Some Finished Stuff

Before I start on several days worth of Paris related blog posts I thought I'd put some craft projects on record.

Firstly I did get this finished eventually

a couple of months behind schedule sadly, which has thrown off my cross stitch plans for the year, but I'm not beating myself up too much because I've done two other small cross stitch projects that weren't in the plan but are now done,  and more to the point were used; for my project bag and my friend's card respectively. So that's a win. 

Then there were some socks for the OH. The yarn was part of Laura The Lonely Knitter's Dr Who Collection. The colour is called 'I'm burning up a planet just to say goodbye'. pattern Hermione's Everyday Socks. 

And finally not really a 'craft' project but a jigsaw, The World of the Brontës. I purchased this in Inverness recently. I havered as  readers will know that my opinion of the Brontës, as people and writers, is quite low, but it was such a lovely picture that in the end I couldn't resist. 

Very enjoyable to do, and definitely a keeper. 

Afternoon Tea at Gleneagles - Reprise

It had occurred to me that however enjoyable the Glasgow weekend was going to be - and it was - that I was also going to find it a tad stressful, so I had suggested to the OH that it might be a ice idea to go back to Gleneagles for afternoon tea the day the others all went home and relax. He put up no resistance to this at all, and in fact booked it very quickly, presumably so that I didn't change my mind. 

It's been a few years since our one and only other visit and things had changed slightly since then; not in any particularly material way though. The service was still fabulous, the food was still lovely and the music was still, sadly, a soft jazz. Sorry to all those jazz lovers out there, but it's never floated our boat. Mileage varies, as they say, and I know some people don't like opera, which is fine. Each to their own.

The tea this summer is Beatrix Potter themed ( BP spent a lot of holidays in Perthshire apparently, which solves the mystery of why there is a BP exhibition in nearby Dunkeld I suppose).The menus were in keeping,

as was the lounge centrepiece

we each had a 'savoury stand'

and there was a shared sweet one

and yes those brown things on the lowest plate  are chocolate scones, and yes, I was extremely doubtful, and yes, they were delicious. 

As previously, what we didn't eat at the time was popped in a box for us automatically. 

After we'd finished, and since it was a warm sunny  day  we went for a stroll in the gardens which are beautifully kept

And just because all this wasn't enough excitement for one month, the next day the OH dropped me at Glasgow airport to catch a flight to Paris! 

Glasgow Weekend Day 2

 Continuing with the Charles Rennie Mackintosh theme we spent most of Sunday at the House for an Art Lover. This was a design by CRM which he entered for an architectural competition in Germany. A technical irregularity (some of his interior sketches were late)  meant that it wasn't able to win and the house was never built - until 1989 when it was constructed in Bellahouston Park in Glasgow. It houses an exhibition of some of the work of CRM and his wife Margaret MacDonald, a cafe, a shop, an exhibition studio, several workspaces for artists and is also used as a venue for hire. It would be the most amazing place to get married! There's also a walled garden and an art trail in the grounds. 

We started off with coffee in the cafe, where the manageress very kindly took this picture of us all ( a rare blog sighting there of the OH ) 

and then we toured the house. If you like Mackintosh there are probably much better pictures of HfaAL on line; for some of the time my lens was grubby which spoiled many of my pictures, but for what they're worth, here are a few 

I would love to live in a Mackintosh/MacDonald designed house, although I'm not sure where you would keep all your stuff! Lunch was followed by a walk in the grounds 

after which we rather over ambitiously took ourselves off to the newly re-opened Burrell Collection. We were all so tired that all we managed there really was a desultory look at part of the ground floor and a cup of tea and a bun. One for a revisit I think. 

Books to Read Poster No 49

 

My photos of the little pictures do not improve, although some of it is to do with the light in the room where the poster now lives. 

Anyway this one was Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian. I hadn't read it before and was dreading having to as I had got the impression that it was horribly sentimental and had a sad end. 

Despite the fact that it is sentimental in places and does have several sad things happen in it I loved it. It was funny and touching and sad and uplifting and optimistic and I wish I'd been able to read it when I was young because I would have loved it even more. 

We have had a run of hits, but I suspect it is about to come crashing to an untimely end. 

Meanwhile although this didn't get me to the half way mark, by careful ordering from the library I have achieved one noteworthy goal - 

finally! one complete vertical line.

A Glasgow Weekend with Good Friends Day One

A while back - well, pre-Covid! - my Dorothy Dunnett reading friends in the north of England had suggested that for once, instead of me trailing down to Yorkshire or wherever to meet up, they might come to Glasgow for a change. Covid put the plans on hold but they were revived last year,  we managed to find a date that suited us all, and they finally made it over the border in May. 

They had decided that they wanted to theme their stay around Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which is easily done as Glasgow now celebrates one of its most famous sons in a big way, despite being largely indifferent to him, and his equally talented wife,  while he was alive.

We'd scouted out places to go way back at the beginning of the year and put together a flexible itinerary and, despite one of the party having to drop out at the last minute for sad family reasons, the rest made it in good order.

We met up at Kelvingrove Art Gallery which has a fairly recently redeveloped gallery featuring CRM and the Glasgow Style. Naturally we started  with coffee and a catch up then visited the gallery. When we had done with CRM we split up to follow our own artistic tastes, which meant a trip to the Scottish Colourists gallery for me and Dutch and French art for some of the others. We reconvened at the restaurant for lunch, after which the visitors decided to catch a Big Red Hop-On Hop Off  Glasgow Tour Bus and I think the OH and I went to Marks and Spencer to do some clothes shopping. It's a bit of a blur, but I do know we did go to M and S and I can't think when else we might have fitted it in, so let's say that's when we did it. Then back to the flat for a shower , a change of clothes, and to pick up Son no 2 who was joining us for the evening's festivities. 

When we had made the plans for the weekend the others had expressed an interest in going to the opera if there was anything on and happily there was, and even more happily it was Carmen, which is very accessible for people who aren't committed opera goers. The OH and I were a bit concerned because it was a new production  and,  although  heaven knows SO were desperately in need of a new  Carmen, we  weren't sure that this actual production was the one they needed. For a start it was in English translation, and of all the languages opera is translated from French is probably the trickiest to manage to fit sensibly to the music. Plus they had added a sort of framing narrative to the  opera which involved a female detective investigating Carmen's murder. Quite why they felt they needed this at all begs a question, especially in view of the fact that Jose declares at the end of the opera - and in this version also right at the very beginning - that he killed Carmen and begs to be taken away, so the whole investigation story is all a but redundant. Not to mention the fact that I can't imagine a Spanish regime until very recently that would have bothered to investigate the violent killing of a gypsy - but you know I could be doing them a disservice. In the event everyone enjoyed it which was a relief. I know it's had some rave reviews in the papers; personally I wouldn't give it a 5 star review but there you go. The singing was generally good and the singer we support through the  Emerging Artist scheme sang quite a large role in it - and was, naturally very good. I'd say I wouldn't rush to see it again, except that it is, you know Carmen, and the music is fabulous. 

We had an early dinner before the performance at Pieno which the OH and I go to sometimes when we're in Glasgow and we have pictures of that. 

This is their Tiramisu, which is fabulous, and below a rather overexposed group shot. 

I Have No Pictures for Day 1

 of my time away, sadly.

We went over to Stirling and had lunch with a friend, which I completely failed to photograph, she gave us a guided tour of the area around the city then took us to her home for a cup of tea and a biscuit. It was a bit of a scouting exercise in preparation for an anticipated, but not imminent,  move away from Orkney. Obviously after such a long time here it will be a bit of a wrench and we also need to make sure we get the right place to move to; one that 'ticks all our boxes' as Phil and Kirsty would say and where we will both be happy. The main criterion is that it should be within an hour's train journey of Glasgow and we have checked out various places including Perth, Lanark and Falkirk.  None of them hit the spot, but I'm happy to say that Stirling did, so when the time comes we'll be concentrating on that area. Meanwhile we are doing various things to the house to make it more saleable. While I was away the OH gave the outside a new coat of paint so it's looking quite smart and I do have a photo of that. 

I Am Back

 

I have returned, after a really hectic, not-quite-two weeks. I have had the most fabulous time; the occasional frazzle and train related worry but generally it was amazing and I can't wait to start sharing it all on the blog. Except that I have to wait, because two weeks away from home equates to a lot of unpacking, tidying, post and laundry to deal with on your return.