Went in today with the receipt and one and a half hours later after much phoning by the supervisor at our post office we were informed that no-one knew what had happened but the cheque had  'just' now been processed and forwarded to my bank.  No -one knew what happened.  Well I did, people not doing their ....... job properly.

Calm down dear.

These are Eider ducks playing in the surf.  These are at Blackdog, south of us, north of Aberdeen.  The DP took the pictures, of course, whilst bring youngest daughter from the train station to here, last Sunday.

She has been volunteering at the Loch of Strathbeg Bird reserve this week.  She has alternated between being badly sunburnt (despite factor 30) and drowned.  Clearing ditches, removing fences, barbed wire, and removing ragwort.  She's a lot fitter tho sore!

These pictures were taken at Cairnbulg Harbour.  Isn't the water clear?

It is a very small harbour.  With pleasure boats and lobster fishing boats, unlike the big harbours of Fraserburgh and Peterhead which can be pretty mucky.

Right thats the water, now the fire.  Tuesday was wood burning stove installation day.

A lot of dust, hence the dust covers, as the fitter made the hole bigger and - well, made lots of dust.

I was banished for the day.  I had my weekly coffee morning in Fraserburgh where we finalised the arrangements for the childrens activity mornings we are doing at the Lighthouse Museum in July.  Approval was given to my press release.  Lunch at the Lighthouse Museum where the Business Manager also approved my press release. I returned home but was sent to the summerhoose for the afternoon, such hardship!

 David, our installer, then tested with a bit of lit newspaper that there were no gaps....Not sure why the t.v. was on, was it the football?  Again?


The following day, where are we, Wednesday I went off to my Art class and returned to find the DP had erected the shelf .  This stops the heat from the fire melting the tele.  I might just remove said shelf if there is any more football.


So I just had to spend the whole afternoon vacuuming, I even vacuumed the walls, the shelves were wiped down, the books were vacuumed, the cats left home, the curtains vacuumed.  It worked!  I could go in the room and not wheeze and have to be dragged out blue in colour.

Today is our wedding anniversary.  Tonight the concrete/cement whatever will be set and we can light the fire!


I have a bucket of water ready - just in case.  Tho as the DP  says thats  for him to throw over me if I get too excited.


Fire and Water!

Knowsie House

How about this for a Sleeping Beauty type ruin?  Turrets, propped up by trees.

Fairly modern RSJ above, so someone has decided it had to be propped up, rather than fall down.

More turrets.

Is this not awesome?

There are many such ruins round about here, as I have related before.  I try my hardest to research.  Not only what they were, but why they have been deserted.  The latter I fall down on every time.  

Why was this beautiful structure left to fall apart?

The only mention I get from Google is interesting but leaves the story without an end.  Other than to....

......Colonel William Macconnachie (10 March 1848 - 27 January 1932) was a Scottish businessman, and politician
He was born on 10 March 1848 in Dufftown, Scotland. After leaving school in 1864 he worked in wholesale and retail business, then started his own business in 1870 as shipbrokers and herring merchants, on Quarry Road, Fraserburgh, which grew to be one of the largest herring exporters in Scotland.
From 1874 he served in a number of positions on the Town Council, leading to his election as Provost of Fraserburgh in July 1898, following the death of Provost Dickson. William also represented Fraserburgh on Aberdeenshire County Council and in 1890 became a Justice of the Peace for Aberdeenshire and a junior baillie, and from 1896 a senior baillie. Politically he was a Unionist.
In 1884 he also took command of H Company of the local rifle volunteers.
He was involved in the improvements to Fraserburgh harbour and in the successful petitioning to have Fraserburgh made a port of registry, separate from Peterhead. From 1899 he resided at Knowsie House, Lonmay.
He died at Knowsie House, Lonmay, in 1932 aged 84 years.
Wikepedia.

If anyone has any idea how I can find out any more as to why this parish has so many beautiful ruined buildings I would be so grateful.

AND I cannot find the meaning of Knowsie.

And finally, back on the home front.  Youngest daughter has landed.  She is spending a week away from managing the posh cheese shop in Edinburgh,  I.J. Mellis, and volunteering at the Loch of Strathbeg, RSPB bird reserve.

                                                          Being welcomed by Sith.  

The Dawn Patroller.

Well now, the DP actually does not get up and off at Dawn.

2.30 a.m. the Blackbirds start singing, as it is light.  In fact it does not really get dark at all up here in the North East.  

As we sleep with our window open, Blackbirds are not my favourite bird of the moment. 

Plus I then spend the rest of the day singing, a la Paul McCartney, "Blackbird singing in the dead of night."  Which gets a bit wearing for the DP.

So, off he goes.  The photograph above is of Rattray Lighthouse.

Below, some seals on the beach at St. Combs.  From whence you can see the lighthouse.

A lonely poppy.

Evening mist and the sign post near our garden.  

  You would not believe the amount of cars which screech to a halt, reverse, look again, and still do not know which way they should be going.  As nothing on the sign means anything.  Turn towards Cortes and you can then go to Aberdeen, Peterhead.  But it dos not say so, the sign.  Their SatNav brings them thus far and then abandons them.  


Lonmay School, is no longer a school, but a private house.  Carry on in that direction and you come to another junction which is equally not informative.  So we get many knocks on our door.....

Sith being an ornament.

Minerva McGonagall and the DP share a book.

And finally I become a Granny Racer, (as opposed to a boy racer.)  Well, it is that sort of car.