miss marie's miscellany

Sunday castle

A family outing to Linlithgow Palace, the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots. 

We started with a picnic by the loch next to the castle

Then off to explore.

The palace is ruined,and has no roof, but you still get a sense of the grandeur of its hayday. Very impressive!

 In the entrance courtyard  was this magnificent fountain,with its lifelike carvings. 

This can be seen in full flow in the summer, which would be quite a sight.

Lots of nooks and crannies to discover

You could fit plenty of bubbling cauldrons in the this fireplace!

The ceiling of the wine cellar.

When we were in here, deep in the depths of the building, the sound of the wind outside was hugely magnified, sounding very much like a ghostly woman moaning, which amused all the adults and spooked all the children! Or perhaps it was the other way round!?

The view from the top

The climb up many stairs and the slight touch of vertigo were worth it to see this.

 

And a walk by the loch, to finish off a lovely day.

  

Another tulip

They just keep on coming at the moment. Taken just after a shower of rain, isn't it lovely?!

Have a happy weekend.

Finished!

I finished my first crochet cushion cover.  I couldn't crochet 3 months ago, so this is something which makes me very happy. A couple of well spent hours yesterday for the final push!

Here are all the squares sewn together.

 When I was having a sort out for the charity shop, I found a very, very long scarf which hasn't been worn for ages, and thought it would make an excellent back.( It will actually make about 4 cushion backs, handy for the next project!)

I used some little buttons to fasten it

And here is the finished article.

 I'm so pleased with the end result, I may just have to make another!

Barefoot in the park

I went for a long walk in the park near where I live yesterday, Bellahouston Park. It's a lovely place, good for walking briskly, jogging or cycling, and never too busy. Good for enjoying both beautiful greenery and floweryness. Lots of doggies to say hello to!

The weather has been a bit chilly in Glasgow this week, the sun hiding behind some dark clouds and a cool breeze blowing lightly. But after I got home, I looked at some photos I took in February, and realized how freezing cold it was then

compared to now

What a difference!

As well as being a great outdoor exercise arena, there are lots of sights to catch the eye. The park houses one of my favourite places to visit, the House for an Art Lover

Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, this was only built in the late 1980s and early 1990s, although it looks and feels like it has been there for many years. If you are ever visiting Glasgow, it is well worth spending an afternoon here.  There are some interesting sculptures in the surrounding garden, including this foot! 

Next to the house is the lovely Victorian Walled garden

I think the tulips were a bit past their best, but it was still a riot of colour.

A new addition-  a maze which should look great when it has fully grown

 

And the cherry blossom looked gorgeous

Just breathtaking!

You can just see my house on the hilltop across the park

How lucky am I to have this all on my doorstep :-)

Beach Art project

I was looking at the V&A website and saw this page about the World Beach art project. I thought it was a lovely idea, using stones, found in situ, to make a design. You can look at a map of all those people's designs already linked to the project and see their pictures -  interesting to see all the differing ideas the brief generates. I live about an hour from the sea;  I may have to take a trip soon, and see what I can come up with. 

pictures from the weekend

I had a busy weekend, working for the greater part of it.  But there was still time for lots of good things.

Getting my peas and broad beans planted.

New flowers. Pink pulsatilla and wonderful glowing red tulip.

I made maple and pecan biscuits(recipe courtesy of Nigella). Naughty but nice!

Cherry blossom at night. I sat in the garden when I got home at 10.45pm, enjoying the warm night, and this is what I saw as I looked up.

My crochet squares are ready to be sewn together. Cushion completion soon!

A slightly naughty wool purchase at my lunch break on Saturday.( I couldn't stop myself! Shop next to place of work + zero resistance is not a good combination for economy)

That's all I had time for!

Flower power

The plans for a great floral display are coming on well. I already have sowings of geraniums, sweet peas and lupins, which I started off a couple of weeks ago. Last  week I planted more seeds, some marigolds and mesembryanthemums, both in shades of yellow, and some zinnias, a variety called sunbow.  

 I was very taken with this plant on a visit to Broughton House in Kirkcudbright last summer (a lovely place to visit if you are ever in that part of Scotland). It's called cerinthe, so I hope to get some seedlings of this to give the garden a liitle je-ne-sais-quoi

,

Unusual shades of flower and leaf, very eye-catching.

I've also got some bulbs and tubers to plant.....peonies, anemones and ranunculus asiaticus. If the latter look anything like these 2 ranunculus plants which were bought  last week I'll be delighted.

 And lots of dahlias, I can't get enough of them! 

My spring flowering clematis is about to open, so there will be some pictoral treats to look forward to, as it's a beauty.

Here it is just waiting to open.

This lovely tulip caught my eye today, 'Apricot Beauty'.

And this one,which I can't put a name to.

So many things blossoming everyday and so much to look forward too.:)

 

A good read

2 book choices I'm enjoying this week.

I'm almost finished reading 'The Woman in White', by Wilkie Collins, which is the choice of my book group this month. I have read it before, many years ago, and I enjoyed it immensely then. Sometimes when one revisits books already read, they can disappoint, but I'm happy to say this lived up to my memories of it being a gripping read. I won't give away the plot but if you enjoy 19th century fiction and/or Sherlock Holmes, then this is a good mix of the two. A plot with lots of twists and turns, heroes and villains and plenty of suspense. I almost don't want to finish it, I'm enjoying the roller coaster ride of a story so much. 

The other book I'm loving at the moment is my latest Amazon purchase, 'Derek Jarman's Garden'.

 It tells how the film director made a garden at his cottage in the inhospitable landscape at Dungeness in Kent. There are wonderful photographs throughout.  A beautiful glimpse of an original garden creation.

Frill thrills

This azalea is looking so good in the garden right now. 

Like lots of frilly underskirts.

A beautiful start to this week.

Perfect Perthshire Python

Yesterday, I took a trip out with my sister A and her family to Doune Castle in Perthshire. We were so lucky with the weather, glorious sunshine and blue skies for the whole day, and  it was a treat to have such a lovely afternoon  to enjoy this beautiful 14th century castle and grounds. 

The castle was used to shoot some scenes in the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", which explained why there were people shouting various lines from the film, and much memorabilia to buy in the shop. I even thought I heard someone banging 2 coconuts together, but I must have imagined it! 

We enjoyed a picnic by the river.

And a little sun-bathing, whilst enjoying the beautiful view.

Then a good look around the castle.

It has a labyrinth of passageways and stairs, and gives an insight into what it must have been like to live in such a building. The doorways were so low and the stairs so narrow it felt a little claustrophobic to us all. But there was a real sense of history too. All the people who had walked where we were walking, centuries before us. 

The boys boldly climbed all the way to the top of the battlements, but A and I were delicate damsels and wimped out half way up the stairs, retiring to solid ground and a bench with an ice cream!

There had been a wedding earlier in this room, the Great Hall.

What a romantic venue!

A grand day out.