So there was always the blog paradox, which was that when you were doing things you were too busy to blog about them, and when you weren't busy there was nothing to blog about. And now there's another consideration in the mix which is that I don't have my computer on nearly as much as I used to. In Orkney I would tend to switch it on when I got up and it stayed on most of the day ( I hate to think of all the time I 'wasted' but on the other hand there wasn't so very much to do instead ) whereas nowadays I tend to switch it on just when I want to do something specific. So those moments when I thought 'what shall I do now, oh I know, I'll write a blog post' just don't happen any more.
So there's a place we've been to twice recently and I'll conflate the two trips into one post. This is the Doune Art and Antiques Centre ( yes, as seen on Antiques Road Trip, and also recommended to me lots of times by local friends).
It's huge and it's stuffed full of stuff and it's great fun to walk around, although a bit like Art Galleries, after the first hour you're a bit overwhelmed by it all. We'd been told the cafe was excellent; we didn't have lunch there but we did have a drink and a cake. It was a very hot day and this was my, very impressive, elderflower presse
I've discovered that elderflower can range from delicious to practically tasteless so it's always a bit of a gamble when you order it, but this one was definitely at the delicious end of the spectrum. As was the honeycomb cheesecakes which I see has been edited out of the photograph except for a teeny tiny corner. The OH had a coffee and a piece of Bakewell tart and they were good too apparently.
On the way we had seen signs to the David Stirling memorial and decided that we would have a look at it on the way back. We had absolutely no idea who David Stirling was but it turns out that he founded what became the SAS. While I'm not a fan of knee jerk, 'let's put up a statue' type memorials, this was rather more well thought out with pieces of stone representing some of the terrain the newly formed unit worked in, and as they were largely operating in North Africa to begin with it was yet another link to good old George who fought there too, although not in anything as prestigious as the SAS.
The man himself.
and a memorial for the Long Range Desert Group which was the SAS forerunner
There were beautiful views of the surrounding countryside too, it really is in a stunning location.
A couple of things had caught my eye when we had been walking round - well, let's be honest, lots of lovely things had caught my eye, none of which we needed but one of them that I couldn't get out of my mind was this
now doing duty as a bedside table for me. Not one for the non-fantasy fans obviously, but I loved it and I did actually need a bedside table.
We also need mirrors. This house had no mirrors of any description, not in the bathrooms, not on the front of bathroom cabinets (also conspicuous by their absence when we moved in along with towel rails!) and not on the door of the otherwise excellent built in wardrobes. I'd seen a mirror that I thought would go nicely in the bedroom, a plain-ish one with a narrow gold frame and a little Greek key detail round the edge. I'd also seen one that I loved but doubted would 'go'; a circular Arts and Crafts one which could have come straight out of an illustration for Sleeping Beauty. Guess which one we came away with?
Until about 18 months ago I'd have bought the plain gold framed square because it 'went' and 'would do', but in a change which I see as progress I bought the one I really loved instead.
