Markets

Here are some pictures of our stall at the makers market:


It was a good day. We were at a very strategic place: next to the coffee and cakes!!!! I don't know if it boosted our sales but it was very handy and helped us to keep warm. The day was bright and dry so it was not too bad to be standing outside all day!

Whisky... with ice

Winter is colder than usual this year but it is also sunnier. We had a lot of sunshine this month and this week I took a couple of days off to explore the countryside with my parents...
We went to the famous grouse experience at Glenturret distillery, just outside Crieff.

Then, we took the small roads to go to Aberfeldy (A822 and A 826) and then, the A924 from Pitlochry to come back to Dundee...

The next day, we went to St Andrews, Newburgh (to stop at Twist Fiber craft, of course!), Alloa (I needed some stained glass supply) and finally, Falkirk wheel, "the world's first and only rotating boat lift".

Winter

This morning we braved the snow to go to Newburgh to our monthly knitting group at Twist.
The landscape was fantastic and Diane took some great pictures.
We had a wee wander to the Tay river before coming back to Dundee.

First time I am seeing ice on the river and so much snow for so long (and I've been here for nearly 9 years!). It is great to have a proper winter!

Touring Scotland

Last weekend I hired a car to show some part of Scotland to an Italian friend.

We've been very lucky as the weather was gorgeous (although very windy).

On Saturday we went to Pitlochry. Just outside the village you can visit Scotland's smallest distillery, Edradour. It produces in a year what bigger distilleries would produce in a week! It is a lovely place, the tour is free and you can sample a dram of whisky :o)



After visiting a few more distilleries (Blair Athol in Pitlochry and Dewar's world of whisky in Aberfeldy), we went for a walk in the woodlands at the hermitage.

Then, we ended up in Dunkeld. A charming village with a ruined cathedral and loads of lovely cafes.

On Sunday, we went North along the East coast. Our first stop was Dunnottar castle, an amazing ruined fortress built on a cliff.

We had a quick wander in Stonehaven harbour...

... before heading to Crathes castle.

We came back through central Scotland (glenshee) and we saw the first snow on top of the mountains.

Woolfest Booty

As promised, this is what I bought at Woolfest yesterday:

• Hand dyed sock yarn: 1 skein from Wild Fire Fibres and 2 skeins from Laal Bear.
• Schoppel Wolle sock yarn: 2 zauberball
• 2 skeins of undyed 90% Alpaca/ 10% nylon (I forgot where from)
• 2 skeins of cobweb/lace weight from KraftyKoala: Alpaca/Cashmere/Silk and Merino/Silk
• 1 cone of lace weight 65% Wood/35% Milk fibre from Uppingham yarns
• Thanks to Andrea who found Fiberspates Fairy Wool bargain basket, I bought 3 skeins of hand dyed lace yarn and one of hand dyed sock yarn for a fraction of the regular price :o)
• a cotton bag with a B-ewe-tiful sheep
• a pair of sock blockers

Now, I should go knitting...

West Coast

Last weekend we went to the West Coast of Scotland. We spent Friday night in Oban (which is only 3h drive from Dundee) in Order to meet with our friend Elise. The next morning the 3 of us set off early to go to Mull. We took the A828, along Loch Linnhe, to Corran where we took a ferry to Ardgour.


Then we took the A861 and A 884 to Lochaline and took the ferry across to Mull.
The weather was perfect. We had lunch in the harbour in Tobermory before going to the cheesery (Just outside Tobermory, on the road going to Glengorm castle).

We had a walk at Glengorm castle, along the coast before touring the West coast of Mull.


The next day, We had booked a boat trip to Staffa, an island 10km west of Mull, well known for its basalt columns. It takes 1h to go there and we had 1h to spend on the island. We saw some birds, mainly cormorants, and, coming back, we saw some puffins having a swim (sorry no pictures).

We then spent the rest of the afternoon on Iona where Elise and Stephane had a swim.

In the evening we took the ferry back to Oban where we dropped Elise before coming back to Dundee.

we felt like we had spent a week there, it was so relaxing! The West coast of Scotland is amazing and well worth a visit (well, several I would say).

Sun Kissed

We spent the weekend on the West coast of Scotland. We've been extremely lucky with the weather. Everything was perfect; blue sky, warm breeze, 20-25 C.
I am hoping to have more time and post more pictures in the next few days. In the meantime, I can show you these:
Loch Lubhair:


Calgary bay on the isle of Mull:

GG and Leon enjoyed themselves, as usual...

More later...

BUPA 2009

Yesterday Stephane ran the BUPA Great Edinburgh Run (10 km race) in 39 min 37 s. Over 10,000 people participate every year. The atmosphere is fantastic and yesterday the weather was gorgeous :o)
A Dalek was running as well. I am sure it motivated a lot of runners to go faster, out of its gun range ;oD

The Dalek made it in 1h37, not bad with that bulky costume!

Stephane finishing...can you spot him?

Swap

I took part in another swap organised by the Scot Swap group on Ravelry. The theme was tea cosy.
My swap partner is totally mad on Dr Who so I decided on a Dalek teacosy. I knitted it with Lopi and felted it twice in the washing machine, then, I needle felted a few details.

I also found a great pattern for a tea mitten on Ravelry so I knitted one as well.

I added a few goodies (tea, nuts, chocolate and some Lopi) and she loved it :o)
She sent me this great parcel:

These swaps are great fun and I am looking forward to taking part in the next one.

Snowman

One of my colleague made a snowman at lunchtime...

2.35pm, the snow has now stopped :o( , the melting started ¦o( and most of the people at work have gone home (wimps ;o))

Snow

I am so happy! It is the first time in almost 8 years of being in Dundee that we have a proper winter with temperatures below zero for several weeks and a fair amount of snow :o) (I've been in Dundee for nearly 8 years...that's scary!!!).
When I woke up this morning it was snowing but it obviously just started. By the time I left for work it was snowing heavily. It took me 40 minutes to cycle to work instead of 30. It was a surprise for everybody here, I think, as the weather forecast was for sunshine and sleet so the roads were not gritted.
I took some pictures (at work) before it disappear (forecast are for rain/sleet later).

D.R.A.M.08

Dundee Running Adventure Marathon 2008 took place yesterday. Stephane ran it in relay with 2 friends. They came the night before for a pasta party at home.
This is the team (Left to right): Kenny, Stephane and Craig.

Stephane was running the last bit (10 miles). They did it in 3h and 43min.

The next run they are doing is 19th October at Scone Palace. It is a 10K run for cancer research UK.
Any volunteer?

Berries

The blueberries season have started here in Scotland. It is going to be short (no more than a month, unfortunately) so we have to make the most of it!
Everyday, we stuff ourselves with berries, plain or with some cream, yum ;0).

As you know, I love making jam, so I couldn't resist...I made blueberry jam last week, and today, I made blueberry and raspberry jam (50/50, with a hint of vanilla extract).

Jam on its own is a bit boring, so I also made some bread (with oat)...

On the knitting front, I finished a baby blanket yesterday evening:

It is knitted in one piece, border included, so no sewing!

Pittenweem

Yesterday, it was the opening of Pittenweem art festival. There are more than 100 artists exhibiting their works. Most of them are local artists. We spent a couple of hours wandering in the streets, houses and garages of this beautiful coastal village. We've seen loads of amazing pieces of art and talk to a few artists (one of them even laugh when we told him we were living in Dundee....). In the evening there were a Ceilidh, a torchlight procession and fireworks. We didn't stay, we were quite tired having done quite a lot all day: we stopped by St Andrews Farmers market in the morning then we had an early lunch on the beach in Elie, followed by a 9 holes (Stephane only, I gave up golfing a few years ago).Weather wise, we were lucky! it was very thundery in the afternoon but we only had a few drops.

Pittenweem's harbor:

The isle of May:

Paintings by Margaret Smyth:

Ceramic by Susan McGill:

Painting by Reinhard Behrens:

Sculptures by Adrienne McStay:

Painting by George Finley:

The end of the day was very sunny and warm enough to eat a chocolate ice cream from the Cocoa Tree shop... YUMMMMM!!!!