WOOLLIE WANDERINGS

5 Years ago

2012-01-26T18:55:00.003Z

5 years ago I sat in the cusp of the blog world.....then I took a dive in....

I can't believe that this little space has lasted 5 years. I am sure when I started out with that first post on the 28th of January 2007 that I thought I might keep it up for a few months. But no, 5 years has passed and this space has continued to be my journal, allowing me to record my wanderings and all the woollie that has taken place, but much more than that - it has allowed me to make connections with so many great people, to learn new skills, use my craft to spread hope (Craft Hope - pop on over - project 16 has just launched) and has in many ways opened up the world to me (through the blogs of others!) So I just wanted to say a big thank you to all you blog writers and blog readers out there for the continued inspiration, the friendships made, the crafty swaps engaged in.....and the opportunity to remember what I was doing in any given month for the last 5 years!

There have been some woollie and some wanderings going on this month.....I promise...

I made an Owlet sweater from Kate Davies' lovely pattern....in fact I made 2 from one 400g ball of yarn. It's much greener than it looks in these photos - early morning winter light however bright it might seem, is not that great for taking photos.

I bought the pattern just before Christmas and by the 29th of December I had finished an 18-month size sweater and a 6 month size sweater. They knit up so quickly and best of all as they are knitted in the round, minimal sewing up. I think it took almost as long to sew on the 32 buttons for eyes as it did to knit.

In other woollie our Wednesday night knitting group ran a knitting and crochet class at the DCA in Dundee on Sunday afternoon - 12 people went home with new skills! Good day all round. My photo was used to publicize the class (not a picture of me you'll be pleased to know, but a photo I took).

It was funny to see it in leaflets and on posters!

Wanderings have not taken me far this month.....a trip to Edinburgh for dinner at L'Escargot Blanc to celebrate a friend's birthday - and a great meal was had - it was their mystery menu so you don't know what you are getting but it was a great 3 courses. We had crostini with poached pear and goats cheese as a starter; a speciality from Lyon for the main course - a pork gayette - sort of meatball made of pork meat and pork liver; followed by Ile Flottante (floating island) for dessert which is a minimally cooked meringue which floats on a bed of creme anglais - light and delicious.

I've taken trips to the beach, to knitting group in Newburgh, to Dollar Glen with the National Trust where I spent the day happily playing in the mud......but with glorious sunrises and sunsets from my window - it's been hard to drag myself out!

Beautiful Winter's Day

2012-01-07T19:27:00.001Z

It's funny how people always say it rains a lot in Scotland (see the little YouTube video in my last post for a classic example). It's true it does rain quite often, but what often surprises people is that it tends to rain more in the summer than it does in the winter. Often in winter we have cold, bright and sunny days....the sort of days where you know you need to drag yourself outdoors into the cold to stare up at the bright blue sky and to soak up some much needed sun.

Today was one of those days. So instead of staying indoors and stripping paint, I went out to for a walk to the beach with a friend. We were walking along the shore and the tide was high so there wasn't a lot of beach to be seen but it was still lovely to be out.

As we reached the point and turned south, I noticed 2 large birds of prey flying overhead. At first I thought buzzards, but then I realised that they were huge! Amazingly, it was a pair of sea (white-tailed) eagles. These are the 4th largest eagles in the world and used to live happily all over Scotland, but the were hunted to extinction in 1918. Since 1975 there has been a planned reintroduction project in Scotland, starting on the west coast, but since 2007 they have been reintroducing the birds to the east coast too. After some research, I think that these birds were released in 2009.

I have never seen one before so today was special! We stood and watched for around 20 minutes as they circled overhead and stood on the pine trees watching the horizon.

I was in awe of their majestic grace - just look at those wing tips!

New Year Resolutions

2012-01-06T22:43:00.000Z

I don't often make New Year Resolutions....so taking the lead from Simple Lovely's lovely blog I have a few things I will try to do more of and a few things I'll try to do less of - oh and one formal resolution!

OK, lets start with the resolution - that one is to give up coca cola, diet coke, coke zero and to limit my intake of any other fizzy drinks full of sugar. I've moved over to sparkling water at work/home and soda water and lime when in the pub.

The things I'd like to do more of include: run; knit & craft; see friends; eat fruit & veg; DIY to get my house into shape; read more books; watch more films at the DCA cinema; hill-walking; raise more money so this is built in Dundee (that's a work thing but also something that will be amazing for Dundee); volunteer with the National Trust Conservation Volunteers.....

The things I'd like to do less of include: eating sugar/cakes/sweets; getting stressed; buying clothes (I have many as my drawers will suggest - of course - this didn't last long as I managed to buy 2 tops yesterday - but that's it for a while!).

Must share this with you! A friend from work sent it to me and it's fab. We've been spending quite a lot of time thinking about Scotland's design heritage in recent weeks and Pringle is one of the best - 195 years of Pringle being celebrated in this cheeky little YouTube video....

2011 in Food

2012-01-03T20:24:00.002Z

Touring the UK, France and Spain this year.........eating local produce, trying the local delicacies.....finding out that there are a few things I just cannot stand no matter how often I try them - coriander and celery being examples. Other things beginning with "C" I do love - cake! And I had some amazing cake in 2011.

Boy - France has good cake!

2012 - I want to learn to take better photos of food (one of my favourite things) and I plan to quit drinking coke! 2 days in.......hoping the headaches will disappear soon!

To 2012

2011-12-31T16:17:00.002Z

2011 is almost over, a year full of ups and downs for me and I think most other people in the world. I hope that 2012 is positive, the politicians decide to stop acting like politicians and make the brave decisions necessary to support the world's economy and that all my friends and family have a positive, fun-filled and loving year!

Here's to health, happiness, friends and family! Happy New Year!

Now to end 2011 - here's a few photos of the destinations travelled to this year..... more images from 2011 to follow!

Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-21T22:09:00.000Z

The tree is decorated, I've finished work for the holidays....Christmas is a coming!

The tree is decorated and the lights are bright both inside and out!

Here's a few of my favourite decorations:

This little Inuit was bought at the shop of the Newfoundland and Labrador Craft Council in St Johns, Newfoundland - she and 2 of her sisters came home with me - there was a black felt one for my mum and an orange felt one for my friend Ally. They are beautifully made and I know I will always treasure mine.

The grumpy Christmas panda - made by me with pre-felt and needle felt.

Snoopy and Woodstock - my oldest decoration, given to me by my parents when I was a child.

Hanukkah Santa - bought at the Christmas Market at the Jewish Museum in Berlin when I went to the Christmas Markets with my friend Allyson and drank gluwhein at 11am and felt a little merry!

And here's the natural Christmas lights from sunrise the other morning!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Chez Moi

2011-12-10T16:04:00.001Z

I went to buy my Christmas tree yesterday - it was already netted when I bought it so it was only once I managed to get it in the stand (had to buy 2 of those and take the first one back as the trunk was too fat) that I realised I had a tree that was as wide as it was tall!

I didn't go out with the National Trust today but did do a little tree destruction at home - took quite a number of the branches off the tree just to neaten up it's shape a little.

I always love getting my Christmas decorations out of the boxes, but it was all the more special this year because this is the first time I have had a tree in my flat (well the first time in the flat that I bought last year - my first owned home) as I didn't have a tree last year (too much going on). So out came the box of decorations and with them many happy memories.....

The 3 moose on the tree, one I bought myself when I visited my aunt in New Hampshire, one my mum bought me when she visited my aunt in New Hampshire and one my relatives in Vermont (one of whom died this year) sent me......the Snoopy ornament I have had since I was a child, the Inuit I bought in Newfoundland, the many I've bought at German Christmas markets I visited with my parents or friends in Aachen, Cologne and Berlin, others from Freshly Blended's Annual Ornament Swap .....I am still in search of my "new" decoration for this year.

I love this traditional German decoration that my friend Mariana gave me - it's from Seiffen, a small town in eastern Germany famous for it's Christmas decorations (that have spawned many a cheap imitation).

Here's the mantelpiece - my parents gave me most of these decorations - apart from the Danish tomten which I bought myself from the Danish Christmas shop 2 years ago.

December

2011-12-05T17:34:00.001Z

It's been a busy couple of weeks, working lots and lots trying to get a funding bid submitted. It finally got submitted last Wednesday (arrived 40 minutes before the deadline). Then this weekend friends arrived from London for 4 nights and that involved trips to Edinburgh and St Andrews, dinner with friends and a trip to the cinema.

Edinburgh at Christmas time always looks magical. The architecture is lit, the trees are sparkling and the German Christmas market is in full swing.

Princes Street Gardens

National Galleries of Scotland

We had hot chocolate, gluwhein and warm pretzels and enjoyed the spirit of the holidays.

On Saturday night we went for dinner with friends - we had raclette followed by mulled wine cake and feuerzangenbowle (red wine, a sugar cone, rum and flames).

Wandering on the beach at Tentsmuir on Sunday was bracing - blue skies and a chill wind certainly helped to blow the cobwebs away.

Looks like we were on stilts!

After the walk we headed off to the cinema to see Martin Scorsese's Hugo - I loved it - my friend Karen thought it was a little long - I guess 2 hours for a children's movie is quite long, but it was beautifully shot. I would recommend it! It was a lovely way to pass a cold Sunday afternoon!

November - Whoosh, Bang, Wallop and it's almost gone!

2011-11-23T23:12:00.001Z

Gosh, where did November go....there's only a week left and it all seemed to happen in a blink.

Last weekend I took part in a Reindeer Run at Glamis Castle - a 10k organised to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, where you are given a pair of antlers and a flashing red nose before the race starts. I am sure I could have run faster than 54 minutes if I hadn't been carrying antlers the whole way round ;-) It was fun and a beautiful place to run and I am sure I'll do it again next year.

Here's a link to the story in the local paper - if you can see the pictures I am there somewhere in picture 3 of 16.

Race t-shirt

My friend Francoise visited from Germany on Saturday and we took a day trip to the East Neuk of Fife and walked from St Monans to Pittenweem and had lunch at the Cocoa Tree . It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the walk. Not so sure Francoise enjoyed the 36 hour journey home = delayed due to fog!

Sunset over the Firth of Forth!

The knitting group have been knitting penguins. We are making them so we can do a toy drop at the Christmas Lights Switch on - if a kid finds one they can take it home, give it a name and love it! A little bit of Christmas cheer

Penguins Galore!

Lest we Forget

2011-11-11T23:31:00.001Z

Madrid

2011-11-06T22:17:00.001Z

There was a lot more to Madrid that just food....honest!

We visited the Reina Sofia Museum (a little disappointed - it was a large building that didn't seem to contain much, with minimal direction for the visitors) and the Thyssen Bornemeszia Collection - definitely not disappointed - one of the best galleries I've been too and I've been to quite a lot. A collection built over years by the Thyssen family, now on public display - over 1600 paintings from the 16th century onwards....Picasso, Van Gogh, Franz Marc, Kandinsky oh and to my joy 3 little Klee's around a corner, just as I had said the collection would be more complete if there had been a Klee! Had chocolate and churros (typical Spanish dish thick rich hot chocolate with doughnut like pastries to dip in the chocolate) at Chocolateria San Gine, walked through El Retiro Park, took in the cathedral, markets galore, crowed over the architecture, wandered the shops, met an old friend for dinner and ate a lot of tapas - octopus, fish, croquetas, chorizo, patatas bravas.......yum.

All in all a good few days was had!

Museo Reina Sofia

Old Market

El Retiro Park

Madrid Cathedral

El Retiro Park

Annual Craft Fair

2011-11-04T07:36:00.000Z

It's that time of year again....the once a year that I have a stall at a craft fair....well, I have a stall at a craft fair with 3 friends....so at least I don't have to make too much. Which is just as well as production has been at an all time low this year. I have managed some cards, some knitted Santas (3), some appliqued bags (12), some fabric necklaces, some tree mobiles (2) and some Christmas decorations....I had plans for so much more....but neither the time or the motivation.

Oh and it's that time of year when the sunrises are amazing again....

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T17:04:00.001Z

OK- reposting an old photo but I still love the Mummy!! Happy Halloween Everyone!

Mercado de San Miguel, Madrid - A Market for the 21st Century

2011-10-27T21:52:00.001+01:00

Staying near the Opera in Madrid, my friend Tracey and I stumbled across the gloriously restored Mercado de San Miguel. It would seem that Madrid had a number of covered markets and the Mercado de San Miguel is amongst the oldest. As the only remaining iron built market in the city (built in 1916) it was already quite special, but the beautiful restoration that has been undertaken makes it even more special. With it's soaring wooden roof and glass walls, this is a place to go and buy food but more than that....it's a place you can go to enjoy a taste of great quality local foods whilst sipping a glass of rioja.....

There are 33 "stalls" selling the best of produce. You stand at each counter where you can buy taster sized portions...... then wander over to one of the many small tables dotted around the market to drink your wine and taste the gourmet delights you purchased - we tried bacalao, croquetas, stuffed olives, cheese, paella, octopus, wine, ice cream .....oh and the mini burgers in mini buns.

It's open from 10am everyday to midnight (2am at the weekends) with it taking on the appearance of a wine bar after 10 when the food stalls close. It seemed very popular with locals and tourists alike - and we were hardly surprised - we were there 3 times in 3 days. If you want to eat outwith the usual Spanish hours it seems a good place to go.

Way Behind...

2011-10-19T22:33:00.001+01:00

Hello!

I am way behind on my posts - just too many trips in a short space of time. I'm just back from a flying visit to Madrid to catch up with a friend from the US who was there for a conference. What a great city.....helped I imagine by glorious autumn weather. Posts will follow, but in the meantime, some shots of what I seemed to photograph most - food!!

Favourite Photos

2011-10-11T22:48:00.003+01:00

Along with the new header photo here are a couple of my favourite photos from recent weeks.

I love that the dew settling on the dandelion clock makes it feel so much more substantial than it actually is!

I love the colour of the "blob" of moss like stuff that had formed on the wild rose - I've seen it once before, not sure what it is. My mum thinks an insect lives in it.

Nature is so beautiful, so inspiring and so worth taking a close look at!

2011-10-10T22:56:00.003+01:00

Provence 2011

A week in the south of France, all the way there from Dundee by train (OK I stopped in London for 2 nights each way)....from the grey, damp summer in Scotland to the beautiful bright blue skies and warming sun of Provence.

My friend Karen and I rented a house in Arles. It was a beautiful house, just newly renovated, impeccably decorated and right in the centre of town, just 50m from the Roman arena.

Arles was a great base to explore Provence, although to do justice to the area you'd probably need to spend months rather than a week. We spent a couple of days just relaxing in Arles, wandering the town, visiting Roman remains, eating ice cream, sitting on the roof terrace listening to the crowds in the arena...

We took the train to Avignon one day - to visit the Papal Palace (I didn't know that from 1309 to 1376 the papacy moved from Rome to Avignon), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built over a period of 20 years, this immense palace dominates the Avignon landscape. We also saw the half bridge made famous in the song Sur le pont d'Avignon.

We hired a car for 3 days which definitely makes it easier to see Provence. We took a tour to the Camargue to see flamingoes, to St Remy de Provence, where Vincent Van Gogh spent his last years, to Pont du Gard to see the Roman aqueduct, to Gordes high on the rocks of the Luberon, to Uzes in Languedoc - a beautiful town of outdoor cafes, alleys lined with renovated buildings, cute little shops - a great place to spend time. We ate ice cream made with violets and sea salted caramel, had tapas in a cute little restaurant called La Querida in Arles.... I got to swim in the sea at Saintes Maries de la Mer and in the river at Pont du Gard, fulfilling my need to swim outdoors at least once a year! All in all a fantastic week!

Back from my Travels

2011-10-02T22:26:00.001+01:00

I have had a lovely September, a week in Provence in the South of France with my friend Karen and a week in Northumbria in NE England with my parents. Posts to follow on all the adventures.

We had such amazing weather for late September in NE England - almost like being in the South of France!

Back in the Land of the Living

2011-09-20T22:00:00.001+01:00

Gosh, I've been away a while. Sorry. There just didn't seem to be much of excitement to post about. Everything was good, just everything was normal...just day to day....

Now I am just back from 10 days holiday - 3 days in London and a week in Arles in Provence in the south of France...in beautiful blue skied countryside. Unfortunately I left my camera at my parents so can't upload any photos at the moment - that will have to wait.

So what of other excitement......another trip to London already planned for next spring. This time to spend a night in an amazing place....an architecturally designed space on the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's South Bank, overlooking the River Thames, between the London Eye and the Tate Modern. A space that will only be there for 365 days....2012....where only 2 people a night can stay...some nights are available for members of the public to book and other nights are reserved for artists and musicians to make what they will of the space and the experience.

A Room for London.....

Developed by Living Architecture, a social enterprise that aims to enable people to experience world class architecture, they have asked architects to design holiday accommodation, around the UK that people can rent for holidays. Try the Shingle House in Kent, or the Balancing Barn in Suffolk or the Dune House in Suffolk.....soon to be joined by the Long House in Norfolk and for one year only A Room for London. A Room for London is designed to look like a boat that has been washed up on the shore, perched as it is, high above the South Bank on the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

With views like this nearby I am looking forward to this adventure.....

2011-08-28T08:27:00.001+01:00

Hmm......cakes!

I discovered a website last week, a website about Parisien patisseries....a website full of magical confections that make my heart sing (and if I ate them all I am sure it would make my heart stop!). I would be careful about looking at the website if you are hungry.....Paris Patisseries.

I was pleased to see, in their top 17 confections a number from one of my favourites included, Pain de Sucre. Each one of these 17 cakes is a mini work of art, a mouth-watering delight. My favourites include No 14, Lily of the Valley and No 4 Tarte au Caramel Beurre Sale. What are your favourites?

Photos from the windows of Pain de Sucre.

2011-08-16T21:12:00.002+01:00

Woollie went to Edinburgh

When Mariana was visiting from Seville last week we took a trip to Edinburgh to do a little wandering and perhaps a little shopping. With the Fringe and the Festival on the city is lively and there's always lots to see. We went to the West End craft fair which was full of beautiful handmade goodies and then to the recently reopened National Museum of Scotland on Chamber Street. The Museum has been closed for a number of years to undergo a £46M refurbishment. Can you imagine that on the first day that it opened 22000 people visited. The museum was a big part of my childhood, we would take the train to the "big city" and go to the museum or the botanic gardens.

The galleries are as impressive as ever....with a building this stunning that wouldn't be difficult.

After lunch we went for a wander round the shops and headed into an old favourite, White Stuff, which had moved to new premises on George Street. I decided to try on a dress, and what a surprise I got when I headed to the changing rooms.....faced with a corridor full of old wardrobes I thought I was going to have to try on the dress in a wardrobe, but surprise!! It was a little like the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe...or perhaps Doctor Who's Tardis - the wardrobe opened into a larger room. The first room was decorated like a Scottish tourist shop and then the girl working the changing rooms said we could look in the others as they are all different - one was a toy shop, another a Tiki Bar, another a garden shed, or a disco, or a kitchen....truly amazing! Definitely worth trying something on just to see.

Oh and Anthropologie has opened on George Street too!

2011-08-03T22:31:00.001+01:00

Woollie Wanderings

I've been out and about and home. Lots going on.

Stirling Castle - We visited Stirling Castle on Sunday to see the reconstructed Royal Palace which opened in early July. Following years of research and painstaking craftsmanship, the Royal Palace of James V (constructed in 1545) has been recreated (inside the original building) to show it in its prime - bringing the Scottish Renaissance Court to life.

It includes the King's Bed Chamber, Inner and Outer Sanctums, the Queens Chambers etc. The walls and fireplaces have been painted, the Stirling Heads (a series of carved wooden bosses that adorned the ceilings) have been recreated, with the originals now residing in a purpose built museum, furniture recreated along with fabrics and wall hangings and 4 of the 7 tapestries that are being recreated using traditional weaving techniques and based on the Hunt of the Unicorn series, originally woven in Belgium in the 16th century and now housed in New York's Metropolitan Museum, adorn the walls.

Royal Fireplace

Queen's Bed Chamber - yes, there was a bed, but it isn't where the Queen slept

One of the Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestries

The Stirling Heads

There are 2 tapestries to complete. They will be finished in about 18 months. One is being woven in the temporary weaving studio in Stirling Castle and the other at West Dean Tapestry Studio in Chichester. It's great to be able to go to the studio and see the tapestry in progress. When we were there on Sunday the fifth tapestry had just been finished, cut down and was waiting to be hung in the Queen's Chambers. It was great to be able to talk to someone with specialist knowledge and find out how it's done.

The tapestries are made using hand-dyed Wensleydale yarn; each one taking between 18 months and 4.5 years to complete, taking a total of 12 years to complete. In the 16th Century, a series of tapestries would cost about £2000 (and a warship £3000) and there were over 100 in the Royal Collection (none of which survive), then the Royal Court was certainly showing off its wealth.

Spectacular and definitely worth the visit. As I renewed my Historic Scotland membership I will be able to go back again in the near future and take the audio tour.

Visit the Castle's blog for updates.

2011-07-17T14:45:00.001+01:00

Bento Boxes

The Japanese know how to do packed lunches......buy a ready filled bento box in supermarkets or create your own lunches and store them in your reusable bento box. Plenty of blogs out there focus on bento box lunches.

A friend and I recently ordered a bento box each from Casa Bento and they arrived on Friday. Now the challenge will be to make exciting lunches that fit in the boxes....any suggestions welcome.

I bought an Ojue box by Metaphys that I first saw over on Spoon and Tamago. The Ojue lunchbox stacks vertically and therefore allows it to be carried in the slimmest of bags. It comes in 3 sections which can be used individually or together, depending on the size of your lunch.

It also comes with a matching pair of chopsticks, that fold up and fit in a small compartment in the lid.

Tomorrow will be the first outing of the bento box - probably giant couscous with roasted veggies.......and perhaps some strawberries!

Now if I could just get my hands on a Black and Blum Lunch Pot - my future lunches would be complete!

2011-07-08T20:46:00.000+01:00

Printmaking

I took an Andy Warhol inspired trip into the world of screen printing at the DCA a week ago on Saturday. This one day class was an introduction to screen printing and a lot of fun. My chosen image was Kermit the frog (they had a pile of images to chose from and my friend Andrea and I both chose Kermit).

We learned about the screen printing process and went through various stages of painting on a non-permeable ink to act as a barrier to the paint, choosing the colours to print with, to create our own image, before the photographic image itself was magically transferred to a screen and printed on top of our work.

According to Wikipedia, the original screen meshes were made with human hair! I am so glad we've moved on to man-made materials.

Kermit's eyes drying!

My 2 colour combinations

The one good print....there was a problem with the transferring of the black and most of the others came out too dark - but I think I will frame this one!

2011-07-05T19:48:00.000+01:00

Bruges - a little history of cultural significance

Bruges (and indeed many towns in Belgium) are home to begijnhof (dutch) or beguinage (french) established in the 12th century that were home to beguines - religious women who sought to serve God without retreating from the world. Poor and elderly beguines in an order were given a small house, generally built round a courtyard, secluded from the town by a gate.

These were independent religious women in NW Europe, and UNESCO recognises many of the beguinage in Belgium on their World Heritage List - demonstrating the characteristics of urban planning, religious and traditional architecture. The movement declined in the 18th and 19th century and many of the beguinages changed or were demolished.

In Bruges the Ten Wijngaerde Beguinage (which is now a monastery inhabited by Benedictine nuns) is the most famous - a place for quiet reflection, white painted brick buildings built around a grass courtyard planted with trees, a small chapel and museum.

The way in from the outside and the inside....

The main house in the beguinage, where the grand dame lived.

2011-07-03T22:04:00.001+01:00

Woollie Weekend

It was a glorious day.....one of those rare days in a Scottish summer when the sun shines all day.......and all seems right with the world.

St Monan's Harbour - here's what happens when the sun shines and the water is a balmy 14 degrees!!

After the walk from St Monan's to Pittenweem we had to stop at the Cocoa Tree for a snack - amazing raspberry milkshake.....hmmm......

Renovation in St Monan's has led to the creation of the East Pier Smokehouse, open again for the summer - took a peek inside - smelt amazing and you can buy smoked salmon, langoustine, garlic, fish..... definitely worth stopping by - open Saturdays and Sundays.

Day was ended with a BBQ at friends. It was still glorious at 8pm!

2011-06-29T22:07:00.000+01:00

Japanese Goodies

A friend has just been on a tour in Japan for three weeks and had a fabulous time - Japan is open for visitors and they were most welcoming. Andrea said that many Japanese were coming up and thanking them for visiting - so if you have dreams of visiting.....now is a good time to put your faith in Japan.

Andrea took some of the yen I had leftover from my trip and bought a few goodies for me......

This book is full of adorable toys to make- but of course I don't know what it is called. It's ISBN is 9784471400620.

I love the camels' legs and the giraffe is cute too!

Fabulous folders from the amazing Itoya - stationery heaven!

When I had friends over last night Andrea brought round a range of Japanese Kit Kats in the strangest of flavours for us to taste - Cherry Blossom, Green Tea and Wasabi Kit Kats - amazingly they were all green!!

Thanks Andrea for the reminders of Japan!

2011-06-28T23:04:00.000+01:00

Woollie in Belgium

So no this time I wasn't in Amsterdam, although the windmill and the canals were enough to think that I was.

I am just back from 5 days in Belgium for work and a little leisure - visiting Brussels and Bruges.

I have worked in the Policy and Europe team for 13 years and yet this was my first work related visit to the home of the European Union in Brussels. It was an interesting visit, attending an EU awareness session, a conference to launch the Smart Cities agenda and the networking forum to search for potential project partners for European funded initiatives - all in all an interesting 3 days in Brussels.

On Wednesday afternoon I headed to Bruges (Brugge in Dutch) for another meeting and some me time.

Bruges is a beautiful small city about an hour by train from Brussels whose medieval centre is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With a range of architecture and most of it's medieval centre intact, winding canals and chocolate shops galore it's hardly surprising that it's a bit of a tourist mecca - it did at times feel a little like a medieval Disneyland, complete with "It's a Small World" boats plying the canals.

Life revolves around the many squares that dominate the city centre, with restaurants and bars with summer time tables outside.

However, perhaps the best bar is Staminee de Garre, which is not to be found in one of the squares, but up a narrow alleyway, hidden from sight. On two floors (I wouldn't like to be descending from the upper floor after too many beers) the bar is tiny, with only about 40 seats but sells perhaps the largest range of Belgian beer (127 to chose from) and jenever (Flemish gin). They also brew their own beer - and each drink is served with a little plate of cheese - very tasty!

My meeting was Wednesday evening (which included dinner in the town hall, being entertained by medieval style court jesters, musicians and magicians) and Thursday morning so I had Thursday afternoon and until about 2pm on Friday to wander Bruges, drink beer, eat moules frites and buy chocolates.

Bruges is a great place to spend a couple of days......

2011-06-26T23:58:00.000+01:00

Woollie's Been Wandering

Sorry for the silence here the last week or so....I've been off on my wanders, this time work related with a little leisure time afterwards. Update soon, but till then a few photographic hints from the past week???

2011-06-14T21:07:00.000+01:00

Knitting

I made a hat for my friend's little girl. The pattern by Two and Six for a Beehive Beanie was based on Saartje's Knits adult pattern. Fun to knit and it looks like it will fit for a while! I bought the wool whilst on holiday in the Lake District and I am afraid I can't remember what it is - but I'll definitely get 2 hats out of one 100g ball.

Not really the time to be giving woollie hats, the start of summer, but we are talking Scottish summer here....so when I gave the hat to its little recipient on Sunday it was perfect weather for wearing it to a BBQ. And she looked like a little gnome - with her red hat and her little strawberry covered face!

2011-06-11T23:30:00.001+01:00

Woollie Home

I've been almost a year in my new flat and hmm.....I haven't achieved a great deal - the kitchen is still not finished, the spare room is still more junk receptical than bedroom and there are a few areas in need of some paint......but I have done a few things......

Bought some furniture:

I got this pre-loved Ercol wardrobe at an auction a couple of weeks ago - solid elm and filled with my growing collection of COS clothing (another habit to break!!)

It goes with my coffee table that I bought last year.

My wool has a home in an Ikea Expedit unit with a hint of red..... 4 little drawers full of wool.

My friend went to Japan for 3 weeks - and no I am not the slightest bit jealous ;-) and she left me her tomato plants to look after so I created a little garden in the living room window....not sure that the plants are exactly thriving - but I haven't killed them either!

2011-05-30T21:51:00.000+01:00

Woollie Weekend

I was away with the National Trust again this weekend. This time, all 4 of the Scottish conservation groups were together on one project. We went to Mar Lodge, 77000 acres of the Cairngorm National Park that the National Trust for Scotland have owned since 1995. The current hunting lodge was built in 1895 for Queen Victoria's grand-daughter Princess Louise and her husband the Duke of Fife, hosting summer and autumn hunting parties for 25 guests, catered for by 50 staff. It is thought that Mar Lodge has played host to more members of the Royal family than any other private home. Now you can rent an apartment and enjoy your own weekend in this vast estate.

We were staying in the base camp - part of the converted stable block and whilst basic it was luxury compared to our usual National Trust accommodation i.e. village hall floors. This one had beds and showers!

I was in one work party. Our task was to remove an old fence from the Allanaquoich Flats - a large grazing area. We removed fence clips with fencing pliers and hammers, we pulled up old fence posts and we wound metres and metres of fence wire into piles. The weather was mixed - we watched wave after wave of rain wash down the valley, drying nicely in the sun in between.

Saturday evening there was a BBQ and we got to eat in the Ballroom - not for the vegetarians amongst us - decorated with 2345 deer skulls!

Sunday we took a walk around the beautiful Linn of Dee (River Dee) - forest paths leading into the open moorland so typical of Scottish upland countryside. We saw herds of red deer and one of Scotland's most loved mammals - a red squirrel.

Sorry for the blurry squirrel picture - taken at 12 times zoom up a tree!

2011-05-23T22:38:00.005+01:00

Things I Like

Running - actually that's a lie but I force myself to do - so I can continue to eat chocolate! Just a little over 2 weeks ago my friend Celine signed us up to run the Hairy Haggis Relay at the Edinburgh Marathon - it's two 5 mile legs and two 8 mile legs - so yesterday I spent most of the day either on a bus, waiting to run or running. I managed my 8 miles in 1 hour and 20 mins - was hoping to be faster but it was really windy and rained heavily a couple of times whilst I was running. Overall the 4 of us in the team managed the marathon in 4 hours and 1 minute.

This lamp:

I first saw it in a copy of Living Etc and decided that I wanted one for my living room - there are quite a few red accents in the living room - a ghost candelabra and a couple of cushions so it was just perfect - and the price also seemed pretty good. So now it resides on my shelving unit in the living room.

My new sunglasses - bought in TK Maxx on Saturday morning. I have a narrow face so it is often hard to get glasses that suit me - these ones I love!

The V&A at Dundee:

This is the big project in Dundee at the moment that we are looking to raise £45M to build - having a branch of the acclaimed Victoria & Albert Museum (often considered the best design museum in the world and resident in Kensington, London) in Dundee to host their large scale exhibits and to promote the heritage of Scottish design and its impact on the world stage - think Pringle Jumpers, Jean Muir fashion, Charles Rennie Mackintosh architecture to name a few (oh and of course the television and the telephone).

Following an international design competition Kengo Kuma & Associates, architects from Tokyo were chosen to design the building - see the image above and this weekend Kengo Kuma himself was in Dundee to give a series of public lectures. I went on both Friday night and Saturday night to hear him speak and left inspired.....and excited to be working on the project.

Kengo Kuma explained how he loves to use local materials, how 21st century architecture should blend with its surroundings, how fantastic he thinks the site for the V&A at Dundee is, how he loved the flow around the site of water, wind and light, how the 21st century museum should act as a living room for the city and is about more than just the physical content. It will be an amazing addition to Dundee....it will revitalise the city.

Anyone know any millionaires that would like to make their mark on a city? Here's a short video showing you the proposed developments. The beige buildings are the ones that are there already and the coloured ones are those that we hope will be developed as part of the waterfront regeneration - and the V&A at Dundee goes a long way to helping us achieve that!

(And before anyone asks - the dolphins are wild and live in the River Tay.)

Kengo Kuma has designed a host of beautiful buildings in Japan, China and France. These include the Suntory Museum of Art, whose floors are made from reclaimed oak whisky barrels, the Nezu Museum, the Bamboo House at the Great Wall of China and the Nagasaki Art Museum. Browse his website for some amazing buildings!

His buildings are aesthetically stunning and images drew many gasps of delight from the assembled crowd on Saturday.

To the future of Dundee!!

2011-05-16T23:10:00.001+01:00

Spring in the Lake District

2011-05-15T20:27:00.001+01:00

Spring in Colour

I spent a few days in the Lake District last week - weather was mixed, but whatever the weather the Lake District always looks amazing and the colours of spring were everywhere to be seen, from the hawthorn blossom adorning the hedgerow, the cow parsley dominating the roadside to the orange and yellow of Welsh poppies, to the amazing purple of the knapweed, to the pink of the red campion and the blue of the bluebells....

2011-05-06T22:31:00.000+01:00

Last Week in Woollie

Posts about Lille seem to have been taking up my blog space of late......now it's time to rectify the balance a post a little about normal life, so that you don't think I spend all my time travelling the world!

Cherry blossom season is ending.....

Apple blossom season is beginning.....

Went to Kellie Castle in Fife on Saturday with the National Trust - we were removing Japanese knotweed and snowberry - non-native, highly invasive species but we got to eat lunch in the beautiful walled garden, famous for it's collection of old-fashioned vegetable species such as the 21 varieties of rhubarb to the blue potatoes.

Wall based bee-hive (not really got bees in it any more)

Fresh honey, straight from the comb/hive....yum......

After my Sunday morning run....with the sky still blue and the sun still shining....some of us headed off to Broughty Ferry beach for our first paddle of the season......brrrr....... before heading to a friend's garden (much more sheltered) for a BBQ and some weeding....I am a weeding addict.....I admit it!

Here's the latest knitted creation.....the recipient arrived a healthy 7lb 14oz yesterday morning!

2011-05-03T21:12:00.002+01:00

Weekend in Lille - La Piscine

We took a trip to the small town of Roubaix, linked by metro to Lille. With a history in textiles, the city experienced economic decline........however, they have worked hard to revitalise their economy (I could take lessons from it back to my own job) and have developed a number of new opportunities. One was the innovative decision to create a museum formed in the city's disused art deco swimming pool and public bath house - "a temple to hygiene". The pool was designed by Albert Baert and opened in 1932 and closed its doors in 1985. Reimagined as a museum it opened in 2001.

Using the pool as the centre piece of the museum, the stunning glass "sunrises" at either end, the tiled changing rooms converted into gallery space...housing the town's collection of art and textiles. Drawers on the upper floor open to allow you to experience the tactile nature of the fabrics and textiles on display. It is an amazing transformation, maintaining the integrity of the original building and creating a unique and breathtaking space....that outshines the art!

To make you feel at home in the swimming pool, every so often, they played a recording of children's excited squeals and splashes.....

We spent ages taking photos of the gallery - and enjoying more cake from Meert on the terrace outside in the sunshine!

2011-05-01T20:39:00.002+01:00

Weekend in Lille

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

John McRae 1915

One thing we had decided we wanted to do in Lille, before we left on our trip, was to do the tour of World War 1 sites in Flanders organised by the local tourist information office. We arrived to book the tour to find it had been cancelled that weekend due to lack of interest.

However, for a few more euros each we were able to book a private guide to take us on a tour. Aurore from Trottin nord turned out to be an excellent guide and we profited a great deal from her expert knowledge and her car - allowing her to vary the tour to suit our wishes. I would highly recommend her if you are ever in the area and was thoroughly moved by the experience of visiting these sites - unable to imagine what the beautiful rolling, lush, green countryside must have looked like in 1918, covered in trenches and land mines, treeless and desolate. Unable to imagine it taking 10 years to "cleanse" the land and return it to its population.

My grandfather fought in the First World War. At the age of 18, in late 1917, he joined the Scottish regiment, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. In early 1918 he shipped to France and from what we can gather fought in the trenches around Lille - potentially in Bethune, Hazebrouck, Arras, Bapaume and Artois.

That's my grandfather, back right.....he looks like a little boy, a little boy soldier, who at the age of 18 went off to fight in a war, a war that killed over 885000 British soldiers....luckily he returned, but my dad said he never talked of his experiences in France.

Our guide collected us from our hotel at 8am on Saturday morning (yes an 8am start on holiday!) First was a quick stop in Lille itself to learn a little about the role of the city in the war. We saw memorials to the members of the city's resistance shot by the Germans in 1915 to the only memorial in the world recognising the role of pigeons (think carrier pigeons) in World War 1.

We then drove north from Lille, deep into the region of Flanders, that straddles France and Belgium, devastated during World War 1 when it became a landscape of trenches and craters and men fought bloody battles to gain metres of land......

First stop was Ploegsteert (nicknamed Plug Street by the British troops), where Winston Churchill (Prime Minister hero of Britain in World War 2) fought in 1916. We drove on to the Ploegsteert Memorial...built in 1931 to commemorate the 11,447 men with no known graves who died during battles in nearby Armentieres, Loos, Fromelle, Hazebrouck etc. It is surrounded by a number of graveyards including the Hyde Park Cemetery and the Berks Cemetery Extension. One grave here, commemorates a 16 year old, who lied about his age to join the army and by the time his mother was able to get the army to start looking for him to bring him home he was already dead.

Many of the names used in the area in World War 1 have strong London connections - this includes the trench called Oxford Circus or Regent Street.

Every Friday at 7pm the Last Post is still played at this cemetery to commemorate those that lost their lives.

We then moved on up the N365 towards Ypres, stopping near Messines to visit the Peace Crater. In the early morning of 7th June 1917, the British army blew up 19 mines that they had spent many months digging out to undermine German positions. The tunnels were dug by Tunneling Companies of the Royal Engineers, mostly by men known as clay kickers, who lay on their backs and with spikes on the soles of their shoes kicked out the mud and clay to create a tunnel (the quietest way to dig a tunnel). 17 of the 19 mines were all exploded in unison in June 1917 and the crater created by the Spanbroekolen Mine was purchased in 1920 to create a memorial. The explosion created a hole 76m across and 12m deep...

Our next stop was the incredibly moving Tyne Cot Cemetery, close to the strategically important town of Ypres (Ieper). Here, 11,954 allied soldiers are buried, the largest Commonwealth military cemetery anywhere in the world. A further, 34 587 men who fell in the Ypres Salient, whose graves are unknown are also commemorated here.

Over 8000 of the 11954 graves belong to unidentified service men.

I was unsure of what a salient was, it seemed historically important and have since discovered that a salient is a battlefield that extends into enemy territory and is surrounded on 3 sides. The Ypres Salient saw some of the heaviest fighting in the 1st World War, with over 90000 British and Commonwealth troops being killed.

After Tyne Cot, we headed to Ypres, captured early in the First World War by allied troops, Ypres was strategically important throughout the war. The city itself was almost totally destroyed but was rebuilt exactly as it was before the war (following a long debate about whether it should be left destroyed as a memorial to all that fell there) and today it has many magnificent buildings including the Cloth Hall and the cathedral.

On of the most moving sights in Ypres is the Menin Gate. It was built in 1921 to commemorate the British and Commonwealth soldiers who lost the lives on the Ypres Salient - remembering 54896 men.

The Last Post (click here to listen), is played here every evening at 8pm, as it has been since 1928. The exception being the 4 years during which time the town was occupied by the Germans in World War 2. On the evening following the town's liberation by Polish troops, the ceremony was resumed. A moving tribute to thousands of men who gave their lives......

2011-04-24T22:07:00.003+01:00

Lille - A Weekend in Cake

Lille had so many good things to offer but the food was certainly one of the highlights. Be warned, if you are hungry you may want to grab something before viewing this post - the pictures could be a form of torture!

Friday evening we ate at La Cloche, a brasserie/bar opposite the Opera House. It was a nice enough place but I wouldn't go back - I think that there are lots of better places to eat in Lille, as we discovered the next couple of nights.

Following a long morning touring the countryside around Lille (but more of that in a later post) we headed into the city centre and followed our noses and greedy eyes to Vieux Lille's (Old Lille) rue Esquermoise and the most famous patisserie in Lille - Meert. Meert has a patisserie, with the most amazing cakes in the window, a chocolaterie with homemade marshmallows (guimauve), chocolates and sweets, an 18th century tearoom and a restaurant built around a sunny courtyard. We decided that we would go with the healthy option - cake for lunch!

At 5 euros for a slice of cake it's not cheap....but it is heavenly. The cakes are presented as mini works of art worthy of the Louvre or the Musee D'Orsay.

Our choices: I had vanilla millefeuille - a delicious confection of slightly chewy pastry filled with Madagascan vanilla confectioner's custard......

then there was the chocolate covered and filled meringue confection that almost killed Ali (that's it with the little M on the top below) and the choux pastry filled with chocolate, topped with a thin slice of white chocolate and a macaroon (to the right of the photo below) that Karen enjoyed.

After:

More views in Meert's window (not for the faint-hearted or the sweet-toothed - be warned!)

But Meert is not the only amazing patisserie in the city, on almost every corner in Vieux Lille (the maze of old cobbled streets that you could spend hours wandering around, discovering great shops, pretty little courtyards and a host of restaurants and bars) there is a patisserie or a boulangerie just screaming at you to come in and taste the goodies. Aux Mervilleux de Fred on Rue de la Monnaie is another must - famous for it's meringues covered in whipped cream and rolled in flaked chocolate

Or indulge your desire for macaroons at Patrick Hermand on Rue Masurel - a window filled with colourful bites of delight.

Dinner on Saturday evening was in the delightful La Pate Brisee on Rue Monnaie, famous for its flans. Filled with locals and tourists alike, friendly but brisk service and tasty food. Set price menus are available for all (not just a concession to tourism). For less than 13 euros we enjoyed a main, a dessert and a drink. I chose the Salade du Maison - a plate of lettuce, sliced mushrooms, ham and 3 small triangles of different flans - covered with salad dressing that sat in large jars, with ladles, in the middle of every table. My friends both had tarts - huge slices of tart, with salad. Delicious and highly recommended.

Sunday morning we went to the Wazemmes Market - it would appear that everyone in Lille was here, the streets being empty, apart from the square and streets around the market - which were thronging with people from all walks of life, the food piled high on market stalls, the senses assaulted by the colours, the smell (roasting chicken) and the sounds of Lille en masse. The outdoor market is open on Wednesday and Sunday mornings but there is also a covered market which is open everyday.

Look at the mountain of strawberries!

A more upmarket market can be found in Place de la Concert on a Sunday morning.

Sunday afternoon we headed to the town of Roubaix, just north of Lille to visit La Piscine, a museum and gallery housed in an art deco swimming pool - but more of that amazing little gem later.....back to the cake.....we ate cake for lunch again in the Meert run cafe in the gallery. This time I had the chocolate tart....it was chocolate heaven.....looked beautiful and tasted great - smooth, rich chocolate on a crunchy biscuit base....

We took the tram back to Lille and headed to Les Comapgnons de la Grappa, a small restaurant with outdoor tables in a sheltered little courtyard (off Rue Lepelletier) that we had spotted on our wanders....another treat! Typical food from the region on offer.....I had croquettes aux crevettes grisees, (shrimp croquettes made with North Sea brown shrimps) which were delicious, Karen the duck salad and Ali the carbonade flamande - a traditional sweet and sour beef and onion casserole cooked in beer and brown sugar.

All of this food....and what did we drink with it......Belgian beer....Kasteel Rouge and Leffe Ruby to be precise - beer made with cherry or other red fruits - delicious! Particularly served at a table sitting outside a bar overlooking a beautiful square after a day of sight-seeing.

2011-04-22T22:43:00.002+01:00

A Weekend in Lille

Lille, northern France, close to the Belgian border. The growth of tourism boosted by the development of the Eurostar station in 1993, with Lille forming the axis between London, Brussels and Paris.

Lille (the Isle, L'Isle in French) is a beautiful city and great for a weekend visit - the perfect size for a weekend of wandering - not the bustle of Paris but with plenty to keep you engaged....from some of the best cake I've ever tasted, to Belgian beer, beautiful architecture (both old and new), museums, great shopping, a modern transport system (the first fully automated underground in the world i.e. no drivers) and World War 1 history surrounds.

2011-04-21T22:32:00.003+01:00

Spring in France

How to pass time in the spring - visit friends in France and visit France with friends.

First stop, Paris for 2 nights to visit old friends that used to live here in Dundee - not seen for 14 months and in that time their 3.5 year old daughter stopped speaking English (they speak Spanish at home) and they added a now 1 year old son to their family. It was lovely to spend time with them and to practice my schoolgirl French - I think I realised my limit - speaking to an almost 4 year old in French was quite easy.....speaking to an adult not so much.

Isabel, Beatriz and I took a trip into the city centre, we went to the market at Rue Richard Lenoir in the Bastille area

Art Deco Underground Station at Bastille designed by Hector Guimard

and walked to the Marais, spending some time playing in the sand and fountains (ok not actually in the fountain) in the beautiful Place des Vosges, built between 1605 and 1612. Before having lunch and heading home to spend the rest of the day with the boys I just had to make a small stop at my favourite shop, Entrees des Fournisseurs at 8 Rue des Francs Bourgeois to pick up some felt - this time I bought chocolate, pink and aniseed....now what to make?

Place des Vosges

Paris Cafe

Tutu

The following day it was off to Lille to meet up with friends from London for the weekend.....

2011-04-19T22:13:00.001+01:00

Spring

Just a few hints of spring from my recent wanderings (more on which to follow).

2011-04-10T21:16:00.000+01:00

Woollie Weekend

An unseasonably warm dry spell hit Scotland this weekend (we are all hoping and praying that this was not summer.....) which encouraged some running; walks on the beach; afternoon barbecues; making giant couscous, wheatberry and roasted butternut squash salad; glasses of Pimms and some knitting for winter....

It would appear I have a thing about knitting fruit and veg at present.....

2011-04-08T21:45:00.002+01:00

Woollie Week

It's been a busy week over here in Woollie. Work meetings in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow so not a lot of time in the office. I had an afternoon off in London which allowed some wandering, a little shopping and the chance to meet a friend for dinner.

Buckingham Palace Guard

Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner

Inside the Natural History Museum

Kensington Flower Shop

Magnolia Tree

Serpentine Cafe, Hyde Park

Cherry Blossom

2011-04-01T16:44:00.000+01:00

Carrot Hat - Take 2

I have finished the second prototype of my carrot hat. This time it's knitted mainly in garter stitch with the carrot ridges knitted in stocking stitch - I think it works better.

Here's a reminder of number 1.

2011-03-27T22:32:00.001+01:00

Woollie Weekend

I've had a fabby weekend - spent in the company of many good friends. Saturday I was at a wedding in Edinburgh - it was scary when the best man said of the groom "I first met David 20 years ago".......has it really been that long......then we realised that it was 20 years since 5 of us lived together in Glasgow - a great year of fun and laughter and the cementing of lifelong friendships. The gang includes a friend I met when I was 3, another I met when I was 11 and university friends........partners and children.

I don't usually post photos of friends here without their permission - so sorry - but that's me in my wedding finery. Not the dress I mentioned in my last post, but the other one that I tried on last week - I sent my mum back to Glasgow to buy it for me (and took the stone coloured one back to the shop yesterday). I am happy with the decision - will definitely get a lot of wear out of this dress. As usual, my favourite shop COS came up trumps!

Today I managed a quick trip to Habitat - finally bought a couple of light fittings - haven't had any lightshades since I moved house last August.....now the bedrooms will have lightshades at least - still looking for the living room though - before I headed home to Dundee and an early dinner with friends - Greek style - (Marios parents and sister were visiting) - roast leg of lamb, fava dip - a recipe from Santorini and dolmades made by Marios' mum. Thanks guys!

I was excited having made a trip to Wait*rose on my way home (Edinburgh is the nearest branch of this upmarket supermarket chain) to find giant couscous! I have been trying to find a source of giant couscous ever since I first tasted a salad from Marks & Spen*cer made with giant couscous, wheatberries and roast butternut squash and wanted to make my own. But giant (often called Lebanese) couscous is hard to find....imagine my delight when I found it in Wait*rose.

2011-03-18T21:15:00.000Z

Some Knitting

So instead of making my book pile smaller by actually reading one....I made it bigger by buying another....this time is was David Mitchell's "The Thousand Autumn's of Jacob de Zoet". Now I really must start reading again.

I have managed some knitting however - a prototype - a carrot hat for my friend at work's soon to be baby. I am onto the second style to see which one works better....

I hope you all have a lovely weekend! I started mine with an afternoon off work, in Glasgow (following a meeting) where I met a friend and bought a dress to wear to a wedding next weekend - now I am in a dilemma - the dress is a very pale grey/stone colour - do you think it is ok for a wedding? Not too close to white? I plan to wear it with a bright coloured cardigan and tights.

Tomorrow is knitting group at Twist in Newburgh and following a leisurely lunch with friends, a trip to the Saturday evening lecture at the University - this week it is the Ig Nobel Lecture - focusing on the 2010 Ig Nobel Prizes - prizes that focus on science that makes people laugh and then makes them think. The Engineering Award for 2010 went to a project that perfected a way of collecting whale snot using a mini helicopter; whilst the Physics prize went to research that showed that people slip and fall less often on wintry footpaths if they wear their socks over their shoes.....

Sunday I am off to Yu Spa at the Apex Hotel for a massage, swim and lunch - all in all sounds like a good weekend to me!

2011-03-14T22:41:00.001Z

Books by my Bedside

I'm not really sure what I have been doing with my spare time (i.e. the at home time) because I sure as heck haven't been doing much crafting, house painting or tidying up. I haven't even been doing much reading.....I have an interesting pile of books beside my bed but just haven't the inclination to read them. Hope that it comes back soon!

1. Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie - a Scottish classic, based on the true story of a bunch of islanders during World War 2 who found a ship load of whisky (the water of life) washed up on shore and the hilarious lengths they go to to hide it from the authorities - since the island had run dry of the golden nectar!

2. My Life in France - the autobiography of Julia Child - Paris post war......food and my favourite city - what's not to like.

3. Norwegian Wood - I have had this Japanese contemporary classic by my bed for 2 years now - the film arrives at the DCA in April and I had hoped to read it before I saw the film.

4. The Kings Speech - seen the film, now I want to read the story behind the film.

5. Born to Run - the story of the Tarahumara Indians from Mexico who run ultra-marathons in bare feet and the benefits of the running barefoot- thanks to Beth for the recommendation - I think I am going to enjoy it.

6. The Hare with the Amber Eyes - the silent sleeper on the list....hard to publish, a growing success - the story of one family told through the history of a collection of Japanese netsuke, following it from Paris, France, through World War 2 (as a Jewish family) and back to Japan.

2011-03-06T18:31:00.002Z

Weekend Work 2

This week I was away working in someone else's garden.....this was a garden owned by the National Trust for Scotland at Culzean Castle. This garden is 600 acres of beach, woodland and formal gardens....but luckily we didn't have to "do" the whole garden.

Our weekend plans consisted of 2 projects:

1. Rhododendron eradication (a never ending task to remove this invasive, non-native species). The eradication focuses on rhodendron ponticum, brought to the UK (along with a lot of other lovely, less invasive species of rhododendron) from the Iberian peninsula. Whilst it has pretty pink flowers, it has been shown to impact on the surrounding environment, reducing the number of earthworms, birds and ground growing plants. The removal process included slash and burn....followed by removal of the roots by tractors. We were only engaged in the first 2 stages.

Before we started

Mid-way in the process

2. Silt clearing - removing silt from the burn feeding the Swan Pond on the estate and then clearing leaves, mud, logs and the like from around the small islands in the pond....a smelly, wet, mucky job involving waders and a lot of squealing!

After the work - sorry it's blurry

Muck on side of burn

The estate itself is really beautiful. With its fantastical castle built in the 18th century for the Kennedy family, the Scottish Kennedy family, one of Scotland's oldest family's who could trace their connections back to Robert the Bruce. The neo-classical castle was designed by Robert Adam, who was the leading Scottish architect of his day, who had free reign to design the castle. This included a ruined arch as an entrance to the castle, ruins showing family history, even those these were built at the same time as the castle alongside formal walled gardens.

Today, the estate is a marvellous place to take a walk, through the deer park, down to the beach which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, through the woodlands, along the cliff path and into the walled gardens. The photos below weren't taken this weekend, (they were taken the last time we visited in July 2008), the weather, whilst dry, was grey and therefore not conducive to great light!

Culzean from the Gardens

Home Farm - where we stayed

Boardwalk to the Beach

2011-02-28T20:17:00.000Z

Weekend Work

This weekend I was helping my friend Jennifer in her garden.....or in her jungle....in an attempt to ensure that this summer she at least has a garden to sit in! We've spent time the last couple of years trying to tackle the undergrowth and the trees and whilst amazing progress has been made, every year it never seems enough to keep it at bay. So this year, Jennifer organised the troops and we spent 10 hours or so this weekend trying to clear the garden and level it off, so at least she can plant some grass!

The garden as we started....removing endless paths and weeds. We managed to fill the skip by 2pm and then had to start making piles in the corner of the garden again.

The garden when we finished on Saturday (I was back on Sunday as we tried to remove even more rubble and roots).

The hired help!! OK, whilst it was back-breaking work, we wouldn't have achieved half of what we did, if it wasn't for the micro digger!!

2011-02-27T18:32:00.004Z

Woollie Weekends

Last weekend I was in York, beautiful city in north east England - Viking, Roman, Medieval city with remains of all these eras in evidence. It's a favourite place of mine and I know I have talked about it before on this blog. This time, however, I wasn't really there to experience the city and its history, more to just have a fun weekend. I was off on a hen weekend with 13 other girls, so whilst I managed to have a good walk about and a wander round the shops I also saw the inside of a lot of pubs and restaurants.

This photo was taken the last time I visited York, it was raining too much to take too many photos last weekend!

This photo shows part of the Wall that ran around the city (mostly medieval dating to between the 12th and 14th century, but some dating back to Roman times - whilst the walls are not intact, long segments do remain along with a number of the city gates - named Bars - you can still see Mickelgate Bar, Monk Bar, Bootham Bar and Walmgate Bar.) It also shows the towers of York Minster in the distance. I took a little movie - more so you could hear the Sunday morning bells as opposed to seeing the Minster - as you can probably tell from the fact that the movie is sideways - I am not the best movie-maker! Can't even hold my camera properly!

The Shambles is an old medieval street in the heart of the city where some of the wooden buildings date back to the 14th century. In fact the street was mentioned in the Doomsday Book, so we know it has been in continuous existence for over 900 years. It used to be home to the city's butchers and at one time, this short little street had 25 butchers shops - but no more...it's a lot more touristy these days, although there is a lovely artisan bakers and a wool shop!

Betty's Tearoom - famous York institution

Cakes!!

Cocktail making class!

We all went to a cocktail making class at Revolution Vodk*a Bar which was a lot of fun! We had to prove that we'd managed to ensure the cocktail glass and the shaker were well stuck together before we started shaking - hence the reason I am holding a cocktail over my head! Now I know I really like a Mud Slide and French Martinis!

And for the craft aficionados amongst us - the wool shop on the Shambles is called Ramshambles and has a range of Noro, Araucunia, Debbie Bliss, King Cole (and more) yarn.

I also discovered another yarn/wool shop in Walmgate (but unfortunately I didn't discover it until Sunday morning when it was closed). It's called Grace and Jacob and is mostly felt making and spinning and they have lots of classes and a spinning night. There's also Poppy's on Colliergate and Duttons for Buttons on Coppergate. And of course there is the Quilt Museum too.

Check out the York Craft Trail if you're ever in the city.

2011-02-13T22:24:00.001Z

Wandering Scotland

I went to Edinburgh Castle today, perched mightily on a volcanic rock, overlooking the city. With my annual membership of Historic Scotland, entry to the castle is free and whilst I enjoyed my visit, I must admit I was relieved that I didn't have to pay the standard £14 entry fee - I think I might have been a little disappointed. Anyone planning on visiting Scotland - take advice from the Scot.....if you really want to see a great castle visit Stirling Castle.

Take a walk to the esplanade of the castle in Edinburgh and have a look, but for views over the city climb Arthur's Seat for free and then catch a train to Stirling and visit the castle there. This summer, the culmination of a £12M restoration project , will open at Stirling Castle. The Palace Project will return the six ground floor apartments in the castle's Renaissance palace to how they may have looked in the 16th century. This has included a wide array of traditional skills - creating magnificent 4-poster beds; heraldic decorations on the ceiling; carved toy soldiers 4.5cm tall; the creation of 7 tapestries to decorate the Queen's Inner Hall and more.

The castle has recently created a gallery to house the Scottish Heads.....33 carved oak medallions which once decorated the ceilings of the royal apartments in the castle, carved with the faces of Scottish kings and queens.

The castle has already seen the successful renovation of the Great Hall, the largest banqueting hall ever built. It was built in 1503 and restored to its 16th century glory in 1999.

So, I enjoyed Edinburgh Castle, but really can't wait to be back here extolling the glory of Stirling Castle.

2011-02-06T22:15:00.003Z

Woollie Hats - Chinese Year of the Rabbit

I made a couple of hats for friend's kids this week using a pattern I found on Ravelry - I adapted it somewhat but the motif remains the same....rabbits....it's spring....it'll be Easter soon.....rabbits.....it's the Year of the Rabbit.....rabbits.....

I'm still not sure I've quite mastered stranded knitting - it's still tighter than the plain garter stitch, but at least they are a little stretchier than the first one I made.

And since I haven't been up to much else of late here's a few shots that I took over the past few months....

Sunrise from home, February 2011

Amazing snowmen - December 2010

2011-01-27T08:09:00.001Z

Woollie Wonders

I got a knitted sheep for Christmas - most knitters seem to like all things sheep. This one is fun and even better you can buy a kit to knit your own...

My Baboo Sheep

Been enjoying the proliferation of all things Lady Gaga - ok well, all things that are takes on Lady Gaga - from scientists to librarians. Perhaps the Zheng Lab from Baylor Medical College"s "Bad Project" version of "Bad*Romance" that has had almost 1000000 views in 5 days, will only be funny if you know scientists, but if anyone can make the line "Blot, Blot Western Baby, Figure 1 will be amazing" funny then they have it in my book. But the lyrics are very clever and all my scientists friends say they can relate to the sentiments.

Or check out the librarians from Washington University's version of Poker Face - that too has some pretty cool lyrics.

2011-01-22T22:08:00.002Z

London 2010

I just realised that I never returned to post on my trip to London in November. I arrived on a Thursday evening and on the Friday Karen and I took the underground into the city centre and had a wander around Soho. I wanted to visit Cloth House on Berwick Street to buy some wool felt. There are a number of amazing fabric shops in the area, established years ago to support the costume design industry for local theatres - so believe me when I say - some of the fabrics were definitely "out there". But Cloth House, in 2 locations on Berwick Street has some beautiful fabrics - linens, cord, felt and is beautifully laid out, particularly the store at No. 47. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

Cloth House

Converted Hat Factory, Soho

Soho Square

Then it was on to the British Museum to see their exhibition about the Egyptian Book of the Dead - the books buried with mummies to provide them with guidance in the afterlife. It was an interesting exhibition but hard to remember as you gazed at the scrolls that many were over 3000 years old - they seemed too perfectly preserved to be that old.

British Museum Atrium

The British Museum

The British Museum really is the most amazing place and I love how they have glassed over the courtyard surrounding the Reading Room, to create a beautiful atrium, covering 2 acres and creating the largest covered public space in Europe. Next visit I will spend more time seeing the general collections.

After lunch at Wagamama (an all time favourite) we went to the Sir John Soane Museum - an eclectic collection in the house of architect Sir John Soane, a house that he designed and built on Lincoln Inns Field, one of the finest squares in London. The museum houses Soane's own collection, which he wished to ensure "amateurs and students" had access to. His collection of antiquities is impressive and his house an interesting place to visit. Soane himself is famous for designing the Dulwich Picture Gallery and the dining rooms of Numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street.

Sir John Soane Museum

We walked along the banks of the Thames on our way home, and as ever, the night time views of the river were spectacular.

London Eye, Big Ben

Saturday we headed to Highgate and took a tour of Highgate Cemetery, a private cemetery opened in 1839 to provide space to bury people in the city. It contains the graves of many famous and interesting people in the Victorian section, many in gothic tombs. The oldest section is only accessible on a tour - so we took a tour. Whilst the newer section, which is still used for burials, is more generally accessible and houses the graves of people such as Karl Marx, Douglas Adams (author of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) and author George Eliot.

Highgate Cemetery

Sunday I headed off to meet my friends and their twins - beautiful 16 month olds - had a lovely day with them all!

Monday I had a meeting at the V&A in London - we're looking to have our own V&A in Dundee (more in a later post) and this was a work related meeting. The V&A is the greatest collection (over 2.7M items) of decorative arts in the world and is another must see in London - the Renaissance Galleries, amazing collections of fashion, furniture, ceramics, glass, Asian artifacts etc. Really there is just too much to see in London!!

V&A in London

I can't wait till my next visit!

2011-01-19T21:15:00.000Z

Sum Total of my Christmas Crafting

This is it. The craft I managed to achieve during the Christmas holidays (and since)....... I was inspired by this.........

I decided to create a snow globe baby blankie! Slow progress, must have been held up by all the ice! Not quite sure what else to include....

2011-01-06T23:27:00.001Z

Craft in 2010

Hmm....I don't think I was the most productive in 2010. It was quite a struggle to find 12 things to post to show off craft in Woollie in 2010. I still enjoyed working with felt and failed miserably to do much knitting - although I did learn how to use the magic loop method for knitting in the round which I have enjoyed.

Must do better in 2011.

1. Pre-felt Wool Baby Toys, 2. Donna Wilson Knitted Raccoon, 3. Bracelets, 4. Russian Doll Brooches, 5. Totoro Mitten, 6. Red Riding Hood Blankie, 7. Kokeshi With Attitude, 8. Soldiers, 9. Poppy Brooch, 10. Bunny Hat, 11. Menagerie of Christmas Decorations, 12. Decorated Book Bag

2011-01-04T09:11:00.033Z

2010 Travel

2010 was, for me, a relatively quiet year for travel (I guess buying a house will do that to you). I managed a couple of trips to London to visit friends, a girls weekend in the Yorkshire Dales, a fabulous week with 9 National Trust friends on Orkney, a work trip to Odense in Denmark, lovely days in Venice and Milan and a few days in Kirkcudbright in SW Scotland with my parents - all in all a good year. I had friends visit from Switzerland (and get stuck due to an volcanic ash cloud) and London which led to a number of days out and about in Scotland.

1. Milan Duomo , 2. Odense , Denmark, 3. Sunset, Kirkcudbright, Dumfries & Galloway, 4. British Museum, 5. Rialto at Night, 6. Craigievar Castle, 7. Skara Brae, Orkney, 8. Stone Barn, Yorkshire Dales, 9. Italian Chapel, Orkney, 10. On the beach, Orkney, 11. Gondolas, 12. Posts, Pittenweem

Travel in 2011 may also be influenced by the location of friends (I guess fitting a kitchen will do that to you) - so perhaps I'll be in London again, perhaps Fermo in Italy, perhaps Lausanne in Switzerland and to see a friend in Amsterdam when she comes for a conference. I may also take a trip to Lille or the South of France (Provence area).

2011-01-03T23:21:00.002Z

Happy 2011!

2010 be gone.....

2011 be welcome.....

I hope everyone had a great Festive period. I did. It was good to be able to be home for 2 weeks to help out when my parents needed it most. To support the people that have supported me all my life and to make sure they relaxed, got healthy and enjoyed Christmas. But it was also great to catch up with friends from near and far (farthest was Costa Rica). The weather was mighty cold - temperatures of -15 over a number of days.......brr.....beautiful but brr....

I was in charge of Christmas dinner this year. The menu:

1. Homemade smoked mackerel pate and smoked salmon with oatcakes and soft cheese

2. Jamie Oliver's Spinach and red lentil soup (my favourite)

3. Lidl's Venison in port and red wine, with cabbage compote and roast potatoes - delicious

4. Delia Smith's Carmelised orange trifle

I could highly recommend all the recipes - easy and tasty!

New Year I was at friends in Edinburgh, at their new house...there were 14 of us, food, drink and fireworks. New Year's Day we had a massive cooked breakfast and a walk up Corstorphine Hill. Saw a few funny things whilst we were out......

And why is it that boys can never avoid walking on the ice......

To a happy and healthy 2011 for all! I know that I will be running again, learning to use my new sewing machine, hoping that my kitchen will be finished (oh I must be growing up - I bought a fridge freezer and washing machine today), having a house warming party, seeing friends and being better at staying in touch with those further afield and hopefully doing a little travelling!

2010-12-24T09:12:00.006Z

Merry Christmas!

Twas the night before Christmas (OK the day).........and all through the house.....

Just popped by to spread a little Christmas cheer!

I've been busy - shopping, making, wrapping, hanging, delivering, caring and loving. Oh and having some good laughs to boot! My parents had some friends round yesterday and they were reminiscing about their old teaching days - so many stories to make you smile.....please forgive whatever is lost in the telling - I really need to develop my skills as a creative writer....

Late 1940s when my dad was at high school they had a PE teacher , Mr Arrow, who lived about 20 miles from the school on the outskirts of Glasgow. One day his car was stuck in reverse gear so he drove the whole way home backwards.......testament I guess to the fact that in the late 1940s there were a whole load fewer cars on the roads.

Early 1960s and my mum is a young teacher in a local school.......it's been a hard winter (much like this year) with lots of frost and lots of snow. The school is high on the moors and surrounded by a long stone wall. This particular day the stone wall (100m of it) collapsed during playtime, luckily it fell away from the playground and not into it....but all the same the headteacher asked all the teachers to do a head count. My mum, teaching 5 year olds at the time, was one short.....she asked around about Little Jimmy to be told by one of the other boys that he was hiding and was scared to come in.....why may you ask was he scared to come in........he'd been playing marbles with his friends and just as he'd flicked his marble to the wall where it hit off, the whole 100m of wall toppled over.....all the older boys had taken great delight in telling him that his marble had knocked down the entire wall......my mum's key comment - oh and he was a red head......trouble those red heads......

Again in the early 1960s, teaching in the same school, one of my mum's friends had a little girl who had an accident in class and made a fairly large puddle beneath her desk (my mum always wonders how such large puddles can come from such small children). Anyway, the school, being used to occasional incidents such as this had a supply of clean underwear etc and the little girl was soon happy again. However, the next day, as the young teacher got on the bus to go home, the young girl got on after her accompanied by her dad. As they went to sit down she spotted her teacher and promptly shouted from one end of the bus to the other "Miss Winter..me dad's got yer knickers in his pocket!"

I keep telling my mum she should write all these down.....

Hope you've smiled just a little in the midst of all the chaos. Have a great Christmas everyone!

PS All names have been changed to protect the innocent!!

2010-12-19T23:01:00.001Z

A Sewing Machine

My mum bought me a sewing machine as a house warming present and this weekend I finally used it.....here's what I made....

OK, so no actual sewing was involved. But I'd had the idea to make a necklace with the sewing bobbins and realised that I could use the sewing machine to wind the bobbins - oh that was so much easier than winding it on by hand. I then threaded the bobbins onto a silver choker and hey ho - a necklace to go with the bracelet I made for my friend's Christmas.

Today was another day for hibernating as you can see from the view this morning. I did make it to my friends house for a knitting gathering this afternoon but the rest of the day has been spent cosied up inside.

It's been a day of travel chaos here in the UK - Heathrow Airport has been all but shut for 2 days - we are not very good at coping with snow. I do hope that all my friends heading to the airport over the next few days have safe travels. One couple have already spent the day in Edinburgh airport - now hopeful to get to Frankfurt via Zurich tomorrow and another hopes Easyjet have their planes in the right place so she can get home to Munich. Good wishes for safe travels to everyone heading home for Christmas!

I found the igloo in someone's garden whilst walking to my friends - very cool.

2010-12-13T23:01:00.003Z

Chester the Bashful Bunny

Whilst browsing through Ravelry recently I stumbled across Rebecca Danger's ever so cute patterns and just had to follow the link to her Etsy store - Danger Crafts and purchase the pattern for Chester the Bashful Bunny.

Photo courtesy of Danger Crafts.

I was a little concerned at first as many of the patterns use the Magic Loop method of knitting in the round which I have never used before. However, after a quick lesson from Deborah at the monthly knitting group at Twist on Saturday I bought a 100cm long Knit Pro cable and a set of 4mm ends, cast on and off I went. Ok - I've only knitted 2 legs so far but I am looking forward to finishing him - although I am not sure he'll look as cute as the original - and perhaps adding a Hermann Bear to the family too!

2010-12-06T22:44:00.002Z

Still Snowing!

It's been snowing all week.....piles of it lying all over the place - people taking hours to go just a few miles. Airports closed, trains cancelled, roads blocked. It looks beautiful but after about 10 days of it......and tomorrow the maximum temperature is meant to be MINUS 8 DEGREES CENTIGRADE - BRR!!

I promised I wouldn't buy any new Christmas decorations this year as I already have so many....but I could resist a little fat robin to cheer the place up - and they were made in India and are Fair Trade so who could argue....from Scandi Chic (bought in a lovely shop called Rhubarb in the town of Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway, SW Scotland, where I spent last week with my parents - snowless it was too!)

2010-12-02T22:11:00.001Z

Post 400 and some snow!

It's been a little snowy here in Scotland (although I've just spent 4 days in Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway - SW Scotland where there was no snow). I think it's set to last for days.....here's some photos I took on Sunday - will take some more tomorrow!

2010-11-27T11:02:00.001Z

Wanderings - London

I spent last weekend visiting friends in London which was lovely. It's a great time of the year to be in London with the sparkle of Christmas just beginning to show. Here's a small taster and I promise to be back soon with tales of the trip!

2010-11-14T12:54:00.000Z

This week I got an invite to Pinterest. I love this site, inspiration all over.....a virtual notice board/inspiration board where people can pin things they find from all over the internet. Pin boards exist for all sorts of amazing categories - things for adults, things for kids, things for the house, architecture, travel, favourite books, wedding inspiration, food....and I have 5 invites to give to friends so that you can start pinning yourself, follow your favourite boards etc. Regular readers, if you're interested in an invite just leave me a comment and I can send them along. (Note you need a Facebook account to join and I guess I may need to be your friend).

2010-11-14T12:44:00.001Z

A Post!

Craft fairs, work, birthdays, conferences, festivals and visiting friends have kept me from the blog.....oh and as usual a touch of laziness thrown in.

A few of us shared a stall at the Maker's Market at the Steeple Arts Centre last weekend so after some last minute manufacturing we were ready. It was a good day. We had a stall in the outside courtyard so it was cold, but at least it was dry.

I've been out everyday this week and eaten a lot - oops! And I've been out to a number of work related events - as part of the NEoN (North East of North) Digital Arts Festival that was on this week. It included networking events, the opening of an exhibition by Japanese artist Akinori Oishi and the Party in the Car Park - yes a party on the 6th and 7th floor of a multi-storey car park, which included local bands, breakdancers, impromptu drumming for the masses, bicycle powered digital art production, burgers and drinks and a mobile digital arts venue i.e. a white transit van. It was fun if a little chilly.

And since it was such a lovely clear night and the reflections of light on the river were so pretty here's the ubiquitous view from the flat picture that seems to be cropping up in every post.

2010-11-04T08:08:00.002Z

Crafting

Been busy (but not busy enough) making some stuff.....

2010-11-01T20:33:00.001Z

Autumn to Winter

The clocks changed this weekend.....now it's light when I get up in the morning (around 730) but dark by 430......soon enough it will be dark when I get up and dark about 330....but until then I have enjoyed some amazing sunrises (helped by glorious sunny autumn/winter weather).....and I can't help but share the view from my window.....

2010-10-30T23:03:00.002+01:00

Autumn Nature Walk

I was supposed to be home crafting today but the sun was shining and the view from the window across to Tentsmuir Beach was just too inviting so I had to go out and take a walk at my favourite place......

Walked one way along the beach and then back through the forest....listening to the call of the curlews and the wind rustling through the pine trees and making the silver birch leaves jangle.....

The colours and textures of nature are inspiring:

It truly was a glorious day for a walk in the wild.....I hope you feel inspired!

2010-10-27T20:32:00.005+01:00

Randomness

The last few weeks have flown past, with their good bits and their really not so good bits.....but in the midst of it all there has been little time to post. So today's post has the title of randomness....

Milan

I realised that I hadn't finished my holiday round-up......After my trip to Venice I took the train back to Milan to spend a couple of nights with friends and to have a wander round Milan - I've been many times to the city (about 8 or 9) but still love to visit the Duomo, eat panzerotti and do a little shopping....

House update:

Remember the fireplace I removed in the kitchen....the one that left the scary hole in the wall.....

Well, my friends 75-year old father came and bricked it up.....

And then plastered over it....hole no more!

I've painted the living room and the bedroom pale grey - it's by Dulux and called Clouded Pearl 3 and I am happy with the result. The ceiling in the hall is no longer bright red - it's now white and the walls will be joining it soon......the curtains are made and hanging in the bedroom and one day, sometime in the not so distant future, I hope that there will be a kitchen!

Shoes

A meeting in Glasgow yesterday allowed me 15 minutes to run into a couple of shoe shops to replace my favourite shoes that had died a death last week (a hole in the toe in pouring rain is never a good thing).

I am a lace up shoe fan, a buckle up shoe fan.....have to be really as my feet are so skinny shoes without laces or buckles just don't stay on.....these brogues - black leather and black patent leather are just the thing.....made by Bertie.

And as for the view from my window on Tuesday morning....no filter...just the amazing red sky....

2010-10-16T21:17:00.002+01:00

Craft!

Once again (it only happens once a year) I am sharing a stall at a local craft fair with some friends. It's in 3 weeks and before today I hadn't achieved much in the way of manufacturing. Time had been taken up at work, painting the living room, the bedroom, the hall ceiling....but I realised that I needed to get a move on or my quarter of the stall was going to look very bare!

So now the question is....would you buy?

Kokeshi's with Attitude (brooches)

Rabbit with Attitude (Baby Rattle)

Matryoshka (Brooches)

Fabulous, slightly felted i-cord which I didn't make it but I will be making some bracelets from it.

2010-10-10T21:33:00.002+01:00

Venice Day 4

After a night of heavy rain and thunder and lightning, we awoke to another dry day (we were so lucky with the weather as the forecast had been pretty wet and it only rained overnight) and we managed to have breakfast on the roof terrace before heading towards Piazza San Marco for our long awaited (we were waiting for a rainy day) visit to the Doge's Palace and the Basilica di San Marco. It's amazing to think that the Basilica used to be the church just for the Doge of Venice (the mayor) and the other councillors. Something that beautiful should be for everyone to use and enjoy not just the elite.

The Doge's Palace is a gothic palace built in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries where the city government met and carried out their business and linked to the city's prison by the famous Bridge of Sighs (so called because the prisoners often sighed at the sight of the lagoon when the crossed the bridge between the courts in the Doge's Palace and the prison).

After we had visited the Doge's Palace we headed back into Piazza San Marco to discover that the phenomenon known as "acqua alta" was taking place. Often in the autumn and winter the city experiences flooding known as acqua alta, particularly at high tide and influenced by the lunar cycle. When it happens a siren sounds to warn people and the local police are mobilised to lay out the hundreds of duckboards that become the pavements in the city, lifting the population above the floods. We made our way into the Basilica (or Ballistica as my friend kept calling it) and up to the balcony overlooking the piazza to take in the spectacle...

At certain times during the day, the inside of the basilica is illuminated and the golden mosaics are even more spectacular....

That afternoon we went to the Guggenheim Museum, former home of Peggy Guggenheim, on the Grand Canal, in what is known as the unfinished palazzo, originally designed to be 7 stories tall, it was never completed, and stands as a single storey building on the side of the canal. After her death, the house was turned into a museum, housing some of her amazing collection of modern art - at an early age she decided that she would use her family's wealth to purchase a piece of art a day and now the collections grace museums in Bilbao, New York and Venice. It was a lovely place to wander and relax and to enjoy the views from the terrace over the Grand Canal.

That night we had an exclusive seat for dinner, on a duckboard, next to the Rialto Bridge eating pizza - could you imagine a better view for dinner! And all for 4 euros!

2010-10-09T18:04:00.030+01:00

Venice Day 3

I had been getting up early to go out and enjoy Venice when it was quiet and when the light was at its best....

Commuting to work, Venice style.....tragehetto!

It's a good idea to get up early in Venice....

That day we took a vaporetto across the canal and wandered around Dorsoduro - along the Zattere (the footpath/promenade that looks over the Canale della Giudecca to Giuedecca) watching the boats sail up and down. If you wander far enough along Zattere and the turn right towards San Trovarso you'll see Squero di San Trovarso - one of the few places where they still make gondolas (although I think it's more like a garage for gondolas where repairs get done than the factory for building new ones these days). It's still interesting to watch them work though. It's not open to the public, but you can watch from the side of the canal.

We carried on wandering, we passed Campo San Barnaba - perhaps recognisable to fans of Indiana Jones and ended up in Campo Santa Margherita....

where we knew we would have lunch at the oft recommended Pizzeria ai Sportivo - home to the best pizzas in Venice, apparently, but certainly with one of the largest choices....but we were too early for lunch so we decided to go and see the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari where Titian is buried, and decorated with many of his paintings. However, we got lost - something that happens frequently and after walking around we ended up in Campo Santa Margherita so decided to have lunch.....hmm.....perfect pizza!

We did find Santa Maria Glorioso dei Frari in the afternoon and the we carried on our wanderings to the Rialto, passing some amazing shops and buying shop Venetian snacks to take back to our roof terrace....

We took Vaporetto Number 1 later that evening and managed to bag the front row seats - the perfect way to see Venice and highly recommended......it takes an hour to go from San Marco's down the Canale Della Giudecca, passing through history as you go and then back down the Grand Canal to San Marco. On hopping off back in Piazza San Marco we decided to ascend the Campanile for a view over the city....and Piazza San Marco...

We ate dinner on the roof terrace, a candlelit dinner which would, as Ali and I laughed about the fact that it would have been very romantic if we had each been there with a man!

2010-10-05T22:38:00.002+01:00

Venice Part 2

Thursday morning, the sun was shining and the air was warm. We walked over the Rialto Bridge, marvelling that people had been doing just that since the bridge was built in 1591.....imagine....people have been crossing this bridge for over 500 years, stopping to take in the view and then past the Rialto Market (fish and fruit & veg) that has been there since 1097 - that's over 1000 years of shopping for fruit in the same place....so of course we had to buy some grapes and peaches just to feel part of history. We continued walking to Fondamente Nuove to catch the vaporetta to Burano, a 45 minute journey across the lagoon, passing the cemetery island. The island is famous for its lace making, although the majority of lace for sale on the island is now made elsewhere and for its colourful houses - some say that the houses were painted in a myriad of colours so sailors could recognise their own home as they made there way back across a foggy lagoon but in reality the reason for the colourful homes is not known.

We wandered the colourful streets in the sunshine before catching the vaporetta back towards Venice and the island of Murano, most famous for glass-making!

There were some amazing glass sculptures on display. The blue glass is called The Comet and was made for Murano's Christmas in 2007.

Back in Venice after a lovely lunch in the garden of a trattoria on Murano we wandered around Cannaregio, the most populated of all Venice's six districts and away from the main tourist trail. With tranquil canals it is also home to the Jewish ghetto - the word ghetto originated in Venice, the Jewish population being forced to live on a small island in 1516, to the abandoned site of a 14th century foundry - known as a ghetto in Venetian dialect. The islands access points were guarded at night both protecting and segregating its inhabitants. The ghetto was disbanded in 1797 with the arrival of Napolean. Of course, during the Holocaust the Venetian Jews were sent to Germany - of the 247 who left, only 8 returned.....

That evening we took a vaporetto along the Grand Canal, enjoying the views at night time once again, this time from the water and then took a walk around Dorsoduro - another of Venice's six neighbourhoods.

2010-10-05T20:18:00.005+01:00

Venice - Part 1

I've spent a lot of holidays in Italy (used to go out with an Italian and had lots of Italian friends), including many visits to Milan, the Dolomites, Sardinia, Sicily, Rome, Adriatic Coast, Liguria, Genoa, Turin, Florence and Tuscany and to a lot of Italian weddings (4) but never to Venice....it's been one of those places I've wanted to go for a long time.

Two friends that I met in Japan last year, and I decided to go...in the end only 2 of us managed to go and the third was sorely missed but we had a great time anyway.

What can one say about Venice - it certainly has to be seen to be believed..... medieval buildings built on water, still standing 400 years later.....but at it's busiest it also seems somewhat like a giant theme park. It's a photographers paradise, an inspiration and an enigma!

I arrived by train from Milan where I had spent the night with friends, hopped on a vaporetta (water bus), the wrong vaporetta as it turns out and thought I was heading for my first trip down the Grand Canal to meet the key holder to our apartment. As it was I headed the other way round Venice, via the giant multi-storey car park, the cruise liner terminal and the outer islands before finally arriving in Piazza San Marco.

Our apartment was just 5 minutes from the square, with a fabulous wooden roof terrace known as an altana with a view over the campanile of San Marco and a canal below often filled with gondolas, gondolas full of accordionists and singers alongside the prerequisite tourists.....the guidebooks suggest that there are only about 400 gondolas left in Venice, in the 18th century there were over 10000 and Peggy Guggenheim, a long term resident of Venice, is known for being the last resident to have her own private gondola......and at one point 22 of them were in the canal below our roof terrace!

The first afternoon we wandered around San Marco and towards the Grand Canal and the Rialto....the most touristy of all of Venice, the places the cruisers see in their 4 hour stop off in Venice....but also spectacular. My first view of the Grand Canal just blew my mind - imagine (apart from the water taxis and vaporettas) the same scene today as 400 hundred years ago - the same buildings, the gondolas, the sheer scale of the original "super highway".

After dark the city is just as magical, as we discovered that first evening, exploring on foot....

The following day we headed to the islands of Burano (lace making) and Murano (glass making) but more of that to come!

2010-10-01T22:24:00.003+01:00

Been a Travelling....

I'm back from a little sojourn in Italy.....there will be more I promise but till then, here's a little taster of the glorious fun that was had....

2010-09-20T07:59:00.002+01:00

Creative Kick up the Butt

Yep - that's what I'm needing! A creative kick up the butt.....to get me moving on decorating the house and making some new crafty goodness.

Some friends and I are having a table at a craft fair in November - I only do this once a year and am sharing the table with 3 others so don't really need to go overboard - but so far I've only managed to make one thing - that's not going to fill a quarter of a table!

But, the colours are beginning to inspire....I'm even contemplating cutting into the felt that I brought back from Japan....hmm...18 months ago.....

The colours of the hyrangeas are so beautiful...amazing how one plant can have so many different shades growing and how the agree with my favourite colour palettes!

Here's the start of a few pieces.....I'm trying to cut it all out so that I can do some sewing on my plane journey this week...a needle and a dental floss dispenser to cut the thread are both ok for the airlines so I can at least do something....it does mean being organised of course!

Not much has been going on in the house decorating recently.....waiting on the electrician finishing.....but I did receive this beautiful house warming present from my friends visiting from Brazil - it's a carved piece of wood....and they couldn't have chosen better....if I had seen it myself in a shop I would have wanted to buy it.

You really can't tell the colour from the photo, but it's hanging on the newly painted wall in my living room - no more red....now a calming shade of pale pale grey. It was nice to know when I read an article about Debbie Bliss' (knitwear designer extrordinaire) home that I was in such esteemed company with my colour scheme - greys, plums and bright pink!