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.....

Coast Festival.

At Banff and Macduff.

The above picture is of Banff.  The Bridge over the River Deveron.  And thats the way in for me coming from the South.  I also drive through Macduff, which has a harbour where they build boats.

and repair them.

Banff likes to think of itself a bit more upmarket than Macduff.  Needless to say I far prefer Macduff.

However, I concentrated my visit on Banff today.  Both towns put on the Coast Festival.  A celebration of arts, crafts, music, and loads of other stuff.

Like musicians wandering about playing clarinets, oboe, and if I had stayed long enough I am sure someone would have come along with an accordion, also present while I was there was a very small pipe band, and really tickled me that the leader had a Yorkshire accent.  This I witnessed whilst trying to extricate my car from the public car park, as they were practising in the bit that said "LEAVE CLEAR" , for people like me wanting to use the space to reverse then leave..... Not easy trying to avoid killing a wee drummer.   Who was being shouted at by the Yorkshire Leader, "Dont you strop on me."

The reason I concentrated on Banff was that friends of mine were exhibiting in an empty shop there.  This empty shop would make a fantastic permanent art gallery, being huge and all white walls.  It was 'Bargainland'.  But the bargains ?  Well it went bust.

Not the best photo, but this was a woman playing the clarinet.  At Banff Castle, which to be honest, just looks like a house.

Next to me at another table, I was having coffee and a cake, was this chap telling stories/poems.

I returned home having missed loads, but its on tomorrow as well.

The DP was clearing more of the cut hay (ex wildflower meadow)  and later having had a text message shot off to see a pod of Killer Whales, it all happens here.  

So I did  a bit of painting.  Having seen some of what was on offer today, at vast amounts of money, I felt I should....

I had my own coast festival of what is on my coast.

Mainly photography.

Redshanks lining up again for the camera!

Oyster Catchers in flight.

First two pictures via the Dawn Patroller.  The above is from Graham Taylor, who has kindly allowed me to reproduce and eventually paint a picture.  I love Oyster Catchers.

Following pics from the DP.

The Sovereign, Cairnbulgs wreck.  During the Perfect Storm earlier it moved from the right of the beacon to the left.  It has also now a new claim to fame as it was used to promote the film ''Life of Pi."

Sadly, the perfect storm did more damage to the top of the boat.  Although still expected are the film buffs who apparently visit to see the original.  I should be back doing b&b again!

And a fishing boat returning to Fraserburgh Harbour, past the Golden Horn (lighthouse) which also suffered considerable damage in the perfect storm.

Last night the DP and I went to the post Christmas Fraserburgh Photographic Society evening.  Idea being you bring all the stuff you havent managed to consume at Christmas.
Well no,  all made that day, the members are in the main quite elderly and a piece of mouldy Christmas Pud might have seen quite a few off.

Our entertainment for the evening was enthralling, seriously, photographs of Fraserburgh Past.

At the end of the evening we were stacking chairs, clearing up, when a female voice over all the others shouted, 

"George! Remember Triple BYPASS!"

Followed by a smaller female voice,

"Hysterectomy."

I was still laughing when I got home.

You will be hung and probably drawn and quartered.

Yesterday I went along to Cafe Connect in Fraserburgh to be hung.  (so thats the hung).  The delightful Amy, who is the expert at hanging did all the work.  You will notice a space above my head.  Ha, had to come home and start another wet hen to 'balance' the hanging. ( so thats the drawn.)

 There was more of my work, a total of twelve in all, but out of shot.

Cafe Connect is a lovely wee cafe.  Full of computers which for the price of a coffee or whatever you can get access to.  All our libraries have free internet access but it is not allowed to slurp a cappuccino in there.....

I had a phone call today from Cafe Connect.  "Its good news and bad news."  Always ask for the bad news first.  "Can you do another big painting?"

Now was that the good news or the bad?  Had the big painting fell off and smashed?

NO!  It was sold!!!!!!!!!!!!  Normally when exhibiting if a painting is sold a red dot is applied and it remains til the end of the exhibition.  But the purchasers were moving house .....  

Well, it was like selling my children.  

Quite thrilling!

Earlier I attended the Craft Group at the Mission.  We will draw a veil over my efforts at making t bag folding(I think thats what its called) as I came late, not being told it was a craft session which started an hour earlier,  and expecting just a coffee/tea gathering.  Obviously been dropped out of 'the loop'.  Hmm. (possibly now been quartered.)

So I spent some time taking photographs out of the window of our lovely harbour.

And then hurtled off home to work out what to paint to replace the hens with.  


Update on the new technology.  I have managed to get the tablet to connect to the internet.  I have taken, inadvertently, a photo of the kitchen table....one of me frowning as I pressed another button, sorry, waved my finger at it, and am now trying to get photographs from the computer on to it so I can do what I bought it for......use it to paint from.  I need a daughter.

A snapshot of the year of the Dawn Patroller.

Roe Deer in the field behind our house.

Whooper Swans above the house.

Fraserburgh Harbour.

Cairnbulg Harbour, three fishermen.

Mute Swans with pink legged Goose tagging along.

Short Eared Owl.

 Great Tit

                                    

Fox

Grey Partridge.

Dawn is now coming a bit earlier as the earth tilts again, so I shall be booting him out, watch this space.

Visitors and visiting.

Long Tailed Duck, visiting from Norway.  Looks to me as if he has already celebrated New Year, is that the make up or the camera darling?

This is a whole host of Red Shanks perched on Cairnbulg Harbour wall.  Usually you see the odd one pootling about by the shore line, so to see this lot has inspired me and got the artitistic juices flowing, I feel a 'wet' redshank painting coming on.  That mass of orange legs and beaks and all that soft feathering in between, Oooooo.

 Sandhaven Harbour.

A lot of the smaller boats are pulled up onto the shore, or the sides of the harbour, or however they remove them from the sea.  Obviously bigger boats need a crane, I do know that much.  They need to come out for safety, once the wind gets up, they bash about quite a lot. Presumably also to paint their bottoms and scrape the limpets off, you can tell I know little of the housekeeping here.

This one does look very smart does it not.

As does this duck.  This is no ordinary duck.  The Dawn Patroller has been shooting off out, camera and binoculars and telescope at the ready at the mention of this duck being seen and had, until now, failed to spot it in amongst all the others.  The others being Eider Ducks.

This is a KING Eider duck.  

 Also from Norway.

The one below is just a common Eider Duck, common as we have loads of them here, but the above does cause a buzz amongst the twitchers.

Though I think they are both beautiful, and the latter always reminds me of a Matador.

So what or who have you been visiting?  Cos I dot know about you, but I am totally bored, with this huge gap between the big C and New Year, stir crazy!

Boxing Day Madness.

Even the weather went mad.  It was not raining.  It was not windy.  Bright sunshine, but very, very cold.

To raise money for our wonderful lightboat, the"Willie and May Gall",  some foolhardy, nay brave, souls leapt off said lifeboat and swam across the harbour.

Here goes FC.  I should point out that if the surf is right, no matter the temperature, the surfers are out in force on the beach, but they have wet suits.....

The Christmas Fairy?

A cold Christmas Fairy.  70 years old.  Same age as our Christmas Fairy!

This is the 15th life boat from Fraserburgh since 1806 when the first lifeboat in the country was launched at Fraserburgh.

There have been many tragedies over the years.  Some boats were self righting, some were not.  Until 1915 oars and sail powered the boats. 13 lifeboatmen have lost their lives over the years.
Even today the lifeboat is crewed by volunteers.  And not just men.

Thats it folks, Happy Boxing Day.