I could never tire of it! There's cute,



I put Christmas away today and looking forward, got to thinking about Jinny Ditzler's book Your Best Year Yet.
I could never tire of it! There's cute, ![]() there's crooked, ![]() there's medieval- Kinf's Manor. (Part of the university - I used to teach in this lovely building.) there is Gothic and always scaffolding somewhere on the Minster, and Roman - I always say hello to the Emperor Constantine, there's Georgian elegance.. ![]() LOVE IT. I put Christmas away today and looking forward, got to thinking about Jinny Ditzler's book Your Best Year Yet.
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..Joy in January and a new word for the new year.. Do check out Amelia's lovely idea for joy every day in January. See in comments on this post. Will you sign up? My word for 2025 is DECISIVE. Life got better for me after I decided to decide in this post last October. Have you chosen your word yet? There is so much to see in my favourite city. Visual stimulus of every kind at every turn.. There are crowds of course - people enjoying the sights but just the other side of the Minster are quiet streets with beautiful doorways and unusual buildings with hidden lanes and courtyards
More tomorrow.. Still catching up with myself after a wonderful trip to Edinburgh. Meanwhile here is our capital city looking amazing. I am a little shocked to realise how much of my own country I hardly know! I have just spent a couple of days in East Lothian with lovely friends who showed me the Kelpies, the Falkirk Wheel and the attractive town of Linlithgow. A kelpie is a shape shifting mythical water sprite in Irish and Scottish folklore. ..I have a grasshopper brain as we had an incredibly varied programme! A brilliant talk by Amanda Herries about creating the exhibition Eye To Eye about Sir Henry Raeburn was followed by an interview with Gelong Thubten, a Buddhist monk whose Handbook For Hard Times I am listening to on Audible. We went to a Jazz Afternoon Tea, and a talk on the history of the gut! Rumbles by Elsa Richardson. We caught the last day of the Raeburn exhibition in Kikedbright which was excellent - one of the best exhibitions have seen in a long time. Kirkudbright is another pretty town.
See more about the Book Festival here. It continues till 6th October. Wigtown has interesting architecture, some lovely new shops and pretty gardens (a delightful garden behind ReadingLasses bookshop is worth a look) and there were still lots of flowers everywhere. We were lucky enough to have several sunny days. ..got off to a spectacular start with a great firework display. I took this rather odd photograph! But later that night we stood under the starriest sky I think I have ever seen. The Milky Way seemed to take up most of the sky and was so thick with stars that it was hard to make out the constellations. Awestruck. Several people have said they look liike children's drawings of houses. Here are a link which give a flavour of life on this thriving Hebridean island. ..about Tiree. This was the lovely house my friends and I stayed in, on the edge of a small tidal creek. The walls are 5 feet thick in places. The peaceful view from my bedroom window. Larks, lapwings corncrakes and snipe were heard along with the constant piping of the oystercatchers and the bleating of the lambs. The occasional put put of a fishing boat.. I adored the houses on Tiree. It's a very windswept island with few trees, walls, hedges and gardens around the houses. Sheep have priority here and many of the houses are grazed right up to the walls, and I love the way they sit on the close-cropped land. There are red toofs, blue roofs, green roofs and thatched roofs. I am told the pink house has to be kept pink because it is described thus on the Admiralty charts. Do you have a favourite? ..in a Twin Otter to the lovely island of Tiree. Land of silver beaches and the cutest houses More tomorrow.. Is it vandalism? Graffiti? People's Art? Or is it just a bit of innocent fun? And I wonder who was the first to think that putting their sticker (given with your ticket to the Art Gallery) on the bench was a good idea. Do you approve?
The SMK in Copenhagen is a wonderful place - the collection, the architecture, the cafe and the shop - loved the shop! gallery Everything spacious and airy and clean, and everything in Copenhagen seems to work. I find the city and the gallery very elegant and at the same time friendly. The huge modern extension is gorgeous. We especially wanted to see the collection of Hammershoi's work, which didn't disappoint. He paints two of my favourite things - silence and empty space. I can see why he is sometimes called the Vermeer of the north. There is nothing like the thrill of standing in front of the original. What a brave painter Matisse was!
I came across the Matisse unexpectedly - I know this painting well from reproductions and did not know the original was here. How different from Hammershoi - extrovert and vibrant. I love them both. ..Copenhagen! Ballet shoes and bicybles Brides! Thank you Grace for the great photograph. Bouquets Blossom everywhere and beautifully wrapped bread on a Highland retreat. Weather forecast awful. Full waterproofs packed and lots of layers.
Have a lovely week Thank you so much for the good wishes and for the poems - that was lovely! I hope you all had a happy time at Christmas. I spent time with family and although we have had some foul weather I had a beautiful journey home on the single bright and calm day in a week. My friend drove us out of the city to the west past fine terraces of Victorian and Edwardian houses, the golden stone looking amazing in the low sunshine. Along the western shores of Loch Lomond detouring for a look at the pretty village of Luss. Through the Arrochar Alps and over the Rest and Be Thankful pass, on to Loch Fyne and Loch Eck, over the Larach to Loch Long and home for a leissurely lunch. My daughter had kindly put some heating on and it took no time to get a good blaze going in the stove and to light lots of candles. So blessed. I hope you are sheltered from the storms. Gullygate, Petergate, Goodramgate, Fossgate, Walngate, Micklegate and Whip Ma Whop Ma Gate - all these smaller streets have wonderful independent shops run by knowledgeable and enthusiastic creative people. Children's bokshops, delis like The Hairy Fig , Greek cafes, bakers, clothes shops, card shops - if I didn't have to carry things home on public transport I would probably have spent a lot more money!
..looked magnificent under the stars. I could imagine that this is how every emperor would like to look. Things I love about this place - It is less than an hour from home. The way the lodges sit in the landscape (the fact that there are only a few). They are furnished with beautiful hand woven and printed textiles and pottery made by the artist owners. The owls, bats, buzzards, oyster catchers, curlews, wrens, seals, and the otter and the friendly robin. The hens, the hebridean sheep and the donkeys. The little coves of crushed shells perfect for a wee picnic. There is an integrity about this place that I find very attractive. Nothing is overdone or over commercialised. Things are done simply and done well.
Love it! Listening to an interview with author Joanne Harris on Sunday we were wondering if the marquee would withstand the wind! A little distracting. My favurite talk was with Denise Mina, author of Three Fires and many crme fiction titles. She is a good speaker, confident and funny and I may read this recent book about Savonarola. I liked the links she made with present day politics. We sang with Julia Hollander who talked about her book Why We Sing. The fireworks and drinks party were fun and very well attended. It is the 25th festival and has a very full 10 day programme. See here. I can recommend the cakes in ReadingLasses a bookshop cum cafe with a cosy atmosphere. I would have liked to photograph some of the charming buildings, but there were so many cars it was impossible to do them justice...
..to the Book Festivval, I had to run for the bus. I was so breathless when I got on it I could barely ask for my destination. Telling my friend of my dismay that I was not as fit as I thought I was, she pointed out that - 1 I had a pack on my back
2 I was pulling a suitcase 3 it was uphill 4 I had been sitting on the ferry for half an hour (no warm-up) and 5 I did actually catch the bus! I didn't feel so bad after that :-) Trad Jazz as we sailed aroud the port area. Lots of people live on the water in Copenhagen - houseboats, converted warehouses and modern developments both sophisticated and simple, many with a boat tied up at the end of the garden. Thunder and lightning was forecast but the sun shone all evening. It was good fun. ![]() More Trad Jazz in the city with a good humoured crowd in the rain. They sang Give Me Sunshine, then Singing In The Rain then there was one great loud clap of thunder. If you know Copenhagen you will probably agree with me that it is superefficient and orgainised (everything seems to work!) but tempered with charm and humour. A really friendly place. |
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